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.

This was a classic second chance romance story but at times it felt a bit awkward with the flipping between different formats and texts. Overall it was a fun read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Very fun, well-written book. Would you fall in love with your Celeb crush if you met IRL? Just the kind of book I wanted at this moment. Highly recommend.

This was a totally readable and enjoyable contemporary romance. Chani writes about movie stars, and Gabe is a movies star. What could possibly go wrong? What are the challenges of falling for a movie star and having your writing career tied to his fame? It takes a long time for them to come to terms with who they each are, and how they feel for each other. Life keeps getting in the way of them really getting to know each other. It's quite a journey of walking on eggshells in a very public venue. I like it. I found it slightly more serious than funny. The "stars are real people" underpinnings are a revelation.

Chani, a 26 year old LA writer, is given the assignment to interview her celebrity crush, Gabe. Funny You Should Ask tells the story of their interview that turns into a weekend together, while also flashing forward 10 years later to when the pair are about to meet up again for another interview. This book does a great job building intrigue about what happened in their first meeting, and then proceeds to make Chani so unlikeable that I almost stop caring what happened.

I loved the first third of this book. It is so well written and I was dying to know more about Chani and Gabe's time together. But as it progressed, Chani became so bitter and whiny that I started to lose interest in her story. I did make it to the end and was treated to a sweet, if slightly unbelievable, ending. 3.5 stars overall.

Thank you Random House Publishing, Elissa Sussman and NetGalley for the eARC!

Pub Date: 4/12/2022

Chani Horowitz feels like she's not nearly as successful as her peers. While they're off getting book deals, she's still writing for a blog. She is hired to write about movie star, Gabe Parker - who is ironically her forever celebrity crush. He has been cast to play the new James Bond so Chani is required to interview him for the profile piece. That is if she can keep her cool. As Chani interviews Gabe, something life-changing occurs, and it turns into a weekend she will never forget. Ten years later, divorced and moved back to LA, Chani is focused on her career even though she is still often asked a decade later about Gabe. When his PR team asks for a second interview with Chani, she wants to say no and pretend that weekend never happened. But she knows that whatever happened during that time, was more than just an interview. Chani knows facing Gabe again will only bring up those feelings she worked so hard to push away.

I really enjoyed this. I loved the back and forth between the characters and the need to know how it all ends. I felt like I was along for the ride. The "then" and "now" chapters were easy to navigate and it didn't make things hard to follow. It gave me CLO and Emily Henry vibes. So if you're into those writers, you will devour this book!