For some reason, romance is the genre I am least likely to read. Maybe I worry about getting stuck with a bunch of stock characters. Maybe it’s that I don’t like knowing how something will end. Maybe I’m just uptight. But It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You by Lindsay Lewis changed my mind and opened the world of my reading in the best of ways, and I want to share some details with you of how she did it.
Building Believable Characters
I met the author in person at a literary event in Seattle, and I’ll admit that I was intrigued when she talked about working with her publisher to get cover art that effectively conveyed the physical similarities between her main character and Jason Momoa. I like to look at Jason Momoa and I wanted to see this book. Luckily for the reader, that was just the beginning.
Strong characterization is one of the best ways to build an early emotional connection with a book and Lewis dives right in here. The first paragraph starts with the longing of the narrator (Lauren) for her dead best friend’s husband (Casey) and an immediate setting to right by her friend Maya who has watched this go on too long. We’re dropped right into the emotional conflict, but also into the relationship dynamics that get the book moving. It’s immediately engaging and the characters develop believably along these lines throughout the story.
One of the complaints people often have about books is the way they handle describing the characters. It can be awkward to have a first person narrator describe themselves (looking in a mirror to reveal to us something they already know and would probably not be noticing) and it can be creepy to have a third person narrator describing every physical aspect of their characters (especially the female ones) as their “eyes” scan up and down all the, ahem, “assets.”
Lewis deftly avoids this trap by having the characters describe each other. Because we’re already caught up in their emotional worlds, we feel the individual angle of these views and it feels more human, less exposition dumped on a page. This also works as the characters ascribe celebrity lookalikes to themselves and each other (Lauren is Elizabeth Holmes from Theranos and Danny, the one-night stand who becomes her coaching client, is Jason Momoa). This might not be a comparison that effortlessly translates for a reader 100 years from now, but it quickly translates right now and also sets up a playful banter between the characters as Danny teases Lauren by calling her “Theranos.”
Plot Twists that Don’t Feel Scripted
I was genuinely surprised when Danny showed up at Lauren’s firm in need of a life coach to get him to his next fight. This is because I don’t read the backs of books, but it’s also because Lewis had already gotten me so invested in Lauren’s various relationships that I didn’t see the next hit coming. I was rooting for her to get Casey. I was also really delighted for her to have had a fantastic night with Danny and was wondering how the hell she was ever going to see him again given that she’d given him a false name. The distraction worked, because of course these two have to come together for the story to move forward (he’s on the front cover, duh) and the structure of her workplace is the perfect counterbalance for his hedonistic (literally) lifestyle. It’s a delight to watch the dance between the two as they both work to help each other evolve without trying to change too much themselves.
This continues to work throughout the book because we’re invested in the characters and the twists and turns feel true to those characters’ natures. Important backstory is dripped in when it’s contextually relevant and it doesn’t feel shoehorned because it’s also true to the characters’ natures. And it’s hot. I won’t go too much into that (my family reads this blog), but the banter, longing, teasing, and physical encounters provide satisfaction throughout.
Building a Sex Positive World
I think one of my biggest fears about reading romance is getting trapped inside tropes that feel unhealthy for me to rehash. It’s something I ran into when reading Want, edited by Gillian Anderson (yes, the actress), which was comprised entirely of anonymously submitted fantasies. There was a lot of great stuff in there, but there were also a lot of echoes of needing to be dominated, feeling unworthy, and sometimes just being treated terribly. I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade, but it made me sad. And when I think back to some of the books I read when I was young (hello, The Thorn Birds, I can see where that cultural baggage can come from.
It’s a Business Doing Pleasure With You is the exact opposite. While it is not a perfect fairy land where everyone loves themselves perfectly and everything is wonderful (ugh, that would be boring), it is a book where sex and sexuality are treated as a positive part of life that the characters can indulge in in various ways. Lauren may be a little uptight, but Maya helps to open her mind and Danny introduces her (slowly and seductively but always with consent) to hedonism. It’s sexy and safe in the best of ways. It’s also peppered with life coaching techniques that I may actually try out (though I can only commit three of the four ho’oponopono phrases to memory so far).
Speaking of teases, this book doesn’t come out until August 11, so you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer. But I promise you it’s worth the wait. And if you preorder your copy from Bookshop.org, you’ll have something to look forward to and I will get a commission.
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