Title: The Ashley Madison Diaries: My Secret Journey into the Scandalous World of Infidelity Author: Sharon Sharalike Publisher: Burman Books Publish Date: 2003 Pages: 180 Genres:: Non-Fiction, Memoir Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

The Ashley Madison Diaries chronicles a period in the real life of Sharon, an unhappily married young woman with two children who takes to the Internet and becomes a client of the real-life online Ashley Madison Agency to find the passion and affection missing in her marriage.

Sharon's marriage to the obnoxious Dogbiscuit, which came about only because she got pregnant by accident, leaves much to be desired, mainly an increasingly strong urge to satisfy her unmet. She is doing her best to live up to her responsibilities as a mother and wife but is suffering inside. And so she decides it's time to cheat, but in her situation, it's really to start living again. Sharon’s friend Dakota encourages her to forget morality and find satisfaction instead as the circumstances are extenuating and painful. Infidelity may be considered a sin, but so is being neglected by an uncaring spouse. No matter how immoral you may find cheating on a partner to be, after reading about how Dogbiscuit treated her you may not only understand why she had to cheat but be amazed she didn’t start sooner.

Anyone who has ever nurtured an all-consuming sexual obsession while at work will appreciate Sharon’s well-choreographed ballet of hiding her open online screens from her coworkers and using her workplace as a base to plan trysts. And it’s a testament to the author’s talent that she can make an unfaithful wife, usually the most reviled of literary and real-life figures, not only sympathetic but most lovable. Reading like it could be the cynical epilogue to Bridget Jones’s Diary, Sharon’s initial encounters with married men she meets offline leave much to be desired, namely other men. Sharon is a pip and her character is deeply endearing.

What unsatisfied needs drive Sharon and her sophisticated friend Dakota to involve escapades from tolerating a lovers’ need to don her recently worn underwear to Sharon’s “look-great-for-sex” diet. Sharon’s quest for companionship tumbles wildly alongside her failed attempts to meet good men such as the date with an emaciated hardcore vegetarian who attempts to convert Sharon to his unmeaty ways. She is not shy about the reality of her darker inclinations in any area of life, whether it’s trying to do as little work as possible at work or questioning an online date if he has difficulty getting out of bed due to his exceptionally large head. Then she falls in love.

Sexual indulgence with a caring, also unhappily married partner from the Ashley Madison Agency opens Sharon’s thighs and her eyes. Her search for relief, affection, tenderness and sexual satisfaction changes her in ways she did not predict.

Very funny, sharp, enjoyable dive into a diary laid bare.