Book Review: 7 Years Bad Sex

By Melissa Amster

Nicky Wells impressed me with her "Rock Star Romance" series, so when she decided to go a different direction with her storytelling prowess, I was definitely interested in seeing what else she could do. Her most recent novel, 7 Years Bad Sex, is a creative tale of a couple cursed by the inability to consummate their marriage.

One wedding. One curse? Disaster ever after…

A seven-years-bad-sex curse? Surely not! Yet something went wrong when rock singer Casey and drummer Alex got married on that beautiful yacht anchored off St Tropez in the south of France. Something went badly wrong. For even on their wedding night, the young couple discovers a complete and somewhat surprising inability to make love. Muddling through their honeymoon with a string of thin excuses for their predicament, the lovers defer finding a solution (and panicking) until the return to their home in London. After all, they married for life and to make rock music, not for the love of sex. Right?

But when they resume life as normal in London, all hell breaks loose. Increasingly frantic in their quest for release, the unhappy newlyweds embark on a string of hilarious and occasionally harmful antics that drives them, their band, and an assortment of random strangers to the brink of despair. But it ain’t over ‘til it’s over or, in this case… it ain’t over ‘til the newlyweds sing. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Casey and Alex's situation is definitely unimaginable. Nicky takes some fun and crazy approaches to this predicament throughout the story. Everything seems to be working against them each time they try for a roll in the hay. How frustrating that must be! It eventually starts to take a toll on their confidence and their relationship.

Nicky has great use of dialogue and humor to carry the story from start to finish. The dynamic between Alex and Casey, as well as with their friends, feels realistic. I enjoyed the secondary characters as much as the primary ones, especially the gay couple (but I won't say how they are involved in the story as to not give spoilers). I also appreciate that Nicky summarizes some of the incidents instead of having us go through them at the same time as Alex and Casey did.

There are a few times when I felt the story could easily end in a good spot and I would have been satisfied. However, then it spins out of control again and starts to feel a bit tedious before getting back to a good spot again.

Overall, 7 Years Bad Sex was an imaginative and entertaining story that I enjoyed reading. I could tell that Nicky had a lot of fun writing it and trying to devise ways for her main characters to NOT do the deed.

Thanks to Nicky Wells for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Nicky Wells: