Beautiful Bridal Shower Triggers Divorce PTSD and Reflections on Erotic Novel, Husbands Inc.

Despite being overjoyed that my beautiful, brilliant niece found her forever person and invited me to her lovely tea party style bridal shower today, I was dreading going.

Why?

At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it.

The last bridal shower I attended was wonderful, for another niece who married about a decade ago.

I adore them both; they were actually flower girls in my wedding a long time ago when they were five or six years old.

But today, I didn’t want to get dressed or put on makeup or even shoes, much less make the drive to the very romantic restaurant for the event.

But I went anyway, pink gift bag in hand.

Then I stepped through the white drapery around the front door to the restaurant… into a scene of bridal bliss featuring twinkling lights on the ceiling… and the absolutely stunning décor of pink roses… centerpieces showcasing pretty tea pots draped with pearls and petals… pastel pastries everywhere… and a gift table boasting boxes adorned with pretty bows.

Beautiful women from their 20s to their 80s in stylish dresses and hats at the round tables, sat sipping tea and mimosas, all facing the head table with the bride in a white minidress and veil, flanked by her bestie bridesmaids.

I was thrilled to see her, and overwhelmed with joy and pride that she’s in graduate school for her career and embarking on a life with her beloved.

BUT…

Inside, my heart was melting with sadness and angst.

As I happily shared memories with anyone who’d listen—of how adorable she was in a flouncy lavender dress and crown of flowers with ribbons streaming over her black curls back on my wedding day in a flower-covered white tent by the river, my gut was churning with the angst that sadly followed my fairytale wedding after it became a divorce nightmare.

I pray that her marriage is long and peaceful, loving and lasting.

However, that wasn’t my story.

Yes, it was blissful during the whirlwind courtship with frequent coast-to-coast travel and glamorous parties and boat rides and an amazing penthouse apartment that we shared once engaged.

My wedding day was spectacular, and the 10-day honeymoon in Jamaica was amazing.

Being a newlywed and celebrating our one-year anniversary in the tropics was phenomenal.

And becoming a mom four years into the marriage was the best day of my life.

But when things began to spiral into an abyss that led to divorce… and the verbal abuse that followed for 16 years required me to get 4 restraining orders while coping with depression and anxiety triggered by the emotional trauma of it all… my viewpoint toward marriage soured.

At the same time, as a newly divorced woman 19 years ago, disappointment and disillusionment with dating spurred my imagination to conceive a new way to live and love.

Conventional dating and relationships did not work out.

I needed something different.

With a small child, I didn’t want to re-marry or have a boyfriend.

But I wanted romance and adventure.

And sex.

Sex that was safe for me physically and emotionally, as well as discreet, since I was well known as an author and journalist, and I was in such a contentious situation with my X.

So I conceived the idea for Husbands, Incorporated, and wrote an erotic trilogy about this company that provides fantasy marriages for women who want the power and pleasure in relationships that are guaranteed to satisfy in the bedroom while also making a positive impression in public.

Published under my pen name, Sasha Maxwell, this fictional account of my wild visions for legal marriages presents my viewpoints and philosophies about marriage and monogamy—or lack thereof—in a sexy, suspenseful drama featuring four couples.

Leading them are the two women who founded Husbands, Incorporated; Venus Roman and Raye Johnson are best friends who believe true love is a lie and monogamy is a myth.

Venus devoted her life as a wife to a powerful attorney while raising their twins in the quintessential American Dream replete with a luxurious home surrounded by a white picket fence in an affluent suburb. After he cheated and neglected her needs too many times, she left and joined best friend Raye to start Husbands, Inc.

Raye didn’t have kids, but shared Venus’ experience of being “played like March Madness” by her slick husband. Now as a powerful CEO of a financial services company, she’s determined to never fall in love or get duped into a traditional love relationship ever again.

As leaders of this company that’s going global, they set the example for the power and pleasure that women can experience with the stable of men who are trained to play fantasy husband roles such as rock stars, baseball players, bankers, boy toys, or whatever the women desire.

The women select a husband while visiting the grounds of Husbands, Inc., which boasts beautiful, buff men mingling around the pool and patio, in the outdoor gym, on the yacht and at social events.

All the men are screened for mental and physical wellness and criminal background checks, and the pairings are sealed in writing. A legal marriage is performed, with a prenup that promises the man a large payment after one year if he adheres to the terms of the marriage; this includes being monogamous and being the perfect husband, such as escorting the women to their corporate events and providing stellar service in the bedroom.

Then the couple concludes the marriage with 7 days in beautiful Guam, a U.S. territory where it only takes a week to get a divorce.

After that, the women are free to select another Husband and the men can take the money and run, or bank the cash and commit to another year-long marriage.

“But what if they fall in love?” women always ask me when I tell them about Husbands, Inc.

“Then they can have a real marriage and spend the rest of their lives together,” I say.

However, the point is that the women don’t really want to fall in love.

They just want to enjoy the best a relationship—and a marriage—have to offer—without the risk of emotional entanglements that lead to heartbreak.

But herein lies the drama!

Lust, no matter how firmly committed you might be to detach your emotions, inevitably sparks some feelings.

Because people are not robots.

Humans have emotions.

Especially when they start having great sex.

And people come to relationships with baggage, triggers and traumas.

All the ingredients for the juiciest storytelling!

Like Jane and Mike.

Jane thinks she’s a “Plain Jane” and only values herself for her appearance. So she’s lost weight, gotten a makeover with her hair, makeup, fingernails, eyelashes and clothes. She has no sense of self and is excruciatingly insecure.

This makes it nearly impossible for her to enjoy her “husband” Mike, who’s gorgeous, grounded and determined to help her find herself, boost her self worth and get her freak on.

Then there’s Laila—Mike’s ex-fiancé in real life—who’s on a mission to destroy Husbands, Incorporated, because she believes it stole her future with Mike.

She’s a TV reporter, and goes undercover to infiltrate the company and do a scathing exposé… but what she discovers while “married” to a Latin Lover is so tantalizingly sexy and life-changing, she’s not sure she can go through with her mission.

A mission shared by Venus’ ex-husband, a vicious lawyer who’s leading a legal battle to padlock the place that he calls a male brothel. He’s got crooked legal people in his pocket, and they’re all threatening to shutter the bustling husbands-for-hire empire.

There’s also an activist group called Men for Traditional Marriage that’s picketing the place and making a lot of noise in the global media, criticizing the morality of Husbands, Inc.

Meanwhile, women from around the world are gathered at the Detroit headquarters to learn how to open and operate a franchise in their countries.

All the while, another bride, Claire, is very much enjoying her marital sex—for the very first time with a man!—because she’s actually a lesbian wishing to enjoy forever with her childhood sweetheart, Nikki.

But in order to collect her multi-million-dollar inheritance from her rock star dad, he’s requiring her to marry a man by age 25.

So while trying to tame Nikki’s rage about the fake marriage, Claire weds self-proclaimed country boy Billy Jack, whose Bible belt roots make him equally conflicted about selling his soul to the devil to make money on the sacred act of marriage and sex—because he needs the cash to save his sick daughter’s life.

All the while, Venus is struggling to fend off the true love pleas of handsome hunk Rex, and Raye is doing the same with retired football player Buck Briggs.

Drama is high—and sizzlin’ hot!—as these four couples navigate the treacherous terrain of love and lust, all while facing the potential demise of Husbands, Inc. under the crushing criticism and legal battles waged by the forces who want to shut them down and rob the women of the pleasure and power that they’re enjoying at Husbands, Incorporated.

“I want women all over the world to enjoy this,” Venus announces to the 200 women who are gathered to find husbands and open franchises.  “This is our modern solution to the question that has been vexing poets and philosophers for centuries. How do you keep passion and pleasure alive in a relationship? How can women enjoy the same sexual freedom as men have been doing with harems and mistresses and concubines throughout history? How can women reject and abandon the oppressive rules that society imposes to restrict our sexual independence, and truly live and love with the wild abandon that we desire and deserve without shame and consequences that are sometimes deadly?”

These are the deep questions inspired by this sexy story.

A sexy story that offers my solutions to conventional marriage and relationships.

All of which were triggered by attending a bridal shower, and reflecting on my own experience.

So where does all this leave me now, 19 years into divorce?

FREE.

HAPPY.

BLISSED OUT on the reality that I can live and love as I deeply desire.

And that means unconventionally, in ways that thrill and fulfill me in ways I never imagined.

It’s a new world.

And despite the terrible setbacks about laws stealing women’s rights to make decisions about our own bodies…

We are still free to reject society’s hetero-normative-monogamous template of how to have relationships, and tailor our own lovestyle according to our wants and needs.

To help you do that, I’m exploring this fascinating topic on my podcast, The Goddess Power Show with Elizabeth Ann Atkins®.

Relationship and lifestyle experts and everyday people alike are sharing their experiences and expertise to help YOU explore new ways to think, live and love.

You can listen on all the popular podcast sites, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So please read Husbands, Incorporated as a paperback or ebook.

Listen to The Goddess Power Show with Elizabeth Ann Atkins®.

And open your mind and heart to ideas that will thrill and fulfill you beyond measure.

My mission is to help you live bigger, better and bolder, to manifest your wildest dreams.

I’m doing that now, after healing and releasing the trauma of divorce, as well as the disappointment and disillusionment with dating, to help YOU learn from my experiences and bliss out on your best life.

Read, listen, learn and love… and let me know how you’re doing! Leave a comment here or on the podcasting platforms.

Please also follow me on Instagram @elizabethannatkins and @thegoddesspowershowpodcast.com.