All Comments on 'Can Married Couples Date?'

Baloney

The simple answer is no. Not if they want to stay married. Still a good story.

You're a very good writer. Five stars. Married people spending quality dating time alone with members of the opposite sex is still a recipe for disaster. Sure, he overreacted, but his wife and friends were the ones with issues. It's not weird not wanting your partner dating other people.

Your stories have been very hot or miss the last year. Going to see to see what others say before I read.

The psychologist thinks it's a dangerous game to play and someone will get hurt. She is right.

An absolutely wonderful story, in no way is it true to real life. However, it is an interesting thought to ponder. 5 stars to cagi for this one.

Great ending I do think the couple should have separated until wife truly understood the pain she caused going on dagt ewith his friend This is a breaking point Until she does it would be maningless to get back together with friends This would always stick in his mind

That sounds like a potentially dangerous game to me!

5

Gotta admit this is one of the most odious pieces of over the top brainwashing I have ever had the misfortune to read, You are promoting open dating with others outside of the marriage bond. That children is called emotional cuckolding... Then you place a primary character as the over the top shouting evil controlling husband, a innocent Pell Pureheart character who has never been on a date because they fell in love too fast to permit her the blessing of having emotional relationships with other men in dating,,, Then you insert a cornucopia of utterly half baked feminist based nonsense to stir the pot... and we readers are pushed into the happy ever after nonsense ending in which all of these useful idiots are now engaging in open emotional cuckoldry in politically correct terms,.

To say I utterly disagree with this entire feast of barely seasoned horse product is a gross understatement. First, the whole logic behind this nonsense is specious... Marriage must be exclusive...monogamous...not just sexual...but emotional... The very core of this is the a utter commitment by two people to love each other unconditionally as specified in the marriage vows until death do them part. This unconditional love creates a "safe place" called home, in which both parties grow into their unconditional acceptance, put down their masks, and be themselves They know that they are cherished warts and all by their loving mate. This creates the stable foundation for the growth of the family and children.

This rather insipid tale hacks at the root of that whole concept by fostering the concept of open marriage in the emotional sense through having "platonic" ie no sex dates outside of the marriage relationship. This is frankly a guaranteed path to romantic emotional entanglement. Which is frankly described in the wife's first date. Her date provides a hollywood date for her costing thousands of dollars pulling out every stop to provide an intimate romantic evening that lasts into the morning, The only thing missing is the good bye kiss....and the utterly love bombed wife has the clueless gall to invite her date into their house in front ot the emotionally cuckolded husband to rub in the reality. The husband is utterly betrayed at ever level by his wife's emotional betrayal....as he frankly should be... This is blatantly the beginning of an emotional "affair" even though the feckless author tries to parse the truth of this scene out of our minds by a rather blatant dose of psyco babble new age nonsense as the tale proceeds.

What I find particularly disingenuous is the author's repeated employment of the big lie through her non subtle framing of the entire tale. I frankly resent being clubbed over the head repeatedly with specious nonsense and the concept that open dating in a marriage is innocent fun is simply inane no matter how many times we are "convinced" by the author's unsubtle propaganda.

The realities are too obvious.... The "swap" dating group is a sure recipe towards epic failed marriages as the husbands put all their emotional capital and efforts into their "dates' rather than their wives. Over time romantic emotional attachments will occur and strengthen as the focus shifts from their marriage to their dating. It's as subtle as gravity. All the feminist/psycho babble nonsense trying to convince us to the contrary,,.. The husband was absolutely correct in his assessment His wife will become "wooed" as this open dating progresses.... In fact she is well on her way....as she is wooed by the new...when he can only provide the mundane,

As such...the old tried and true is still true... Allowing dating outside of marriage is adultery.... It is bad because it cuts at the root of the marriage relationship... Trust, Fidelity, and even love are eventually compromised.

1 star....and frankly you should be ashamed of yourself writing such hard handed agitprop...

Very strange scenario concept.

There are some situations that I don't understand and seem really contradictory.

1) As indicated in a partnership, you do not make an individual decision and the refusal of one of the partners means that the decision is stopped. Out there it's exactly the opposite.

Whether it's Helle or the friends, no one listens to Sonny's regus, which is very, very badly worded and rude, but no one acknowledges the refusal. Why ? The refusal, to say No, is supposed to protect the person from an act or a decision that he does not want.

In the end, they accept his decision because he explains his fears, his doubts, his traumas.

But he shouldn't have needed to explain himself. Respect for the No must be essential even without knowing the reason. You do not force the decision or the act.

2) Couples are all tired of their daily lives. They don't try hard enough for their partner. Some even have some financial difficulties.

But then, all of a sudden, they all want to date someone different. They make every effort of time, energy, and money to make this appointment memorable.

It's a funny conception of love.

So they do things and efforts for a "friend" that they don't do for their own partners.

It's really a paradoxical situation.

Likewise, Helle and Sonny have never had a date, and rather than arranging one for them (especially for a first time), they prefer to do it with someone else?

I have the impression that by absolutely wanting to put a bigger plot, you sometimes lose the situational or decision-making sense of the characters.

Your story gave me pause, made me think. I hate that! But seriously dating friends, good people you trust has merit. It also made a good, unique story. Thanks Gurl. 5 stars

somewhere east of Omaha

I would be thinking the same thing Sonny was at the beginning of the story.

Men are different creatures and a lot would use such a game to get their way. You cannot necessarily trust a man to do the right thing in these situations. Plus jealousy is a terrible thing and sooner or later someone would have a reason to be jealous. It is the nature of the beast

It is a dangerous game to play, of that l have no doubt.

An emotional connection is way easier to form rather than a sexual one. That is the connection that pierces defences.

I wouldn’t play this game, and l know after 40 years of marriage my wife wouldn’t join a dating game such as this either.

Ngaire is right.

Scores 3/5

Wasn't Marissa nolan's wife. It was a stupid idea a waste of money. And the fact that the wives wanted to do that then "reward" their husbands after the date made it sexual. Would make it hard for me anyway to wonder if she was thinking of her date partner rather than him. I mean yeah we all know that happens but it can be ignored but with it being shoved in their face. Not to mention they bring them into the house for coffee. The only thing that saved these couples was that it was a one off. The fact that she did it anyway after knowing how he felt made me think she wanted to be single. Think they both forgot what a partnership is

Oh francman said it better than I lol

Nice one CG…my only complaint was that anyone would call a stadium, Orangetheory Stadium,…I mean wtf? SMH! Other than that, your usual thought provoking high quality fiction. I wouldn’t like that situation myself, and would probably act much the same….playing with fire I reckon. Sooner or later, someone would take a better offer……..imho.

Another challenging story that I became immersed in to the point of forgetting myself. Five stars, as always. Randi.

OMG, this sucks so bad! Terrible friends, terrible wife, and terrible author! I never thought I would be one of those people who asked why we can’t given minus ratings, but I sure know how they feel, now!

Bloody hell you Kiwi's sure know how to rile up the yanks! First no nukes now you dare to play with their manhood, that bloody woman had better stay chained to the kitchen sink and that chain had better be made of titanium and come with a chastity belt including a pick proof lock. ROLF and a lot of golden ones for outside the mushroom circle thinking. Oh Boy I can hear the beating of chests and gnashing of teeth.

Still as terribly warped and deranged as always.

Keep preaching though I'm not sure who you are trying to get to become as hopelessly mental as you are.

I agree with EVERYTHING servant111 said! Thank you for taking the time to write what I’m sure a whole lot of us are thinking about this piece, servant111.

Author, I used to have some respect for you, but I can’t when you write tripe like this!

Love your stories.

It was the usual Cagivagurl story where the man is an asshole or the cause of a problem. Cagivagurl - I think you have talent but this obsession with men being at fault or however you write the story is sad. You could be a Renquist if you just changed your story a little.

Well written, as usual. I kind of liked it but have a few points to stress:

1) Sex is an important part of a marriage, but equally important is the intimacy in other ways the betrothed share with each other. That will be lost after such `swinging without sex.' Is it worth it?

2) Sonny behaved badly, and didn't explain his misgivings well. But did anyone take his saying No seriously? Sure, it must be because of his Iranian background. Let me tell you this! I'm as Anglo as you can find, and I'd have the same reaction as Sonny if such a proposal were put to me; I might have been more forceful. The gurls and the other guys weren't intyerested in stopping what they were doing; they just wanted Sonny to agree or get ostracized. That's not democratic, is it? More like the tyranny of the majority!

A very different plot. However Helle’s date shouldn’t had happen. The story could flow to counselling and continues it’s course. The fact is that everyone disrespected him. We all know that “NO means NO”.

Short answer? No married couples should not date other people.

Some can but you can't force open a marriage. It never works out in the long run and if the couple does decide to to stay married, it's never even remotely the same. Both lose respect for the other and intimacy is shattered.

The only way an open marriage works is if both sides equally to open it up or if the marriage has always been open. Even then it takes a lot more work to maintain than a traditional marriage. It requires way more communication and complete honest. Most people are simply incapable of that kind of sharing because it requires being emotionally exposed and vulnerable. You have to trust that no matter what goes on with your spouse when apart, they will always have your back no matter what. Yet, even with all the safeguards and rules many/most still fail. It's exhausting trying to live a life structured around managing emotions and mitigating loss of intimacy. I personally believe it's impossible to maintain over the long haul. Eventually negative emotions will surface and cannot be talked away.

Wow, that was intense, interesting and very well done, as always.

Enjoyed the story, but couldn’t help wondering which commentator, you based Sonny on ?

@servant111

WTF is wrong with you man?

You are preaching monogamy in a category whose definition is the complete opposite. It's just crazy! Why do you come to a place whose definition is extramarital fun?

If you are not interested in sex go to non-erotic. If you are interested in monogamy go for erotic coupling. Why are you even here?

Well done. For a lot of reasons, Many will not believe the innocence behind the game. Reasonable people with a moral compass will understand. I enjoyed the characters and found their interaction to be believable. Great 5 star work.

I enjoyed the story. I approach a lot of your stories with concern as too frequently the male protagonist gets rolled over and behaves in a very implausible way. Here, it was believable. I know people who would make those choices and behave like that. Be unwilling to listen and compromise, but be true to themselves and balance their feelings carefully between two hard options. I think you navigated the story well.

Your writing is as excellent as ever and a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing.

This is a very dangerous game. We as humans are the experiences we live, and heather lived a awesome consert without sonny, this will never be undone. Regardless if the experience lead for any drift apart to the couple, there is the emotional side that for the couple rest the day to day activities and for the dates are the joys. Not a good path on my book

Some really good comments here... to make it short and sweet. There's no way a husband can compete with the new and exciting feeling of dating someone new. Emotional bonds will be created and the whole "we didn't mean for it to happen..." and "why can't you be more like..." become a reality. Group outings are fine. One on one actual dates are a no go.

A very interesting question and treatment. The characters all have their own answers.

/

Servant111, do you know how boring and stupid you sound? None of this happened. The author made it up. How does writing a story on an erotic story site call for any of what you said? You must be a really miserable man, and you must make everyone around you miserable with your blathering. Talk to your priest if you're looking for morality. Logging on to a porn site and spewing out all that vomit just makes you an hypocritical idiot. You should be ashamed of yourself for reading porn, if that's your attitude.

Tags, realistic tags should be mandatory. Why would I want to take the time to read a 25k word story if I did not know what it is about? A well written thoughtful story can still be extremely boring or even bother some. I don't want to read 10k words and realize it is a cuck story with gay overtones. Nor do I want some foolish sci-fi or rape stuff. I doubt that I'll bother to read this.

The girls had a problem.

But their big problem was lack of communication.

Closely followed by not supporting their own marriages.

The obvious solution would have been to take turns caring for each other's children so each married couple could go on dates.

Thus strengthening all their marriages and friendships.

You just like to divide couples.

The only way for marriages to flourish is 100% commitment to each other.

That's where the gold in life is found.

This was an odd story. One would have thought that the idea was to go out on dates with one’s own spouse as a solution! This made more sense, as what could possibly go wrong?! Why would these folks not know each other? I like the protagonist’s response… maybe they should take the time to, you know, show curiosity about each other and ask each other as people fascinated by the human condition might.. a middle class vision of what working class folks might do…

Another good story set in a fantasy universe.

As always, I love your work and am totally frustrated by it.

I understand that your ambition is to craft stories where a character is forced out of their comfort zone or feels betrayed in some way, and then learns not to hang on to that and reconciles. However, the articulate insights you bring to the language of reconciliation are betrayed by the story’s total and unrelenting insistence that the main character is more or less “the problem.”

Like…I get that you have to do some of that in order to reach your desired conclusion. But it crosses a line and begins to feel like a Twilight Zone nightmare when not a single observer in the story can see that the wife and friends are being pushy, unreasonable, and indifferent to his expression of needs.

The most obvious example of that dichotomy in this story: the counselor. No capable and professional marriage counselor is going to tell you anything other than that if a spouse says something is outside their comfort zone, the onus is on the other spouse to accept that. Full stop. It is reality breaking to the point of distraction, when not even neutral and informed outsiders in the story can muster a reason to sympathize with the main character’s communication of boundaries.

The core premise of your stories tends to be “a wife wants something, her husband does not, and she just does it anyway and then wonders why he’s so angry all of the sudden until he eventually stops being angry.” This is totally fine, because it is the story you want to tell and you tend to tell it very well. Just…maybe don’t have the story work so hard to **push** him into accepting it.

Reconciliation, even in the face of extreme betrayal, happens all the time. Marriage counselors hearing a husband protest his wife going on dates and reacting with bafflement as to why he’s so upset does not.

This story is crying out for a Part 2, with a less than happy ending

Seek help, servant. While the game is absolutely dangerous, and the therapist discusses that, your deep-seated issues has caused you to go as nutso as Sonny has. So, you give a well-written story that you disagree with what you believe to be some agenda contained within it, the lowest score. Seek help, dude. Seek help

You craft intriguing pieces and this one is no exception — it asks a seemingly simple, but very loaded question. I suspect it will gather quite a few responses on the feasibility/potential problems inherent in truly dating friends and that is surely by design — objective achieved; got folks thinking and reacting some without thinking. This piece enjoys believable/knowable characters who truly engage — a hallmark of good writing/your writing. You say “no sex in this story” for two reasons, I believe: Sex would force you off target/away from focusing on the question, but also including sex would reflect/reveal the quagmire that would likely arise if friends truly dated.

Another great story. Very interesting topic and vert thought provoking. I do like your writing and your stories

5stars

A compendium of cliches from a failed culture evangelizing on behalf of Globohomo. Very preachy and very typical of this author.

Brilliant as always! Very well written also! Kudos to you and your editor. 5* I am very much a fan of your stories so please keep writing. Thank you for the time all of you spend to publish these stories when you don't have to.

The most upsetting part of the story was hearing he replaced his TR6 engine with a Nissan engine? Where you trying to show us what an a-hole he really is?

Disappointed in the author. Total fem prop. Not to mention infinitely repetitive.

Just...nonsense.

Every time you write it's like you are pushing this wierd idea that married people should just accept that relationships (sexual or emotional) outside of the marriage are perfectly acceptable. You write every storyline in such a way that the ones cheating appear to be the reasonable ones. While the ones who do not or will not cheat are the crazy unreasonable ones. Or worse. Like this one...you paint them as damaged in some way by some childhood trauma.

The takeaway being that forming strong emotional bonds with opposite sex partners outside of the marriage is the healthy thing to do...whilst the only one who objected was the dude who needed therapy to cope with a childhood memory of catching his father cheating and fucking some slut.

Only a traumatized person would object to "harmless" dating outside of his/her marriage. Right?

Nonsense.

Here's a thought. If these married couples with children felt like their partners were not doing their best to each other in terms of dating and romance? How about they arrange to watch each other's kids overnight in weekend sleepover trades? And then actually date and romance each other?Husbands dating their own wives and wives dating their own husbands?!

There's a shocking idea! Helle feels like Sonny and her never really dated? Well ask these friends to watch her kids so she can go on dates with her own husband!? Wow. Novel. Revolutionary even.

But no. Instead we get 7 pages of trying to normalize a group of husbands who admittedly don't make much effort dating their own wives...coming up with ideas where they go all out...pull out every unique and romantic dating idea they have to take someone else's wife out on a date?! WTF? Really?

It just seems...dumb. Ridiculous. Over the top in its attempt to try and make dating others outside of marriage seem like rhe most normal healthy thing in the world.

I've paid for VIP backstage passes for huge rock concerts.

The last one...for 2 passes...cost me THOUSANDS of dollars US.

If I haven't taken my wife out on a real date in literally years. To the point she is openly bitching about it to all of her friends. That I make no effort to do anything fun or romantic.

And then we all decide to date other partners outside of our marriages...and then I spend $2,500 US on VIP concert passes and dinner with my date with another woman...and I haven't spent even $100 on my wife for a date night in years? You don't see that as causing huge issues? What fantasyland are you living in?

I call bullshit on this entire premise. It's just nonsense.

If you want to get to know each other inside of the group of friends better? Well...charades, pictionary, or a game like cards against humanity or show me without showing me.

I guarantee you those will cause all kinds of embarrassing and fun scenarios that will lead to more discussions and getting to know your circle of friends TOGETHER better without creating wierd date night dynamics and scenarios with other dudes dating your wife one on one.

But then again I'm sure to someone as sophisticated as Cagi...playing simple games with friends in the same room fully clothed seems so...primitive. Old-fashioned. Plain. Unrefined.

How can you have fun actually BEING with your spouse of 15 years without spending time with (or fucking) someone else? Dating your own spouse?! How terribly "gauche" would that be!

Well written, interesting stuff as usual. The problem with this one is that no one respects the husband, most especially the wife. His feelings should matter to her. Everyone just brushes them off and makes him the bad guy for using colorful language. A relationship where a spouse just dismisses her partner's feelings is doomed. I stopped reading when it became about the makeup date. It did nothing to make up for the extreme disrespect everyone showed the husband.

Dating other people whilst in a monogamous relationship, no matter how platonic it starts off being, is a recipe for the collapse of the marriage. Each dating couple will gradually form an emotional connection, the wife will begin to compare her dates with any perceived shortcomings her husband might have. She would then no doubt seriously consider her next move to the detriment of her marriage.

Interesting concept. Well written. I like that you had one character object, representing the guys who are leaving strident comments. Ha.

First, let me respond to servant111, who had a very reasonable and coherent comment, if long winded. You missed 2 very important parts of the story- the counselors' statement that she felt it was a dangerous game, and the ending comment that they didn't finish the dating game. They stopped. Which puts the whole thought of 'pushing emotional cuckolding' into a different light. I also hated the content of this story, at first, thinking 'Oh no, here she (C-gurl) goes again', but the story grew on me, and at the end, I loved it. Think it was very well done, and I give it a 5.

Sorry, but I agree with him - it's a foolish thing to be doing. They are playing with fire and it's not a good idea. Sorry, but I did not enjoy reading it.

In 1973, my wife and I, along with 7 other couples decided to get together once a month, the women playing a rummy style game, and the guys playing poker. All 8 of the women went to school together, as did most of the men. We did this as a group for over 25 years. Different times, different area of the world. Never once did we every think of dating any of the other wives. It would have never worked. Aside from 2 of the men being brothers.

Reminds me of When Harry Met Sally, can 2 people be friends and not have sex?

I am a big fan of your work. However, this one was not up to your usual standards. Way too long. Too focused on Sonny's issues. Simplistic.

Please keep up the good writing. Sorry this was just not my cup of tea.

So none of these guys ever took their wives out on a date and the wives were not happy about that. Seems there was a more obvious solution

People out here writing essays in the comments😂😂

Brilliant as always

What a horrible bunch of word vomit. With friends like those, who needs enemies?

If you wanted to make it a tad bit believable, you would have staggered the dates so that one of each couple was home to watch the kids while their spouses paired off into couples for their dates. However, the kids are all old enough that they don't need one parent home to watch them, which completely destroys the need to split the couples up for dating and thus the justification for the spouse swapping. If they can both go out on separate dates on the same night, they could just as easily go out on a date together.

Also, no matter how rosy you paint it in trying to justify it, it would ultimately fail and result in multiple divorces when the wives realized that her husbands were spending more time, money, and effort on the other wives than on them. It's a recipe for disaster and Sonny was the only one smart enough to see it; for which you neutered and crucified him.

I appreciate very much the effort. In reality, wife should have stopped as soon as she knew that her husband felt so strongly about her dating other people even if it was supposedly platonic. When one spouse feels very strongly about something the other should accede to his or her desires. But you wouldn't have a story then. The length of the stories makes it impossible for there not to be some duplication and redundancy. I would consider shortening your stories in the future. Please keep writing as you are one of the best writers currently writing in LW on Lit nowadays.

anon.1

Such an idiotic tale. "True friendship is genderless" ignores so many basic aspects of human biology and psychology even a 5th grader could see through this rubbish. The ending, if honest to life would read, "and they all divorced unhappily ever after."

A novel, enticing idea. His reaction was so OTT that I knew there was some trauma there. Glad it all worked out for the group. Put me to thinking, when did I last take my wife out on a date? ... hmmm, I've been slacking!

Thanks!

TBH I was surprised that Sonny (or Sony as you called him a few times) wasn't pissed off that Helle's 1st date was with Nolan and not him. She had already publicly stated they had never dated and even without his daddy issues her husband not being the 1st person to date would have been a huge bone of contention. If she had been on dates before meeting or going out with Sonny that would have been different but at that stage she was a dating virgin and it should have been her husband that took that from her. Any time there's a conflict between the men Nolan will always have that over Sonny.

No, I think long term that friendship group is doomed as someone is bound to say something that their partner thinks should be kept secret and all hell will break loose or something will be said and snide comments returned (look at what happened at Sonny's workplace) and all hell will break loose.

Oh that was the other thing, Sonny still thinks it's weird dating someone else's wife but even with his reservations (I understand the apology night to Marissa) they carry on with the dates... he had the right idea why not talk together more as a group?

Then all this effort put into dating could be reserved for their partners.

Date their spouse = YES. Anyone else = NO!

men and women could be friends without sex getting in the way. True friendship is genderless.

Only if they are asexual. Past puberty, no male wants to be “just friends” with a female.

“True friendship is genderless.” If only that were true. The counselor understands this. I suspect the author does too, and is playing games with us. Five stars in any case for a well told tale. If there were a follow-up, we’d be talking tragedy.

I really liked this story! It was sweet in the end and a bit of an interesting mystery throughout. I like that there was no actual cheating or weak cuckery. Bravo

Agree with Harry. Wretched.The only one with brains in the whole lot was Sonny. Do these idiots really think you can date where sex doesn't eventually rise its head. These people are playing a dangerous game. Idiots, the whole lot of them. Sonny should really reconsider who his friends really are and that includes his wife. But then this is fiction, so it's irrelevant. I see one anonymous thought this concept had merit, wonder if he was faced with this in reality he would think differently. But have to admit, the story did have a tendency to raise ones hackles depending on your view. (signed ML)

franceman nailed it.

And while as usual well written, this is another one buy his dude I cant get behind. Always writes well, but clearly has a fixation that needs more of a stronger outlet to the point where he uses another pen name to write straight up cuck shit.

re: franceman Very good review. My impression. These guys were all hopped up dating each other's wives, but made no effort to kindle their relationship with their own wives by taking them on a date without friends being around. Sonny, was the only smart guy in the group. He saw the potential hazard of dating others, even if he couldn't understand why. I'm surprised Sonny didn't threaten his wife with divorce if she went through with this scheme. He allowed it to happen. Big mistake.

Sonny's reaction was no doubt over the top. The things he said to his friends and wife were definitely not acceptable. Of course after a couple of sessions with the counselor we find out why.

His so called friends and wife let's just say he should probably reevaluate his relationships with all of them. The fact that they bullied him, ganged up on him and as the story went along began to belittle and ridicule him for having a different opinion than them. Honestly their actions were unconscionable. Especially when we found out Helle knew about his father's affair and the impact it had in his life. Maybe she couldn't be expected to totally understand his anger but she should have had some inkling where it was coming from. It seemed pretty obvious in her individual session with the counselor that she seemed to have a clue because she was unwilling to talk about it and the counselor picked up on the fact she was hiding relevant information. But, she was too caught up in the excitement of dating other guys to give it any thought because it didn't fit her agenda.

As for men & women being friends and there doesn't have to be anything sexual about it. Sex is always part of the equation even if the majority of people are able to behave appropriately in mixed gender settings. In a group the size they had in this story. What was it, 5 or 6 couples. So, 10-12 people. I can promise you if they had continued the round robin dating until all possible pairings had been completed at least one of them would have attempted to break the no sex rule.

Well written and thought provoking story.

NOT Buying...

There's only one reason to date people.

C'mon.

Those are rules. Dates are intimate and married people are pledged to be intimate with only themselves "forsaking all others..." Going on dates is not forsaking all others.

And, if I'm going on a date with someone and there's chemistry, it's cheating.

If all are acceptable to cheating, ok. But let's not dress up a pig and call it bacon.

Long way to go for not much payoff.

This was a good read. To me it had all of the elements of a well put together story. I am not sure if it was in the correct category. I think it shout be in the non-erotic category.

To me the story was told in a manner that said it all. The writing was solid based on my limited ability to judge. But I know what I like and this story had all of the necessary parts to classified as a Good Read ⭐⭐⭐. I hope you don’t take this as a bad mark. It is my opinion that a good story is worthy of ⭐⭐⭐.

One of the most important abilities to enable a healthy relationship is communications. This story told a good tale with a good outcome in my book.

Keep Writing

JH4Fun

Good story, although I think if the guys were friends they would refuse to date Helle if Sonny wasn't on board with it. I do enjoy your stories, they always come from a direction where I would never think to go. Is Helle short for Helen? I suppose I could Google it. Thanks, I always know I'm in for an enjoyable read when I see your posts.

It is like all of your stories. "Boiling the frog" scenarios where you keep on brainwashing the husband until he finally relents and becomes complacent. Even to the extent of the Councilor agrees that there is nothing wrong with dating a good friend. It's bullshit as they are experiencing excellent times with someone other than their partners. It will always end in sex.

Sorry I normally like your stories but that was BAD!

So they have dinner parties monthly and no cross communications. The story as written was different enough to rate a 4. The premise was weak.

That was a truly stunning story. Makes me think of the quote "The sins of the fathers will be passed along."

A very thoughtful and well-written story. Thank you. A 5* read.

Oh boy. Another long one. I will need to wait until i have time to kill. Sure it is written well and the female wins. Always that way with this author.

I agree with franceman. Servant111 also made some good points. Woman think so differently than men. They can see everyone will behave themselves. Most men would react like Sonny because they know what can happen. To much to drink. To much dancing closely. Men can do a great job of seducing woman. Seen it straight up happen. That’s why the divorce rate is as high as it is

My wife and I were married young. The guys she went with always tried to get in here pants. She had a nice rack on her. She soon realized that their was only one thing they wanted.

She never went on a real date till she met me. The guys she met were at parties. She would of been worse than Sonny. The minute that conversation started she would of been the one that would of started yelling insults. We would of found different friends.

Reality someone would slip up down the road and cause a divorce. It’s human nature. Going out with other people will cause a gap that cannot be fixed. Dating is made to find a mate and nothing else. It’s a wet dream to think anything else

Good writing though

As the therapist intimated, the dating game was a really bad idea. Had they continued on at least of their marriages would have ended. Seen it happen once in real life, sad. Enough of that - I was troubled by some of the divergent ideas and reactions of some of your characters, but that happens to me all the time with your stories. LOL! You had me 100% immersed in your universe, so a well-deserved 5*!

Really - this author thinks real men would want their wives to go on a date with another man??????? And then the psycho therapist she writes into the script that endorses the dating. Sorry - 1* for a totally unbelievable story.

I enjoyed the way you made Sonny and Helle real people: no cardboard heroes or cartoon villains here, just two flawed people who love each other and try to navigate what life throws at them. Well done, CG.

The ultimate goal of dating is to find a mate, this game is disaster waiting to happen. it doesn't consider the human factor. Billy Crystal said, "no man can be friends with a woman he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her." He goes on to say they even want to nail the unattractive ones.

The story was over the top with MC's reaction and making him be a jerk. But he was the only one that was correct and that it was a bad idea.

Hopefully some author takes this vein and runs with it in a more realistic result, that 1 of the dates eventually ends with sex and the fallout of the group of friends.

Surely a different take one the married dating idea.

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1. This is a GREAT idea for a story but it's a mistake to have Sonny believing there will be sex involved. Takes all the nuance out, makes him a caricature. Story has become a cartoon.

2. Any wife who would go ahead and do this when her husband is so uncomfortable with it is an idiot regardless of the facts, but this storyline would be complex and interesting were it not for #1.

3. Anyone who would push someone with a Muslim background into doing this is an ethnocentric idiot begging for trouble. Should have made him anything but Muslim.

Wow, nice try. Too bad Reality doesn't care what you or I think, neither does biology and psychology: "What I was getting at is, during the date, I got to know Nolan, the real Nolan. Now I feel so much closer to him." Yeah, 36 dates between the couples, with each Man trying to out do the other Man. Interesting that the women aren't even in the competition. And its obvious that most if not all of the women are evaluating the man's dating prowess by How Much Money he spends on his date. Sound familiar? You declared these women just wanted to experience a First Date. But these men are implementing Grand Slam Thank You Mam dates, and the women are loving and encouraging it. Yeah, just casual platonic recreational dating, so the women can all feel ". . . so much closer to him." And since all these dates are So Much Fun, why just the one time? I mean, its all innocent friendship, right? Just because its a man and a woman enjoying each other's company, each other's personality, charm, magnetism (and maybe, just a little bit, their sexuality?). Yeah, the reality is that eventually one of these platonic couples will be platonically fucking before too long. But you don't have the balls to write that sequel. Still, a very original and entertaining plot, with good character development and a dramatic story line. The only thing missing is the Reality, and the Honesty, that sooner or later there will be more than a casual attraction between at least one of these couples. Its not about Gender, its about normal human nature, and normal natural sexual attraction between a man and a woman who come to enjoy, respect, trust, and then Love each other. Maybe you see it differently, but only one of the couples need to fuck up to prove me right. What are the odds? Thanks for the effort.

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He has childhood issues. WTF? The tension between him being uncomfortable with platonic dates and their negotiations about it would have been interesting. Waste of a premise.

Hell if he didn't like it, just whip Nolan's ass when he shows up for date 1. ANYTHING would be more interesting than where this went. But it IS a great premise.

Husband should treat his wife like its there first time together. You are a wonderful author and you express emotion so very well. I have seen damage caused by these games but this worked out well. 5 big stars I wish I could give more. Well done never stop. Thank you

Helluva premise.

Some of these other people's comments should give you an idea for how better to resolve your great premise.

And oh yeah, you are a damn good writer.

Helle knew about Sonny's Father and still went on a date with another man? What a stupid bitch. She should have been tossed to the curb.

not applicable to many counties

i will have goose bumps if i date my friends wife and waste of money on the date

I can’t miss the irony of how over the top some of these comments have been. Seems like a lot of people are channeling their inner Sonny. They could have just said it wasn’t their favorite or simply said nothing. I hope this hasn’t discouraged you from putting more stories out. To be honest, it wasn’t one of my favorites either. But I appreciate the effort and your willingness to share. Thank you.

Great character development. Lots of angst. 5-star stuff.

Hooked