Sex Hell is a madcap, bizarro romp through the sex lives of four people caught up in a witch’s spell. Debbie has a boyfriend, a hunk of a man named Mike. Debbie’s problem is that she’s more turned on by the idea of popcorn and a book than she is by her muscle-bound boyfriend. When a witch shows up in the diner where Debbie works as a waitress, the old woman makes her an offer. Debbie can trade in the last three years of her life and get great sex in return. Anxious that Mike will see through her excuses for not having sex, she agonizes over the offer. Her friend and co-worker Cynthia is all for it, and after Mike leaves town for work, much agonizing and a bit of shady bargaining, the deal is done.

Before the night is over, Debbie finds herself in a car crash—and then in bed—with Juan, a handsome guitar player. She feels terrible, Mike seems to know that she cheated on him, and she wants to find a way to get out of the deal. This setup topples the dominoes in a hilarious chain of events involving demons, bizarre sex, a Love Goddess, magical bongos, bad German accents, true love, and a road trip from hell.

If you’re looking for something wildly out of the ordinary, Sex Hell is right up your alley. The book reads like a 1930’s screwball comedy gone horribly awry in a so-wrong-it’s-right way, and if you’ve read anything described as “bizarro”, you’ll find plenty to like here. It’s definitely not for readers who are put off by graphic sex and language and you have to completely suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy the delightful absurdity of the whole thing.

Debbie de La Fontaine is a geeky, overly-anxious woman who takes “overthinking” to a whole new level. She’s the kind of hot mess who wonders if she should rush to change her clothes as soon as her boyfriend knocks on the door. Mike adores her, but Debbie goes to extreme lengths to keep from having sex with him. Cynthia is a good friend, but as a wing man, she’s terrible, and prone to leaving Debbie hanging.

Her boyfriend Mike is a caricature, superhero-like in his quest to save Debbie from the “evil witch” but equally tone deaf to the realities of the situation. Juan is handsome and cocky and desperate to avoid any kind of commitment, but since the demon sentenced him and Debbie to Sex Hell, he can’t get away from her, no matter how hard he tries. Their quest to get out of Sex Hell is the best part of the book. The situations they get into, and out of, and back into, are utterly cartoonish, but what else would you expect of a woman who keeps a portrait of Wile E. Coyote on her wall?

I’d recommend this as a great vacation read. It’s a fun, totally illogical but ultimately satisfying romantic adventure. Take it to the beach where you won’t be afraid to laugh out loud.

Pages: 320 pages | ISBN: 9780990636557