Rachel Lynn Solomon

Ooof. I'm torn about this one. The set-up of Business of Pleasure had potential—aspiring author has a very mediocre one-night stand, thanks her lucky stars she'll never have to see this guy again, finds out the very next day that he's a C-list celebrity whose memoir she's going to be ghost-writing. And for the first chunk of the book, I thought it was going to live up to that potential and be a 3.4/4-star read—but the further I got, the more I found myself disappointed and even skimming a bit to get to the end. I know it sounds like an odd complaint to have about a work of fiction but Chandler and Finn's relationship felt too scripted, too invested in representation and not enough in exploration.

It's also weird to read a book where the author is verging on the preachy about certain issues that can be Problematic (gasp), but then glides right over truly grappling with the issues created by the circumstances of Finn and Chandler's relationship. You can't have it both ways!

Also, having the female lead be called Chandler meant I just kept picturing her being played by Matthew Perry in a blond pixie-cut wig.… (plus d'informations)

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review here and on my blog Samwise Reviews. Oh. My. God. I’ll be honest, the first 10% of this book didn’t really grab me, but I was sucked into the rest of it and couldn’t put it down. I even snuck in some reading while I was at work, cause I just had to finish it. The characters are delightfully sweet and perfectly awkward, and their rivalry/romance was very well done. I felt every emotion they did, and loved the whole roller coaster ride of them. I loved how honest and open Rowan and Neil are, and I shipped them hard. I was not disappointed. I haven’t read Rachel Lynn Solomon’s other books, but I’ll be definitely picking them up after this.
… (plus d'informations)

3.75 stars

What didn't work for me was the whole pretend-ex's. It was difficult for me to believe that Dominic would forgo his journalistic standards (that he formed whilst in grad school lol) for a relationship podcast. Also, I question how Shay could have been so game for lying to her listeners almost immediately upon being offered the chance to host her own show. Or maybe Shay is such a veteran at public radio this kind of lie is common? The lie just felt so icky and cringey it was hard for me to trust the main characters. I would rather have had none of the faux-ex storyline and just have them host a show about relationships and then they organically fall for each other.… (plus d'informations)