Shoutouts to Kim and Stephany who wrote opposing reviews about Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon that made me really curious about this book.
Note about this cover: Ew, gross. Socks in bed? Not sexy. Also, why are the high heels kicked off if she's wearing crew socks. This cover is garbage.
Chandler Cohen is a wannabe fiction writer who pays the bills ghostwriting. After she attends a signing for a book she wrote and the "author" of the book doesn't recognize her, she meets a man at a bar and the next thing you know she's having mediocre (bad?) sex with him. She sneaks away the next morning so she doesn't have lie to him about what a great time she had, but the next thing she knows, she is writing this guy's memoir. Finn Walsh is a C-list celebrity who's on the comic con circuit, making money off his appearance in a cult werewolf show that has not been on the air in years. (Read: Finn is a loser. You guys. Finn is a giant loser.)
The Great: This book was hot. Chandler has some sort of experience in teaching sex education and she brings that Finn to teach him what to do and how to do it. If you don't like open door romances, this is not for you. If you do like them, the sex scenes are hot. It's also a really good book about communication in a healthy sex life.
The Good: I like Chandler's relationship with her cousin/best friend. I like her relationship with her parents. Basically, I like that Chandler has a life outside of this relationship.
The Bad: These two are the most boring of boring characters. Like...does Finn have goals beyond comic con? No offense to aspiring writers, but 50% of female leads in romance novels are writers and Chandler doesn't stand out in any way. Compared to say, January in Beach Read, Chandler doesn't really think about her non-memoir work and that's fine because someone's identity doesn't have to be their job, but she doesn't think about anything. Eh. These characters are a snoozefest.
The Ugly: I don't think these two have thought about their chances of a successful long-term relationship. Geography is real. Chandler is the real leader in the bedroom and will Finn be okay with that forever (answer: I don't think so)? What happens the first time someone's career gets in the way of the other's career? For a couple who communicate well about sex, it's the only thing they communicate about.
I liked this book, I really did. I just thought it could have been better. 4/5 stars
Lines of note:
"I think the only thing I’ve done for eighteen years is manage to function with a consistently medium level of anxiety." (location 360)
lolololol. Truer words, am I right?
Of course, everyone wants to believe they’re special enough, that they’ve acquired enough life experience to fill a book. They assume their deeply profound story will fly off the shelves. In my experience, that’s just not true. (location 1373)
Yes! This is actually why I rarely read a memoir. People think they're more interesting than they are. Oddly enough, I'm absolutely riveted by personal blogs. People are complex.
Because he is someone worthy of a memoir, and in my lowest moments, sometimes I feel like a blank page. (location 4813)
Oh, boy. This hit hard.
Thing I looked up:
Mexley compilations (location 2205) - No idea. None. Google is no help.
Hat mentions (why hats?):
When the show was on, I had to go incognito just about everywhere—sunglasses, a hat, the works. (location 2384)
I make a swipe for his hat, but he ducks...(location 2695)
Hmm. Sounds like you were generous to give it 4 stars. I like your comments about the cover, hee hee. Yes, it is terrible!
ReplyDeleteI did like the book, but there's so much potential for it be GREAT. The sex scenes were so good and the rest of it was meh. If the rest could have been as good as the sex scenes, I would rave about this book. Rachel Lynn Solomon, you can do better, I know it.
DeleteI read this! It was definitely more open door than I was expecting. Not that that's a bad thing - I just thought it was going to be a "mistaken identity farce" and it wasn't. There was so much I appreciated about this book - I liked the awkward sex, I liked how casually Jewish they were - you don't see that in a lot of romance novels - and I liked the setting, ghost writing and conventions. It was all in all fine - I just thought that the book wasn't what the set up led me to believe it would be.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to like about this book. I just wish it had been the extra bit better so I could rave about it.
DeleteHa! Thanks for the shoutout! I am glad you ended up liking it!
ReplyDeleteAnd interesting what you said about being riveted by personal blogs (I agree, I am too). I think that they are short and nature and don't need to be cohesive helps!
The thing with personal blogs is that they ARE cohesive. If you talk about your own life, all the pieces fit together, even if your life is books, your pets, and the struggles of small town life (*ahem*). But they don't claim to be anything bigger than they are and that's what makes them riveting. Just glimpses into lives.
DeleteGlad you liked this! The sex was SO HOT in this book. Whew.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I agree that people think they are more interesting than they are. I *do* think most people are VERY interesting, which is why I love reading blogs. I think most people think they AREN'T interesting, but once you start to learn more about people and their experiences... I find people endlessly fascinating.
It was so hot. If only the rest of the book lived up to the sex scenes. It has so much potential.
DeleteI guess I just think that what people share in their memoirs generally isn't interesting to me. I don't want to read about drug/alcohol use, affairs, and gossip. I want to read about how it worked in your relationship when you realized you weren't compatible about sex, you didn't have enough money, somebody didn't take out the trash. I want to know how a single person manages to get themselves into bed at a reasonable time. And people who write memoirs generally have something big to write about and I am not interested in the Big Things. I guess that's why blogs work so well for me.