I loved this! We need more wlw books and this one is a prime example of why. It was well-written and I was chomping at the bit by the end because it was such a good slow burn. I love Jo and Emma and the secondary characters were great, too. I love books about people who are on/work on TV shows and this one didn't disappoint.
I really love Emma- she's smart and hard-working and kind and she's also a little insecure and has feelings of doubt about her future. She's very relatable and likable and I loved her scenes with her family and their dynamic..
We need more Jo's in fiction (and in real life.) I like seeing the so-called cold bitch character turn out to not actually be a cold bitch. We get to see that just because that's the image people have made for her, she's so much more than that. Jo is a real person who stands up for herself and the people she cares about.
I like the alternating POVs. Sometimes it can be too much, but in this case I liked hearing the about the events of the book from both character because they have such differing points of view, what with the age difference, the differing experience, etc.
I definitely recommend this and I hope we hear more from Meryl Wilsner in the future!

This book was sweet and swoony and everything I didn’t know I needed. I’m so happy for the LGBTQ+ and diversity rep this book presented. I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot and though at some moments I thought both of the character were a bit whiny, they felt thought out and their inner dialogue just made sense. It was a slow burn in the best way and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Emma loves her job assisting the incredible showrunner of a hit TV show. When her boss, Jo, invites Emma to join her at an award show, a photo taken of the two of them sets off rumors that Emma and Jo are romantically involved. Jo hates that this has become a story; since rising to fame in her teens, she’s never been one to comment on her love life and the rumors are undermining her reputation right as a her new movie is taking off. Emma is horrified anyone may think she is sleeping her way to the top. While the world begins treating them different, Emma and Jo find comfort in each other bringing each of them to wonder how far off the rumors really were.

There is so much to love about this book. First, this cover! I am so excited to show this book face out in my library. I also loved the pacing of story; nothing felt contrived to fit a standard rom com plot, and I felt refreshed and truly excited to see where each chapter would take us. I enjoyed getting to know Jo and Emma as individual characters through their own perspectives, and I was impressed by the range of topics Wilsner was able to bring into the fold without seeming preachy: #MeTo, representation and stereotypes in television, family dynamics, and even faith. I am excited to give this to fans of The Hating Game and Red, White, and Royal Blue, and. I am just so thrilled to see Something to Talk About in our library.

Oh goodness I'm so sad. This is Berkeley's first sapphic romance (which I'm slightly irked by the fact that it's 2020 and it's only now that they are publishing a sapphic romance...), but unfortunately it didn't work out for me. I really wanted to love it, it sounded fantastic and everything I love, but I just don't feel any kind of chemistry at all between the characters and I'm sad to admit that I'm really bored. Nothing is really happening, and I don't feel the sparks at all. The rep is really great however: Chinese American lesbian MC and Jewish bi MC. This is really the only praise-worthy element.

I think the main issue for me was the writing. As I said, it was a bit dull and I couldn't see the characters longing for each other. This is blurbed as slow-burn but the beginning throws you right in so I don't really know how I feel about this. Furthermore, there is no real action, the plot only moves forward on a day-to-day basis that follows the characters and their thoughts, which I would like to point out are very similar and made it hard to discern from one another at first.

I'm really bummed.

3.5/5
Very excited to see a wlw romance from Berkley! The romance was too slow burn for my tastes. Jo's blatant disregard for Emma's feelings prior to her sexual harassment meant I wasn't able to connect with her character until their romance was in full swing. This wasn't quite my cup of tea but I'm excited to see more from the author and imprint in the future!

4.5/5 Stars

Did you all know that this book is Berkley's first ever queer female romance?!? AND that it's written by a queer author!?! That in of itself put this book on my radar. Then I heard about the plot and I was sold. My expectations kept rising for this story the more I heard about it and the praise it was getting. Add in that gorgeous cover and I needed this book in my hands ASAP!

And OMG! I devoured this book! It met each and every one of my expectations and blew several more out of the water. I loved it so much that I immediately went and ordered a copy for curbside pickup so I could have it for my personal library. I sometimes struggle with slow burn romances but this one was the good kind of slow burn that had me shouting “Just kiss already!” at the characters! It being a f/f romance was just the cherry on top!

I'm kind of a sucker for the "icy and distant businessperson falls in love with a sweet cinnamon roll love interest" trope and this story tackled that romance trope in such a way that I wasn't icked out by the fact that it was an boss/employee love story. It was so well done!

I loved Emma and Jo and the Hollywood setting so much! I didn't realize I needed this book in my life until I read it. It checked all of the boxes for me. I loved that Emma is Jewish for more than just Hanukah and that we get a peek into what it's like to be Chinese-American from Jo. I also loved that we get to see a part of what it is to be a woman in Hollywood. I will warn you that there is some sexual harassment in this book so be careful if that's a trigger for you.

I loved that there is so much women supporting women in this book. I almost loved the relationship between Emma and her sister, Avery, as well as Jo's relationship with her best friend, Evelyn, more than the romance. Almost. What I really adored was seeing Jo and Avery become friends. The family dynamics in this book were intriguing and awesome for the most part.

The story is a slow, slow burn romance. I was invested from the get go but I could see people being turned off because of it too. I loved the chemistry that developed between Emma and Jo. I would have liked to see more of an epilogue or just more pages of them being officially together though.

This book is filled with a lot of good tension but some of it's also the kind of tension that would have been made unnecessary with some simple communication between the characters. I enjoyed the story as is but I may have been frustrated enough in a few parts that I shouted at the main characters to just talk to each other already. I loved getting the story from both Emma and Jo's perspectives but it got annoying how much they assumed they knew the other's answers without asking them.

Overall, I think Berkley chose a home run for their first female queer romance to publish. It was almost perfect, in my opinion. So if you're looking for a f/f romance to read during Pride this year, I can't recommend picking this one up enough!

This was definitely a slower-burn romance that is more understated and simmering rather than explosive. I think I would've appreciated having more chemistry and passion between the two leads throughout the book. I felt like Wilsner told me that the two were attracted to each other but that I didn't really *see* the attraction and chemistry until much later in the book. Still, this was entertaining and a lovely debut that I enjoyed.

When Hollywood A-Lister Jo takes her assistant, Emma, with her to a red-carpet event, neither have any idea of the scandal and rumors that soon surround them—and how there might actually be some truth to the rumors. As Emma's promotion is threatened and Jo's future teeters, both struggle with their professionalism and feelings. Are the rumors just rumors, or is there something more?

This was very cute, although it rushed the ending (and I wanted a longer epilogue).

I liked it quite a bit, although the writing was a little rough. I felt like Jo, a powerhouse and Type A dynamo, had literally one emotion: that of a teenaged child. She rolls her eyes so much I thought they'd roll right out of her head, and the constant overuse of this expression nearly made me DNF within the first chapter.

Maybe the eye-rolls stayed in the final edits. Maybe they were removed.

Regardless, if the eye-rolling (see, even I'm doing it!) is too much and that's the issue—keep reading. It gets better.

Mild spoiler: they do get together. This is a romance, y'all!

I loved how this March-September (it's not that big of an age gap) romance was portrayed, with Jo at the height of her career yet poised for more, and Emma just at the beginning of hers. I did like that the power dynamic was addressed—although resolved too rapidly—between the two, and I also appreciated the nuance towards the cessation of Jo's acting career and the racist microaggressions she experienced throughout her child-acting and current rise. I also appreciated that there was a heavy nod to the #metoo movement, although I had wished there was a little more resolve to it.

Emma liked knowing how the whole thing worked. She knew every part of the machinery of the show.

Anywho, I loved Emma and Jo separately. I liked the juxtaposition of Emma's drive and lack of ambition. She loved her job in and out—and I completely empathized with her feeling of being a failure, when in fact the failure wasn't her at all but was still internalized.

And I really liked that Emma was fantastic at her job because she freaking worked at it, and the work was shown. She knew the ins and outs of everything because she was curious, she asked, and she was nice about it. She had initiative and anticipated Jo's needs, and was just a fantastic assistant (that this gets addressed later as a potential obstacle in their relationship was good too).

She was an open bisexual, and tall (she was tall!!!) and filled with insecurities based upon what had happened in the past. But she had a dream of one day directing, even if it had been sidelined.

"The original recipe for this called for one clove of garlic, which is ridiculous," Jo said. "I used three tonight."


While Emma was my favorite, I did like Jo (minus the eye-rolling). She had scrambled upwards in a profession that valued women only for their beauty, and reached the top in a male-dominated world as a successful writer and as a (closeted queer) woman of color. Now she was about to be a woman writing a James-Bondesque script, which was so cool—and I loved the comments on James Bond, script-writing and who can and can't write action movies.

Anywho, I also loved the supporting cast. It's been a hot minute since I read the book (shame, much shame heaped upon me for procrastinating), but they were hilarious. Jo's support network was fantastic and uplifting, and her best friend was truly amazing.

This one is definitely worth the read if you're into Hollywood romances and are thinking of stepping into sapphic romances.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This one was cute!

It was sooooo swoony & slow burn that it made me enjoy every single step of that way for what was to come. I haven't read a whole lot of f/f romances, but this one was a good starter!

It was the slow burn of all slow burns though, so be aware it takes FOREVER to get going. Overall it was cute. Not my favorite, not my least favorite! I'd recommend it to a friend.

This book was a wonderful read! I heard that this is Berkley's first F/F romance novel, and I was really excited to read it! And it was so easy and short to read, and I just devoured it, it was a really great story and so entertaining to read!

This book deals with one major issue, sexual harassment in Hollywood. It mentions the lack of diversity as well, which is a small part of a bigger problem, but it's an underpinning part of the book, that Jo is Asian, not a active part of the book, like the situation that Emma has to deal with.

I just really enjoyed their relationship, they worked well together, boss and assistant, and that showed in the picture that made people think that they were dating. I was so glad that it didn't show people looking down on them for their supposed romantic relationship. They had to deal with other issues.

Like the fact that people think Emma was sleeping with her boss to get her job. And the complexities of the fact that Emma does work for Jo. And the misunderstandings! Oh, man, the misunderstandings! I loved all the emotional drama, especially since it ultimately ends with a happy ending!

This book was so cute and precious and amazing to read, and I really enjoyed it!

This is a sweet lesbian/bi contemporary romance set in Hollywood.

Emma is a showrunner's assistant on a long-running television show. Her boss Jo, a former child star, is fighting against Hollywood conceptions on race and gender as she works toward her first blockbuster screenplay. When Jo asks Emma to accompany her to an industry awards show, the world assumes that they're dating.

This is a fun inversion of the pretending-to-date trope, in the realms of she-doth-protest-too-much. Emma and Jo's connection to each other is sweet and supportive and completely darling, even when it's merely professional.

The story confronts a lot of issues of power imbalance, including age and career position, as well as a B Plot exploring sexual harassment and male toxicity.

The primary romance is born out of a 14-year age difference, and a boss-assistant relationship. For my part, I don't love seeing these elements at play in a meaningful relationship, and I think the story could have played out just as well if the age difference was cut in half. Still, I thought these dynamics were well-handled. Both characters are aware of how inappropriate and damaging it could be to pursue a relationship given their working roles. The harassment B Plot created a clear foil between mutual attraction and conscientious response, and demeaning sexualization and abuse of power.

One thing I love in the background of this story: Jo considers it her job to set her assistant's on the career path they want, and to help them transition out of their assistant role and into something better. It's a small non-central detail, but says so much about what people can do to support each other, and use power for the greater good. When it comes to the romance, this outlook of support recontextualizes their age difference as part of a cycle, and sets them up as equals who are on different parts of the career course, who both admire and support each other's work.

I loved the characters' relationships with their friends and (most) family members. There's a sassy undertone in a lot of the friendships at play, and it's kind of adorable how everyone ships Emma and Jo.

I typically prefer YA to adult fiction, because there's a guaranteed focus on identity and character growth, and because there are so many fun friendships at play. For me, this had all of the elements I typically love in YA, and I thought it was a fun, sweet read.

I'm often on the lookout for a lesbian contemporary that is as fun and sweet as some of the gay fiction I adore. This may be the first time I've found a book that feels like it's hitting the right notes.

Well, I quite literally read Something to Talk About in one sitting.

I'll admit right off the bat that I have a particular weakness for age-gap lesbian romances, and as I work in the entertainment industry I do enjoy Hollywood-based romances, so my enjoyment of the book is definitely a little biased. It's not a perfect novel, but it was enough of what I wanted that I INHALED it.

The positives: I loved how much of a badass Jo was, and I loved that her journey with Emma was a true slow-burn romance. There's a subplot in the novel about sexual harassment in Hollywood that hit me like a gut punch, and felt like it was handled in a similarly satisfying way to how The West Wing handles politics--as in, "that's not how things work in the real world, but gosh, wouldn't it be great if it were?"

The less-than-positives: If you'd asked me right when I'd finished the book, I would have said "Loved it! No complaints!" Having sat with it for a day or so at this point, I'm looking back on some things that I excused because I'm starved for lesbian age-gap romances. The main one is that some of the conflict seems a bit contrived in the middle--there's an arc where Emma is upset over something Jo has done, but the thing Jo has done only kind of justifies the upset? It was understandable enough as I was reading it, but in hindsight it makes me go "hmm... sure, I guess."

I also felt like there was some dissonance in the way they get closer versus the way they actually get together. Their reliance on each other makes absolute sense, and the strengthening of their bond makes absolute sense, but I'm not entirely sure there was ever justification for crossing the line into romance in the way they ultimately do. Maybe there was? It's certainly not bad, but in hindsight it also feels like it could have been better.

Ultimately, I enjoyed reading it, and I WOULD recommend it to anyone looking for an easy read in this genre. Is it perfect? No. Does it have to be? Nope! It still gave me an enjoyable escape from reality for an afternoon, flaws and all.

I read this back in January when Berkley so kindly sent me a paperback galley. I really enjoyed it. It is super SLOW burn. But it felt very authentic to the characters. I really enjoyed watching Emma and Jo’s friendship blossom into romantic love. There are little hints throughout the story that even as “friends” they are more than just friends. They each do little things for each other that shows how much they care.

There is a scene where Jo apologizes for a bad that she did and Emma isn’t joyous and immediately back to business as usual-

“Just because you apologize doesn’t mean I’m not still hurt,” Emma said. Her voice waversm but she held eye contact. “Just because you apologize doesn’t mean that you suddenly have my trust again.”
This felt so real and true and different. I think a lot of times in romance we see forgiveness granted so easily. And sometimes it is fine. But sometimes it's okay to say, what you did hurt me and I am not ready to move on quite yet.

I thought the boss/assistant relationship was handled really well and caused some trouble but wasn’t overly dramatic.

I really enjoyed this story and look forward to future books from this author.

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT has interesting main characters (Jo, the successful Chinese-American show runner with tons of Hollywood clout and Emma, her loyal Jewish assistant) and I appreciated how the author handled difficult topics like boss/employee power imbalance in romantic relationships as well as the #MeToo Movement in Hollywood. What didn't really work for me was the extremely slow burn romance, which normally I don't have a problem with but here it was frustrating. My enjoyment of the cute moments Jo and Emma did share together was hindered by their reluctance to just communicate their feelings, which subsequently led to several avoidable misunderstandings. The conclusion of this book didn't feel as rewarding as most slow burn romances normally do. Despite all this, the LGBTQ and other representation in SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT was very enjoyable and I hope to read more from this author.

There was a lot to like about this book, but I was also left wanting in a lot of aspects. I never really felt connected to either of the MCs, and this lessened the impact of some of their moments together. There was also A LOT of "oh my goodness, why don't y'all just TALK TO ONE ANOTHER" that really impacted my enjoyment of the book - but when looked at in the lens of the characters personal and professional lives, it made sense. (It was still difficult, though.)

However, readers with more connection to the characters in this story have lauded it and it does represent a much needed addition to the romance genre - so I'm happy it is here. There's also great subplots regarding abuse in the workplace and consent in a relationship that I felt were very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, & Penguin Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

So I absolutely adored this book! I'm sure you've all seen images of this one circulating all week because it published Tuesday, but I'm going to give a few great reasons why you should pick up a copy ASAP!

What I loved about this book:

1. This book addresses the #metoo movement and the stress that a victim experiences when they do decide to come forward. I felt this was written into this book with sensitivity and accuracy and that Jo's character reacted perfectly to the situation.

2. This one is a F/F slow burn romance (like super slow burn) with diverse characters that are absolutely amazing. I loved reading their story and was highly invested in the will they/won't they from the very beginning. When the book starts you get know each of them individually before you see them develop feelings and that makes the romance even more enjoyable. Their banter back and forth was amazing and had me laughing more than once.

3. Even though this is a workplace romance, I felt the author did a great job of addressing the power imbalance between the two characters. While I personally feel a workplace romance is ok, I think it's important that both people are consenting and neither is feeling pressured into the relationship.

If you're looking for a slow burn romance with very little steam, this book is definitely for you. I hope you grab a copy and love it as much as I did.

This review will go live on The Bloggers Girls on May 28, 2020.

I admit I was rather weary approaching LGBTQ romance with “Famous People” / Hollywood trope attached to it. Probably because it usually has the all hiding and deflecting that usually surrounds the relationship. Interestingly, it’s still the deflecting part that annoyed me here, but more towards each other rather to everyone else – because everyone else actually supported Jo and Emma to be together.  

Jo Jones, a powerhouse showrunner in Hollywood, decides to take her personal assistant Emma Kaplan to the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards. Tabloids soon going rampant with gossip of they are dating after the photo of Jo making Emma laughed at the red carpet surfaced. Jo refuses to make comment though, saying that after years of never commenting on relationship, she’s not going to do it now. So, the story goes…

Let me say that this book is VERY slow burn. Like, VERY, VERY much.  The actual kissing and any sexy times didn’t happen until almost the very end, and it was quick, and heck, even the happy ending felt abrupt. Most times, it’s because of the boss/employee dynamic that plays strongly into the story – with Jo being Emma’s boss. I could understand the tricky part of navigating any path to relationship.

Unfortunately, as someone who adored slow burn, I thought this part wasn’t worth the reward in the end. I love slow burn romance, and I don’t mind when authors keep any physical action of the romance near the end. But I usually love it because the journey to get there is filled with unresolved sexual tension, or those sweet little moments of intimacy, or even some treasured heart-to-heart conversation…

Due to the fact that Jo is Emma’s boss, and gossips that follow that photo, Jo and Emma tries hard to NOT fuel the fire. Yes, there are few of sweet/caring moments, like when Emma’s asthma is acting up, or Emma helping Jo out of her writing block… but most of the times, they either keep the feeling to themselves (in their head, for the sake of us readers), or shared it only with their family and friends. Therefore, I felt that I didn’t get enough of built-up. I was rather bored to be honest. The writing made me feel rather detached to the characters and wasn’t too invested in Jo and Emma.

It’s still a nice book to read though – at least, we have an interracial relationship with Jo being Chinese American… ALTHOUGH, at the same time, this part of her identity is not being fully explored me thinks. We have a #metoo moment, which I think is very ‘current’ type of situation in Hollywood… ALTHOUGH again, that part disappeared very quickly. 

I just didn’t love it as much as I wanted it to…

This super sweet, slow burn romance is really a delight. I loved spending time with these characters and watching them fight their feelings throughout most of the book didn't feel frustrating (as it easily could), but instead we see them struggling with their power differential (Jo is Emma's boss) and the public eye. This f/f romance is also set in Hollywood and often on set of a television show which is super fun. This will be an easy recommendation.

Welp, I am bummed as heck. I was SO excited for this book because it is Berkley's first F/F title, but I gotta be honest: nothing happened in this book. It started out fun enough, but the pacing was sooooooo slooooooow and the characters had little to no sexual OR romantic chemistry and this just.. let me down in a big way. It wasn't tHe WoRsT thing I've ever read (hence the 3 star rating and not anything lower), but it was just especially disappointing because I had such! high! hopes! for this one. I am big sad. Womp.

This romance delighted me. What can I say, I want the movie adaptation to happen ASAP!!! The book just came out on Tuesday 5/26 and I recommend it to all fans of romance and/or LGBTQ+ books.