This was a cute story and I enjoyed reading the different articles that were published and was rooting for the movie star and writer to actually give it a go; but it was a super slow burn for me. ⁣
⁣
I felt like the then and now sometimes got confusing for me, and I’d read an article that essentially summarized the next couple chapters and didn’t really love that. I also feel like had they properly communicated there essentially wouldn’t be much of a story.⁣
⁣
But with that being said, I LOVED Ollie and wanted to be his friend. I loved that Gabe was a total babe and wanted to be with an average every day writer, that was just an average Jane; I found that endearing, but also felt like Chani seemed to surround herself with people who weren’t the greatest to her, and needed better friends. And Gabe was around people who knew he drank quite a bit and never really stopped him. Other than Ollie, they both could’ve used better friends. ⁣
⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
Thank you for an ARC for my honest review.

I enjoyed this a lot but something kept from putting it over the top for me. Usually I like when books involve other media like newspaper/magazine articles or letters but something about their use in this book wasn't my absolute favorite. I did like Chani and I did like Gabe but the slow burn was almost too slow? I still think this book had a ton of redeeming qualities and I will read more from this author.

Funny You Should Ask comes out next week on April 12, 2022 and you can purchase HERE.

The whole thing reminded me of the time I'd tried to learn how to skateboard in some ill-advised bid to get the attention of a guy I knew in high school. I'd been floating along, when suddenly I leaned too far back and the skateboard had come shooting out from under me. I was airborne for half a second before hitting the ground--tailbone first--hard. The pain had made me cry and the tears had made the boy disappear.

5⭐
A very mild R on the spice scale

Um, wow, I absolutely loved this book. After hearing some initial buzz, I was really thankful to receive an advanced copy of this book and the hype was absolutely true!! I started reading this book and all of a sudden I was half way through and it felt like no time had passed because Elissa Sussman's writing just pulled me in and didn't let me go.

The structure of this book was so unique. It follows Chani as she interviews movie star Gabe Parker in present day as a follow up to the profile she wrote on him ten years ago that went viral. Readers get to see what really happened behind the scenes of writing the article both then and now with alternating sections, which is what sucked me in. I wanted to know what happened between the two in both timelines that I just could not set this book down.

I loved how Elissa Sussman built up the plot of this story and weaved in different flashbacks and asides with the supporting characters in an effortless way that moved the story forward. I found myself rooting for Chani and Gabe but so unsure of how the book would end, given the history between these two. I loved watching them break down their past mistakes and choices in a way that made this book's conclusion so satisfying.

If you're a fan of romance that verges on women fiction or romance that will feel a little bit different, I'd recommend picking up this book when it comes out next week!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

I know I made a post about how I’m not shy about giving out 5-star reviews, but I truly loved this book so much!

Funny You Should Ask is about a journalist, Chani Horowitz, whose first viral celebrity profile is about an impromptu weekend she spent with her childhood crush and Hollywood heartthrob, Gabe Parker. Gabe, an American, has just been cast to star as the next James Bond and fans are staunchly against the studio’s decision, preferring Gabe’s long-time friend and co-star over him. What starts off as an innocent interview at Gabe’s favorite restaurant, quickly evolves into a weekend of premieres and parties with Gabe and his celebrity friends. Chani gets swept up in Gabe’s charm and finds herself trying to separate the actor from the man she is getting to know.

The profile Chani writes following that weekend skyrockets her career and changes the public’s perception of Gabe Parker, making them see that he will be a great James Bond. But what really happened that weekend has followed Chani around since her article was published, causing her to question everything. Did she become the popular choice for celebrity profiles because they think she slept with Parker for good press? Or does her writing truly speak for itself?

Funny You Should Ask jumps back in forth through time, detailing the events of that infamous weekend and ten years later when Chani and Gabe meet once more for another interview but under different circumstances. This novel is about a love that could have been, if only they had met at a different time, and how misunderstandings can lead to years of wasted time. Chani and Gabe’s story made me grin ridiculously at the pages, laugh out loud, and scream ‘Noooo!’ to my fiance’s utter confusion. I truly loved these two and let me just say, Chapter 25 is the coziest one of them all.

Funny You Should Ask was a charming and sweet novel about the world of celebrity culture and the dangers of judging someone based on their public persona. I absolutely loved this book and couldn't put it down. The story is a second-chance romance about a journalist and an attractive movie star, who end up connecting on a deeper level than either of them expects when she is assigned to write a profile on him ahead of his next big role. However, during their weekend spent together, something happens that causes a rift in their budding friendship/relationship and they lose contact. When they get the chance to reconnect in the future ten years later, there is a lot left to discuss and ultimately decide. I love the way that Elissa Sussman wrote the dynamic between Chani and Gabe. Although he is the celebrity, she is able to hold her own against him and it makes you really root for them and not feel like she is getting sucked into his world for any other reason than love. For fans of second-chance/emotional romance, this book has it all: mutual pining, alternating timelines and plenty of angst. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is just like the title funny! I highly recommend it and it s fun read. I read it all in one day.

This book is divided into Chani's first meeting with Gabe over a weekend and then switches to the next weekend she meets him ten years later. Chani has to write a piece on Gabe for her magazine. The result of the interview changed her career, and people are forever wondering if they had sex or not. When they meet again, the answer is more complicated than just sex.

Chani and Gabe are cute together. They have this great banter between them and longing for more, but Chani's realistic worries about her journalistic morals keep them apart. You constantly want to know why they didn't up together, and the mystery of it all will keep you reading.

My only problem is that we only see them interact after two weekends. Therefore, the conclusion felt a little on the rushed side.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

10 years ago journalist Chani Horowitz gets the opportunity of her fledgling career: the chance to interview Hollywood heartthrob Gabe Parker who has recently and controversially been cast as the first American James Bond. Well, Chani gets the scoop writing an iconic piece that skyrockets her career and turns the tides of public opinion towards Gabe, but hovering above her always in the cloud of speculation of just how well she got to know her celebrity crush during their whirlwind weekend together. A decade later Chani is again asked to write a piece on Gabe; she's divorced, he's sober, and they have history to unpack.

<i>Funny You Should Ask</i> is quite the page turner. Chani and Gabe's story is slowly revealed in pieces jumping around from their first weekend together, sprinkling in excerpts from Chani's article, forward to their present day reunion, and spiced with excerpts from other articles offering perspective and opinion on Gabe's career and personal life and speculation on Chani and Gabe's relationship being more than just professional. This format keeps the pages turning and suspense high so that you *almost* don't mind just how much of a slow burn this story is.

Bonus points awarded for Chani being Jewish and Gabe being a reader who owns a bookstore with his mom and sister AND the parent of a rescue pup - awww!

Funny You Should Ask was exactly what I needed. It’s a romantic story about a journalist who becomes famous due to a profile she wrote about an actor ten years ago. No one knows the whole story… and then the journalist is asked to recreate the famous interview after all that time has passed.
.
The story is written in dual timelines with the viral article along with other writings from the time periods interspersed between chapters.
.
Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the eARC.
.
This book comes out next week (4/12/22) so get your copy ordered or on hold at the library now. It’s the perfect spring/summer read.

Chani had crushed on movie star Gabe Parker for years and then she gets the chance to interview him- an interview that changes both of their lives. This moves back and forth between their first meeting and ten years later, after they've both been married to other people and ups and downs n their lives. It's a second chance novel in more ways than one- not just for love but also for their careers. Chain's got an MFA and an ex that referred to her writing as ordinary; Gabe had an addition problem and blew his big chance. Luckily, he's also got a super friend in Ollie and a supportive family. This a smart rom-com with a terrific protagonist in Chani, who loves LA among other things. Gabe will remind you that those people up on the screen are real-they have dogs, read books, and have secrets (and give canned interviews). I know it's a bit trope-y and fans of the genre know how will end but I really enjoyed this. Sussman's a good storyteller and she roped me in early and kept me reading. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC,. A fun read with characters you'll root for.

The structure of this book— with the jumps from the past into the future made this a quick read. The characters were believable, and even side characters felt fully fleshed out. Even though the plot was kind of a miss for me, I still couldn’t stop reading it.

This book was genuinely funny and kind of sweet, but I did find it a little unbelievable. I would recommend this to fans of the HBO show Starstruck.

I was really excited about this one & disappointed isn't even the right word for how I feel after finishing it.

I initially planned to give the author some kudos in two areas:

1) The cover is fantastic - eye-catching, interesting, & unique. Well done. The publisher probably found a great graphic designer & she made the right call by approving the design.

2) Yeah, yeah - we've seen the impossible lovers trope, but this ultra-specific premise of a celebrity falling in love with a normie doesn't feel oversaturated in literature. Cool concept!.....until it wasn't.

Unfortunately, any praise on the grounds of originality were quickly shot to hell the moment I discovered the 2011 Chris Evans GQ article by Edith Zimmerman. The similarities between Sussman's novel & Zimmerman's article are undeniable & uncomfortable. The most notable evidence includes, but is not limited to:

- The casual restaurant interview over lunch, lots of beer, & banter.

- Chris/Gabe are typecast as hot idiots in B-level movies but are on the brink of a make-or-break career move when they're awarded the role of Captain America/James Bond.

- "Dates" at the red-carpet movie premiere, afterparty, & house party over the course of one weekend.

- The overall portrayals, backstories, & apparent dispositions of the main characters mirror Evans & Zimmerman entirely.

- The scene where she sneaks out of his house & the one where she leaves behind an item of clothing.

- Meeting Chris'/Gabe's mom & finding out he's a huge mama's boy.

- The general public assumes they slept together.

I really wanted to believe that this was all some strange coincidence...but when I saw that this author follows both Chris Evans & Edith Zimmerman on Instagram, all my suspicions were confirmed. This explains why Chani & Gabe's relationship felt VERY surface-level & how everything else just feels like forced fluff. It's evident that Sussman struggled to fill in the gaps, as Zimmerman didn't provide her with a playbook on how to stretch a ~2,000-word magazine article into a 350-page novel.

I am all for fan-fiction & drawing upon real-world inspiration, but Sussman has lost all credibility & creative integrity as an author in my eyes. I mean, at the very LEAST she could have mentioned the original GQ journalist in her acknowledgments after exploiting HER article & narrative! At most, she could have mixed up the details to make the dupe less obvious. Everything about this is icky.

You can find the referenced article here: https://www.gq.com/story/chris-evans-gq-july-2011-cover-story

Aside from it being a blatant rip-off, this book just didn't work for me. I felt that way before I was privy to the aforementioned poaching. It started out cute, but the couple's insta-love after minimal encounters felt so contrived. There's a real lack of substance & the only chemistry I enjoyed was Oliver-related. The alternating timelines & various POVs were a valiant attempt to break up the book & make it fun, but they weren't done right. The execution resulted in redundancy & confusion. I didn't jive with the pacing either, as it was painfully slow and then suddenly rushed at the end with a bizarre fight/resolution. And can we please CHILL on the shitty ex-boyfriend references? That, along with the plight of female journalists was NEVER. ENDING. Like ok, we get it - now where's the actual romance? Answer: There's virtually none. The only real intimacy happens around the 90%-point & I can only describe it as store-brand vanilla at best.

I rarely leave negative reviews & try to lean on constructive criticism for the author & potential readers. "Funny You Should Ask" is the first of its kind that I've encountered. I never thought I'd be writing a review like this. The author & her team need to seriously consider reaching out to Edith Zimmerman and/or publicly acknowledging her work as "inspiration" prior to release.

All in all, I appreciate NetGalley & Penguin Random House for sending me this ARC e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Funny You Should Ask

⚠️POTENTIAL SPOILERS ⚠️

QUICK SYNOPSIS:
Chani (a writer, journalist, author) gets to meet Gabe (a gorgeous actor she’s been fan-girling) to write a article about the controversy around him playing Bond in an upcoming film. They end up spending the weekend together when she is invited to a premier, a club and a house party. Some hot connections are made and Chani realizes there may be more to the weekend than writing an article. But by the end of their time together, through a series of miscommunication and things left unsaid, they disappear from each other’s lives for 10 years. One weekend of history and 10 years and a lot of growth later, they meet again.

THE GOOD:
•I could not stop reading this book and when I was forced to stop, I kept thinking about it.
•I prefer a book with spice. This has a little but I didn’t even care bc the tension between the two was so engulfing.
•I loved the THEN/NOW format with articles and media throughout explaining the story.
•I just had some much deep feelings come to the surface for these two
•The puppy. You dog ppl are going to melt into a puddle when you read how the pup plays a role in the book. 🥺
•How they kept tabs on each other over time

THE CRITICAL:
•There was not much I didn’t like. If I had to pick something, Chani maybe cared a bit too much what ppl thought of her. 🤷‍♀️ But I still get it.
•When I first started reading, I found the authors use of analogies to be a bit much, but as I continued to read I came to enjoy them more. Very relatable.
•Would have enjoyed Gabe’s internal monologue but it didn’t hurt the story.

READ IF YOU LIKE:
🐶 famous/not famous trope
🐶 tension and clever banter
🐶 second chances
🐶 old movies
🐶 adorable pups
🐶 love at first
🐶 distinct character growth

⭐️: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶:🌶🌶

Thanks NetGalley, the publisher Dell, Penguin Random House and the author, Elissa Sussman for sharing this ARC with me.

A journalist and actor meet up 10 years after an interview boosts both their careers. I liked the Then/Now format, peppered with articles and blog posts in between. I felt that the flashbacks in the Now parts of what happened between the Then/Now threw off the flow of the story. I liked the plot, but didn’t really connect with the characters.

Thank you to Random House Publishing-Ballentine and NetGalley for the advanced copy. This book publishes April 12, 2022.

4.5 !! I absolutely LOVED this. I was hooked on the awesome cover, and the inside was just as great! I was rooting for Chani and Gabe from the beginning. Their chemistry was undeniable, and seeing them get back together after 10 years was everything I was hoping for! Will definitely be reading more books from this author after this.

“The last time we met, we were young and brash and stupid. I remind myself that two people can experience the same thing in completely different ways. I remind myself now that I now know better.”

Two different weeks and 10 years apart, Chani is assigned to interview Gabe, the first American James Bond. Uniquely, it is the format of this book that drew me in. While it is told through her POV, alternating between then and now, it is the blog posts and news articles that truly added another layer to Chani and Gabe’s story.

I was hooked instantly and honestly loved this one. As a woman with a career, I understand that the way she is perceived matters and why she was so guarded towards Gabe’s flirtation. I’d also question his intentions, were they to get a better write-up or was this famous person truly interested in here. Like herself, he also had a career to consider.

For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, I believe you will love this one too. It’s emotional, funny, and a perfect second-chance romance with imperfect characters.
____________
Thank you to @randomhouse, Bantam Dell, @netgalley, and @elissasussman for the advance copy. It is out April 12th!

This was a cute read about Chani and Gabe and the premise of "dating" a movie star. Told 10 years apart and the struggles of marriage, divorce etc. It was a look into Hollywood and is it really worth it to be famous.

I enjoyed how Chani and Gabe met and how the relationship developed.

This was fun and thoughtful, a fresh take on the idea of dating a movie star. Sussman created believable and sympathetic characters that you really root for throughout the book. Try this for a hopeful and romantic read!

Book: Funny You Should Ask
Author: Elissa Sussman

Review:
I found this book enjoyable. I felt that it was fun, but still was able to deal with more serious issues. I liked the characters and the connection between the journalist and actor. I would recommend to those interested in romance books.

⚠️TW: Homophobia, sexism and alcoholism

Chani Horowitz is living every girl’s dream: she has been hired to conduct an exclusive one-on-one interview with Gabe Parker, her ultimate celebrity crush and newly selected actor to star as James Bond. Chani is nervous yet excited, this could be the break in her career that she has been waiting for yet she was never prepared for what enfolds the second she steps into Gabe Parker’s million dollar home. Ten years later, Chani is recently divorced and back in LA when she is presented with chance to do a follow-up interview with Gabe Parker given all of the success of her first article years ago. When she accepts and come face-to-face with the man who broke her heart, all of the memories from those two nights years ago come flooding back and the painful truth revealed.

•

This was a very sweet romance novel that kept me rooting for our two MC’s from beginning to end 💕I thought the two had an amazing connection and a tension so strong I could feel it radiating off the pages! I did end up getting frustrated with these two throughout the story, there is a lot that could have been resolved if they were both honest with each other and communicated. I absolutely adored Ollie and sweet girl Teddy 🥺 This story also touches on important themes such as the flaws of Hollywood and society and the sexism and homophobia that unfortunately is still present to this day. I loved the structure in how the story unfolds as well, it alters from the present to ten years ago when Chani and Gabe first meet along with excerpts of articles and Chani’s blog. I want to thank NetGalleyy and the Publisher for an eARc of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title will be released on April 12th, 2022.