I'm giving this 4 stars, but in reality it's closer to 3.5 probably.

I thought the setting was very fun. The lawyer side of it was interesting, as the author is a lawyer herself. It's always nice to reading about a profession the author knows about, rather than guesses 🤣

Anyways, as far as the Emma retelling it felt pretty vague. Like, I get it but if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have really guessed it.

The swinging scenes were quite the romp and the parties were fun too.

Overall not the worst book ever but definitely not a fave.

And I'm so sorry but this is honestly the ugliest cover I've seen so far this year.

This book was described as a modern version of Emma, but I would also describe it as the story of what would have happened if Elle Woods had ended up with Warner in Legally Blonde. I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would once I realized what the lifestyle means. Since law school Georgina has meddled with her friends relationships. She thinks she knows best until she walks in on a situation that shatters her perfect world. While picking up the pieces of her life she comes to the realization that she did not influence her friends as much as she gave herself credit for and that it’s actually her life that is being held back. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book that will be the perfect beach read this summer when it’s published in June. 📚📚📚 #bookstagram #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview #netgalleyarc #bookrecommendations #thelifestyle #janeaustenemma #legallyblonde

The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn tells the story of Georgina, a lawyer who discovers her husband with a junior associate. Georgina comes to the conclusion to save her marriage ( she’s a problem solver) they need to try the lifestyle which is swinging. This was quite interesting. I really didn’t know anything about this lifestyle. It was interesting that all of her friends got involved and tried it. I liked all of the characters and the outcomes of each couple. I was curious to see who Georgina would end up with. I could see the change and growth Georgina went through. Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I will recommend this book

I had high hopes for this book because one of my friends said how good it was. I did not enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

There is so much going on in this story. Many characters with so many issues. However, the author handled all of it so well and I was never confused. Georgina, the main character is a bit annoying, but ultimately relatable. She is trying to do the right things for herself and her friends. Unfortunately, trying to help her friends is more meddlesome than helpful to them. All told, this was quick read and a fun story. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

I wasn’t expecting much when I requested this one, but turns out it was right up my alley. I’m not much of an Austen fan and not that familiar with Emma. To be honest, now that I’m reminded what it’s about, probably my one quibble with the book was that I found Georgina’s meddling, especially with regards to Ari, to be quite annoying. I will also say that some people may find the subject of “swinging” to be objectionable, and if you’re not interested in reading about it, then give this one a skip, even though it really wasn’t as racy as I was expecting, but I tend to read racier romance.

If you’re open-minded, you might have a lot of fun with this one. I found portions of it to be quite funny. I really enjoyed the group of friends. They were all very different characters, some in relationships that just needed a little boost and some in relationships that needed to go their separate ways. I definitely shipped the romance, but it’s not the focus. Georgina had some lessons to learn and some things to figure out, so it’s more about her journey to figuring out what she wants and how to embrace it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday for the free copy provided for an honest review.

I have to admit, I don’t understand swingers or “the lifestyle”, and it’s not for me, but I am glad I didn’t let that deter me from reading this book because it was smart, funny, and very entertaining.

After catching her husband cheating, Georgina turned to the lifestyle in hope of saving her marriage. As I already mentioned, this is not my world, but I read the parts describing that life with fascination. There were many thoughtful discussions regarding the hows and the whys of it all, and I found it intriguing. It didn’t hurt that many of the “party” scenes were quite humorous and had some interesting outcomes, as well.

That said, the story really took off for me when it moved away from all parties and focused more on Georgina and her group of friends. Each was dealing with a predicament in their life, and it was wonderful watching them and their relationships evolve. I was quite pleased with the way things worked out for everyone, and I swear those last few chapters had me grinning like a fool.

Overall, this was an interesting and amusing look at an alternative lifestyle which ended up being fun and quite heartwarming.

Georgina has the perfect life, she almost has to pinch herself, its so hard to believe. Or so she thinks. When Georgina's husband, Nathan, cheats on her with a 20-something junior lawyer at their law firm, Georgina decides something needs to change. She meets a friend and suggests swinging (Who know that was an outdated term?!) and ended up at her first sex party with her cheating husband to try and salvage their marriage.

This wildly intriguing book taught me so much about "the lifestyle" of swingers and it certainly did have its appeals at times. The novel did a good job taking away the stigma that everyone in the lifestyle are sex-hounds that sleep with anyone and everyone. The book is very well=written and all of the characters were extremely likeable.... except Ari. I could not connect with Ari as a character, even as you seem him change into this better man after joining the lifestyle.

When Georgia catches her husband cheating she is determined to fix their relationship. A good friend share's her secret to a loving marriage- swinging! This story follows Georgia, her husband, and their closest friends as they enter "the lifestyle".

This was such a fun book! I can't tell you the last time I read romance, I'm normally all about suspense and thrillers. However, I sped through this funny and emotional love story.

I forgot that this was billed as a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma. I have yet to read Emma (bad English major!) but I don’t think it stuck too closely to that story. I still really enjoyed this book though - the swinger lifestyle is fascinating and it was interesting seeing a few couples try to enter it and the results of that.

This book was SUPER fun! I really enjoyed it! Thank you for my advanced copy in exchange for my feedback.

I really related to Georgina. A little (A LOT) OCD with a touch of perfectionism= yea- RELATABLE. She finds herself in "The Lifestyle" after a touch with reality. We've all been there before, things are going great and then WHAM! kick in the .... face....

So Georgina finds herself in the lifestyle and many things happen. Was I expecting these things? No. I actually did not know what to expect in this book but I read every single page happily wanting to find out!

This book made me self reflect more than i thought it would, but not about the obvious (the lifestyle). It had me wondering about all of my choices and what my life would look like if i had done things differently.

I would definitely recommend this book. Not a romcom/ not a thriller/ just a story about a young woman finding herself.

I requested this because it was billed as an Emma / Clueless retelling and it is that at first because Georgina the MC is meddling in all of her friends' love lives. But after she discovers her husband has cheated on her, she decides to become a Swinger to save her marriage. The book then turns into a story about The Lifestyle, that is to say the swinger lifestyle. It's a group of married couple friends who go to sex parties and sex clubs and switch partners in order to save their troubled relationships and to spice things up.

Needless to say I was fascinated and by 25% completely hooked and it became a page turner for me. I think this would make a great beach read. It's a contemporary romantic comedy set in New York City which is always fun to visit in a book. And you do get your HEA. I really liked it and think this is a good debut novel. I would read more by Hahn.

– Thanks to NetGalley / Knopf Doubleday for the ARC –

Meh. This book was okay. As an Emma retelling it kinda missed the mark. The only Emma vibes I got was with Georgina being up in everyone’s business and getting everything wrong. The “swinging” scenes were good and the characters in the parties were very fun. Overall I just felt like I wanted more and I wanted Georgina to be less annoying.

Lighthearted fun, a beach read for the more adventurous beaches. This was touted as being based on Jane Austen's Emma, but that really didn't click for me. Sure, Georgina was annoying, and had ideas about wanting to hook her friends up, but that was about it. One thing I really appreciated was her support of other women, even when she was wronged by them. Based on other reviews I was expecting the sex scenes to get fairly over the top, but everything was done well and tastefully with an appropriate amount of steam that won't get you into trouble if you're reading this in public. A fine debut novel for Hahn.

My thanks to Knopf Doubleday/Anchor Books, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book, The Lifestyle, as an ARC. This book was billed as a reimagining of the novel Emma, by Jane Austen. Emma, to refresh my memory , is billed as a congenial young lady who delights in meddling. It has been a while since I read Emma, or have seen any of the adaptations(including Clueless), but it sounded like a fun read. It was and it wasn't. The premise was intriguing. Georgina ( our Emma stand in) is a lawyer in New York. She has been married to Nathan, also a lawyer in the same company for 7 years. She has 2 dear friends,Norah , who is married to Ari and Felix, who has a girlfriend named Alina. Norah used to date Felix, but Georgina fixed Norah and Ari up on a date while they were all in Law School. Norah got pregnant, married Ari and dropped out of law school. When the story opens, Georgina has just brought cannoli to all the junior lawyers in her firm, as a makeup for the lawyers having to work late. The cannoli are tainted and give everyone food poisoning. Only one of the young lawyers, Meredith , had refused the cannoli and stayed healthy.Georgina then goes off to meet a client . The client opens up to her about her personal life. Suzanne ( the client) had been having marital problems and confides in Georgina that she and her husband solved their problems by joining the lifestyle- becoming swingers. Now, over the past 40 some years I have read and seen some books and shows involving swingers ( Gay Talese's Thy Neighbors Wife, Sarah Dunn's The Arrangement and an episode on CSI). Happily, unlike the CSI episode, there are no dead bodies in this account:) Georgina assures Suzanne that her marriage is fine and she needs no help. Georgina then goes back to the office to pick up a file and finds her husband Nathan, having sex with Meredith. In a total turn around, Georgina decides that not only do she and Nathan need to become swingers, but Norah, Ari, Felix and Alina need to as well. Georgina thinks that both Norah and Felix are unhappy , and this will not only help her marriage but bring Norah and Felix together again. Everyone goes along with her plan, perhaps not wholeheartedly, but they do agree to join her at a party. Now things really get convoluted. I do not want to give any spoilers, but things do not go as planned .Georgina seems to make plans for everyone in her group, and they just go along. I would like to say hilarity ensued, but it didn't. There are a lot of other characters in the book.Georgina's college boyfriend who turns up at a party, her father and his significant other, who seemed a write off in the early chapters but end in a meaningful sequence toward the end, and several swingers who start out to have good storylines, but ultimately fade away.There is a nice wrap up to Meredith's story, but it was almost as if she was forgotten, then rushed back to tie up a loose end. I usually complain that books lately are too long , but this is one where I would have liked to have seen more attention given to the the other characters. Too much of it was Georgina making plans and pronouncements for everyone. I kept wondering why more people didn't just tell her to stop. As I said, I enjoyed parts of it and parts I felt were farfetched. It was a fun read in parts.

I wasn't really sure what to think about this book after I got a few chapters in. Sometimes not reading book synopses bites me in the butt, but I enjoyed this story about swingers [apparently that's outdated terminology, and there is not one mention of a pineapple anywhere in this tale, please alert those who need to know on Twitter]. The story and situation was complex, but I felt like the author handled it delicately and has an ability to draw in the reader. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how everything would end up and was pleasantly surprised by a few of the storylines. All in all, a fascinating story that had me side-eyeing things at several turns, but an enjoyable read nevertheless. NSFPL OBBBBBVIOUSSSSLYYYYYYYYYYYYY. 4 stars for great writing, wildly intriguing characters and an ending that was given the time it needed to feel full and complete.

I often only read the first sentence or two of a book synopsis before diving into the book because I like to be surprised. So I picked up The Lifestyle after reading it was an “Emma” retelling. Well, imagine my surprise when the main character ends up becoming a swinger. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish the book. But I’m so glad I did! The swinging scenes are PG-13, and honestly, are a pretty small part of the story.

More than a romance, this book is about a woman finding herself and discovering what’s really important to her, and I ended up really enjoying it. I’d give it 3.5 stars.

The Lifestyle was a fun read with the characters learning about being honest and true to themselves. It was interesting to follow the journey of relationships and each discovering what was important through entering an unconventional method of self-discovery. Thank you to NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Read it, its really good.

Very interesting read and take on Swing culture! I found myself cringing a lot while reading this, At times it felt like the characters were being forced to do things they were not comfortable with, which made it difficult to read. It was still very enjoyable and an interesting look at how relationships vary. As we all know what works for one person may not work for another, no judgment. I am not certain how healthy of a little lifestyle this was for any of the characters but it was surely eye-opening for many , The love story aspect was a bit unbelievable and there was not much backstory or development and sort of made it seem like the sex was the most important thing in a relationship. It would have been interesting to get a five years later point of you to see how things develop with our characters. I felt the ending was a bit odd and uncomfortable for me as someone that was married for seven years had such a short and quick interaction with no feelings. I did find it very difficult to manage all of the character names and their relationships, I am still not quite sure who was with you and such but I do not feel it is important to go back and reread, overall a fun quick read, thank you net galley