Very well written but I just could not engage with the plot. I’m sure there are others that will enjoy it more.
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

Georgina and Nathan are a busy young couple living in NYC climbing the ladder at a prestigious law firm. Georgina has worked hard her entire life to attain each and every one of her goals. When her marriage hits an insurmountable bump in the road she is forced to make a tough decision. To remain on track with her life plan, Georgina decides to give Nathan a second chance and that what their marriage needs is a little more excitement. With questionable guidance from a female client she and Nathan are introduced to the mostly secretive world of swinging. Her best friends Norah and Felix (harboring their own marital issues) tag along for the ride and the unlikely foursome set out to navigate this new lifestyle. At the very first party they attend Georgina bumps into her old college boyfriend - the one that got away. This in itself has Georgina questioning whether it’s her plan or her husband that is the actual problem. Not a great way to begin this new adventure, one that demands the utmost of trust between partners, problems quickly snowball. Perhaps farfetched but definitely thought provoking and a quick read, this novel interweaves the complexities of marriage and friendship with a twist.

This one fell a little short for me. I assumed it would be a little more exciting but it was a little boring. The writing was good and I did care about what happened to the characters.

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, but that just goes to show that reading outside your comfort zone pays off! I’m so glad I read this! I liked Taylor’s writing and can’t wait to read more of her work in the future!

Thank you to Taylor Hahn, Netgalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and review this title!

This book was a real-deal page turner! So good!

I read it in a day and a half, it pulled me in that much. It’s sexy, but in a such nice and sweet way.

I loved how the main character is a strong, complex and flawed woman. This is a must read!

When Georgina discovers her husband, Nathan, cheating on her, the unhappy couple doesn't turn to therapy to work through their issues. Instead, they turn to "swinging". Based on the recommendation from one of Georgina's clients, starting "the lifestyle" can save her marriage. But when an old boyfriend reenters the picture, Georgina wonders if her marriage and the life she thought she wanted are worth saving.

That's the premise of Taylor Hahn's The Lifestyle.

Apparently, this novel is an updated version of Emma, so if you're into new takes on classics, then you'll probably like this book. If you also like fun and easy reads, this novel is a perfect summer beach read. And if you like novels that have a little bit of steamy romance in them, then you'll definitely dig some of the "swinging" scenes.

What did I think of the book? Well, it was pretty predictable, but if you're looking for a book that makes it easy for you to guess what is coming next and that delivers on the happy ending you're hoping for, then this is the book for you! I was intrigued by this book because the author has the same last name as me (maiden name), and I always love reading books by people with my last name. (Mary Downing Hahn was one of my favorites as a kid.)

The Lifestyle is published by Anchor and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley.

Wow I can't believe I haven't discovered this author before now!!!! I loved this book so much. Once I started reading it I had to finish it to find out how it turned out. I couldn't stop reading it because when I had to pause all I was thinking about was when I could get back to it. I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves an amazing summer read that is so much more than that.

This book was too much drama to be a fun rom com for me. It was full of affairs, breakups, and unrealistic relationships to an extreme. Not my favorite read.

Representation: Swinging couples is the main plot, a few BIPOC supporting characters

Georgina has it all - a great husband, good job at a very prestigious law firm, and fantastic friends. A perfect life! Until she walks in on her husband in the middle of having sex with a junior associate, and that perfect life is upended. She starts to think her life’s over but she didn’t have divorce in her carefully planned future. She has a lightbulb moment of how to save their marriage from a previous conversation with one of her clients. The idea? Becoming swingers to recapture the spark. She’s also bringing along her friends and their partners for the ride, because she’s sure swinging will also fix their relationship problems.

Rating: 2.5/5 I didn’t like this, unfortunately. I gave it 2.5 stars (three on GoodReads). When I started reading this, I immediately didn’t like the main character. Her attitude about needing to have her life be perfect, needing to “fix” the lives of her friends felt very paternalistic and like she didn’t see them as full adults of their own. Not just that, but the fact that she immediately turns to swinging as a way to save her marriage and fix relationship issues. Swinging is very much a straight people’s game. Not to say that it doesn’t apply to queer people, but it’s definitely much more common for straight people to use that term, because queer people already have looser concepts of relationships than straight people do. I’m getting off the point, back to it. I may not have experienced swinging, but I understand enough about it, and polyamory, to know that it shouldn’t be used as a way to fix relationships. If you have problems in your relationship, swinging will only sweep all of that under the rug until you can’t ignore it anymore. Or lead to even more issues coming up, affecting others in the swinging group you join and that’s not fair to them, having to deal with your relationship issues that you didn’t solve before opening up the relationship. The only reason why it still has above two stars is because I think the writing is mostly good, I just didn’t like the content. Honestly, when I started reading this, I expected a much more smutty book, but this barely has any steamy scenes. There were a couple sex scenes but they weren’t at all interesting or exciting to read. Also, I remember being very put off at the beginning by the language that Georgina used to describe herself, others, etc. It felt very…objectifying and sexist, I think is the word. I think if I hadn’t persevered and finished it, I would’ve given it a much lower rating. Spoiler alert for the ending, jump past the brackets to skip it. <<Georgina eventually finally realizes that it’s none of her business to be meddling in her friends’ lives, no matter what she thinks. And she realizes that swinging wasn’t really the answer, she needed to evaluate her life without using sex with other people as a distraction. She also breaks things off with her husband and goes for her college ex, but even that felt kind of forced to me.>> Anyway, overall I didn’t like this book which is a bummer, because it’s not often that there’s a book written about swinging as a positive thing. There was discussion throughout the book about swinging rules and expectations, which was great. I just wish it’d been a different plot line.

A fun read with a somewhat likable main character. However, the ending felt very rushed and her getting together with the old boyfriend felt very unbelievable.

This story hit a little too close to home, I tried, but couldn't finish it. Thanks to NG and the publisher anyway.

I was really drawn to the clever cover design and the premise of the book sounded super interesting when I requested via Netgalley. However, it wasn't my jam. I am sure if it was the pacing or the story, but I ended up DNF-ing.

The Lifestyle turned out to be a little tamer than I thought it would be, but I appreciated the more serious moments, as it added a little more depth. However, I didn’t really feel connected to Georgina and Whittaker’s relationship. I would’ve liked more details of their past - maybe dual timelines. When they ended up together, it felt forced. This was an entertaining read and I would read more by this author.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free digital copy!

Uhhh...what did I read? I'm not big into reading about swingers (though this was timely -- #MormonMomTok), and tbh I DNFed this.

I'd read Taylor Hahn's books again, this just wasn't me.

Thanks for the ARC!

Great book and interesting concept. At first I hated the ending, but after I thought about it, it was clearly what the characters needed to end up together. Except it doesn’t explain Georgina’s open ended ticket to Thailand and Nathan ending up with Alina.

A retelling of Emma that centers around a group of friends who decide to try swinging. Definitely one of the more interesting additions to the Emma retellings.

This is a very unusual book, and if you are looking for something different, then you should definitely read this book. This book explores the swingers lifestyle. Georgina Wagman thinks she has it all, until she discovers that her husband is having an affair. When she makes the decision to try to get the spark back, they begin a new direction in their life. Will this solve the problem, or create new ones?

I did not finish this book. It was not my cup of tea. The story was slow with too many unnecessary details. I found it difficult to like the character and did not find the comedy in the story.

Georgina has it all…until she walks in on her husband sleeping with her mentee. After drinks with a client, Georgina is introduced to swinging, and told how it has fixed her clients marriage and sex life with her husband. With her husband and friends on board, Georgina dives into the world of swinging. Will it be what it takes to fix her marriage?

Swingers. Not usually my type of story. However, what do we learn if we don’t read outside our comfort zone? I will say I found this book pretty fun. Obviously Nathan sucked, so I kind of loved that Georgina took back her own power and started focusing on herself (while still trying to work on her marriage.) I thought this book was so interesting and quirky, while being insightful and pretty fun. If you are wary of starting this one for the same reasons I was, give it a chance!

I was doubtful about this book. Mainly due to the subject of the book. I must say I was entertained reading it. I did like seeing the purpose behind everyone’s decision to go along. I thought I knew how it would end up and was surprised it wasn’t what I thought. I think you can take from this book how desperate we become to fulfill a vision of what we see for ourselves and how far we’ll go to see it through rather than admit it’s ok to see it’s not working and change the plan.