The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Romance
Blurb (on back of book): Public radio co-hosts navigate mixed signals in Rachel Lynn Solomon's sparkling romantic comedy debut.
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can't imagine working anywhere else. But lately it's been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who's fresh off a journalism master's program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.
When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it's this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it's not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.
As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.
MY OPINION: ***
I was super excited to read this book after falling in love with Solomon's
Today Tonight Tomorrow especially when I heard it was an adult romance, everything I love in a book. I was not disappointed and while it didn't hit as hard as TTT, I enjoyed my experience reading this book.
Shay has been working as a producer for a public radio show for several years. She has always wanted to work on air since it was her now-gone father's shared dream with her and she's never imagined herself doing anything else. However, when her radio station starts to lose traction, the show she produces is cancelled and she is pushed into hosting a new podcast with her workplace "enemy" Dominic Yun, a new hotshot who seems to be favored by her boss immediately, despite how long she's worked at the same station.
She's never hosted a show before and definitely not with someone she avidly dislikes and both she and Dominic are averse to the idea. However, they both reluctantly agree to it in order to save their jobs. The show follows relationship drama, with the premise being the two hosts are exes who are now friends. The only issue is, Dominic and Shay never actually dated and will essentially be lying on air to the thousands of listeners they have, a true compromise on journalistic integrity.
I love workplace romances and the enemies to lovers trope and so everything about this book appealed to me. While I didn't really love Dominic's and Shay's relationship in the way that I usually adore rom-com relationships, I thought they were cute and had more chemistry than some other book couples I've read about. Shay aggravated me with her grating personality and her me-me-me attitude and I was kind of annoyed by her almost white-savior complex that she seemed to be toting around. She was TOO shocked by the racism Dominic faces, as if she never knew racism existed.
Dominic was cute. He was a little "arrogant" about his master's degree but honestly, if I had a master's from Northwestern for journalism (the top program in the country), I would be talking about it any chance I could get as well. I could clearly tell he liked Shay from the start, so it did kind of ruin that enemies to lovers trope I love so much.
The five year age gap between the two characters shouldn't have been as big of a deal as it was. I usually hate age gaps and I avoid them like the plague, but this one wasn't weird or disgusting. Shay is 29 and Dominic is 24, both far over the "permissible" legal age or whatever and clearly both adults. However, Shay brought it up constantly and I was just annoyed by her. She's acting like 29 makes her a grandma in comparison to Dominic's 24, when he clearly did not see it to be that big of a problem.
I loved the actual podcast episodes we got to see and I would have easily read a book of just pure podcast transcripts from their show. I don't actually care about the relationship advice aspect but the banter and the witty conversation between them, while partially scripted, was cute. It helped develop their relationship even if it was "fake" and progress their bond along from platonic to romantic.
The boss aggravated me to no end but sadly, it's an unfortunate reality that many women and other marginalized groups face in the workplace, no matter if it's law or medicine or radio. I liked how the author did not just ignore the subtle discrimination and sexism Shay felt and allowed her to have her defiant moment against him and his misogyny. However, I was in utter disbelief at some of the things the boss said and did.
Shay's best friend, whose name I cannot remember, was also just not my favorite character. I don't think she treated Shay like a good friend (and vice versa) and their friendship honestly felt kind of toxic, something I know all too well. They've been friends for an extraordinary amount of time but it has slowly become a bit weaker over time, no matter how hard Shay pretends it's still the same. I think the best friend did serve as a reality check for Shay's delusions but at the same time, it made the best friend more of a plot toy or side character with no actual meaning for herself. I would have loved to learn more about her job and her life and seeing how that might change her dynamic with Shay.
Shay spends a lot of this book trying to find herself and distinguish herself as an adult separate from the image she's projected in memory of her dead father. I liked that idea and seeing how Dominic helped guide her on that journey. Dominic made a lot of mistakes, especially towards the end, but that honestly made the relationship between the two stronger.
The forced romance by the boss was not my favorite trope but I'm glad that it helped them finally start to be honest and vulnerable with each other for the first time. I do think we could have had a bit more tension and angsty build up but for what it was, I was glad we got to see them start to fall for each other slowly.
Shay's voice and the way that she made it a big issue about the proper "radio" voice resonated a lot with me. I personally have always hated my voice and been ashamed of the way I sound and while I don't plan on going into radio, I hated public speaking merely because of the way my voice sounds. However, I would say that it isn't that big of a deal anymore, which Shay also learns as she gets more comfortable with speaking live on air.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for a cute, fun, summer rom-com.
Main Character: Shay
Sidekick(s): Dominic, friends, family, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, sexism, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book is all very real to life.
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