Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes by Jules Moulin

Ally Hughes turned 41 recently.  She is happy enough.  She has her daughter, Lizzie, 20, who is bright, gorgeous and determined to make it as an actress.  She has her career, a tenured professor at Brown University in Female Studies.  She has friends and baking and reading.  What she doesn't have is a man.  Oh, there is Ted, a rich man who is always available for a dinner date or to serve as a plus one but there isn't much of a spark with him plus Lizzie hates him. 

It's not like Ally has burned up the sheets anytime in her life.  There was the one-night stand in her freshman year at college that produced Lizzie nine months later.  Then there was Jake.  Jake showed up in her class as a presence she was aware of in the back row.  He wrote huge papers that she graded down for exceeding length.  In fact, as the end of the semester loomed, he is about to fail.  He shows up at her door to ask for leniency which she gives him.  Then he stays to help out as Ally's handyman has once again disappeared on an appointment.  Ally needs a handyman that weekend as Lizzie is about to turn ten and she needs to put together her birthday present, a new bed while Lizzie is off visiting her grandmother.  What she never expected was a weekend of passionate, riotous sex or Jake's declarations of love.

Fast forward ten years.  Lizzie is determined to make it as an actress, an occupation that mostly consists of auditions although she gets a line in movies or shows every so often.  She volunteers Ally to cook dinner for the star of her newest movie, Noah.  Imagine Ally's surprise when Noah shows up and turns out to be Jake and the attraction is still there.  Will Ally act on it and seize some happiness in her life finally?

This is Jules Moulin's debut novel although not her debut writing job.  She spent several years working as a writer on hit shows like Party Of Five and The West Wing.  In Ally, she has created a woman who is finally waking up to the fact that our lives are what we choose to make of them and that we don't have to settle but can instead hold out for our dreams.  This book is recommended for romance and women's fiction readers.