Calendar Girl - An erotic novel (Xcite Erotic Romance Novels) [Kindle Edition]

The title points to the premise: the heroine Merritt is recently divorced and hurting, and had only one serious relationship before her marriage. Her Sassy Gay Friend decides that what she needs is more experience, some confidence boosters, and lots of good sex, and sells her on the idea of dating one new man per month of the new year.

It's really a brilliant plot device. There's a reason to have a wide variety of very different lovers, all in a context that makes sense, and there's the chronology moving forward, but in a contained amount of time.

As a reader, I fell immediately into the same trap Merritt did: I really liked Mr. January! Why couldn't she just stay with him?? But at the same time, I did buy into premise, that it's hard for Merritt to really know what kind of man is best for her if she's never had very many. So, like her, I regretfully watched the very sexy Mr. January exit and Mr. February enter (and he was great too). The Lovers of the Month were all sexy, and all in different ways. Merritt is, as they say, "good, giving, and game" and she gives them all a fair chance; treats none of them poorly; and has just a ton of hot sex.

It's also a plot device that could bog down if adhered to too closely. If Chapter 1 was January and Chapter 2 was February, and so on, till December in Chapter 12, you might find yourself getting bored with the predictability. But a few surprises and twists kept the plot from seeming too forced.

Things I especially liked about this book (in addition to Mr. January): 1) very good sex scenes, 2) the various subplots; 3) the writing style, which was light and often humorous, but still conveyed some surprisingly touching feelings very well.

Unlike Calendar Girls, the movie, our calendar girl Merritt Evans doesn't strip off for the camera, she strips off for a man a month sexual high that gets her over her divorce and back in the saddle. Kinky, sexy, a fun read.

Previous to Calendar Girl, I hadn't read any longer works by Sommer Marsden, so it was new territory. However, literally within one page of starting the book, I was laughing. Not at Sommer, of course, but with her. Without giving too much away, the protagonist's best friend in the book is a gay guy, and he is a right giggle. His madcap antics had me laughing my ass off on several occasions.

Anyway, the premise of the book is that the main character, Merritt Evans, comes home one day to find her beloved husband in bed with another man. Naturally, she divorces him in the blink of an eye and attempts to get on with her life. This is easier said than done, but with the help of her gay-best-friend Jeffrey, she devises a plan. She is going to be completely "no strings" for a year. To ensure this, she must have a new man for each month, and no longer. No lingering allowed.

Merritt's excited at first at the thought of having a new man every month, just lots of sex, lots of fun and no emotions required. And she's having damn hot sex, let me tell you. However, just a few months down the line, Merritt meets a man that makes her think perhaps she's had enough of the calendar game. But should she stick to her guns and see out the year - and potentially risk losing him? Or should she throw in the towel and see what a new relationship brings? Only one way to find out...

Calendar Girl is an absolutely fabulous book. As I said, it had me laughing on a regular basis, but it also had me feeling frisky, too. It is the perfect mix of engaging storyline, likeable characters, smoking-hot sex and light-hearted fun. I can't recommend this enough.