Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy of The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this contemporary romance! It has my favorite trope of enemies to lovers, with a side of office romance, age gap, fake exes, one bed.

I loved Shay and her dedication to public radio. She is on the verge of her 30th birthday, and is facing some hard truths. It's time for her to face some fears, take some leaps, and learn from it all. She wasn't perfect and owned up to her mistakes. Dominic was much more than meets the eye. I do love it when the male MC has a tough exterior but deep down is a marshmellow! They had great banter and tension between them. They had to work for their HEA and the grand gesture at the end was perfect!

Yes yes yes yes yes. I don't know what it is, I feel like there were a lot of podcast/radio-themed rom coms that have come out recently but I LOVED THIS ONE. Maybe it was because this book was a little unconventional for a love story, which made it ever more charming. I liked that the main man was Asian American and that the main lady was older than him! Their tension and eventual love story was the best and I loved absolutely every minute of it.

I have read very few contemporary romance books that I would give 5 stars to and this is one. I loved the story and the characters. I will recommend this book to everyone that I know that enjoys love stories. I will also be adding this to the romance recommendations list at my library.

The Ex Talk was such a delight to read. It's hilarious and light hearted. The writing style is good , it will make you keep turning the pages. I had such a good time reading it.

The Ex Talk is an interesting twist on the fake dating trope as we follow two co-workers dominic and Shay who don't like each other but have to pretend to be exes for the sake of a new segment they're starting on their radio show. I will admit that Dominic and Shay's banter was quite fun, the writing was really easy to get into and I had an enjoyable time with the story but I have to say that Shay's character left alot to be desired. In the beginning of the story she absolutely hates Dominic and it seemed so unfounded and throughout the story she just had this lingering bitterness about her that was in all honesty unpleasant to read about, she's very human and i'm sure relatable to alot of people (particularly millenial white women) but personally i found her grating at times. Also, although I found her and Dominic entertaining I can't say I was 100% rooting for their relationship. It was an enjoyable enough story but not my favorite romance.

3 stars

I love when a book has banter and is witty and this book totally has that! Especially with the radio/podcast aspect- it was super interesting learning a little more about that. Throw in fake dating (er I guess the more accurate term would be fake breakup) and you have me hooked! I finished this so quick because I was so into the story. OH and loved how the author highlighted adopting a dog and how that takes time and patience. Ah just an all around great read!

More of a 3.5 for me. I liked the characters a lot, but some of the pacing felt off to me. It's probably a personal thing as I don't think it was poorly written.

I generally love the enemies to lovers trope so I liked that about this story too. I appreciated that the LGBTQ characters didn't feel forced. I liked all of the different relationships and the growth that they each had.

TW for death of a parent.

It took me a long time to really get into this book. Shay felt like a passive aggressive doormat. Dominic was a condescending douchebro. Their boss was a smarmy misogynist who covered up his disdain for his female colleagues with a cheery smile that belied the rot within.

Apparently, I am a masochist, because I pushed through on this one and, boy howdy, was I rewarded for my trials and tribulations.

This book was a complete smokeshow once it got rolling. Peeling back the layers on the characters motivations and setting them on a collision course at a snail's pace was some of the most enjoyable reading I've had in a while. I loved this book so much that I had to keep going between my digital ARC and the paperback copy I eventually procured because I had to bring it with me all through the house as I went about my day.

Without going into it too deeply, the dark night of the soul moment was completely earned and the payoff was delicious. The only thing I might have changed would be to make the true villain of the story suffer a lot more for his sins.

This was an easy 4 stars for me, by the end of the book, and I'm sure it will be on my reread pile very soon.

Shay Goldstein and Dominic Yun have never dated. On the surface, it looks to everyone like they really dislike each other very much. Shay has been at the station for 10 years and is not quite doing what she dreams of doing and in comes Dominic, waving his Masters in Journalism in everyone’s face any time he gets a chance. Dominic is the new kid and seems to be becoming her boss’s new favorite employee. The problem is Shay thinks he’s also really attractive, and tall, and has beautiful forearms (hell yes for sexy forearms!).

After her throwaway idea (or so she thought) of doing a show where recent exes talk about what brought their relationship to an end and other related topics gets traction with her boss, he comes up with the brilliant idea to get Shay and Dominic to host it. Not just host it, but PRETEND they are exes!

If you’re thinking, this isn’t going to end well… I was right there with you. Regardless of what I knew would be a disaster for them, Shay and Dominic made it work. They had great chemistry and the banter back and forth was so fun. Soon enough these two are falling HARD for each other.

My favorite thing about Shay and Dominic was how sincere they were with their feelings. They never lied to one another about how they were feeling. There was no game playing. All the sincerity really made this such an emotional love story for me. I won’t give away any of the delicious details but, OMG, they wanted each other BAD! And they showed it! Dominic is now one of my favorite book boyfriends, btw.

Anyway, I could go and on about how much I love those two. In the end, The Ex Talk was about finding love and finding your home in someone. It was about exploring the possibilities of careers outside of what you thought your dream was. It was about opening up your heart and letting others in. I loved this book. I’m so glad I finally read it (or actually, listened to the audiobook).

Audiobook Thoughts - I have two words for narrator Emily Ellet… DAMN, GIRL! It was the powerful emoting for me. She made me cry several times!! And other things too at different moments. lol Highly recommend this audiobook.

I loved this! So fun, and the characters really popped. It made me laugh out loud and I was rooting for everyone. Highly recommend!

A super fun adult rom-com for fans of Emily Henry and Christina Lauren! I enjoyed this read and thought the premise was GREAT! Plus, a twist on the fake relationship trope made it all the more fun to read!

This was exactly the book I was needing, and I'm really sad that I hadn't read it sooner than now!! Soliman is becoming an instant-buy for me now - her writing feels like home. I literally cannot wait for her next (a YA) coming next month!

Romance Trope: Enemies-to-lovers, fake exes
Steam Level: 3/5
Characters: 5/5 LOVE.

Another title I instantly bought for the library's collection. This is a delightful romance and I particularly enjoyed the NPR themes. The characters were fun to get to know and had great chemistry. Overall a great read.

DNF @ 72%

This is just not keeping my attention, and I read an entire fantasy trilogy in the middle of trying to read this. I kept NOT coming back to this, and reading those other books instead. I thought I would love this book. The idea of people pretending to have dated for the sake of their jobs sounded like a spin on the typical fake romance kind of story I love. But then I realized I just couldn't reconcile the fact that these people, who claim to be ethical journalists, are lying to their listeners and everyone they know about their fake previous relationship. There's not a ton of depth to either character, and right now I can't even remember her name. I'm not a huge fan of the "casual, let's just have sex" kind of relationship either. Even if they catch feelings in the end, I just don't see the romance in a story like that. It's written well, and there's some humor there that I enjoyed. Overall, though, the story is just lacking something for me.

This wasn't my favorite romance, but I did enjoy it! I don't often read romances with a younger male love interest and it was an interesting dynamic. Since this book is half podcast, half prose, I'd love to listen to it rather than read it. It'd probably be a better reading experience that way.

This was a fun enemies-to-lovers, office-romance tropey book. I enjoyed the conversations between Shay and Dominic, which lent a great amount of humor to the story due to their competitive personalities. However, I appreciated the focus Rachel Lynn Solomon placed on discussing grief and how that can lead one to live their life in way that they believe someone else expected rather than on their own terms. Rachel Lynn Solomon created two main characters who at first view each other as competition but grow to respect and find solace in each other.

Shay and Dominic's relationship was a refreshing take on the fake-dating trope. This book is perfect for any reader who is looking for a flirty, light-hearted read filled with fun banter and swoony moments.

This was ultimately not for me. For people that connected with Shay and Dominic as characters they might enjoy it more. I just never understood Shay's emotional arc here and how she went from being upset with Dom to head over heels for him. The way that the workplace was involved with the setup was also just very uncomfortable for me. I couldn't ever shake the feeling that there was a lot of unethical behavior happening for the sake of the plot and to the point where it was unbelievable to me as the reader. The fact that we never really got Dominic's perspective on any of the events was yet another issue I had, While I could understand not wanting to right from the perspective Asian man if the author isn't, but I felt that a lot of that characters of colors that made up the supporting cast were left a lot to be desired. Overall I think there might be an audience for this book, just that I wasn't part of it and I don't know who that audience is.

What a fun book! I immediately went out and got Rachel Lynn Solomon's other books after finishing this one. The premise is so fun: dueling radio hosts who pretend to fake date & break up in order to create a popular show on their local NPR network. Shay and Dom start out as rivals/not friends, but the more they get to know each other, the more they get caught up in their fake romance and lies. I really enjoyed Dom and Shay's relationship, and I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended!

A truly delightful romp. I love competitors turned lovers plots, and this book gave me all the snarky banter and underlying sexual tension that I could ask for. Definitely a great summer read.

This book made me lol multiple times! It was so cute I loved every second of it! This book was great and I can’t wait to read more. By this author!