Coming Clean

Starred review from May 30, 2016
Parker’s witty, insightful, and inventive Monkey Business Trio finale (after Getting Rough) packs an emotional punch as a couple in present-day San Diego grapple with being true to themselves and demystifying family legacies. Frustrated Cassidy Whalen, done with being unappreciated, issues her partner, Shaw Matthews, an ultimatum: attend couple’s therapy to learn how to put the sizzle back into their relationship, or she and their three-year-old son are moving back to her hometown. Shaw reluctantly agrees; he doesn’t like the idea of counseling, but Cassidy and their son are everything to him. Shaw believes his partnership with Cassidy is working well—she is the nurturer and wanted to be a stay-at-home mother, and he is the provider, his long hours as a partner at Striker Sports Entertainment ensuring that he is successfully supporting his family financially—but at the counseling session he gets an unexpected surprise: Cassidy announces she has been faking her orgasms. They embark on an unconventional, delightful erotic journey, relishing in the restored sizzle and trust as frank conversations reveal unspoken needs and jealousies. A lingering demon provides a now-or-never opportunity for Shaw to step up and for the couple to commit to a relationship for life. Spunky and charismatic characters and riveting banter make this hard-fought-for romance irresistible.

July 1, 2016

The climactic conclusion to the "Monkey Business Trio" (after Playing Dirty and Getting Rough) sees onetime adversaries Cassidy Whalen and Shaw Matthews team up for their biggest challenge yet: parenthood. Three years after a risky childbirth, Cassidy and Shaw are feeling the strains of domesticity. While Cassidy chose to stay home with their son, Abe, she can't help but feel slighted (and envious) as Shaw continues to climb the ladder at the prestigious sports firm where they formerly competed as equals. Shaw, meanwhile, is buckling under increasing professional pressure and his promise to give his son a better life than the one he had. Tension seeps into all aspects of their marriage, particularly in the bedroom. Through Dr. Katya Minkov's "hands-on" sex therapy, Cassidy and Shaw rediscover the inimitable passion that makes them excellent competitors and even better lovers. Parker flickers between the disparate personalities of her main characters with ease, balancing Cassidy's weary nostalgia for her life before motherhood with Shaw's dark humor and mounting insecurity over his role as father and family provider. The heavier moments of the novel are tempered with scorching-hot scenes of a lost couple finding each other once again. VERDICT Readers familiar with snarky Shaw and no-nonsense Cassidy will thoroughly appreciate this finale to the duo's wild ride.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.