Diana Wood has a job she likes and a husband, Oliver, she loves. Together, they have a daughter they adore. She and Oliver spend so much time together that they even carpool to work in the same office. They’re in married love, which isn’t exactly the same as love love, but it’s fine.

Or is it? Is fine good enough?

Diana and Oliver haven’t had sex in months, and their intimacy seems more like a memory than a reality. The cozy trappings of Diana’s life in Dallas, Texas, have become ever-more confining. She is restless, growing more distant from Oliver by the day.

A trip to see an old friend in Santa Fe prompts Diana to remember the woman she used to be: an aspiring artist; someone devoted to creativity, spontaneity, sensuality. In her past—especially with Jasper, the dashing photographer with whom she once had an unforgettable love affair—Diana let herself fantasize, she let her body lead the way. She was wholly…alive.

Returning to Dallas, Diana decides to rediscover the deeply feeling woman she once was. She begins interviewing other women, painting their portraits as they speak. She encourages them to give voice to their secret desires as she captures their deepest, innermost fantasies. But is it possible for Diana to reclaim her more sensual self and maintain the marriage she committed to? What if connecting to her own desires means dissolving the safe life she’s so carefully cultivated?

I’ve always thought invisibility would be the best superpower to have, purely for the eavesdropping potential. Reading Dirty Diana feels like standing with your ear pressed up against the door while people on the other side spill their secrets and fantasies: a little unsettling, definitely forbidden, and very addictive.

Dirty Diana is, at its core, a story about the age-old dilemma: play it safe or risk it all? Diana is stuck in a comfortable but sexless marriage with Oliver. On paper they are the perfect couple, but the spark is long gone. Enter Jasper, Diana’s old flame, who reminds her of what her marriage is lacking. As she tries to untangle where her true desire lies, Diana seeks answers through her art. As part of her painting project, she interviews other women about their sex lives, trying to find inspiration and learn from the experiences of the women around her.

As a fan of TV’s Couples Therapy, and a snoop in general, I loved being a fly on the wall of Diana and Oliver’s counseling sessions and the secret interview sessions between Diana and her subjects. Dirty Diana raises questions about desire, the private vs. public selves, and what it means to seek the spark even if it means jeopardizing the everyday fabric of your world. Spicy, deep, and challenging, Dirty Diana left me wanting more in the best possible way.