Today I’m shouting loudly Permission by Jo Bloom is the perfect book choice for book clubs to discuss, and for all book bloggers. Can you even imagine being married for 20 years when when your partner suggests after having sex, to try an open relationship. How would you feel? I would be absolutely livid. Faye and Steve are happy enough after being married for 20 years. After one evening of them having great intense sex, Faye asked her husband have you ever thought what it would be like to have an open relationship? Just try something different? Faye loves her husband but she is the force behind this as she likes the idea of a little sexual adventure. I got the feeling that Faye here seems to pulling all the strings, being the boss making this decision, that her and her husband should have sex with different partners. After Faye went to a catholic school, I couldn’t quite believe that she has thought up this idea having sex with a stranger. However for Steve he is not into this kind of thing that his wife wants him to do. For Faye it might be an easy thing to do having sex with someone else, considering she fancies a guy at her spin class. Before Faye starts having sex with anyone, Steve is quite savvy he prints out some rules for consensual non-monogamy that Faye must sign. To me they both seemed to have a happy sex life. Having an open relationship will this help Faye and Steve to grow closer? Could this recharge their sex life? I couldn’t wait to read on to find out how this was going to plan out. I highly recommend reading Permission by Jo Bloom, as we always think this type of thing having an open relationship would come from a man’s point of view, so I loved it that the table was turned and twisted by a wife who wants the open relationship.

A unique story about a marriage and what happens when your spouse wants to try an open marriage after 20 years? This could be the perfect book club book as you discuss the aspects of this one. At times it is brutally honest, but I was engrossed and could not put it down. It’s more than just about sex as it broaches relationships and the pieces of that relationship. While I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, I was intrigued to see where the story went. And how two people with very different ideas on the subject would compromise.

Permission by Jo Bloom asks an interesting question: can your marriage survive if you're both sleeping with other people? The concept of an open marriage was what drew me to this book as I was fascinated by the effect it would have on the characters. Fay and Steve are very happily married. They have two children, grown-up Billy and six year old Rose, a much-longed for second baby. Their life is good but Fay brings up the question of an open marriage and Steve reluctantly agrees to give it a go. It's fair to say that Steve is more than happy with what he has with Fay whereas Fay, although similarly happy, is also curious and wants to experiment more. She sells it as something that might give their marriage a bit of a kick. I think it's more a case of being careful what you wish for and having permission to do something doesn't necessarily mean you should do it. I guess it could be termed as a mid-life crisis for Fay, a point when she is on the precipice between having the opportunity to live in a different way and have new experiences, or simply carrying on as she has been doing ad infinitum. This is a well-written and thought-provoking book. It doesn't just tackle the ins and outs of a marriage but also looks at how what's going on in the home can affect children. No matter how well you think you are hiding things the underlying effects are hard to disguise and the secondary storyline about Rose illustrates that very well. I liked Steve much more than I liked Fay. I recognise that Fay is a complex character and I felt that maybe there was more underneath the surface with her. Steve also has his demons but he felt like a much easier-going character. The characterisations are excellent and complicated and there's an intensity to the writing that made for quite compelling reading, albeit with the sense of watching a car crash about to happen in slow motion. An honest and sensitive portrayal of a modern marriage with scenarios to make you ponder.