Approaching the Swingularity: Tales of Swinging & Polyamory in Paradise

by Cooper S. Beckett

It's Exit to Eden meets The Rum Diary! Spend seven days at the hedonistic tropical paradise of a swingers resort in Mexico. Just enough time to get into some very sexy trouble!

Ryan and Jenn are still newbie swingers in many ways when they arrive with their friends, lovers, and playmates, Bruce and Paige, veterans of this trip. As this foursome tries to wring out every last drop of pleasure that Aphrodite's has to offer, they're confronted with the realities of life at home, as well as complexities of exploring a life less monogamous, the spectrum of sexuality, budding and waning attraction and love, and how one truly gets the most out of an orgy.

Alongside them are Alejandra and Crista, a lesbian couple on their first sexy vacation, recognizing the differences and difficulties in being the only lesbian swingers in the crowd. Raymond Horn is the host extraordinaire, on his tenth trip, who is losing his confidence and direction after watching his partner walk out the door the month before.

One hundred and eleven couples have descended upon Aphrodite's Resort and Spa, a place of pleasure and debauchery, situated on a strip of white sand beach on the Riviera Maya for a week of the finest food and drink, meeting and flirting, and getting down and dirty with friends and lovers alike for tales of swinging and polyamory in paradise.

They will experience ecstasy and strain, the spectrum of sexuality and open relationships, from bisexual exploration, budding polyamory, orgies, pegging, the value of building kegel muscles, g-spot orgasms, and more. Nothing is quite so intense and wonderful in non-monogamous lifestyles as seven straight days at a resort filled with like-minded hedonists.

555 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2017

About the author

As a queer non-monogamous writer, Cooper S. Beckett endeavors to create characters that reflect the diverse lifestyles of his friends, his partners, and himself. From that mandate, he writes scary, silly, and sexy books and essays. Beginning his writing career as a podcaster and speaker in the sexuality education community, he wrote My Life on the Swingset, a memoir of his first five years in non-monogamy, then followed that up with two novels that take a brutally honest look at swinging and polyamory, A Life Less Monogamous, and Approaching the Swingularity. Returning to his first love, the horror genre, has been like a homecoming. From a young age, his obsession with horror movies and books seriously concerned his mother. It probably still does. Given a choice, he would rather winter at the Overlook than the Waldorf. Like Lydia Deetz, he has always thought of himself strange and unusual, be it his perspective on sexuality, monogamy, politics, or where Elder Gods ought to fall in the hierarchy.

He lives in Chicago with his wife, constant, and binary star, Ophilia Tesla, and their black cats Xander and Willow.

Reviews

[David Frahm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cooper does it again with another wonderful book following the adventures of Ryan, Jenn, Bruce, and Paige, as well as a whole slew of new characters. The cast, on vacation at Aphrodite's Resort and Spa, goes through a great deal of intense situations, as places like this are wont to create. Each character gets a chance to grow and evolve in their own way, and while sometimes it definitely left me cringing (not from the writing, but more from having made some of those same very human mistakes myself), it was wonderful and full of a lot of insight.

All of the characters, while distinct, are relatable both emotionally and intellectually. Watching each of them take the time to work through their own issues is beautiful, as you can tell that they each have a ton of room to grow and blossom. Watching those stories grow and unfold is beautiful. I would definitely recommend.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday I finished the audiobook for Approaching the Swingularity. Cooper, this will be the last time I listen to your books at work! Sooooo many tears!! How can I explain that not only am I listening to an audiobook (not allowed), but that it's an audiobook so moving that it made me cry. Not to mention it's a novel about swinging! Hehe.

This book was SOOOO GOOD!! Cooper writes his characters so beautifully. They are so fully realized. After listening to LotSS for so long and reading his other books, I felt him in each of them.

And the sexy bits? It was really fun listening to THOSE at work! 😁

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! 💗

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Disclosure: This review is from a review copy of the novel provided by the author for the erotica review podcast The Red Light Library, what I'm posting here is a distillation of our hour-long full review.]

Going from no experience with swinger/polyamory fiction to this is like jumping in the deep end and learning to swim, but in a fun way.

Approaching the Swingularity tells the story of seven characters from varying walks of life/sexualities/kinks as they roam around Xanadu X, a swinger's takeover of a Hedonist-style resort down in Cancun. Set across the seven days of the takeover, each character gets their moment to shine in this 550 page beast, all of them constantly bumping into each other to create a delightfully interwoven narrative that isn't afraid to jump forwards or backwards in time on occasion.

Beckett opens the book with character Ryan experiencing a pool foam party for the first time and immediately having an anxiety attack as he's slowly consumed by the suds, only for his wife to appear and propose protection-free sex. This perfectly sets up the tone of the rest of the novel: Characters who can't get out of their own head to enjoy the resort takeover, and they have lots of sex.

Make no mistake, this is an erotica novel, but it transcends the trite stereotypes of the genre encapsulated by most pop-fiction that slips into the mainstream (such as E.L. James' stain on the literary world). Chapters don't end with a sex scene and a cliffhanger so you can masturbate and go to sleep, characters are actually believable, safe sex and disease history is openly discussed without villification.

For those looking for the naughty bits: Beckett lets the emotion and the actions of the scene speak for themselves, employing a simplistic "it is what it is" style of writing sex. Instead of falling into the cliche of employing fifteen different synonyms for a vulva, he simply calls it a vulva. Unless one is incredibly uncomfortable with the human body and finds such terms clinical and a turn-off, there is at least one scene in Swingularity they'll find attractive as heck.

[Jarime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes place two years after the original book in which we read about a monogamous couple, Ryan and Jenn, taking the plunge into the fun filled world of polyamory and swinging. There was some bumps, bruises and growth.
Now, along with the couple that introduced them to the lifestyle, Bruce and Paige, they are going to the resort Aphrodite’s Resort and Spa. A hedonistic clothing optional paradise where 110 couples of various orientations come to relax and discover new things about themselves in a supportive environment.
Cooper goes to great lengths to make sure that a variety of couples are represented. There are elderly couples, lesbian couples, a MMF triad and more! So there is a little something for everyone in this story. It is not just one couples story of growth, but multiple stories.
Now, when I say growth, I am not just talking about getting over NRE (New Relationship Energy) but also the negative outcomes the lifestyle can have on a persons personal and professional life. How those negative consequences can lead to new and unexpected things. Just like the relationships that are outlined in this book, life is evolving. Embrace the change and accept your beauty is the take away I had from that portion of the book. Looking at you Jenn and Paige.
Make no mistake, this book is not just about growth, there is plenty of really hot scenes as well! A gangbang on a wedding anniversary! A man’s first homosexual experience! And I really enjoyed the couples happy ending massage.
If you liked the first book, I STRONGLY recommend this one. It will not leave you disappointed. Cooper has a way with words that makes me want to go to these places and experience these things.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this only out of a responsibility to finish reading the main characters' arc. About midway I was getting the feel of a "let's see how many permutations and diversity characters/sexual actions can be included" and each scene was feeling shorter and shorter shrifted. So I literally started scanning for the POV characters' names (in the chapter headings) and read only the ones I felt invested in following: Jen, Ryan, Paige, and Bruce.

Yes, the other characters were interesting -- when their stories were intersecting directly with one of these four. However, I'm sorry, but it became a "cast" of characters instead of an organically built community. There were seemingly "token" reps of just about everything.

I admire the desire to "tell a story everyone can connect with" but it would have been better to follow just the foursome in this story and then write "spinoffs" or "companion" stories that followed the other characters through the same trip. It might have allowed the other characters' plots to be more fleshed out.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday I finished the audiobook for Approaching the Swingularity. Cooper, this will be the last time I listen to your books at work! Sooooo many tears!! How can I explain that not only am I listening to an audiobook (not allowed), but that it's an audiobook so moving that it made me cry. Not to mention it's a novel about swinging! Hehe.

This book was SOOOO GOOD!! Cooper writes his characters so beautifully. They are so fully realized. After listening to LotSS for so long and reading his other books, I felt him in each of them.

And the sexy bits? It was really fun listening to THOSE at work! 😁

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! 💗

[Lona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Swinger is not really my scene, but it felt good to read a book that thematizes nonmonogamy, I really want more of that. I also loved all the communication skills - the protagonists had their conflicts and they cleared it all up, mostly using open and non-violent communication. Loved this.

One thing I found slightly annoying was all the mentions of the G-Spot, which simply doesnt exist.

Another thing I found slightly problematic was, that the only mentioned trans character's name was "Mädchen", which is "girl" in German. I mean... really?

Apart from that the book was exactly what I needed: a good disctraction in these difficult times.

[Maddy T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Cooper to bits! I love his writing and when I finished this it left me craving more stories about these lovely people you meet in this book.

[Misty Albaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very steamy book. With all its steamy action, it makes you wish you were there.