Practice Girlfriend

by Meghan O'Brien

Seeking a compassionate sexual partner for exposure therapy. Never had sex with another woman? Need some practice? Eager to overcome your fears, limits, or inhibitions? Let’s enter a mutually beneficial, short-term arrangement to achieve our sexual goals.

Hope Romero just wants to heal already. Therapy isn’t working and her struggle to overcome her deeply traumatic introduction to sex has doomed her last relationship. Hope is desperate enough to try an unconventional—but scientifically-based— exposure therapy.

With forty in the rearview mirror and a recent autism diagnosis offering a new perspective, Gray Chambers regrets not having the time or courage to make love a priority. When she finds an unusual personal ad, she sends off an impulsive reply before she’s able to talk herself out of volunteering.

As Hope and Gray embark upon a mutual healing journey, will the “practice girlfriends” prove too good to be true—or too real to deny?

Content warning for sexual assault recovery.

Paperback

Expected publication December 15, 2026

About the author

Born in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, Meghan O’Brien relocated to Northern California in 2005. As a transplant, she enjoys the moderate weather and gorgeous scenery of the Bay Area. Meghan lives with her wife, their son, three cats, three dogs, two snakes and several tarantulas. Yes, it can be just as chaotic as it sounds.

Meghan’s day job is as a software developer, but her real passion is writing. From her humble beginnings creating numerous “books” out of construction paper and crayons as soon as she learned to write, to her several published novels and various anthology contributions, writing is what makes her feel most complete. (from the author's website)