The book explores the paradox of why affairs continue to be condemned as immoral at a time when the incidence of affairs continues to rise, and they have become the basic ingredients of soap operas, novels and the media.

Foreword, Steve Duck; Preface, Kaeren Harrison, Dennis Marsden; Chapter 1 Sex, Lies, and ... Transformation, Lise VanderVoort, Steve Duck; Chapter 2 The Sociological Significance of Affairs, David H. J. Morgan; Chapter 3 Intimacy, Negotiated Nonmonogamy, and the Limits of the Couple, Lynn Jamieson; Chapter 4 Communication and Marital Infidelity, Anita L. Vangelisti, Mandi Gerstenberger; Chapter 5 Renaissance of Romanticism in the Era of Increasing Individualism, Osmo Kontula, Elina Haavio-Mannila; Chapter 6 Men, Women, and Infidelity: Sex Differences in Extradyadic Sex and Jealousy, Bram P. Buunk, Pieternel Dijkstra; Chapter 7 Being Unfaithful: His and Her Affairs, Graham Allan; Chapter 8 "From Here to Epiphany ...": Power and Identity in the Narrative of an Affair, Jean Duncombe, Dennis Marsden; Chapter 9 A Different Affair? Openness and Nonmonogamy in Same Sex Relationships, Brian Heaphy, Catherine Donovan, Jeffrey Weeks; Chapter 10 Affairs and Children, Jean Duncombe, Dennis Marsden; Chapter 11 The Role of Female Friends in the Management of Affairs, Kaeren Harrison;