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Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes
When a buttoned-up professor and her unbuttoned daughter fall for the same irresistible man, a delightful, subversive comedy begins. . . .
Life isn’t easy for single mother Ally Hughes. Teaching at Brown, her class load is huge and her boss is a menace. At home, she contends with a critical mother, a falling-down house, and a daughter who never misses a beat. Between taking care of the people she loves, teaching full time, and making ends meet, Ally doesn't have time for a man. She doesn’t date. She’s not into flings. But then she meets Jake, an eager student, young in years but old in soul, who challenges his favorite professor to open up her life, and her heart, to love. It doesn't work. In fact, his urging backfires.
Ten years later, Ally's still single. Jake reappears and surprises her in a brand-new He's dating Ally's now-grown daughter. In this hilarious, heartrending tale, Ally is finally forced to concede (not only to herself) that an independent, "liberated" woman can still make room in her life for love.
Life isn’t easy for single mother Ally Hughes. Teaching at Brown, her class load is huge and her boss is a menace. At home, she contends with a critical mother, a falling-down house, and a daughter who never misses a beat. Between taking care of the people she loves, teaching full time, and making ends meet, Ally doesn't have time for a man. She doesn’t date. She’s not into flings. But then she meets Jake, an eager student, young in years but old in soul, who challenges his favorite professor to open up her life, and her heart, to love. It doesn't work. In fact, his urging backfires.
Ten years later, Ally's still single. Jake reappears and surprises her in a brand-new He's dating Ally's now-grown daughter. In this hilarious, heartrending tale, Ally is finally forced to concede (not only to herself) that an independent, "liberated" woman can still make room in her life for love.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published August 13, 2015
About the author
Jules Moulin
6 books59 followersJules Moulin has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She spent her twenties writing the Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning series Party of Five and The West Wing. She left Hollywood five years ago in order to work as a full-time mom and splits her time between New York City and Pasadena, California. ALLY HUGHES HAS SEX SOMETIMES is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 386 reviews
September 26, 2015
Okay, let's be straight here. This is a romance novel. It is straight-up wish fulfillment for 30- and 40-something women. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The writing is good, and while I had plenty of hangups with the plots and characters, it's nothing outside of your normal rom-com.
If you want a book to curl up with that's the reading equivalent of watching your favorite chick flick, you can't really go wrong. Ally is smart, Jake is perfect, the book is sexy as hell.
Enjoy, ladies.
If you want a book to curl up with that's the reading equivalent of watching your favorite chick flick, you can't really go wrong. Ally is smart, Jake is perfect, the book is sexy as hell.
Enjoy, ladies.
April 4, 2016
Una buena opción para leer una comedia romántica, aunque tiene algunos errores y termino siendo un tanto fantasiosa, aún así lo disfrute
August 25, 2015
I received a copy of the audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This isn't my usual fare so it is harder for me to really weigh in on how it compares with other similar books. (Is this romance? Did I accidentally listen to a romance novel? Or is this chick lit? Is there a difference?). Ally Hughes is a young professor who became a single mother while still in college (and managed to still get an Ivy League education and a tenure-track position! go figure!) and in a weekend of grading frenzy, she sleeps with one of the students in her class. I think this is supposed to be sexy but as someone in academia (and knowing the guy was in the class that she hadn't yet submitted grades for), it was a little squicky to me. I'm sensing it is supposed to be wish fulfillment for some women. I don't know. I have to go through sexual harassment training every damn year. You just don't sleep with students. /soapbox
Ten years later the same man comes to dinner with her daughter, now grown and trying to make it in Hollywood.
The novel moves between ten years ago and the present. The narrator did a decent job. The sex was more believable than the love (the author keeps saying love but it is clearly attraction, which is also good, but not love) but sometimes a few too many details. I really, REALLY don't want to hear how full the condom is. (What point is that trying to make? No, no, I don't want to know.)
Also a strange thing, from the title somehow I thought this would be British but it is American. Not a bad break from a stressful week and I finished quickly. ;)
This isn't my usual fare so it is harder for me to really weigh in on how it compares with other similar books. (Is this romance? Did I accidentally listen to a romance novel? Or is this chick lit? Is there a difference?). Ally Hughes is a young professor who became a single mother while still in college (and managed to still get an Ivy League education and a tenure-track position! go figure!) and in a weekend of grading frenzy, she sleeps with one of the students in her class. I think this is supposed to be sexy but as someone in academia (and knowing the guy was in the class that she hadn't yet submitted grades for), it was a little squicky to me. I'm sensing it is supposed to be wish fulfillment for some women. I don't know. I have to go through sexual harassment training every damn year. You just don't sleep with students. /soapbox
Ten years later the same man comes to dinner with her daughter, now grown and trying to make it in Hollywood.
The novel moves between ten years ago and the present. The narrator did a decent job. The sex was more believable than the love (the author keeps saying love but it is clearly attraction, which is also good, but not love) but sometimes a few too many details. I really, REALLY don't want to hear how full the condom is. (What point is that trying to make? No, no, I don't want to know.)
Also a strange thing, from the title somehow I thought this would be British but it is American. Not a bad break from a stressful week and I finished quickly. ;)
March 15, 2015
Loved this book. It's quirky, funny, and surprisingly sexy. I blushed a little (ok, a lot). I haven't wanted to be friends with a book character this much since Maria Semple's Bernadette.
January 3, 2016
3.5 stars Cute fun read!!
If someone asked me what exactly is “Chick Lit”, I would hand them this book and say this is a perfect example. It’s not too heavy on drama, yet there is some. It’s not filled with over the top sex scenes, though there are some, and it focuses on a female character who is trying to figure out some aspect of her life.
In Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes you get all of that and a lovely story. Told in alternating timelines, in one we experience a 48 hour period of time where Ally, drowning in responsibility and the stresses of real life leaves it all behind to spend the time with Jake, a former student and someone she has an inexplicable connection with. In the other, it’s 10 years later and Jake reappears in her life unexpectedly, but the stresses of her life haven’t let up in the least.
I thought this was the perfect way to tell this story. The alternating chapters show that while ten years have passed, Ally still struggles to balance the stresses of her life. She’s currently struggling with the loss of her mother, and dealing with the shenanigans that her 20 year old daughter is pulling. Back then, it was the struggles of a single mother and trying to acquire a tenured position at the college she was working.
There is of course a bad guy in this, who you know is a bad guy from the very beginning. Moulin wasn’t sneaky about him in any way at all, and I really disliked that he was even a part of this story, especially after what he introduces Ally’s daughter to.
Ultimately this book really felt almost like the story that all us single women wish could happen to us… That handsome, sexy guy we really fell for comes back years later, suddenly successful and famous and sweeps us off our feet in a whirlwind romance.
If you’re looking for something a little quirky, a little sexy and a little romantic definitely grab this title and dive right in. It’s a quick read that will have you laughing and smiling and cheering these characters on.
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
If someone asked me what exactly is “Chick Lit”, I would hand them this book and say this is a perfect example. It’s not too heavy on drama, yet there is some. It’s not filled with over the top sex scenes, though there are some, and it focuses on a female character who is trying to figure out some aspect of her life.
In Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes you get all of that and a lovely story. Told in alternating timelines, in one we experience a 48 hour period of time where Ally, drowning in responsibility and the stresses of real life leaves it all behind to spend the time with Jake, a former student and someone she has an inexplicable connection with. In the other, it’s 10 years later and Jake reappears in her life unexpectedly, but the stresses of her life haven’t let up in the least.
I thought this was the perfect way to tell this story. The alternating chapters show that while ten years have passed, Ally still struggles to balance the stresses of her life. She’s currently struggling with the loss of her mother, and dealing with the shenanigans that her 20 year old daughter is pulling. Back then, it was the struggles of a single mother and trying to acquire a tenured position at the college she was working.
There is of course a bad guy in this, who you know is a bad guy from the very beginning. Moulin wasn’t sneaky about him in any way at all, and I really disliked that he was even a part of this story, especially after what he introduces Ally’s daughter to.
Ultimately this book really felt almost like the story that all us single women wish could happen to us… That handsome, sexy guy we really fell for comes back years later, suddenly successful and famous and sweeps us off our feet in a whirlwind romance.
If you’re looking for something a little quirky, a little sexy and a little romantic definitely grab this title and dive right in. It’s a quick read that will have you laughing and smiling and cheering these characters on.
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
January 26, 2020
Fluffy but fun, with strong “Notting Hill” vibes. I’m not a romance reader but this was a laugh.
September 19, 2015
I didn't have to read for very long to decide that Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes was basically a Nancy Meyers movie (e.g., The Holiday; It's Complicated) in book form. The dialogue was so snappy it actually seemed to be lifted from a screenplay. The main character has a sad backstory that explains why she is the way she is--but not too sad. Just, you know, rom-com sad. The settings are picturesque: a shabby (but not too shabby) house in a New England college town; a fancy Brooklyn brownstone (inherited from a relative); an antiques store in Connecticut. People bring out cheese plates at their family dinners and drink expensive wine. Everyone, it's made clear, is extremely attractive in their own way. Ally is modest and naive. Her daughter, despite being raised by naive Ally, is savvy to the point of cynicism (but not too cynical--just rom-com cynical). The male love interest, Jake, despite being insanely good-looking, quite young, and, eventually is earnest, passionate, straightforward, exceedingly romantic, and awesome in bed, even at age 21. The one person who seems like a villain turns out to be a villain. Of course, as in most romantic comedies, you never really get to know anyone very well. The whole thing skates happily over the surface of everything. It was all so cinematic that I started compulsively casting the movie in my head.
This was enjoyable enough. However, as the book went on and it became evident that everything was extremely simplistic and going to stay that way, it started to remind me of something else: a Harlequin romance. Specifically, a Harlequin Blaze romance, which has all the formulaic elements of all the other Harlequins, but much more sex (don't ask me how I know about these, okay?). This book certainly had the sex--unimaginative and repetitive, but quite a bit of it. The romance was, quite frankly, paper-thin: He loves her, she loves him, but she turns him down for "practical" (non)reasons. Eventually . But there's nothing complicated, nuanced, or, frankly, adult about any of it (except the sex). Also like Harlequin romances, there's a side plot that is only very tangentially connected to the main plot, but helps distract from how skimpy the main plot is. There's also a lust for wealth, in the form of five-star hotel rooms and designer clothes, that goes unexamined in a way it wouldn't if this novel was even slightly more serious.
So there you have it: This is a romance novel. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, if you're into that sort of thing, you could do worse than reading this book--which is why I gave it three stars instead of two. For a romance, it's not bad. But if you're not into romance, don't be fooled by the cool cover design or the flap copy--there isn't much here for you. If you think you might in the mood for it, just watch Something's Gotta Give instead.
I won this book via a First Reads giveaway here on Goodreads.
This was enjoyable enough. However, as the book went on and it became evident that everything was extremely simplistic and going to stay that way, it started to remind me of something else: a Harlequin romance. Specifically, a Harlequin Blaze romance, which has all the formulaic elements of all the other Harlequins, but much more sex (don't ask me how I know about these, okay?). This book certainly had the sex--unimaginative and repetitive, but quite a bit of it. The romance was, quite frankly, paper-thin: He loves her, she loves him, but she turns him down for "practical" (non)reasons. Eventually . But there's nothing complicated, nuanced, or, frankly, adult about any of it (except the sex). Also like Harlequin romances, there's a side plot that is only very tangentially connected to the main plot, but helps distract from how skimpy the main plot is. There's also a lust for wealth, in the form of five-star hotel rooms and designer clothes, that goes unexamined in a way it wouldn't if this novel was even slightly more serious.
So there you have it: This is a romance novel. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, if you're into that sort of thing, you could do worse than reading this book--which is why I gave it three stars instead of two. For a romance, it's not bad. But if you're not into romance, don't be fooled by the cool cover design or the flap copy--there isn't much here for you. If you think you might in the mood for it, just watch Something's Gotta Give instead.
I won this book via a First Reads giveaway here on Goodreads.
May 24, 2016
Foi uma leitura agradável, mas nada de extraordinário. Não alterou absolutamente nada as minhas emoções, e quando isso acontece significa que o livro me é um pouco indiferente. Gosto quando os livros mexem comigo...
March 3, 2019
Una historia de lo más curiosa y divertida; puntos extras para la adorabilidad de Jake y algunos menos para la trama de Lizzie, que me pareció un poco extraña, pero en general lo he pasado estupendo.
September 26, 2021
Oh dear, I guess this is the first book I rated with two stars. I wasn't quite sure if I'll give it two or three but sadly, it really didn't deserve more than two stars.
Like I said while I was reading; I have no idea why did I ever pick up this book. I remember smiling because of the title and thinking: okay maybe it will be interesting. So I gave it a GO and it turns out it was a: no-no.
Where do I even start?
****SPOILER****
I'll put it bluntly: it's a story about a single mother named Ally who teaches at a university (bless her soul and every single parent souls as well), her twenty year old daughter Lizzie who wants a nose job so she can be better in her acting career and about a boy named Noah Bean who's real name is actually Jake and is a famous movie star.
How do all these people fit together?
Ally loves her daughter and is currently struggling with depression because her mother died of cancer a few months ago. She's a very loved professor at her university, in fact: so loved that 10 years ago one of her students declared his love to her. His name was Jake and they both feel in love and what happened? (This part is actually cute so I'm not gonna spoil it with details) They slept together. Then Ally said that wouldn't work out because she's ten years older then him, blabla.
OKAY MOVING ON 10 YEARS LATER.
Her daughter Lizzie has a high IQ, but sees herself as a actress and she wants a nose job but Ally (of course) doesn't approve of it. And what does Lizzie do? She joins an internet PORN site where you touch yourself in front of the web camera so people can... you know. ANYWAYS, Lizzie one day decides to introduce her mother to her best-friend (and potential crush) Noah Bean who's a famous actor. But the fun part is-- Noah is actually Jake! The boy Ally has slept with ten years ago!
And of course, the old loving feelings arrived back and etc., etc. IT WAS A CRAZY AND BORING RIDE, PEOPLE!
The writing is poorly. The dialogues suck and the characters have no intensity. I think that Jules Moulin had a good idea with the story but no real guidance and lack of experience.
It could have been better. Sorry.
Like I said while I was reading; I have no idea why did I ever pick up this book. I remember smiling because of the title and thinking: okay maybe it will be interesting. So I gave it a GO and it turns out it was a: no-no.
Where do I even start?
****SPOILER****
I'll put it bluntly: it's a story about a single mother named Ally who teaches at a university (bless her soul and every single parent souls as well), her twenty year old daughter Lizzie who wants a nose job so she can be better in her acting career and about a boy named Noah Bean who's real name is actually Jake and is a famous movie star.
How do all these people fit together?
Ally loves her daughter and is currently struggling with depression because her mother died of cancer a few months ago. She's a very loved professor at her university, in fact: so loved that 10 years ago one of her students declared his love to her. His name was Jake and they both feel in love and what happened? (This part is actually cute so I'm not gonna spoil it with details) They slept together. Then Ally said that wouldn't work out because she's ten years older then him, blabla.
OKAY MOVING ON 10 YEARS LATER.
Her daughter Lizzie has a high IQ, but sees herself as a actress and she wants a nose job but Ally (of course) doesn't approve of it. And what does Lizzie do? She joins an internet PORN site where you touch yourself in front of the web camera so people can... you know. ANYWAYS, Lizzie one day decides to introduce her mother to her best-friend (and potential crush) Noah Bean who's a famous actor. But the fun part is-- Noah is actually Jake! The boy Ally has slept with ten years ago!
And of course, the old loving feelings arrived back and etc., etc. IT WAS A CRAZY AND BORING RIDE, PEOPLE!
The writing is poorly. The dialogues suck and the characters have no intensity. I think that Jules Moulin had a good idea with the story but no real guidance and lack of experience.
It could have been better. Sorry.
September 1, 2015
I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me a little bit of Something's Gotta Give (but in reverse)---although, if this synopsis gave you pause, you should know that Jake isn't really dating Ally's daughter. It's not like he's had sex with both of them. So that made me feel a little better.
I absolutely loved Ally. She's smart and funny (although yeah, I kept reading her as Diane Keaton, but she's in her early 30s when she sleeps with Jake and then in her early 40s when he pops up again). I also liked Lizzie (her daughter), although she's such a young 20s that I kind of wanted to shake her at times. (But that's okay.)
And I loved Jake. I loved Jake by himself and Jake and Ally together and everything about this sweet, fun novel.
Recommended.
I absolutely loved Ally. She's smart and funny (although yeah, I kept reading her as Diane Keaton, but she's in her early 30s when she sleeps with Jake and then in her early 40s when he pops up again). I also liked Lizzie (her daughter), although she's such a young 20s that I kind of wanted to shake her at times. (But that's okay.)
And I loved Jake. I loved Jake by himself and Jake and Ally together and everything about this sweet, fun novel.
Recommended.
September 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this. A little chick lit, a little straight fiction and a little contemporary romance add up to a sexy but sometimes serious story about mothers and daughters, lost loves, sacrifice and living big.
September 9, 2015
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had been honest with myself about what it was before I started it. Plain and simple, this book is a romance novel. And it's pretty good, for what it is. It has all the necessaries: a studly and unusual male lead, a juicy setup, and a good number of steamy scenes.
Sadly for me, however, I got tripped up by the most trivial of obstacles—the cover. As you will notice, there is no giveaway here, no shirtless, muscled hunk locked in the arms of a chesty barmaid. No heaving bosoms or bulging pecs. So despite the pink and purple script and the admittedly bald-faced title, what I was expecting was a bit more literary than what I got.
It turns out Jules Moulin has a journalism degree and a career in writing for TV, neither of which prepared her for writing anything other than dialogue. I listened to an audio version, and I swear to Pete, every ten seconds one or another of the characters was reported to have “nodded.” Ally nodded. Jake nodded. He nodded. She nodded. Eventually, I was so annoyed by all the nodding, I wouldn't have minded if Ally had nodded her little head right off.
When I managed to block out Moulin's lazy narration, I was fairly absorbed by the story. The titular Ally Hughes is a professor and a single mom who hasn't made much space in her life for love. One weekend at the end of a semester, her handyman cancels on her and a sexy student offers to help her around the house. And then he proceeds to help her get off around the house, all weekend long.
Then the timeline jumps ahead ten years. Ally's daughter Lizzie, now twenty and an aspiring actress, brings home a friend to meet her mother. And who does that friend turn out to be, but the hunky student Ally spent that memorable weekend with ten years ago. Is he dating her daughter? Should they acknowledge that they remember each other? How do you proceed when a piece of your past life shows up, still looking dead sexy, in your present?
Moral of the story: don't be fooled by the lack of ripped bodices on the cover. Approached with the right expectations, this could be a light, fun romp of a book and a welcome mental break.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
Sadly for me, however, I got tripped up by the most trivial of obstacles—the cover. As you will notice, there is no giveaway here, no shirtless, muscled hunk locked in the arms of a chesty barmaid. No heaving bosoms or bulging pecs. So despite the pink and purple script and the admittedly bald-faced title, what I was expecting was a bit more literary than what I got.
It turns out Jules Moulin has a journalism degree and a career in writing for TV, neither of which prepared her for writing anything other than dialogue. I listened to an audio version, and I swear to Pete, every ten seconds one or another of the characters was reported to have “nodded.” Ally nodded. Jake nodded. He nodded. She nodded. Eventually, I was so annoyed by all the nodding, I wouldn't have minded if Ally had nodded her little head right off.
When I managed to block out Moulin's lazy narration, I was fairly absorbed by the story. The titular Ally Hughes is a professor and a single mom who hasn't made much space in her life for love. One weekend at the end of a semester, her handyman cancels on her and a sexy student offers to help her around the house. And then he proceeds to help her get off around the house, all weekend long.
Then the timeline jumps ahead ten years. Ally's daughter Lizzie, now twenty and an aspiring actress, brings home a friend to meet her mother. And who does that friend turn out to be, but the hunky student Ally spent that memorable weekend with ten years ago. Is he dating her daughter? Should they acknowledge that they remember each other? How do you proceed when a piece of your past life shows up, still looking dead sexy, in your present?
Moral of the story: don't be fooled by the lack of ripped bodices on the cover. Approached with the right expectations, this could be a light, fun romp of a book and a welcome mental break.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
August 19, 2015
I received this book as a part of a Goodreads "First Reads Giveaway." It is certainly possible that I am not the ideal reader for this particular book. Although, I do have a demonstrated appreciation for GOOD "Chick Lit" (cf. my article here: http://www.readingsjournal.net/2015/0...). I guess I'll start with the good. I did read the whole book and turn the pages reasonably quickly. I suppose for many writers this would be considered a win. I do think the alternating chapters that take place in the two different time periods of Ally's life made for a nice effect. That device was well used. And I did find the character of Ally Hughes to be very likeable. I guess I could understand what Moulin was trying to do by "domesticating" her self-declared feminist character; however, I suspect the character of Ally Hughes (and the way she chooses to define herself almost entirely in terms of sex (or lack thereof) and motherhood) would be an affront to actual self-declared feminist college professors. In addition, the character of Jake was downright nauseating. He may as well have been the mythical Arthurian knight that he plays on TV. He's just too perfect--with his perfect penis that can produce in Ally 6 orgasms in one night . . . and not because of some checkered porn star past or something like that, but only because he is so selflessly concerned with nothing but her pleasure. (But I digress . . . on behalf of regular guys everywhere). In truth, I much prefer my Chick Lit "heroes" to be the humble-bumbling-fool-Mark-Darcy type, rather than the played-out knight-in-shining-armor type. I suppose I also prefer my Chick Lit to be a bit funnier and smarter (and with a bit less seeping into the Romance genre). Overall, a fine debut. I suspect Moulin will go on to have a reasonable run of successful books. It just didn't work for me.
March 24, 2016
How can you not want to read a book with a title like this?
This book seemed to me to be marketed as literary fiction. Reading it, I felt that it was more of a contemporary romance with a literary MC (English professor in her 40s). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good romance and I liked this book. But it may find a wider audience if presented a bit differently.
The blurb also plays up the idea that a mother has a fling, then her daughter falls in love with the same man unknowingly. The daughter is young, and she does make a move, but there is no romance between them and no hurt feelings when the truth comes out.
I enjoyed the back and forth between the past and present, and I was interested in both stories equally, which is a bit rare for me in these types of books. Light read, but enjoyable.
This book seemed to me to be marketed as literary fiction. Reading it, I felt that it was more of a contemporary romance with a literary MC (English professor in her 40s). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good romance and I liked this book. But it may find a wider audience if presented a bit differently.
The blurb also plays up the idea that a mother has a fling, then her daughter falls in love with the same man unknowingly. The daughter is young, and she does make a move, but there is no romance between them and no hurt feelings when the truth comes out.
I enjoyed the back and forth between the past and present, and I was interested in both stories equally, which is a bit rare for me in these types of books. Light read, but enjoyable.
October 24, 2015
This was a fun, quick read about an underrepresented kind of romance novel heroine: the single mother. Her professional anxieties, personal fears, and conflicts of interest impede her risk taking ability and she abandons a budding romance with a former student ten years her junior. It alternates between the weekend they spent together a decade ago and the present. In the present, her daughter is 20, coming of around the same time Ally's sense of adult exploration and risk-taking were subsumed by the demands of motherhood. Now that her daughter's an adult, she's holding onto her identity as a mother because it's the only one she's ever truly nurtured. But her daughter wants to break free and her old love returns in a big way, urging Ally to do the same.
Definite chick lit. Definite escapist fantasy for single moms. Compulsively readable.
Definite chick lit. Definite escapist fantasy for single moms. Compulsively readable.
September 29, 2015
My mom saw this book and had to get it for me. Why? My name is Alexandra Hughes and most of my family calls me Allie (it was Ally until middle school when I thought Allie was more grown up -- not sure why I thought that) or Al or Alex. So my mom thought the title of this book was hilarious and she didn't care if I read it, she needed me to see it because she said it had my name written all over it.
Other than the title of the book, there wasn't much to love. I didn't like any of the characters or their interactions (they talked over each other a lot, so much it wasn't believable). I felt a lot of the story seemed forced. This also seemed more like a romance novel than chick-lit. The story was boring and predictable. I really only gave the book two stars for the title.
Other than the title of the book, there wasn't much to love. I didn't like any of the characters or their interactions (they talked over each other a lot, so much it wasn't believable). I felt a lot of the story seemed forced. This also seemed more like a romance novel than chick-lit. The story was boring and predictable. I really only gave the book two stars for the title.
September 9, 2015
Spent a lot of time annoyed with this book. This book to me felt like the girl in the room trying so hard to be funny and she may actually be if she weren't trying so hard.
In the books defense I mostly listened to the audio, and I didn't like the narrator, especially her attempt at reading the man's lines.
In the books defense I mostly listened to the audio, and I didn't like the narrator, especially her attempt at reading the man's lines.
July 9, 2015
I loved! Smart and funny, Ally and Jake were the perfect couple even with the age difference, and the sex scenes were very tasteful. The funny dialogs were perfectly written, the back in forth between time and the ending was so different. Thank you Dutton and Edelweiss for sending me a copy for review!
November 14, 2015
I received a copy of this for free through NetGalley
3.5 stars
I found the premise to be quite interesting and even though it is well written, it didn't completely translate for me. It is a cute little romance story filled with smart and witty characters so if that is your cup of tea, I would definitely give it a go.
3.5 stars
I found the premise to be quite interesting and even though it is well written, it didn't completely translate for me. It is a cute little romance story filled with smart and witty characters so if that is your cup of tea, I would definitely give it a go.
October 12, 2015
This was fun and fluffy! Exactly what I wanted / needed to read after my book club made me read Franzen. Pros: college professor does her hot student. Cons: it had a weird subplot involving an illicit sex trafficking ring (?). Overall: entertaining, and just a li'l bit steamy.
February 20, 2016
Ending was so rewarding, since book was dull, humorless. Most of the plot was about sex. Ending improved the whole book.
November 6, 2016
Åååhhh!!!
August 13, 2015
"Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes" is Jules Moulin debut novel. The title is absolutely brilliant, and also the premise to this book sounded really promising, so when I was asked if I want to be a part of Blog Tour for this novel, I didn't hesitate and immediately agreed.
It quickly turned out that this book was not this what I was expecting, although I am not sure what I was expecting :) Maybe more of the promised Tracy Bloom's humour? Having in mind this brilliant title suggesting something light, fluffy and funny, I found this novel to be a slow story about middle - age Ally, uncertain and shrinking violets, not knowing what she wants from life, her demanding and spoiled daughter and no plot. Single mum and professor Ally, after getting pregnant at seventeen, has devoted her life to her only daughter and her job, and the only good sex that she had was almost the only one in her life, yes she send the lover, who was her former student, away. Because he is 10 years younger. Because Ally doesn't deserve happiness. Because what people are going to say. Because what Ally's mother is going to say!
Fast forward, 10 years later, Ally's daughter brings the same student, now with a different name and a famous actor, and "People's" most sexiest alive, to Ally for dinner. How Ally managed not to know that Jack is now Noah, no idea.
I couldn't get used to the writing style, the short sentences (yes, yes, I get it, this is the way people communicate, but there were almost no descriptions, and as much as too many narration is not good, no narration is also not good). The storyline jumps between Ally's no - existent sex life, her daughter's needing money for a nose job, Jack's "perfect penis" and then a cyber - sex trade. Sometimes it truly sounded absurd and I guess it was done on purpose, so that we should read the story with a pinch of salt. The banter was hilarious, the conversations Ally had with her daughter sounded just like mother - daughter conversations, full of understatements and misapprehensions, and altogether, it also sounded a little too unbelievable.
But I totally adored the mother - daughter relationship, it was incredibly sharply observed and brilliantly captured, the way they didn't want to show how much they need each other, how they were trying to avoid each other, yet they couldn't live without each other. Just like in real life, right, when we are not ready to cut this proverbial umbilical cord.
The chapters were jumping back and forth, from past to present and from present to past, and while I usually don't have problems with this kind of telling a story, here it just left me hanging in the air - mostly the chapters ended with some kind of information, question, they were left open and we knew that some kind of continuation is required, but then the next chapter was telling us a totally different story, from different point of view and when the author brought back the events from the previous chapters, they were already forgotten by me.
But I think I know what the author was trying to achieve, and I appreciate her trying it. It is a debut novel and while Jules Moulin must probably find her voice, I will be gladly reading whatever next she has in store for us. "Ally Hughes Has sex Sometimes" was an easy, light, sexy and quick read, and the characters are likeable, the way they behave and speak is relatable. I am really sad I didn't love this book as much as I thought I will be, I'm sure it's "not you, it's me" case, so please be sure to check this debut novel for yourself.
Copy received from publisher in exchange for a review.
November 15, 2015
Cuando leí la sinopsis de esta novela pensé: tengo que leerlo. Hay muy pocas historias de profesor-alumno y es un tema muy interesante, o por lo menos a mí me lo parece. No solo por las complicaciones del tema laboral, que es algo serio, sino por la diferencia de edad. En este caso había dos pluses añadidos y es que la profesora le sacaba diez años al alumno -por lo general las mujeres somos más aprehensivas con el tema de la edad, o eso pienso- y además, su hija tenía cierto interés en Jake.
Tengo que admitir que la novela me defraudó un poco, no fue como esperaba. Aún así, a medida que avanzaba con la lectura conseguí engancharme, porque al principio no entendía nada. Con un tono demasiado desenfadado, la autora presentaba el marco argumental de la novela en un vis veo, llegando a perder al lector -sobre todo cuando cambiaba sin ton ni son del presente al pasado-.
Poco a poco la novela va ganando algo de consistencia -aunque no de profundidad- y hay algunos elementos donde "agarrarse", consiguiendo enganchar. Es una historia con un tono de humor, directo y sin formalidades. No puedo decir que me haya apasionado el estilo de la autora, porque le falta profundidad, más descripciones y detalles, en varias ocasiones había páginas enteras con diálogos tan solo con guiones, sin ahondar en las expresiones del interlocutor o del ambiente ¡yo qué sé, algo!.
Por un lado tenemos a Jake, quien fue alumno de Ally, quedó prendado de su profesora sin remedio -a pesar de que sus clases fueran aburridas-. Un buen día, en una revisión de un trabajo, Jake va a hablar con Ally; acaba saliendo con un trabajo entre las manos, y es que Ally necesita a alguien que le eche u cable con los muebles del hogar. El roce hace el cariño, Jake y Ally se conocerán más a...fondo. Una relación condenada desde el principio.
Ally es madre soltera, cuando conoció a Jake su retoño tenía diez años. Siempre se sacrificó por su hija y su vida se podía resumir en una cómoda rutina, pero Jake despierta en ella anhelos que permanecieron ocultos durante mucho tiempo. Y eso la asusta. Además de la diferencia de edad, tema que siempre ronda en su cabeza.
Tres años después, Jake y Ally se vuelven a encontrar de un modo... bastante incómodo. Lizzie -hija de Ally- invita a cenar a Jake, quien es una auténtica estrella del cine y perseguido por hordas de flashes y fans. En cuanto se reencuentra con Ally se propone firmemente conquistarla, no va a rendirse tan fácilmente como antaño.
Con este panorama ya de por sí bastante difícil, la autora introduce un elemento más a la ecuación, y es que Lizzie quiere convertirse en una gran actriz, con apenas veintiún años participó en alguna que otra película de refilón, pero ella quiere triunfar. Y haré todo lo que esté en su mano para conseguirlo... metiéndose en un buen lío.
En general, una historia entretenida para pasar una buena tarde, pero pudo haber sido mucho más. La autora podría haberle sacado más partido, tenía ingredientes de sobra. Comestible pero no brillante.
BUENA
Tengo que admitir que la novela me defraudó un poco, no fue como esperaba. Aún así, a medida que avanzaba con la lectura conseguí engancharme, porque al principio no entendía nada. Con un tono demasiado desenfadado, la autora presentaba el marco argumental de la novela en un vis veo, llegando a perder al lector -sobre todo cuando cambiaba sin ton ni son del presente al pasado-.
Poco a poco la novela va ganando algo de consistencia -aunque no de profundidad- y hay algunos elementos donde "agarrarse", consiguiendo enganchar. Es una historia con un tono de humor, directo y sin formalidades. No puedo decir que me haya apasionado el estilo de la autora, porque le falta profundidad, más descripciones y detalles, en varias ocasiones había páginas enteras con diálogos tan solo con guiones, sin ahondar en las expresiones del interlocutor o del ambiente ¡yo qué sé, algo!.
Por un lado tenemos a Jake, quien fue alumno de Ally, quedó prendado de su profesora sin remedio -a pesar de que sus clases fueran aburridas-. Un buen día, en una revisión de un trabajo, Jake va a hablar con Ally; acaba saliendo con un trabajo entre las manos, y es que Ally necesita a alguien que le eche u cable con los muebles del hogar. El roce hace el cariño, Jake y Ally se conocerán más a...fondo. Una relación condenada desde el principio.
Ally es madre soltera, cuando conoció a Jake su retoño tenía diez años. Siempre se sacrificó por su hija y su vida se podía resumir en una cómoda rutina, pero Jake despierta en ella anhelos que permanecieron ocultos durante mucho tiempo. Y eso la asusta. Además de la diferencia de edad, tema que siempre ronda en su cabeza.
Tres años después, Jake y Ally se vuelven a encontrar de un modo... bastante incómodo. Lizzie -hija de Ally- invita a cenar a Jake, quien es una auténtica estrella del cine y perseguido por hordas de flashes y fans. En cuanto se reencuentra con Ally se propone firmemente conquistarla, no va a rendirse tan fácilmente como antaño.
Con este panorama ya de por sí bastante difícil, la autora introduce un elemento más a la ecuación, y es que Lizzie quiere convertirse en una gran actriz, con apenas veintiún años participó en alguna que otra película de refilón, pero ella quiere triunfar. Y haré todo lo que esté en su mano para conseguirlo... metiéndose en un buen lío.
En general, una historia entretenida para pasar una buena tarde, pero pudo haber sido mucho más. La autora podría haberle sacado más partido, tenía ingredientes de sobra. Comestible pero no brillante.
BUENA
September 19, 2015
What a fun little book! Immensely readable and engaging! It was a fairly light read but so much fun. I really liked the characters and how the story played out. This one is a little quirky and a little funny ... and definitely a little sexy! But, in the best way! I love books that capture my imagination and make me not want to put the book down and this was one of those. So light and fun!
I loved Ally - she is such an interesting and compelling character. I loved following her life and seeing her view of the world play out in this novel. She's such a fantastic character. The pacing is fast, the writing very quick and concise. I read somewhere that the author wrote for television which totally makes sense to me. This book really reads like a well written TV show but in novel form.
I really found this book to be a delight! I am looking forward to seeing what Jules Moulin brings us next! Definitely recommend!
I loved Ally - she is such an interesting and compelling character. I loved following her life and seeing her view of the world play out in this novel. She's such a fantastic character. The pacing is fast, the writing very quick and concise. I read somewhere that the author wrote for television which totally makes sense to me. This book really reads like a well written TV show but in novel form.
I really found this book to be a delight! I am looking forward to seeing what Jules Moulin brings us next! Definitely recommend!
January 28, 2016
Ok, so this book is kind of wonderful. It's also incredibly unlikely. And a little problematic (there is a speech about marriage and ownership I had quite a few issues with). It's crazy fun and a certain woman's fantasy – it may not be my fantasy but I was happy to be along for the ride. It's perfectly paced and uses its timeline cleverly across the ten years it spans. It's a rom-com (uniquely with a mother as its protagonist!) that is fun to lose yourself in and it lightly explores how one woman juggles motherhood, sex and ambition (answer: horribly ((not the motherhood part, she's a totally great mum)) until she's 41; yikes). The cover typography is so beautiful and needs to be seen in the flesh to be appreciated. I feel like I could read it again immediately. However, the problems are certainly there and ultimately all this book is is one woman's fantasy, and a shallow one at that. I've never said this before but I actually think this would make a better film than it does a book.
January 26, 2016
Ok so I enjoyed this because it's easy and flirty and cute and whimsical and I liked Ally but it's also pretty ridiculous and unbelievable and a bit 50 Shades-y (the gifts, the tracking-her-down). The sub-plot was weird, so weird. Some of it was a bit TMI. BUT! It is kinda like junk food literature, it's so bad it's good, as it's not perfect and it's not realistic and some of it will make you scoff but it does make you smile and laugh and that's good enough for me.
January 18, 2016
I enjoyed this book, I can't say I didn't. However the writing style just didn't sit well with me and I found it at times difficult to interpret conversations and became confused throughout. The love element was okay, not the best, but very original! May be a 2.5 stars, I'm not too sure.
May 8, 2016
Un poco diferente de lo que leo a menudo, pero me gusto mucho. Quiero leer más libros así, que sean más realistas y que no censuren tanto el contenido como los contemporáneos juveniles o que sean tan repetitivos como los New Adult.
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