Who’d have thought a book about a sex party would be full of suspense? I couldn’t put One Weekend in Aspen down, I had to know what would happen next. I would have read it in one sitting if life had let me, but as it is, I had to stop reading it for a whole day. Yet now that I have turned the last page, I’m sad it’s over. I really didn’t want it to end.
Emily’s marriage of ten years just ended but the breakup had been years in the making. Even so, she doesn’t feel ready for a new relationship, yet probably wouldn’t say no to casual sex, an easy re-entry into the world of dating, without pressure. Would a sex party fit that definition? Probably not but Gianna, Emily’s best friend, won’t let Emily decline the invitation to one of Katherine’s famous women-only weekends. Who cares that Katherine is Emily’s client? There will be eight other women to choose from. On the plane to Aspen, Emily finds herself seated next to Alex, who turns out to be as charming as she’s gorgeous. Easy flirting entertains them on the flight, phone numbers are exchanged but Emily doesn’t think she’ll ever see Alex again.
With this book, Jaime Clevenger did something that I didn’t think was possible, not to that level: she wrote an incredibly hot story that will, at the same time, give you all the feels. Without even a puppy or a kitten (which for the sexy parts is actually a good thing, I don’t even know why my mind went there). The only other book that made me feel this way is Party Favors by Erin McLellan, but it’s a novella, whereas One Weekend in Aspen is a full-length novel.
What makes this book remarkable isn’t beautiful literary writing – it’s very well-written but I don’t think any sentence will make the reader pause in wonder. It’s an accumulation of little things. The very sex-positive stance is glorious. Sex is wonderful, and there’s no shame in enjoying it, in whichever – consensual – way it comes, contrary to what we, especially girls and women, are often thoughtlessly taught. That’s something Emily has forgotten over the course of her marriage. The pace is excellent, there’s humour and banter (flirtatious and not), tension and passion. All characters are complex and multilayered, and the two mains are enchanting. Quite a few of the secondary characters deserve their own story. Just saying.
Jude in the Stars 