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Sex as a Second Language

alisa kwitney

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Teaching an advanced ESL class in Manhattan, former actress Katherine Miner decides to give up on both men and sex after enduring painful relationships with her untrustworthy father and husband, a choice that is challenged when her father reveals his secret career as a spy and warns Katherine about those nearest to her. 60,000 first printing.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25,2006

This edition

Format
336 pages, Hardcover
Published
April 25, 2006 by Atria
ISBN
9780743268905
ASIN
0743268903
Language
English

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About the author

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alisa kwitney

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I'm the author of YA, graphic novels and novels for adults who still feel young, at least most of the time. Recent works include GILT, a graphic novel about time-traveling women of a certain age; Cadaver & Queen, a YA Feminist Frankenstein meets Grey's Anatomy tale, and Mystik U from DC Comics, which features Zatanna and other magical characters in their first year at college. I also co-host a Sandman podcast, The Endless, with Lani Diane Rich.

My first novel, Till the Fat Lady Sings, is also about college and romance and eating disorders. (It was my thesis at Columbia University's MFA Program, where I felt like an outlier for liking comic books and romance as much as literature.) I was an editor at Vertigo, the mature/dark fantasy branch of DC Comics, before going freelance. (I've also written two hormonal werewolf books as Alisa Sheckley.)

I live near the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, NY, with two dogs and a frightening number of books.

aka Alisa Sheckley

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 36 votes)
5 stars
10(28%)
4 stars
15(42%)
3 stars
11(31%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
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36 reviews All reviews
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cloudymidnight
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is a light, quick, easy, enjoyable read. It is enjoyable because of the thesis of the book and the fact that it is a romance. Kat is a teacher of English as a second language and her mother and friends want her to begin dating now that she is divorced. Forty is not the sexual end though and that is the rest of the story.

J. Robert Ewbank author of "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
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Otter_Comrade
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This ridiculous book was neither interesting, nor funny. I kept hoping the romance subplot would at least be fun and sexy but it was a disappointment too. The protagonist, over the first few chapters, becomes more and more unlikable. She constantly victimizes herself and I found it quite annoying. I don't even think divorced, single moms would necessarily sympathize all that much with this character. The supporting characters are flat and do little to develop the main characters. A few characters were quirky and entertaining but not enough to save this book from a one star rating.
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Losho
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I was drawn to the title--as an English teacher, I have had many ESL students and even taught a class to a group of international Engineers at John Deere. The twist in this book is that the main character ends up romantically involved with one of her students,who turns out to have a few twists as well. It is an enjoyable book, with some very strong main characters.
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Manthors
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Very good romance. I am not a romance reader, but I liked this one! The heroine was 40 years old, for one thing, which I appreciate. She was also a mother. She didn't do impulsive things like other romance heroines tended to do, but when it came to her child, she was fierce. I could relate and I really enjoyed how she handled the obstacles in her way. She used her prior life experience to deal with them, and recognized how her prior experiences were influencing her choices. It was refreshing to see a woman actually thinking before acting. I would read more romances if the women were more like Kat.
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obSASSion
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Fun, quick, light and a little trashy. Not a bad read...but nothing earth-shattering.
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Ethansanimelist
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I watch a lot of romantic comedy movies but I don't read a lot of romcom books. They seem slow and hampered by wooden dialogue. Not so Alisa Kwitney. I really enjoyed her tale of an aging actress trying to take care of her learning - delayed son by teaching English to Foreign students. The romantic parts were romantic, the funny parts were laugh out loud funny and the sexy parts were very sexy. All the characters seemed very real and the dialogue sparkled. I can't wait to read more of her stuff.
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Sylynoria
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This book was strongly recommended to me by a fellow author, so I had high expectations. It was pretty solid. The main character is great, her son is great... but I didn't feel the connection between her and the male lead. That being said, the love scenes were hot, if you can get past the whole Viking thing.
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madsin92
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I saw this at the library. I enjoyed it immensely. It was funny and romantic. I also related to her being an actress and the process of learning a language and a culture. That being said, the end was just too easy. It just sort of tidied itself all up and that was a bit disappointing. Books these days often have poor endings full of ellipses. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised. Parts of it will stay with me.
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