Rachel Lynn Solomon is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Talk, Weather Girl, and other romantic comedies for teens and adults. Originally from Seattle, she's currently navigating expat life in Amsterdam, where she can often be found exploring the city, collection stationery, and working up the courage to knit her first sweater. You can find her online at RachelLynnSolomonBooks.com or on Instagram and Twitter @RLynn_Solomon. You can find more of my reviews of her work here.
Chandler Cohen has never felt more like the ghost in "ghostwriter" than when she attends a signing for a book she wrote—and the author doesn't even recognize her. The evening turns more promising when she meets a charming man at the bar and immediately connects with him. But when all of their sexual tension culminates in a spectacularly awkward hookup, she decides this is one night better off forgotten. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Her next project is ghostwriting a memoir for Finn Walsh, a C-list actor best known for playing a lovable nerd on a cult classic werewolf show who now makes a living appearing at fan conventions across the country. Chandler knows him better from their one-night stand of hilarious mishaps. Chandler is determined to keep their partnership as professional as possible, but when she admits to Finn that their night together wasn't as mind-blowing as he thought it was, he's distraught. He intrigues her enough that they strike a deal: when they're not working on his book, Chandler will school Finn in the art of satisfaction. As they grow closer both in and out of the bedroom, they must figure out which is more important, business or pleasure—and if there's a way for them to have both.
I had a conversation with a friend recently about how sometimes, when reading really healthy relationships, we struggle with the reality of it. As in, healthy relationships are great, but sometimes the way they're depicted in media doesn't always feel real, because real people don't talk like that. With Business or Pleasure, though, Rachel Lynn Solomon puts a healthy, communicative relationship in the spotlight in a very real, down-to-earth way. After their awkward hook-up (so awkward I had to set the book down in several spots!), Chandler and Finn have a lot of work to do in order to get what they both want out of the arrangement. This means finding ways to effectively communicate with one another, in a way that's healthy, but also relatable. Because each of them is a character that still has a lot of other stuff going on in their lives! There was something so vulnerable about their conversations, and they communicated in a healthy way that felt like how real people would talk about their problems. Solomon makes a relationship like this feel 100% real, centering how attainable it can be to practice healthy habits within a romantic relationship. I'm not saying what anyone else hasn't here, but this felt so crucial to the success of the book, and Solomon absolutely nails it.
A delightfully unexpected part of the book for me was the exploration of fandom! Finn's career has taken him in and out of cons, and is full of experiences with countless fans. Solomon's depiction of loving a cult classic, and how fans love it years and years later was so wholesome, and made Business or Pleasure even more fun to read. I love when books incorporate multimedia elements, and Solomon takes full advantage of that here, incorporating script excerpts and blogs to build the world of The Nocturnals and the world of Chandler's and Finn's careers. I wasn't expecting as much of a focus on the cons, or travel, or nerdiness in general, and I just love how it was so fun and down-to-earth it all was, just like Chandler's and Finn's characters.
Not only do Chandler and Finn have to navigate who they are—professionally, romantically—but Chandler also has her own soul searching to do. Contemporary romance novels that I love tend to be ones that also focus on the main character's self-growth, and Chandler's arc was focused on just as much as the romance was. Chandler has to navigate her relationship with her family—what does her relationship look like with Noemie and her parents when she's away? She has to figure out what she wants for herself—what about books with her name on the cover? And she has to determine what types of risks she's ready to take, both in her career and in her romantic life. Only when we see Chandler grow and discover who she wants to be in this next stage in her life, is when we can truly begin to appreciate the tenderness and vulnerability of her relationship with Finn, and believe that what they have will last.
I'm sure there is literally so much I'm not touching on—the cinnamon roll MMC! the depiction of OCD and Judaism and Hollywood! the hilarity of the awkward one-night-stand! Noemie! that reunion scene! (and who else kinda wants to know what happened to Ethan?)—and it's because I know that I can't fit it all into one review that I know it's a favorite. I simply think that everyone who loves romance needs to pick up this book immediately.
Rachel Lynn Solomon's adult romances are my favorite, and she will remain an insta-buy author for as long as she keeps writing. I can't wait to hear what's next, and until then, you can find her online at RachelLynnSolomonBooks.com or on Instagram and Twitter @RLynn_Solomon. You can find more of my reviews of her work here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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