Elissa Sussman's 'Funny You Should Ask' is a smart, sophisticated, time-jumping story about the undeniable connection between a journalist and a movie star. It also scratches at the dissonance between public persona and private self, especially for creatives as they share pieces of themselves with the world.

This was a lovely piece of fiction that I read in a single afternoon. The main duo are sweet and steamy, and can they be my friends!? When the world is so stressful at times, it was nice to spend an afternoon with this adorable couple and be silly rom-com hopeful for the future. Appreciate the advanced copy!!!!

Chani, a reporter looking for her big break, is in her twenties and she gets the chance to interview and profile her idol, Gabe. The book is told in alternating chapters between their original meeting and the 72 hours that followed and meeting up 10 years later. I really wanted to find out what was going to happen and if their story would end!

Such a good book! I enjoyed the story, especially how it compared the present to the past. The character development was very good. I really enjoyed this book.

Really fun, juicy celebrity romance! Sussman's writing is so sharp and clever, and I really loved following Chani and Gabe's stories in both timelines. A great read for fans of Emily Henry or Christina Lauren!

This was a great story that was hard to put down. It was cute and fun to read! The story was told with chapters on both the past and present, interleaved with blog posts and articles about or by our two main characters.

The romance in the book was a slow burn, but done right. It didn't feel unnecessarily stretched out. The story did a great job justifying the time and distance between the two main characters.
The second chance romance between them is really quite beautiful. I especially loved the way Gabe loved Chani. They both make mistakes in their long history together, but you can feel their connection throughout, their love always feels honest and real. The author also does a great job in building up the tension and chemistry between them, and showing how much they care for each other even when apart, even when they can't see it themselves.

I also really appreciated the issues that Chani faced being a woman journalist, people's assumptions around her success, and her own self doubt.

Some of the side characters really shined too! Especially Ollie immediately stole my heart. And of course the doggy, Teddy!

On the other hand, I'm not convinced that reading full chapters on the past was that necessary. Especially considering the fact that we first got a summary via characters talking about it, then a longer summary via the article talking about it, then actually reading it happen, I kind of would have preferred to just focus in the present.

Also, It did bother me a little how incompetent Chani seemed during her first interview of Gabe. Sure, it makes for a cute and funny story and maybe makes her more relatable, but I love reading about capable women doing amazing things.

This was a slow-burn, second-chance romance with lots of chemistry and many real moments.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you very much to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC for this great read!

Although I don't usually read contemporary romances, especially about Hollywood, I made an exception for this one and am glad I did. I adored Gabe and Chani and their vulnerabilities. I always wondered how happy movie "stars" and music "idols" can be with all the paparazzi and problems that go along with being famous. This novel seems a fair depiction of the cons of stardom, in spades. Although it takes 10 years, these two finally get together, and I agree with Gabe, they probably wouldn't have worked 10 years ago. Both of them had to grow up first! Montana has got to be a better place to raise kids than Hollywood! I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and these opinions are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my e-arc. Elissa Sussman takes readers on a decade-long journey of love and missed opportunities. When journalist Chani is asked to interview up-and-coming star Gabe Parker, she knows this could be her big break. And it was. But was it also a missed opportunity for her big love? Told through flashbacks intermingled with the present day, readers find out what really happened during the weekend-long interview and how it shaped both Chani and Gabe's lives moving forward.

Chani and Gabe made a great pair. The timeline switching and the re-telling of the same events from different perspectives was a little bit confusing, but I enjoyed watching their relationship unfold in both times.

What if you had the chance to interview one of Hollywood's biggest stars...and that interview turned into something more? What if, 10 years after THE WEEKEND, you got another chance to interview him, to be with him, knowing you could clear up all that...unfinished business?

I thought this was a fantastic premise and was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel or believe in the chemistry between Chani and Gabe. The story was nice but the relationship just felt flat. I couldn't reconcile how a bland, timid woman who put up with a complete shithead like The Novelist for so long, would be captivating enough to spark an out of nowhere infatuation with the biggest star in Hollywood. To get 5 stars from me, you have to make me believe.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Funny You Should Ask ended up being a great book to read while traveling. It kept my attention and was easy to pick up and put down. I loved the writing style and the second chance romance /women's fiction storyline kept me engaged. I enjoyed that it was both swoon worthy AND totally entertaining at the same time.

I did find the writing a little choppy with the included articles and interviews so that made the storyline lack some flow altogether. All in all, this was a fun one but not totally memorable. Would make for a great beach read! 3.5./5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my digital review copy.

I'm so grateful to Elissa Sussman for writing this incredible, sweet, and funny gem of a book that is jam-packed with romance and own voices Jewish representation! And so grateful to NetGalley and Random House for the free copy!

Funny You Should Ask follows Chani and Gabe in a duel timeline narrative. Chani and Gabe first met 10 years before the start of the book when Chani interviewed him ahead of his playing the role of James Bond. After a wild weekend together filled with parties and award shows, the two don't see each other again for 10 years, when Gabe's team requests a second interview. The book goes back and forth between these two time periods showing the connection they had when they first met, the rekindling of that connection, and interviews and articles interspersed in the narrative along the way.

I absolutely adored Chani and Gabe, and the side characters - especially Oliver - were so fun to cheer for. I have extra love for this one because of its own voices Jewish representation and I think this book is one that anyone can easily love. I know that Sussman took inspiration from a GQ article about Chris Evans, but I appreciate that she was able to take her inspiration from that article and craft this total romcom package from it. I loved how the book showcased hope, love, and friendship, and set it all in the backdrop of the characters' real lives!

I loved this! It was a great mix of sexy, witty, and heartfelt. I laughed out loud during several scenes. I will be recommending this one to all the rom com lovers.

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman is the smart girl’s rom com that I need right now.

It’s the age old tale of normal girl meets and questionably has a relationship with a celebrity, but written in a way that doesn’t take itself too seriously or too preciously. An ongoing thread in the narrative pokes fun at “the literary Jonathan’s” of the world (IYKYK), while making the solid point that a serious and well-respected journalist/novelist/etc should be able to write something lighthearted or pop culture based that is viewed by society as having merit. 👏

This is Sussman’s first foray into adult lit after success in YA and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Totally imagined myself and Pedro Pascal the entire time


This book was quite good. Not anything revolutionary, but it entertained me and it was such a fast read, and in that it did its job.

The length of the audio (which was SUPERB btw) made me feel like not much happened now that I think about it, but the majority of it was mostly about Chani and this idea that she slept with a man to launch her career. Funnily enough, I feel like we didn’t dive too deep into that despite Chani constantly mentioning it, but then again you have the romance that’s also meant to take center stage and it was...just ok. I couldn’t really get behind their relationship—lust? Yes. Love? Hmm. I’m hard pressed to believe a couple of days flirting turned into love ten years later after not having seen or talked much to one another.

This book just didn’t have a lot of depth to it (second chance romances are also just ugh) and so that’s why I’ll happily push this towards my friends in reading slumps or those who just want something to read in one sitting. Overall, not bad, just not overwhelmingly good. But also, Gabe >>>>

This was a fun read. It reminded me of a mix of a lot of Hollywood actors stories. And I liked Chani. The love story was cute and I likes that it was a reunification story not just instant love.. I stayed up past my bedtime reading this.

So I had to sit on this one for a bit. Did I only love it because I was in the middle of my own LA nostalgia binge the week I read it?

Maybe, but still, it was really enjoyable, if not perfect -- I think a lot of your reaction will be based on whether or not you have nostalgia for the era that included the (in?)famous article that it is clearly based on, and I think a lot of the weaknesses were when it got too close to the source material? Some of the way it has to explain things from multiple timelines felt a bit clunky.

But in other ways, it had been so long since I had read a near five star book I almost forgot what it felt like?

Calling it now the famous person/normal person romance is going to be big in 2022! I’ve read 2 romances with this trope so far this year and I’ve loved both.

First up is Funny You Should Ask which releases today! I had seen an early review saying that this book gave them the same feelings as The Idea of You and I knew I needed to pick it up IMMEDIATELY. I will say it definitely gave me the same swoony vibe but it was a slooooow burn but very much worth it in the end.

Chani is a young journalist trying to make a name for herself when she gets the once in a lifetime opportunity to interview her celebrity crush Gabe Parker. What was supposed to be a quick and surface level interview turns into a whirlwind weekend and the resulting article launches Chani’s career. The question of what really went down between her & Gabe is still haunting Chani ten years later when Gabe’s PR team asks for a reunion and a second article. Determined to keep things professional and prove she’s forgotten their time together she agrees. Alternating between the weekend of the first article and their reunion 10 years later I was absolutely hooked. I was raving to the end of this one to see how it all played out and had a major book hangover when I finished. Highly recommend!

Amazingly paced and structured, Sussman provides an ominous love story that spans a decade. When Channi Horowitz meets Gabe Parker at 26 to write a profile on him, she can't believe she gets to interview her celebrity crush, who might be more than just a pretty face and rock hard abs. Gabe and Channi spend a spontaneous weekend together that leads to an article that propels Channi's career but then don't really communicate for another 10 years...until Channi has to write another profile on Gabe.

I loved this entire story. The tension between Gabe and Channi was absolutely perfect. I loved that the book was set up so both the first weekend and current weekend mirrored each other as we went back and forth through time. I loved that I didn't know how the story would end. I loved the Jewish representation. This story would make an amazing movie.

Only managed to finish one book in April- but gosh was it a good one. (Yay moving!)
Young journalist Chani gets an assignment that has the potential to launch her career. Gabe Parker is a hot Hollywood star set to play the next James Bond. The interview lasts an entire weekend and for the next ten years Chani and Gabe will be asked if there was something more between them. This book alternates its timeline from past and present. Both Chani and Gabe have lived separate lives but there is definitely more to their story then anyone really knows.

I loved it. I could feel their connection almost instantly. The dual timelines was so interesting, flashing back and forth to fill in the blanks of their love story. And the ending?! Ohhh my heart😍. This published this month so you can get your hands on it now- and I would definitely recommend that you do!