Funny You Should Ask is a delightful slow-burn romance that reminds us that timing can make or break a relationship. You will be rooting for Chani and Gabe, together and individually as they find the best versions of themselves, to be the best version of their relationship. Looking forward to more from Elissa Sussman.

This book was a slow burn for me as well as the main characters. I wasn’t immediately drawn into their story, but by about 40% in, I was hooked - desperate to find out what happened, but enjoying the ride.

The story of Chani and Gabe goes back and forth between two timelines set 10 years apart. This split timeline storytelling worked perfectly for me. Never spending too long or too short in the Then or the Now, I always felt excited to see what was next.

I really enjoyed the story and the realness of the events and the emotions for the main characters. Plus, it had fun references for movie fans. I’d definitely recommend this to friends.

Funny You Should Ask was such a fun and unique book. Told over the course of four days and flashing back and forth between present day and ten years earlier, it tells the story of Chani Horowitz, a journalist writing a magazine article on movie star Gabe Parker. From the moment Chani and Gabe meet at Gabe's house ten years ago, it isn't the usual celebrity interview as there is a connection between the two of them. When the article is published and the piece goes viral as people try to figure out if something romantic happened between Chani and Gabe, their careers go off in very different paths. Ten years later, as Gabe is piecing his life back together after rehab and both of them are divorced, they meet up for another interview and an explanation of what happened between them ten years ago.

I loved the way this book was structured with following each day in past and present, the mix in of the original article Chani was writing on Gabe, blog and newsletter posts from Chani, and gossip pieces to help move the story along. I was so eager to find out what had exactly happened between Chani and Gabe during their initial meeting ten years ago, but I was also so invested in what the future had in store for them as they spent time together in the present.

I'm not always a fan of a slow burn romance, but it was done so well in this book. Chani doesn't hide her feelings from Gabe since the story is told from her perspective, but you can tell from Gabe's actions that he has feelings for her as well. But, both characters were so flawed ten years ago and had so much growing up to do, that when they finally see each other ten years later, you are rooting for them to rekindle what they started.

If you could interview one celebrity who would it be?

Ten years ago, Chani Horowitz interviewed her dream celebrity, Gabe Parker, over a weekend. Little did she know this expose on their weekend together would make her career and cement her as the "go-to" for celebrity interviews. It was also the interview to help Hollywood and the world think that Gabe Parker had what it took to play Bond as the first American to do so. A decade later, Chani is asked to sit down with Gabe once again. Now two years sober, Gabe has fought his demons he was hiding during his interview all those years ago. Chani has to try and deal with her feeling from a decade before and the events she didn't write about a decade ago. Did she make up the connection that they shared?

Funny You Should Ask is a quick, reflective rom-com that looks back at what took place ten years ago between Chani and Gabe and what's happening at the present day. This is a closed door romance. I loved all the characters in this novel and the feelings they tried to deal with both in the past and the present. I'm also a sucker for a Hollywood story, which this certainly is. The secondary characters are so much fun too that you'll easily fall in love with everyone in the story. It also has Jewish representation, which is great to see.

If you've enjoyed picking up a People magazine in the past or watching an E! True Hollywood Story think about reading Funny You Should Ask.

Funny You Should Ask feels so personal; so intimate. It’s like Elissa Sussman read my teenage diary and wrote a romance just for me. It’s my fantasy world come to life, and yet, it’s so unpredictable. I think I might love this book just as much for its unexpected format and storyline, as I do for the heart-tugging love story. I absolutely love this book.

First of all, shout-out to whoever designed the cover because it's gorgeous!

I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this book more. The way the story was told partly through flashbacks and newspaper articles was refreshing and original, and I appreciated what the author was trying to do with this. Sadly, I thought the pacing of the story was off, and I struggled to connect with the characters. This is very much an insta-love story; Chani and Gabe meet over the course of a few days, and then don't meet again until ten years later. I found it difficult to believe in their chemistry, especially when the two characters (as is actually brought up by one of the MCs in the book) don't really know each other at all. (I loved Gabe's best friend Ollie though!)

This story is about a writer named Chani, and how her interview and piece on Gabe Parker changed her life. When Chani was 26 and a struggling writer she was picked to get exclusive access to Hollywood heartthrob and her crush Gabe Parker. During the course of 72 hours, she gets to have a meal with him, go to his house, attend a movie premiere and after party, and attend a house party at his house. When Chani publishes her article (and for the following 10 years) everyone wants to know what really happened that weekend and if she slept with him, that weekend and article both boost and haunt her career. The book goes back and forth between the initial weekend and then 10 years in the future when his team reaches out and asks her to do a follow up interview with him. Throughout the book we learn what really happened that weekend, and about all the challenges and struggles the characters faced during the ten years. I enjoyed the push pull, will they won’t they chemistry of Gabe and Chani, and found myself really hoping they would end up together. I received an ARC of this book from netgalley, and this is my honest review.

This book was just okay for me. I felt that it had a lot of potential and the premise sounded amazing but it fell short. The romance was lackluster and the dual timeline was okay until it felt repetitive because we already knew mostly what happened by reading the article she wrote at the beginning of each section. I enjoyed the current timeline more than the past and wanted something more.

This is not a perfect book. I didn't always love the writing or the decisions Chani (our MC) made. It can also be confusing at times, especially at the beginning of the story when there seem to be so many details to keep up with. And the alternating timelines don't exactly make keeping them straight any easier on the reader.

But even still, I have to give this book 5 stars. Because despite its flaws, I absolutely LOVED it.

Second chance romance is probably my favorite romance trope, so I might be a bit biased, but the slow burn, the pining after each other, and the CHEMISTRY between our two main characters- it was unreal in the best way.

I think specifically reading from Chani's POV really worked in a few different ways- first just knowing how much she loves Gabe and the fact that she's loved him for SO long raised the emotional stakes and built up to them meeting and then reuniting later in life so well. And second, Chani's kind of casual, "tell all" narration style really made me feel like I was just listening to a friend tell me about the guy she likes/is hooking up with, which felt really fun and intimate.

And I mean, is it not every girl's dream to meet and fall in love with their celeb crush? If nothing else, just read this book to live vicariously through Chani. My one request is that it's eventually adapted into a movie and Jenny Slate plays Chani. Thank you and amen.

Thank you SO MUCH Netgalley and Random House for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own. :)

4.5 amazing stars!!!!

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Random House for the eARC. I loved this one!

“Success is knowing that this isn’t fantasy. It’s real life.”

This story was fast-paced and addicting! I always love reading about writers, and this one was so original. Our main character Chani is charming and witty. She goes through life like any other normal human and is extremely relatable. The constant banter and mixed emotions between her and Gabe had me cackling!!

The story is written in dual timelines, keeping some of the secrets and old drama hidden from the reader. I kept wanting to know what happened between Chani and Gabe. I actually ended up reading this in one day lol

Read this if you like:
- slow burn romance
- Hollywood
- books about writers
- dual timelines
- banter
- great side characters (I’m looking at you Ollie)
- second chance romance (kind of)

⭐️ A wonderful debut adult novel. ⭐️

First off, the cover art is absolutely adorable!

Second, I don't normally gravitate towards love stories, but this one was pretty good. The writing was the only downfall. The writing was very on-the-nose. There's no element of surprise. What you see is what you get. The two leads were fun, but don't expect this deep love story. If you're looking for a light and breezy read during a boring weekend, then you'll enjoy this. I think this book is a little long. I would've chopped 75 pages from this novel. Overall, "Funny You Should Ask" is a solid love story, but I've read better. I think I'm getting too old for this genre, so I'm in the minority here.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.

I love second chance romance but I had a really hard time getting through this one. I would start this book and then had to stop a few times cuz I kept falling asleep. So I moved on to something else and then coming back to try again. I almost had to DNF. Anyways, I did manage to get through the whole book.

The most interesting thing about this story was the way it was told, each part of the story is one day and we get chapters from the past and then chapters from the present during that day. It was sometimes confusing but nonetheless I still thought it was a good concept, I see it as the present mirroring the past but with different outcomes depending on the choices of the main characters. Chani (lovely name), who’s a young writer got a big assignment that she hopes will jumpstart her career. It was to interview a big movie star, Gabe Parker. During the course of the so-called interview, which I will mentioned that it’s like reading about a high-schooler (Chani) interviewing an adult (Gabe), their attraction to each other lead their relationship to more than just interviewer and interviewee. Things happened. Then fast forward 10 years later and Chani is asked to do another interview with Gabe. Ten years have passed but it seems Chani has not matured at all and since the story was told in her POV it’s hard to ascertain the true feelings of the other characters. I would’ve liked to hear more of Gabe’s thoughts from his POV. However, I will say that I did like the ending.

Thanks Random House via NetGalley for this ARC.

One thing you should know about me is I am obsessed with books that are told within two timelines. I also almost was a drama major in college, and I was actually a journalism major so the main characters where so fun to read about!

This story helped me get out of a reading slump and for that it gets five stars!

Um. Omg. Um. OMG?????? I am freaking out about how good this was. No I’m not okay. No I don’t think I will ever enjoy any romance as much as this one. No I can’t formulate any coherent thoughts at the moment. I am just shook beyond words. SO FREAKING AMAZING EVERYONE READ THIS!

Mini Review: This was a great adult novel! I liked getting the alternating parts of then and now. And I loved the last chapter of the book! Overall, I would definitely recommend to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Chani is a young writer getting a big break interviewing a popular and handsome actor Gabe. But the interview is difficult because of their attraction to each other. She wants to be professional and be taken seriously in the field. It gives her career the boost it needs to get her noticed.
Ten years later, she is enjoying success and Gabe's career has taken a few hits. Their agents agree another interview will be what the public wants, to hear their story. They both agree. The interview explores their past experiences, desires and attraction to each other. Chani struggles with her attraction to Gabe and wonders how he feels about her.
The storyline jumps between 10 years ago and the present and it is easy to follow. The story explores life's successes and downfalls and how it affects your choices. I enjoyed this book. It was not your typical romance novel.

Oh, this was cute. I loved this. It hit all of my favorite tropes (non-famous person dates a celebrity warms my dead little heart every time) and left me both weepy and full. It was incredibly smart and intricately-structured, and as a fellow frizzy-haired, small-chested Jewish writer, I loved Chani. A lot. Gabe was maybe implausibly good, but I can't be too mad about that. There was something in the careful formatting that almost reminded me of Malibu Rising, but fluffier, and in a good way, and I liked the slow unravelling of fact/fiction/lightly-edited nonfiction, as each tease of what happened between the two encounters rolled out. By the end of the book, it felt repetitive, and like Chani and Gabe were having the same fights over and over for no true purpose, and I was a bit frustrated by the end. Still, I'm very glad I read this, and I need to find an in with a major movie star now. Thank you for the arc!

Funny You Should Ask is heartwarming and charming read about a second chance celebrity romance. It took me a few chapters to get into the book with the then/now set-up, but once I did, I was hooked. I was rooting for Shani and Gabe from the very start. The book went by very quickly and I do wish some of the minor story arcs were more developed, but overall, a solid read. 4.5 stars rounded up to five.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Funny You Should Ask is an interesting story about Chani, an author who gets a prime interview with a hot, young actor, Gabe, and the interview changes the trajectory of her career.

This is a story that has two timelines: Then and Now along with various news article clips about Gabe and Chani from a variety of different authors. Also included is Chani's blog.

I had to put my logical mind in a corner and just enjoy the book. This is an interesting look at the price celebrities pay for their fame and status.

I will definitely be watching for future releases from Sussman.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions ae my own.

I’m not usually one that enjoys a celebrity romance, but I picked this one up and couldn’t put it down. There is something really engaging to the books style - we get the past and current day, we get articles, blog posts, GoodRead comments…it intersperses fun tidbits and it was fun to learn more about or characters from a different point of view. To me it almost read like a memoir. I thought Chani was quite human and pretty relatable, and Gabe fit the actor stereotype while also having some depth. I was mildly annoyed with some of the miscommunications, and the fact that some issues are never really addressed. I also felt like the side characters other than Ollie were sort of just thrown in, with either no introduction or no follow up. Overall I really enjoyed the writing and the story and it was a great read.