A charming book the had me laughing out loud at times! A cute concept. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I. AM. OBSESSED. with Dominic and Shay. I was literally obsessed with this book from the first page. This is your classic, awesome, super angsty enemies-to-lovers romance. We follow two coworkers who absolutely despise each other. When their boss comes up with the idea to use this hatred to produce a radio show about exes, both Dominic and Shay worry about the lies they will have to tell their listeners. Should they really fabricate an entire relationship for the sake of the station? And you know it's about to get real when their feelings start to come into play...

I can't say enough good things about this book and Rachel Lynn Solomon. She even includes transcripts of the show as well as a few Tweets! If you liked this book, check out One to Watch and Shipped.

"It's your typical coworkers turned enemies turned fake exes turned cohosts turned real romantic partners kind of love story."

Charming and sexy with a strong sense of Seattle life (unlike some other romance books set here - I'm looking at you, Fifty Shades). I chose this for my bookstore's romance subscription pick.

This romantic comedy debut novel by Rachel Lynn Solomon was thoroughly enjoying. Who would have thought that a story about public radio and podcasts (which I have never listened to) would have been so entertaining.

I enjoyed the direction Ms. Solomon brought the story. The backgrounds of the two main characters were interesting. At first, Dominic did come off as a bit of a snob then we find out why. Shay was just obsessed with Public Radio and would do anything to stay in the profession. But, as the story goes on and they find out that they have more in common than their rivalry, it becomes clear that that there is definite chemistry between them. I enjoyed the premise of this story. I seriously have never listened to a podcast and haven’t listened to public radio in forever. But, the podcast part of the story intrigued me enough to give it a go. Interesting is the best word to describe it. As for the story, I enjoyed the build up to the blow up and then loved the ending. Dominic totally won me over.

As for reading new-to-me author Rachel Lynn Solomon again, most definitely. She told a lighthearted story that had a little bit of everything … laughter, seriousness and love.

What a fun book! I instantly bought this title for my library as soon as I finished. It was charming, good clean banter! The twist where they got ratted out right before they were going to come clean was great plot twist.

Flirty, sexy, and oh so fun!!

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon is an engaging, timely, smart, and endearing rom com that kept me entertained. The premise of this book was fabulous and totally intrigued me!

I absolutely loved the banter between our two main characters here. They were so funny and cute that had me rooting for them right from the very beginning.

The only thing that I didn’t quite enjoy was how Shay was portrayed near the beginning of the novel but I did appreciate how her character grew though.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley and Rachel Lynn Soloman for my review copy.

This book was so much FUN, It was flirty, lighthearted and super cute! And it even had some steamy scenes too! I LOVED the idea of this show/podcast. The idea of two exes hosting a dating show is right up my alley and something that I’d listen if it was real. I'm also a huge fan of the enemies to fake relationship to lovers. ALL FOR IT. I love that this was a twist on a very popular trope and instead of being currently in a relationship they are pretending to be exes. Very unique and very enjoyable.

Shay and Dominic work in public radio. She’s a producer, and he’s a reporter. Oh, and they hate each other. But when Shay has the idea for a relationship show about exes, their boss wants them to host it together… even though they’ve never dated. Their show may be based on a lie, but it’s a big hit. And, while lying about their relationship, they actually begin to form one. But will their relationship, or their show, survive all the secrets and lies? In this new romance novel, Rachel Lynn Solomon introduces a new relationship trope, enemies to fake lovers to lovers, and she does it with descriptive writing and witty dialogue. This book is on par with Emily Henry’s Beach Read and Ann Marie Walker’s Happy Singles Day.

The Ex Talk is a standalone adult romantic comedy by Rachel Lynn Solomon. This book ended up being a really cute read. It got off to a bit of a rough start for me, but by the time I was about 30% into the story I fell into an easy rhythm while reading and ended up really enjoying the book. The Ex Talk is a funny romance with lots of banter, bickering and a cute happily ever after.  If you are a fan of rom coms with lots of back and forth banter, this might be a great story for you to check out. 

In The Ex Talk, we meet our main characters Shay and Dominic. Shay and Dominic both work at the same public radio station. I loved that this book features a public radio show. Shay has worked at the station for 10 years and she is a producer super star. Dominic is the young new hotshot reporter (with a masters degree ;) ) . They butt heads almost instantly. But when they are brainstorming new show ideas to help bring new listeners to the station, Shay comes up with the idea of a relationship show hosted by exes. I loved watching Shay and Dominic bicker and banter back and forth, and apparently so did their boss because he proposes that they fake their dating history so they can be the hosts of the Ex radio show. 

I mentioned earlier that I was off to a bit of rough start with this book, but once the Ex Talk got on the air, I was fully invested. Prior to the show I found myself not connecting with the characters. I couldn't bring myself to care about Shay and I didn't really know Dominic yet, but once I saw they get into it on the show I was laughing out loud. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters throughout the course of the book. The Ex Talk is a book that grew on me as I was reading. I ended up really enjoying Dominic and Shay's story. This book was funny and honestly it was just a lot of fun overall. 

3.5/5 stars

The Ex Talk is a humorous romance novel, chock full of sardonic quips and funny imagery, the latter of which never was too much or at the expense of moving the plot forward. The entire book is from Shay’s point of view, but we’re treated to the occasional transcript from their radio show. These transcripts are just long enough to give us a sense of what their readers hear--since they're not diluted with Shay’s inner thoughts--and they’re just long enough to give us a sense of the humor and chemistry between the two co-hosts. These transcripts left me wanting more and wishing that this were a real radio show/podcast that I could subscribe to.  The author is a huge fan of public radio, and it really shows in the mere passion of the words on the page. 

Dominic and Shay have a lot of chemistry right off the bat. Since the book is from Shay’s POV, so I can’t speak to Dominic’s first impressions, but it’s clear that he immediately rubs her the wrong way. He brings up his master's degree every chance he gets, and he can be very stubborn about his opinions, disregarding the years of experience of those around him. All this is exacerbated by the sexist tendencies of their boss, who seems to respect Dominic’s opinions over someone who’s worked for him for ten years.  On the other hand, Shay is also far from perfect. She can be inflexible and she’s self-conscious about her non-traditional radio voice. As Dominic and Shay get to know each other better--they have to if they’re going to pretend to have dated--it becomes clear that they have a lot in common, and they might not be as incompatible as they previously thought.

There’s a bit of an age difference between Dominic and Shay, as she’s five years older than him. At first, I was a little worried about this, but fortunately we didn’t have to deal with anyone (including her) calling herself a cougar or a cradle robber. Sometimes she would refer to herself as an “old” and tease him for having only watched Buffy on Netflix. That said, props for talking about Buffy beyond just the title, which a lot of other books do. It’s like they feel like name dropping Buffy or Veronica Mars is going to trick millennials like me into loving the book. (It works, sometimes, because those are two of the best TV shows ever). 

As with any good romance novel, the side characters are three-dimensional and interesting. Both Shay and Dominic have complex character arcs, but I was a little disappointed that secondary relationships weren’t as well fleshed out or evolved. Especially since at the beginning of the book, there was a heavy focus on providing backstory for Shay’s relationship with her mother and with her best friend, Ameena. To be honest, that’s my only complaint about the book. The early pages were very slow and dense with the exposition and providing information about friendships and relationships that could have been interspersed into the plot a little better.

While the book is light, it skirts around some more serious issues. Interracial dating is touched upon, however briefly, and I was a little disappointed that we weren’t treated to transcripts for the episode that they were planning on this topic. That said, Shay’s father died when she was in her senior year of high school, and her mother grieved losing a great love, but managed to move on. Shay was passionate about doing an episode of The Ex Talk on grief which was poignant and sweet, moved the plot of the novel forward, and served to provide another level of depth to this novel. This on top of the commentary on dealing with sexism in the workplace, and this novel is more than just a two-dimensional comedic escape.

I recommend this book to lovers of romantic comedy, regardless of if they have an unbridled passion for public radio.

I thought The Ex Talk would be a fun enemies-to-lovers romance, but I ended up getting a deeper, emotional story and I loved it! There was fun, clever banter as I hoped for but loneliness, grief, and sexism in the workplace was also featured.

Shay and Dominic had the most wonderful slow burn, reluctant attraction that built into a seriously hot romance! Ms. Solomon’s sharp and witty dialogue made this such a delightfully fun read. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

I alternately read and listened to the book and Emily Ellet’s narration was poignant where deeper emotions were on page, but light and fun with great comedic timing in the funnier parts. I really enjoyed it! I listened at 1.5x the normal speed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review!

Can I just say, I need more books about public radio and podcasts in my life?

I loved the premise of this book, which centered around Shay, a radio producer, who finds herself thrust into the role of host in a new radio show with a coworker she can't stand (but finds adorable). While she and Dominic pretend to be exes for the benefit of good listening, true feelings emerge on and off the air. But how do you continue something good that was born of a lie? You gotta read this one to find out!

I will confess this read was a bit steamier than I was prepared for or would personally prefer. For other romance readers, I'm sure it may be somewhat tame. However, I appreciated the very down-to-earth and realistic characters of Shay and Dom. Rachel Lynn Solomon did a great job capturing life in one's early and late twenties, the hopeful yet tension-filled season where you still don't know what you're doing in life, but you buy a house because you know that it's a great investment. This is soo real haha.

I loved the banter and chemistry Solomon created between the leading characters and I loved Shay's friends Ameena and Ruthie (solid female friendships for the win!) I also appreciated that deeper topics such as grief, loss, and the difficulty of building friendships in adulthood were woven throughout this story.

Overall, I loved the concept and plot of this book. I personally just find the world of radio/podcasts to be so interesting (also because I know very little about it) and it was fun to have a romance centered around that. If you're craving a steamy romance with radio as a third love interest and plenty of witty banter, I say pull up a chair and tune into this one.

Rachel's first adult romance was amazing! I really loved the public radio setting, which I didn't know much about, so I loved learning about it. The side characters were also super interesting, and of course, our heroes were just swoony! I'm super excited to see what she does next in that genre.

This was such a fun book to read! I loved the idea of the book being centered around two ex’s hosting a show/podcast. It was so different then anything I read before, and I really enjoyed that! If this was a real show, I would totally listen to it.

I enjoyed the fake dating and age-gap romance in this book. I liked the fact that Shay was older then Dominic, that’s not something we see often. I thought the characters had great chemistry, and I enjoyed the steam between them! The banter between them had me laughing out loud.

The story is told only from Shay’s point of view. Though there were times in the story I wish it was dual POV. Overall, I thought this was a great rom-com and I would recommend it!

🔥🔥/3 steam

The fake relationship trope has been a long-standing favorite of the romance and fanfiction communities, but fake exes? That's something different. With slight changes to existing formulas and tropes (fake exes instead of a fake relationship, a workplace romance set at a public radio station), Solomon breathes new life into a genre mainstay. Her main characters quickly fall into an easy chemistry, and it's hard not to root for Shay and Dominic to work out their individual issues and finally give a real relationship a shot. The Ex Talk is a fun, easy read with steamy romance, and curling up with this book is the perfect way to spend a weekend.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and couldn’t put it down! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this one didn’t disappoint!

I love how it was different than many contemporary romance books I have read!

This book was a charming read. I liked the setting and the premise, thought I think it is timely and may not have longevity on the shelf at the library. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to sharing it with other romance readers.

I was not expecting this book to be this cute!

The concept of The Ex Talk is so creative. A podcast hosted by exes discussing relationships and romance is something I would definitely listen too in real life. Someone make this happen ASAP.

I have never been a fan of NPR but I do love me some podcasts. I still fully enjoyed the radio aspect of this book. The author definitely did her research. I’ve really been into books that mix in podcasts/radio into the novel. It’s so fun!

I flew through this book, the authors writing is fantastic!
I truly loved the characters, Shay and Dominic were both adorable. My favorite part of the book was definitely their banter on air. I do wish we had more radio segments because they were so incredibly fun.

If you’re looking for a steamy read I definitely recommend this! Their chemistry was off the charts, I love when the romance is completely believable.

I have never read anything by this author, (I love YA so I’ve been under a rock apparently) but I definitely will pick up all her books immediately.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC of this book.

What an adorable book! As others have mentioned, the love and knowledge about public radio really comes through, which just adds something special, because you can tell Solomon really loves public radio and knows how it works. I love Dominic and Shay's evolution as humans throughout the book, as well as their evolution as a couple (I mean....forearms, c'mon). Well paced and a good balance of b-plots really made this book for me, and I highly recommend it!

<em>Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing a review copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</em>

NPR and podcast lovers are going to DEVOUR this adorable rom-com that had me grinning from ear-to-ear in this fun concept for a modern day romance novel.

When a local NPR station hits the struggle bus with listeners, a concept is crafted to start a fresh talk show that focuses on breaking up. The thing is, these two colleagues have never been in a relationship, but they are willing to fabricate that to lure in new listeners.

To really bring the concept home, they must get to know each other to create those perfect relationship quirks and problems that make listening so fun.

When the two really get to know each other, they realize that maybe they might like to be in a real relationship after all.

What is a couple to do though when the entire show relies on their break-up for its success?

Fans of The Hating Game and other similar romance novels are going to LOVE this clever concept. The included scripts for the show make this such an enjoyable and laugh-out-loud read that I couldn't put it down. I hope you guys love it as much as I did!