How to Fall Out of Love Madly

Joy and Annie are friends and roommates whose thirtysomething existences aren't exactly what they'd imagined for themselves. Struggling to make ends meet, they decide to rent their extra bedroom to Theo, who charms Joy with his salt-and-pepper hair and adoration of their one-eyed cat. When Annie goes to live with her boyfriend, Theo and Joy settle into a comfortable domesticity. Then Theo brings home Celine, the girlfriend he's never mentioned and who is possibly the most stunning woman Joy has ever seen. Joy resolves to do whatever it takes to nurture the bond she and Theo have forged. Anything Celine might deny him, Joy will grant. Distracted by her need to please Theo, Joy fails to see that Celine's beauty doesn't protect her from her own insecurities. Celine is so haunted by an event in her past that she can't access the confidence she yearns to exude.

Annie is worried about Joy's senseless devotion to Theo, but she has her own troubles. Eager to please her commitment-phobic boyfriend, she can't stop parsing his texts and pretending to be the easy-going, cool girl he wants. At work, where she leans into her natural assertiveness, Annie is a star. But then an anonymous letter lands on her desk accusing her esteemed and supportive boss of sexual misconduct, and Annie is forced to decide who and what she's willing to stand up for.

Perceptive, mordantly funny, and full of heart, How to Fall Out of Love Madly tells the story of three women who believe in equality yet inexplicably tolerate terrible behavior from men, equating being desired with worth. As Joy, Annie, and Celine grapple with the ways their lives have been subverted by the forces of gender, money, power, and the need for intimacy, they realize their futures will be determined by how hard they'll fight to reclaim control. Rated '2/5 - Behind closed doors' for steam/spice/heat level.