Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this book...

Overall, I thought it was an interesting read. There may of been a few details left out that would have made the story better like some of the things that happened over the 10 years they were apart, etc. I liked the book, it had great characters, an engaging storyline and I'll be sure to give it good reviews elsewhere.

Funny You Should Ask is an irresistible second-chance romance following journalist Chani and movie star Gabe as they reunite ten years after a fateful interview. Interweaving chapters from the past and chapters from the now, Chani and Gabe have incredible chemistry between them. As they unravel how things played out between them and what went wrong, it is impossible to look away. I particularly enjoyed Oliver’s story and his journey in Hollywood. The friendship that Gabe and Oliver had was wonderful to see. Of course, Teddy the puppy stole the show!

Elissa Sussman’s writing is hilarious- witty and self-deprecating in a very relatable way. I would recommend this for fans of the movie A Star Is Born and the author Taylor Jenkins Reid. I can’t wait to see what Elissa Sussman writes next! Funny You Should Ask is available April 12, 2022. Thank you so much to Elissa Sussman, Random House Publishing, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

This may be one of the best contemporary romances I have ever read.

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman was everything I could ever ask for and more. It is uniquely written in a way that takes you through the relationship of two people, both struggling with obstacles that influence not only themselves but each other's lives. The way Elissa is able to integrate both flashbacks of their relationship before the article and after the article with snip bits of publications in between is absolutely genius. It made me feel as if I was there in that moment, living with and among the characters within the ten-year timespan.

There was never a moment where I wanted to put the book down, and I absolutely devoured it.

Chani and Gabe met 10 years ago and married other people. Now life has thrown them together again--yet they have both changed. This story told in two timelines and is a fun read with a dose of glamour with Gabe being a handsome actor and Chani being the author sent to interview him. Because it's a romance you know only so much real life will interfere but I did enjoy the real life stories of Gabe and Chani. All in all a fun beach read.

Funny you should ask is an easy read about two people and their push and pull with eachother over the course of 10 years. The Now and Then chapters are well placed to blend the story together nicely answering questions the reader has at the right times. An angst love story that has you hoping for that happy ending the whole time.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book, but I LOVED it! Told in alternating chapters from their first meeting (interview) to the present, you cannot help but wonder what exactly took place that crazy weekend that they spent together so long ago.

Chani is is a journalist with a “serious writer” as a romantic influence in her life who does a lot of shaming of her writing genre to feel better about himself. He is not a full-fledged character in the book, but yet he is the villain. Or, an easy target. Lol

Gabe Parker is the swooniest celebrity of his time and Chani has the biggest crush on him. Tasked with interviewing him, she does such a good job that her career is catapulted from obscurity into the limelight.

10 years after the first article these two meet up again and you cannot help but hope they don’t make the same mistakes of their first meeting. This is the slowest burn, but you are just rooting for them to get their HEA finally!

Such a great peek behind the curtain at a possible celebrity/normal person relationship and all the pitfall of being famous. Love it!

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley and these are my honest opinions.

This wonderful, charming, entertainment novel was just what I needed this weekend! I was utterly invested in the characters, rooting for them while also enjoying the twists and turns their lives took, While it's obviously a romance, I liked it so much more than anything else I have ever read in this genre. Will definitely recommend!

Thank you Dell New York and Random House for my copy. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve been trying to chase the high I had from reading Lease on Love last month and heard Funny You Should Ask might work for me. I liked it, didn’t love it, but I do think it’s a very satisfying read if you are someone who likes an emotional read. it had an Emily Henry ish tone! I loved Gabe and Chani’s characters. I found them to be extremely relatable!
What I Liked:
The Premise—A writer and an actor, my two favorite professions to read about! I loved the different dynamics and there were so many quotes about acting that could really relate to.

The Structure—I loved how we went back and forth in time with the addition of the articles. I think it’s a really important angle to have in understanding Gabe and Chani.

The Tone—While I love a RomCom, there’s something very satisfying about an emotional Romance. This had a much more emotional and realistic tone than most of the Romance I’ve read lately.

What Didn’t Work:
Some things felt disconnected—There was a little disconnect for me in the established tone and then the ending. But I did love that this utilized one of my favorite tropes, Insta Attraction (much more believable/satisfying than Insta Love).

The 41-65% dragged for me—I just kinda stopped caring in this bit! I felt like so much was established in the first 40% that made the story move and then we stalled out. It picked back up towards the end though.

Content Warnings:
Alcoholism, addiction, death of a parent

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Steam Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Funny You Should Ask
by: Elissa Sussman
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell

This is an entertaining romantic love story. It will make a good Spring and Summer beach read. The story has an alternating time line.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
 #FunnyYouShouldAsk #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I… did not love this book. It was fine enough to read, but I’m rounding my 2.5 stars up. I absolutely did not care for Gabe or Chani. Chani was annoying and I didn’t see their connection at all. The author didn’t do a good job of letting me believe that after 10 years apart they still thought about each other?? Like c’mon. Also, the Hollywood theme isn’t for me. Maybe it would’ve been better if it was dual POV, but to each their own 🤷🏼‍♀️

Reading the description for this book does not prepare you for how instantly Sussman will make you care about the characters. I could not put this book down. I got pulled into the story and wanted to know the truth about Chani and Gabe's first interview and how meeting up a decade later would work out.
Chani makes a living writing what her boyfriend considers puff piece interviews with celebrities and she's really good at it. This is how she gets a chance for a full-access interview with the newest Bond actor, Gabe Parker. She's starstruck by her celebrity crush and he seems too perfect to be real. They spend a weekend getting to know each other and it results in a published piece that launches Chani's career and sets up Gabe for success as James Bond. They meet again 10 years later, both with divorces and other harsh truths under their belts, and have to face the truth of what that weekend truly meant.
The story jumps between the past and the present with ingeniously interspersed celebrity news and gossip articles to fill in some of the blank spaces. It's a very unbelievable, too-good-to-be-true kind of story, but Sussman's writing works to pull you in and believe that the people on the page are real enough that you want to see them have the happy ending they so obviously deserve.
It's romantic, just the right amount of emotional, and charmingly entertaining. I highly recommend it.
And can we please get Oliver's story?

Happy thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine, Dell for the romantic read!

LOOOOOOVED this one. Swoony, fantastic banter & chemistry, loved the dialogue, this one was such a winner from all aspects. Will be a top 10 romance reads for me this year. Recommending to all my rom-com friends!

Absolutely obsessed with this book. It captures the tension of an impossible romance so well and literally pulled at my heart strings.

Wow! This book is so good! Thank you to Random House for reaching out to me to give me an advance copy of this book. I must admit, it sat for a long time. This book comes out on my birthday (April 12) which is very soon so I figured I needed to read it. I really was sleeping on a gem.

This book follows Chani, a writer/journalist, and Gabe, the newest Bond, on their chance encounter and life ten years after encounter. It’s part missed connection, part lovers-enemies-lovers, and entirely romantic comedy. This novel has a little bit of something for everyone - great writing, movie tidbits, some steamy scenes, fighting the patriarchy, existential crises, and recovery journeys. I am someone who loves fiction and loves romance, but especially loves when authors are intentional with their stories. Sideman does a wonderful job covering some heavy topics in a way that allows the reader to still feel like they are escaping from some of the realities of life, but not at the expensive of people’s lived experiences. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up as one of my top books of 2022.

Recommended for folks who love Rachel Lynn Solomon, Talia Hibbert, & Sophie Kinsella

I really loved the premise of this second chance romance. Chani is a reporter interviewing Gabe Parker, a renowned actor cast as the next Bond, and writes a celebrity profile that causes both their careers to soar and leaves everyone wondering if something more had happened between them. The then/now chapters have a People We Meet on Vacation-esque air of mystery that have us guessing what happened the weekend they met. I was intrigued by this book's commentary on the double standards in the entertainment industry and enjoyed seeing it play out in both the book's past and present timelines.

While I loved the concept, I thought the pacing of this book detracted from the story. The blog posts and news articles included between every few chapters felt excessive on top of the then/now timelines, making the reading experience disjointed and slow. I didn't feel particularly attached to any of the characters or the supposed romance until around the 70% mark, which was far too late for me to be fully invested in this story. Not to mention the third-act conflict at the 95% mark. While my feelings about this book are complicated, it was a quick and enjoyable read that I would still recommend to lovers of contemporary romance.

I think second chance celebrity romance is my new favorite trope. Chani and Gabe shouldn't have worked on paper, I mean is a long weekend really enough time to know if you've met the one, but the way Elissa writes the initial meeting and the subsequent reunion had me on the edge of my seat. I'm actually mad at myself for taking so long to read this. I'll read anything Elissa Sussman writes next that's for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Arc.

I knew I was going to love this book from the description but just HOW much...WOW! I flew through this storyline because I could not put it down at any point. I had to know what would happen. I am such a sucker for stories about fate or meant to be or paths crossing again. It's my fav troupe to devour! This book was fabulous and anyone who needs a feel-good story with the ending you deserve, dive in! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It took me a while to finish this book but I think it was more about the fact that I've been busy and tired and not because I didn't enjoy the book. Because I did! I love the concept of a fan getting to interview their celebrity crush and then they fall for each other. Every stan's dream! I especially love that he was totally infatuated with her the entire time, despite him being the "hot celebrity" in the situation. The slow burn was magnificent and I loved both main characters. This could also be a super cool movie (and a little meta) if they chose an actual stereotypical hot male celebrity to play Gabe (think Chris Evans, Zac Efron, Sebastian Stan...yes I've thought about this) and then a completely new (Jewish) actress to play Chani. Anyway, this was delightful and I would definitely read more adult romance books by this author if she decided to write more!

Could (and should). be THE beach read of 2022! I devoured it in less than 24 hours. Elissa Sussman covers so much ground in Funny You Should Ask, from celebrity journalism/gossip culture to imposter syndrome to film nerdery. All wrapped in an almost relationship between an actor and the journo whose profile of him went viral. 10 years later, she’s asked to interview him again.

Snappy prose and great banter make for a fast read. And l loved that Chani's POV is interspersed with articles reporting/speculating on what went down. It's a heck of a lot of fun if you read Go Fug Yourself or LaineyGossip on the regular.

Pick this one up if you liked the celeb/normie elements of the Idea of You and the voicyness of In a New York Minute. Last thing, while I view this one as contemporary fiction with a romance in it, romance readers should know you do get an HEA.

CW: alcoholism/rehab, death of a parent at age 10, sexism in Hollywood & journalism, actor loses out on a job because he's gay (eventually comes out on his own terms).

I just finished a book and absolutely loved it! There was the famous/commoner trope, insta-love feel, and second-chance romance. I liked how it didn’t reveal everything at once, but built the story on flashbacks of what’s happening now and what happened 10 years previously. There’s humor in the writing while also touching on the topics of not writing “serious” literature and being a celebrity. I enjoyed it immensely.

HOWEVER: I was looking through other reviews and came across one that said it was a rip off from a 2011 article so I checked out the article. And, while there are some key differences, there are way too many similarities for it not to have, at a minimum, inspired the story. However, there is no mention of the article or the article’s author in the acknowledgments anywhere.

I get that there’s little, if any, truly authentic ideas anymore, but this seemed to be far beyond that point. It doesn’t sit right that the book author nor the publisher mentions the blatant inspiration for this. If that was in there, I don’t think I even would have blinked an eye.

Here are the links to the articles/review referenced above:

https://www.gq.com/story/chris-evans-gq-july-2011-cover-story

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4608077634

https://the-gossip-reading-club.letterdrop.com/c/the-gossip-reading-club-issue-three--a-romcom-interview-with-chris-evans

I hope the author and publisher can salvage this situation because it is not looking good for any of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.