Hot Relationships: How to Know What You Want, Get What You Want, and Keep it Red Hot!

Relationships expert Tracey Cox, author of Hot Sex, admits that she is not currently "snuggled up on the couch with Mr. Perfect." Never mind--she sure knows relationships: good ones, lousy ones, flings, live-ins, and "first date fizzles." She's knowledgeable, reassuring, and very funny. First, Cox discusses the advantages of being single (yeah, yeah) and helps you figure out what kind of partner/relationship you're seeking and where to find him or her. Then she takes you through getting that first date.

As she explores falling in love, evaluating your relationship, and getting closer to commitment, Cox is feisty and irreverent. One chapter's subtitle is "Getting from Bonking-Each-Other-Senseless to Couplesville (Without Losing the Urge)." She discusses sex directly and wittily, explaining, for example, why you might have been hungry for sex when you weren't getting any but you're indifferent when it's available in an ongoing relationship: "It's a bit like Thanksgiving. You can smell that turkey cooking and you're practically drooling. Come the day after, you'd rather eat mashed up grasshoppers than face another slice." Keeping sex alive in a relationship is linked with keeping communication alive, and Cox gives you tips for accomplishing this, too. Other topics include jealousy, sex after marriage, infidelity, destructive relationships, and how to get over a break-up. --Joan Price