Gah! This was SO. GOOD. Such a different premise, and I felt so connected to Shay. I do wish there was maybe a bit...MORE...to Dominic in terms of character arc, but I identified with Shay so much, and she more than made up for anything small, nearly negligible shortcoming this read MAY have had. Ugh. I love when an ARC surprises me like this.

This book 🥲 I loved it. This was the perfect combination of enemies to lovers mixed with fake dating. Shay + Dominque were so stinkin’ cute. I loved their banter and quick wit. The progress of their relationship felt so authentic and I genuinely loved reading about them. Shay’s character was also so relatable. We honestly need more books about characters in their 20s who have no idea wtf they’re doing with their life because same??? The setting for this story was also really fun! The podcast/live radio aspect was so entertaining + I love that Soloman included the actual transcripts for their episodes
Overall, this was such a cute rom-com and had me smiling + laughing.

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

Wow. This book was such a breath of fresh air and exactly what I needed right now.

Immediately I became invested in Shay's story (and then quickly after in Dominic's story too) and found this read to be extremely hard to put down. Rachel Lynn Solomon took romance tropes we all know and love, meshed them together, spiced them up, and gave us something truly magical in this story.

The dimensions and depth of the characters in this story are only two of the many reasons why #TheExTalk stands out among the rest. You're going to want to add this one to your 2021 TBR ASAP. The only negative is that you're going to want MORE.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Fantastic! Can exes really work together....or better yet, host an entire radio show together? And what if they aren't exes at all, just two people who seem to get on each others nerves? But wait....what if they don't actually get on each other's nerves at all and are just brewing with chemistry!?

I’ve been looking forward to this book for so long; the summary had me at hate-to-love and fake dating (in a way)! I really enjoyed this author’s last release, so I was really excited for her adult debut. Hilarious and romantic, The Ex Talk puts a fun spin on the fake relationship trope with a “fake exes” plot line.

For the past ten years, Shay has worked as a producer at a public radio station and has recently had constant clashes with her newest co-worker, Dominic. One day at a staff meeting, she suggests a show centered on dating but hosted by exes; however, she doesn’t expect to be chosen to host it along with Dominic. They begrudgingly agree to helm the show and grow to love it, as well as grow to know each other more.

The romance was absolutely amazing! Their dynamic was so well done. I really loved the banter; it felt so natural and was also so funny. You could really feel the attraction between Shay and Dominic despite their enmity at the beginning. Also, it was cool seeing Shay be the more experienced of the two (she’s also 5 years older), romantically and sexually.

I really loved all of the characters. Although Shay knows she’s doing what she loves, she does realize that she’s been complacent because she feels like she’s just going through the motions of a so-called “adult” life. She’s also still dealing with her father’s death ten years ago as her mother is getting remarried. Dominic comes off as self-righteous at first, but really, it’s just a front. Underneath the bravado, he’s caring and kind and sardonic. I also really liked the side characters; they provided some really great moments throughout the book.

I personally don’t listen to podcasts, but I found their show to be really interesting! I liked having the transcripts in between characters; it added to the feel of the story. Shay and Dominic pretend to be exes and host a show that provides dating advice and opportunities for people to share the worst stories about their exes. It was funny, and I would so listen to it if it were real!

Again, this book was a bit of a different take on the fake dating trope since they have to create a fake relationship but they’re not actively trying to convince someone that they’re currently dating. Instead, they have to show that there’s tension between them because they used to date. It’s a difficult dynamic but one that was fun to navigate.

The Ex Talk explored topics, such as millennial complacency, as well as grief and complex relationships with love. I loved the characters, and the plot was so fun. If you like the fake dating trope and/or hate-to-love, I can’t recommend The Ex Talk enough!

4.5 stars! A delightful romance with a bit of frenemies to lovers. I really enjoyed the public radio aspect of this book and loved the way the author took the romance. The ending was a little rushed, but overall very good.

TW: death and grieving of a parent and spouse

The Ex Talk takes the fake dating trope and turns it on its heels. It was really unique and fresh, and I loved everything about it!

This was a super fun book to read. Rachel Lynn Solomon knows how to write great characters who feel real. The plot was really entertaining, and I read the entire book in a matter of 2 days. She also includes a very diverse cast, and the book was very inclusive.

I also love the podcast/radio aspect to this, which I am pretty familiar with as a communication student! You can definitely tell that Rachel has a radio background, and she writes about it in a way that is really entertaining. I know not everyone is interested in radio, but the way she writes about it makes you interested in it!

It was a very sweet book, and I need to get my hands on a physical copy as soon as possible.

I loved, loved, LOVED reading this book!!! What if two journalists who couldn't stand each other had to act like they were exes *and* cohosted a public radio show about relationships *and* fell in love? This book is easily in the top 3 of romcoms I read this year (& I've read over 30 because #pandemic).

Journalist romances scare me—a journalist—since they are usually rife with unethical decisions; such as female journalists always falling in love with their sources because that's what we do all the time! But, this book does a good job in acknowledging all that. It's cute, steamy, and realistic of the industry it's dealing with.

Earlier this year, I read Rachel Lynn Soloman’s delightful YA contemporary romance, Today Tonight Tomorrow - a book about a girl who aspires to be a romance author. Naturally, when I found out she had her adult romance debut coming out, I ran to request it from Netgalley. The Ex Talk might just be her best book yet.

As with Rachel Lynn Soloman’s YA books, The Ex Talk was exceptionally well written. I was hooked from the first pages - the story launches quickly and made it very, very hard to put this book down. I loved how fast paced and well plotted this book was - every moment felt integral to the story and the subplots contributed beautifully to the main story. This book also had an authenticity that is often missing in romance novels - the writing, plot and characters never strayed too over the top. Plus, the quality of the banter was off the charts - even the early bickering between Shay and Dominic was super fun to read.

I really, really loved Shay - she was quirky and imperfect and incredibly career focused. During the story, she faced a reckoning about what she really wanted to do with her life. This reckoning was a slow burn - she started the book by often considering what her late father would think about her career and life decisions, and as the book progressed, she began changing her frame of mind and began making decisions for herself instead of for what others would think of her. It was this character growth that made Shay such a special character. Her slow change in values was not without its bumps in the road, but ultimately she became a stronger and more self reliant character for it. Plus, getting to see her be a feminist bad ass and stand up to her sexist boss was magnificent.

It’s been a minute since a romance book gave me the butterflies that The Ex Talk gave me - right off the bat Shay and Dominic had great chemistry, even as enemies. This wasn’t your typical enemies to lovers story - Shay and Dominic went from enemies to fake exes / radio cohosts to lovers. This intermediate phase where they had to both be out of their comfort zone and work together for their radio show was amazing. Even as they slowly started developing their attractions to each other, their chemistry sizzled and it was impossible not to root for their happily ever after.

The Ex Talk is an excellent and very well rounded romance novel - it has it all: excellent female friendships, a career driven leading lady, a middle finger to sexism in the workplace, and a gratifying love story. If you haven’t already, you should check out Today Tonight Tomorrow (also by Rachel Lynn Soloman) and Ten Rules for Faking It (another radio based romance novel). I can’t wait to read whatever this author writes next. 5/5

I loved it!!
I loved the diversity, and I loved the age difference and I loved the "what would a middle class white man do" and I loved the snark and I loved the vulnerability and the flaws and all of it. I loved all of it.

Shay has given a decade of her life to the radio station she works for, and Dominic comes in all tall and attractive and gets put on the air immediately. How rude. Cue a sexist boss, fake exes and Shay's career dreams coming true.

Plus I mean, how long can fake exes really pretend to be fake when there's so much not fake underlying tension?

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am completely in love with this book. Like over the moon, infatuated. Such an addictive and fresh read. Rachel did such a phenomenal job of straddling the line between light and heavy. Not only did the Ex Talk make me giggle and squeal with glee but I felt it with my whole heart. Earnest, funny, sexy, and sweet, this was the book I spent days squeezing as much free time as I could to escape into. I read a lot of YA but it was so refreshing to read a book by one of my favorite authors about characters that are my age and are dealing with the same struggles I do.
Shay and Dominic were such a fun couple to get to know and see build a relationship together. They were so sweet and hot and wonderful. I also have to give Rachel points for originality for how she blended some tried and true tropes in a way I haven’t seen before. I absolutely adore the trope of fake dating but never have I seen fake exes and good lord did it work for me! It had a lot of what I loved about fake dating and gave it an enemies-to-lovers twist that really paid off. Enemies-to-lovers is a trope that can be a bit of a hit or miss for me depending on execution but it was such a hit in this book! Rachel perfectly utilized my favorite parts of enemies to lovers in such a fresh and enjoyable way.
I also can’t tell you how much I wanted to listen to their podcast while I was reading this, it sounded like such a good time and I loved the energy it had. I would also love to see this as an audiobook that really pays homage to that with a different narrator for Shay and Dominic for the podcast excerpts.
One of the other things I loved about this book was how it handled grief. Grief is a very important subject for me, and Rachel really tackled it respectfully and realistically in such a way that really resonated with me. I loved that she didn't shy away from that arc of the story just because it was difficult.
There were also a couple of elements of the plot and the setup that, when introduced, had made me nervous because I wasn’t sure how it would be concluded but each one that had made me wary was really carefully handled in ways that surprised and pleased me.
I really loved this book. It was one of those that I both wanted to savor and inhale and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it because now I’m obsessed. Now I’m more excited than ever to see Rachel’s next venture into the adult rom-com genre, if the Ex Talk was any indication, she’s going to knock it out of the park just like she did here.

I've never read a book based in the world of public radio or podcasting before, which caught my interest and held it throughout the book as it is central to the main protagonist's plight. Our fair heroine has long worked for public radio but never spoken on the radio let alone had her own show. That all changes, of course, when she has a bright idea. The trouble comes with the EX-ecution of that idea (see what I did there?) Solomon's narrative moved along at a brisk pace that kept me turning until the final page.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Berkley Publishing for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am a huge sucker for any books about a podcast or a radio show so when I saw that The Ex Talk centered around two radio coworkers who hated each other but came together to host a radio show about exes, I knew it was going to be right up my alley. I was completely blown away by this book and it was everything I could’ve wished for and more! I loved the fresh take radio show element and the overall concept for a show about exes who come back together and talk about why they broke up and the aftermath of it.

Dominic and Shay were some of the best characters to read about. They were entertaining, witty, and overall great characters. A lot of times in romance novels, the characters will either be the same age or the guy will be older but in this novel, Shay is older than Dominic and I loved that aspect of the book. I loved being able to dive deeper into Shay’s character and learn that even though she is almost 30, she still doesn’t have her life mapped out and that is completely okay. I also loved seeing Dominic mature throughout this book and seeing his relationship with Shay grow as well.

I highly recommend checking out this book if you want a witty and entertaining story about two radio show hosts coming together to create a fun and hilariously inventive show that encompasses grief with losing a loved one and finding love after it, and two completely different people thrown together to host the show of their dreams.

I super loved this one! It was such a refreshing take on a romcom with characters that felt supremely real and unique.

First of all, I appreciate the inclusivity and the diversity among the cast. The concept too was something I hadn't read before - in a setting I've never stepped foot in. I loved seeing the behind - the - scenes of a radio station along with all its challenges. Everything about the plot was clever - the dialogue, the situation the main two characters are thrust into despite their supreme annoyance for each other (who doesn't love a good hate-to-love story?) Having to pretend to be ex's instead of pretending to date was such a fun spin on a common trope.

I don't want to spoil more, but I highly recommend this one! It was such a pleasure to read. I hope we have more published books similar to this one.

One of my favorite rom-coms of the last few years! The premise is so unique, and the romance -- and friendship -- between the two main characters is absolutely lovely. A must-read in 2021 for romance lovers!

The Ex Talk checks all the rom-com boxes: enemies, a cute meet, being forced together by an authority figure and reluctantly accepting the terms, and witty banter, before they actually, accidentally find they’ve fallen for one another. Check, check, check. Both Dominic and Shay are likable, and I really loved the public radio element, as I’m a NPR junkie. It’s predictable in the way that rom coms often are, so don’t expect anything revolutionary here, but it is well crafted in the way *so many* books that fall into this genre most decidedly are not. My biggest gripe here is the name— did it bother anyone else that it’s called The Ex Talk instead of just Ex Talk, which would’ve been a more clever play on its namesake, Sex Talk?

The Ex Talk should be on your radar if you love romantic comedies. It follows Shay, a producer at a Seattle public radio station, who has a feud going with her newest colleague, Dominic Yun. The radio station has been struggling financially for a while. When Shay comes up with the idea to host a podcast with Dominic, and pretend to be exes who deliver relationship advice, nothing can possibly go wrong.

This story was witty, hilarious, and had genuine characters. The banter between both Shay and Dominic is amazingly addictive, and I hope that this story gets turned into an audiobook so I can hear the transcripts of the podcast episodes fully voice-acted! The realness of the relationship between Dominic and Shay is so relatable.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am absolutely in love with Rachel Lynn Solomon’s writing. The Ex-Talk is Rachel’s first dip into adult storytelling and she absolutely crushed it.

The story follows NPR lover Shay, who has worked ten years as a producer at PPR, and newcomer Dominic, the arrogant journalist that just rubs Shay the wrong way.

When the two have to work together playing fake ex’s for a new radio show, their relationship starts to get a little complicated.

The two have to navigate their new relationship as ex’s, the chance to FINALLY have a show, and the very real feelings starting to get in the way of everything…

Since this is contemporary fiction, we know Dominic and Shay end up together in the end, but I absolutely loved the journey for them to get there.

Another thing I absolutely loved? Dominic is 25, and Shay is 29. Even though they make some jokes about how young Dominic is, the age difference and the fact that the woman is OLDER is never an issue in the story. Let’s normalize women being older than men in relationships!!!!! (I’m younger than my husband but still, this is something I like to see)

It wouldn’t be a Solomon novel if there wasn’t some self-pleasure and sex. One thing I’ve always praised her on is how she tries to normalize female pleasure and masterbation in her novels. In her YA books the MC’s take some “me time” and are vocal about what they like/don’t like.

Well since we’re now in adult territory, we get the same normalizing and vocality, but Rachel takes the sexy up quite a few notches.

Now don’t get me wrong, Rachel kills it with the YA sex scenes, but I never knew how much I needed her to write adult books before. Once the relationship is taken up a notch we get plenty of fun sex scenes, masterbation talk/watching, some hints about the “fun drawer”, and so much more.

Follow up book idea: Just two hundred pages of sex scenes please Rachel.

Of course, things complicate the relationship, and the book has its serious moments as well. It talks about moving on after losing a loved one, female friendship and navigating it as an adult, and sexist assholes (don’t we all know one of those?).

There’s a lot of bumps in the road for Shay and Dominic, both in their relationship, and other aspects of their lives, and I loved how REAL it all felt. I was rooting for Shay and Dominic from the very beginning, and teared up a little whenever they faced hardships.

I also learned a surprising amount of information bout podcasts, radio talk shows, and public radio. I’m not much of a radio listener, but it gave me a new appreciation for the voices behind the static. Maybe I’ll listen to some Minnesota Public Access after this.

The Ex-Talk is a must read book, even if you’re not too into contemporary fiction. It’s such a cute and sweet story, but also heartbreaking and emotional. This was definitely one of my favorite reads this year, and I can’t wait to see what Rachel does next!

This is Rachel Lynn Solomon's fourth book. It's also the fourth book of hers to make it onto my all-time favorites list.

I have so many great things I want to say about this book that I don't know where to start. Everything was amazing - the characters, the dialogue, the plot, the chemistry. I found myself repeatedly putting the book down because I didn't want it to end, and I still finished it within a day.

The center of this book is, of course, Shay and Dominic's relationship. I was deeply invested from the start - their rivalry and banter is just delicious, and as they become closer, their relationship progresses in a way that just filled my heart so much. It's sweet and sexy and wonderful.

One unexpected highlight is that between some of the chapters, there are transcripts of parts of the radio show Shay and Dominic host. It made it all feel so real! And it really made me wish that I could actually go and listen to it.

I also want to take a minute to talk about representation. Shay is Jewish, as am I, and it was so wonderful to see that presented on the page in things like her family's Passover seder. Seeing Jewish characters in contemporary fiction means the world to me. There's a lot of diversity in the cast of characters as a whole as well - Dominic is Korean-American, and there are multiple other supporting characters of color and queer supporting characters.

The Ex Talk releases January 26, 2021. Put that date on your calendars; you don't want to miss this one.

The Ex Talk was exactly the type of book I was looking for when I picked it up. It had banter, two hot leads with ridiculous chemistry, a premise that forced them together, and then sparks. SO MANY SPARKS. I just really, really loved it.