This was a solid debut with an interesting premise. But I found the prose to be pretentious at times, and the protagonist unbearably self-righteous all of the time.

Tash's main conflict is that the rights to her (feminist fantasy) novel were transferred to a new studio that was intent on including on-screen sex scenes. Why her contract was transferrable in the first place boggled my mind to the point of distraction. Especially since she apparently carefully chose the original studio because of a shared vision. And if your vision is so precious, why sell the rights in the first place? Nothing on page led me to believe she needed the money...

Then we find out she has rights of first refusal to write the new scenes and that she was refusing to accept or decline. I couldn't understand why she didn't just accept in order to maintain control. At first her hesitation seemed like maybe she was asexual or uncomfortable with sex for some reason. But nope, she just assumed any on-screen sex would cheapen her <i>Important Work</i>.

So then Tash is paired up with an intimacy...chaperone, I think he calls himself? Caleb (and the producer/director and star?) is coincidentally in Tash's Floridian college town for a film festival and together they proceed to take whole weeks of eight-hour+ days to write what seems to be four scenes.

Why the majority of this book is set in Florida, I could not tell you. Especially considering Tash's brother lives in West Hollywood and at one point she says that she would be there right now if not for the looming sex-scene deadline. Maybe it's so the author could sprinkle in phrases like "the salty surf-song drifting over from the beach" or "within a mojito-muddling wrist-flick of the surging, star-swept Florida seas."

I also could not tell you why Caleb was attracted to Tash apart from the fact that equally attractive people tend to want to bang each other.

I feel comfortable calling Tash unlikeable because I couldn't understand why she was the way she was. Various potentially formative an/or traumatic experiences in her past are introduced, but only one seemed to truly resonate in the present. The others all just seemed to drive home the fact that she has always been self-centered.

Anyway, nothing was so bad as to cause a DNF. And I'd be interested in seeing what else this author comes up with. But unfortunately this was a meh.

Thank you to Powers That Be for the ARC. All opinions my own.

cute romance book and the enemies to lover worked here, although the third act meltdown felt kinda forced. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this title, but unfortunately it didn’t quite capture my interest. While the premise was promising, I found it difficult to stay engaged. That said, I’m sure it will find its audience with readers who connect more strongly with the writing style or pacing.

This is an enemies to lovers, Hollywood/literary backdrop, yet something felt slow and like the timing was off. I just couldn't vibe with this one. Writing was good, don't get me wrong, I just couldn't get into the story on a personal level.

I just could not get into it. I found the characters unlikeable and mostly self absorbed. To me, feminism means pro-woman, not anti-men. There's a big difference! This went into my did-not-finish pile. Life is too short to read books I don't enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

went in with high hopes—the premise was intriguing and right up my alley. Unfortunately, it just didn’t quite hold my attention the way I expected. While the writing had its moments and the concept had potential, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. That said, I can see how others might connect with it more than I did. Sometimes it’s just a matter of the right book at the right time

If categorized in romance, I would give The Dirty Version around 2 stars. If categorized in women’s fiction, however, it was mesmerizing and I would easily up that rating to 4 stars. Because although the romance didn’t spark anything for me, the main character, Tash, was so humanly flawed that I was drawn to continue her story. To be perfectly frank, there were moments when I genuinely disliked Tash, and yet that made her growth all the more relatable, plausible, and inspiring. It was the journey of a woman trying to navigate the cognitive dissonance of living with strong convictions within a dialectic, gray-scaled world. And even if those convictions were stronger or at times different than my own, as a woman with strong convictions of my own I understood Tash’s anger, grief, determination, confusion, and hope. And that’s a beautiful thing to behold in writing.

This was such a fun read! The Hollywood setting makes it feel like the reader is right in the drama of the story. Loved it!

I loved The Dirty Version! I had a lot of expectations based on the cover and blurb and it totally exceeded them. I loved the Hollywood setting and feeling like I was there in the middle of the drama. So much fun!

Loooooove anything set in Hollywood/on a film set, and I love Caleb and Tash's relationship. I'm pretty loyal to dual POV books, and that preference still stands here, but I do understand the focus on Tash and HER story, especially considering her status as a feminist author. I think we're focused on HER journey in the way a women's fiction novel would be, but it was still enjoyable and juicy to read.

3.5 stars
While I enjoyed this book as a whole, it took me several chapters to really get into it. The pacing seemed slow initially. But I absolutely adored Caleb and how he treated Tash. Natasha’s character as written had some flaws, but there was still growth for her throughout the book. Personally I would’ve enjoyed more spice. You could see the attraction and chemistry between Tash and Caleb, but there was room for more. By the end, the story felt rushed.

Tash is so proud of her feminist novel but struggles when she has to provide rewrites for the film adaptation. She partners with Caleb, the sexy intimacy coordinator and discovers that not only is her story better together, but maybe they are too.

Love a good spicy romance book! This was SO fun! I absolutely cherished the characters and there fun story. It was done so well. Great read!

Turner Gable Kahn's The Dirty Version hit home for me—it’s a smart, gutsy dive into the tug-of-war between staying true to your vision and navigating the messy realities of creative industries. Tash’s journey is raw and relatable, with just the right mix of introspection and spark. If you’ve ever wrestled with compromise or the vulnerability of putting yourself out there, this one will resonate. A quick, striking read with heart and brains.

closed door romances when i catch you closed door romances


things i liked about this book:

- caleb
- some of the discussions on intimacy coordination
- florida/florida noir/tash’s book
- the brown girl rep
- janelle & denise

things i did not like:

- tash ??? (from page 1 i was genuinely perplexed by her motivations & existence as a professor who somehow has the most rudimentary understanding of feminism possible and the only redeeming moment was the 3rd act breakup acknowledging that she was dead ahh wrong)
- i just felt like everytime tash expressed an opinion, i felt like “look at my professor dawg i am never going to fully understand feminism”

- idk i know i especially love to jokingly harp on closed door romances but its a little wild that this is called the dirty version and we hella are reading the clean version bc theres no open door scenes (this is more personal preference)
- caleb’s clothing descriptions
- it took me a bit to get into the writing style and i think though I was able to resist the urge to dnf, it wasn’t entirely for me bc it felt more detached than I usually feel reading in third person
overall, it was alright, not very memorable but a solid debut for people into closed door romances!

thank you so much to netgalley & harper perennial for this arc to review!

I had no expectations going into this novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story. The plot was fun and flirty. The spice was nice! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

What a fun fresh book! When the rights to Tash’s dystopian feminist novel are sold to action director Ram Braverman’s streaming studio, she is outraged. Known for his on screen violence and explicit sex scenes, Tash is heartbroken about this adaptation.

Tash is tasked with writing the sex scenes for the show. If she declines she will lose creative control to the all male writing team. When Ram hires Caleb Rafferty and his intimacy coordination business to help Tash work through the sex scenes, Tash is extremely hesitant. But the more she and Caleb work together, the clearer it becomes that he might actually be the elusive “good guy” that she was convinced didn’t exist.

This book was great. I loved the dynamic of fiery, hot-headed Tash alongside steady, calming Caleb. I think it can be hard to write an enlightened, feminist supporting man, but the author did a great job. Caleb was the perfect combo of supportive and vulnerable while pushing back when needed.

And I’m very into the single POV right now. It ratchets up the tension so much to not know what’s happening in Caleb’s mind.

I’d consider this a closed door romance. There is lots of talk around sex and references to them having sex, but nothing graphic on page.

I received this Advanced Reader’s Copy via NetGalley. It releases on July 1, 2025.

First off, I'm not a fan of miscommunication and third act breakups. I'm also not a fan of such staunch feminists who can't stand men (feminism does not mean bringing down men!) so I had a hard time taking Tash seriously. Caleb was a great character though, and the writing was decent. Overall this just was not my type of book.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were relatable, the plot was interesting, and the story was great! I would definitely recommend!

I was really looking forward to this book because the premise sounded intriguing. However, what bogged down this book for me was the miscommunication and third act breakup, meaning there were 2 out of my 3 major deal breakers in a romance novel (the third being the cheating trope). I have no issue with the third person POV but I did feel like there wasn't much chemistry between the characters. This was a short book at under 250 pages, and I felt there could have been 100 more pages to flesh this out.