Partners in Passion: A Guide to Great Sex, Emotional Intimacy and Long-Term Love

Married Tantric instructors Michaels and Johnson draw from personal and professional experience to put readers on the path towards a long-term intimacy that is satisfying and exciting. They emphasize sex as a “co-creation” between lovers, where partners are “comrades on an exciting journey,” while criticizing relationship myths like the “soul mate” and forms of “gender essentialism” that pit men against women. Though they insist it is “just a general overview,” their anatomy and physiology lesson contains a wealth of information that may surprise readers. The authors address Tantra, explaining the ritual of “giving and receiving sessions” and the concept of “becoming aware of energy and working with it deliberately.” More adventurous readers can delve into role-playing and more advanced kinks—which are approached from a Tantric perspective—and the authors discuss differences between open relationships, swinging, and polyamory, with the attendant sexual and emotional implications of each. Other topics include handling sexual problems, from desire discrepancy to medical dysfunctions, and maintaining an active sex life at an advanced age. With a thorough resource guide included, this book runs the gamut on sex education, and the authors’ sex-positivity, feminism, and rejection of gender stereotypes makes it a welcome addition to the genre. (Feb.)