The Lifestyle

A Novel

By: Taylor Hahn

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A heartwarming and hilarious novel about swinging, marriage, and complexities of the heart.

“This book is fun as hell. Hilarious, addictive, moving, and sexy. I lost track of time reading it, and I couldn’t get enough!”—Jasmine Guillory, bestselling author of While We Were Dating

Georgina Wagman has it all—a great marriage, a great job at a prestigious law firm, and great friends. She’s living the life she always wanted, and everything is perfect. Until, that is, she walks in on her husband Nathan in a compromising position with a junior associate. Georgina has a moment of crisis. But divorce is not a part of the five-year plan, so she comes up with an idea to save her marriage and recapture the spark. She and Nathan are going to become swingers.

Georgina isn’t going to embark on this adventure alone, though. Her friends Felix and Norah and their respective partners decide to tag along for the ride. They’ve got relationship woes of their own that swinging just might fix. Georgina, convinced Felix and Norah belong together, is thrilled. What better place to reignite romance between two people destined to be together than a swingers’ party? Her plan is foolproof, until she runs into a college ex at the first party. When they reconnect, Georgina will find herself torn between her head and her heart, with her very happiness hanging in the balance.

Perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Sophie Kinsella, The Lifestyle is a playful homage to Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse and an outrageously fun summer listen.

©2022 Taylor Hahn (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A New York Post MUST-READ BOOK OF THE SUMMER!

“There's nothing quite like a breezy, but smart beach read to herald in the beginning of the summer season. Thankfully Taylor Hahn's The Lifestyle is just the book to do so.”—Thrillist

“A seductive rom-com focusing on not one but three relationships while also tackling career, motherhood, sex, and power dynamics.”—Apartment Therapy

“Hahn’s zany, high-energy debut recasts Jane Austen’s meddlesome heroine Emma as a 30-something New York City lawyer, and her plan for solving everyone’s relationship issues is a foray into the swinger scene. . . . [Georgina’s] well-meaning but overinvolved tone is hilariously on-point. The swinger scene is depicted with playfulness and heart. . . . Hahn’s plot stands well enough on its own for those unfamiliar with Emma to enjoy, and readers who love contemporary resettings of the classics will be especially tickled.”—Publishers Weekly

good overall

what started out slow and multidirectional finally picked a turn and flowed into a nice cute love story.

A great read

This was a fun read, the characters were all well developed and I found myself laughing out loud and also shedding a tear for Georgina. It even made me pause and consider “would I like the life style?”

Different

A very interesting story. The beginning is a slow burn that's a bit all over the place but once the book gets to a good pace it's pretty enjoyable. Love the glimpse into "the lifestyle" that the book provides. There are a few characters that come off a little annoying in my opinion but I appreciate the vast differences in personality of each person. It added to the depth of the book and I even found myself feeling sorry for Georgina at one point. All in all not a bad read.

Keeps you interested!!

I really enjoyed this book. Kept me interested with the storylines and characters. Georgina had a lot of realizations with herself by the end of the book!

Loved it!

What a great read! Expertly narrated. I loved everything about this book and it left me craving more!

Good story about self realization.

Nora’s voice wasn’t my favorite lol but the reader was quite dynamic with accents and voices for different characters.

Such an eye opener into "The Lifestyle"

I really enjoyed Taylor Hahn's viewpoint with The Lifestyle. It was refreshing, honest and above all showed how everyone involved could take the higher ground in any situation and still come out all right. No matter how bad things got every character showed the decency to step back and evaluate the situation before reacting. Which was really "grown up" and logical. You don't see a lot of that anymore. It was refreshing.

Interesting premise but choppy execution

It’s hard to review this one without spoilers. The main characters aren’t likable. Work friendship between person and their spouse’s former lover is ridiculously unbelievable. As far as the swinging- there’s lots of talk about rules, boundaries, and communication but no follow through. Characters break the rules to elicit jealousy and enact revenge. I kept thinking how dangerous their behaviors were. Tiresome trendy NYC content.

Fun read

I enjoyed this read about changes, challenges and growth. Conveys a message of finding yourself.

I really enjoyed it.

The narrator was great! I enjoyed the story. I'm glad Georgina understood (iykyk). I liked how you felt part of the group, the friend group, lol. And how tasteful the swinging scenes were done. I felt like I had a bit of every character in me. I'd recommend.