Sex on the Side

Jessie Jamie Coleman
Autumn Girl Press (2006)
ISBN 0976696436
Reviewed by Audrey Hauser for Reader Views (9/06)

This was the first screenplay I had read so I wasn’t sure just what to expect.   The concept however, is quite hilarious.  Instead of the females being the proverbial sex symbols of the story, the tables are turned and we have a male in that role.  Josh John is getting tired of the women falling all over him with just one thing in mind. He is ready for a real relationship -- one that will lead to a future with that person.

The story begins in the Chicago apartment shared by Josh, an attorney, and his former girlfriend Billie, who has “come out” and now prefers partners of her sex rather than Josh.  A knock on the door signals the arrival of Kandy, one of the sex kittens pursuing Josh.  She makes no pretense of the fact that she is there simply for the sex and doesn’t want a real relationship.  Josh resists, but in the end gives in.  It is over quickly and she leaves. Josh refers to her as the 16-minute woman.

Scene two finds Josh with his therapist revealing what happened with Kandy, and his feelings about this. Dr. Barry is a rather strange therapist that Josh sees more to give the doctor reassurance than to solve his problems.  He keeps a stuffed elephant in his office to make his patients feel at ease.   Josh also confides in his friend Rob about his desire to meet the “right one” and settle down. Rob can’t understand why he’d want to do this when there are countless women running after him wanting sex.

Josh spends the next few weeks trying to avoid the come-ons from women around him.  He even lets himself be talked into visiting a palm reader.  She tells him his future mate will have the initials KC.  From that time he begins to concentrate on finding this KC. He becomes interested in the girl assigned to him as his temporary secretary. It turns out that her name is Kember and yes, her last name starts with C. Josh tries to win her over but she won’t go out with him while she is working for him.  The solution comes when she was assigned to work for someone else, but Josh is convinced she is trying to avoid him with excuses about working late.  The plot thickens when he finds out Kember is a sister to Kandy.  

This is an entertaining spoof on having the tables turned with the man being the object of interest, for a change.  While it would have to be developed much further to make a good film, I think the start is here. I enjoyed reading this offbeat story and “Sex on the Side” kept me laughing throughout the story.

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