Honestly did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, considering I DNF'd 'The Ex Talk'.

Consider this a rumination on 'The Kiss Quotient' - someone teaching someone else how to be good at sex, but developing a much deeper relationship in the process. This is a smart romantic comedy with a killer premise that, THANKFULLY, delivers in its execution. The banter between the characters crackles and the opening sequence was more than enough to keep me hanging on until I reach the end.

"Business or Pleasure" is a smart, fast-paced, charming romantic comedy that, despite its pastel, illustrated cover, is hot hot hot. The sex in here might be some of the healthiest I've ever read - which is saying something for a genre where the lines are blurred for the sake of entertainment. I LOVED how much they talked about things like consent and how necessary lube is and the importance of communication! And it STILL managed to be hot as all hell. More of this in romance please! Though the 'arrangement' the two leads make isn't necessarily the heart of the novel - it appears every so often as a 'oh yeah we said we'd do that'- it was just enough to wet the appetite, rather than having just pages and pages of smut. Also appreciated the OCD rep and the frank discussion about abortion. It feels like a very progressive rom-com and I am here for it.

I couldn't give this one a five star just because of the last thirty pages or so. There is a third act breakup, but I don't think it was necessarily earned or, indeed, that it had the desired effect. It's a 'cold feet' kind of third act issue and whilst I can tolerate it above miscommunication, the characters had had so much development and been so interesting that this sudden conflict to pad out the pages felt so unnecessary. I also fully disliked the epilogue - it didn't really add anything except led us to what we were expecting. The book was perfectly fine without it.

I might not go back through Solomon's backlist, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for her next book.

Well, this was an unxpected joy to read. Not because I anticipated to hate it...it just took me by surprise by how much I loved this book. 5 star reads are hard for me to find, but here lies a gem. Rachel Lynn Soloman has delivered a book full of booktok's favourite troupes and has delivered it in a way that had me devouring the book in one sitting. Thank you netgalley for introducing me to this author- I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

After a bit of an upsetting book signing for a book she wrote, ghost writer Chandler decides to hit the bookshop bar afterwards to drown her sorrows- enter handsome stranger Drew.
They immediately hit it off and end up going back to Drews hotel. Unfortunately that initial chemistry does not make an appearance in the bedroom, in fact it’s possibly the worst encounter she’s had and Chandler sneaks out knowing she’ll never see Drew again..

The next day her agent calls with an exciting opportunity, Chandler has the chance to ghost write a memoir for a celeb who starred in a very popular werewolf show with a huge cult following, of course she’s never seen the show or heard of the actor in question but when she arrives at the restaurant the actor Finn is actually Drew, the one night stand she thought she’d never see again.

I’m quite conflicted on how to rate this one. It started off well and I was initially enjoying it. It was funny, I liked the characters and where it was heading. However somewhere along the way it just fell flat for me and to be honest it just bored me, particularly the last half of the book.

I don’t think Finn and Chandler had a huge amount of chemistry after that first meeting so after a while I just wasn’t really invested in the outcome of their relationship. I would have liked to see more interaction between Chandler and Noemie because I really liked their friendship.
There were certain parts of the book that had no resolution so I don’t know why they were included eg Ethan- the ‘star’ of the werewolf show and how he had treated Finn during the show and at the reunions, the Wyatt storyline was a little pointless and even the constant mention of how old Chandlers parents were and how much she worried about them wasn’t really needed. All of those things felt a bit filler just to pad the story out because nothing else was really happening other than the occasional ’lessons’.

Overall it was just okay for me. The writing was fine, the characters were fine, the plot was fine.. everything was just fine. I will say the cover is absolutely gorgeous though!

2.5-3 stars, I haven’t quite decided yet.

Read if you like-
• single POV
• ‘makeover’ trope
• OCD rep

Thanks to NetGalley the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This couple has one of the healthiest relationships I have ever read in my life. I can’t wait to own a physical copy. The banter between the two mcs were also chef kisses.

This steamy rom-com was unexpectedly charming, thanks in large part to its two endearing main characters. Chandler and Finn were both charismatic but were still relatable in the insecurities their harboured. They had an instant yet believable connection from their very first encounter. The flirting was effortless! However, I was glad that their initial time together didn’t go too smoothly. The awkwardness made the story more realistic and kept me interested in seeing how their relationship would unfold.

In true rom-com fashion, Chandler ended up having to ghostwrite Finn’s memoir, but I didn’t find this plot device to be too contrived. I enjoyed getting the glimpses into Finn’s not quite A-List celebrity life, as it conjured up feelings of fandom and nostalgia.

I appreciated the book’s discussion of mental health. Its inclusion didn’t seem gimmicky or like just another box to tick. Instead, Chandler and Finn’s honesty about their mental health struggles remained true to their characters and was another way the author made them multi-layered.

While the main couple got intimate pretty quickly, their romance was teased out slowly and believably. Nothing felt gratuitous, making for a nice surprise. Instead, each intimate scene developed the characters’ relationship in similar way to their many heart-to-hearts. Chandler and Finn were allowed to be both sexy and sentimental, silly and serious. Their relationship was rooted in kindness, honesty and trying to be better for the other person. It was refreshing to see.

Overall, this novel was surprisingly sweet and felt refreshing.

This book is so wonderful; it’s steamy, relatable, current, funny, any good adjectives you can think of, this deserves them, and I think it’s going to inevitably be one of my favourites of the year. It’s also just beautifully written and you’ll find yourself loving Chandler and Finn almost immediately and just rooting for their happiness while they start to take note of what the changes they need to make in their lives to best serve themselves.
The only reason I put off reading this one for so long after receiving the arc was that the formatting was weird so I had to read it on my phone but I am honestly kicking myself for all the months I could have had this story and these characters in my brain.

I loved this! This was definitely steamier than I was expecting (definitely more than her previous works), but so good! I loved how Chandler and Finn's relationship slowly developed and all the trust they had in each other.

BUSINESS OR PLEASURE - RACHEL LYNN SOLOMON

RATING:
4 out of 5.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Chandler Cohen’s life is in a rut. As a nameless ghost-writer behind famous people books, she’s used to being the invisible creative force behind bestselling books. But nothing could prepare her for the real low-blow: her dignity shattering into pieces as one of the authors behind her work doesn’t even recognize her name at a book signing. At the book signing for a story she wrote.
To escape the humiliation Chandler decides there’s nothing better to do than doing a complete 180 by doing something un-Chandler-like. That’s how she ends up at a diner with an attractive stranger, and that’s why she says yes to the invitation to his hotel room.
What she doesn’t expect is hitting total rock bottom: the rendezvous was a total bust – but only one participant felt the eruption, if you catch my drift.
So when Chandler shows up on a meeting, the last thing she wants to see is her failure of a fling, as the topic of her next project. Finn Walsh might be somewhat famous, but she wishes nothing but to forget their lackluster night together. It’s easier said than done, as no matter how disastrous their time together was, there’s some kind of a strange connection pulling them towards each other. So when admissions start to flow easily, Chandler admits their night together left things quite literally anticlimactic. As Finn proposes to solve the aforementioned unfinished business, they’ll soon realise they might be more compatible in areas different to just pleasure.

REVIEW:
There’s something you should know about Rachel’s stories: there’s always, always something more profound lurking behind the words besides two people falling in love. Yes, to their core they’re well-written romance novels with cute covers and happy endings.
But they tend to teach the reader some important lessons along the way. This time around those lessons contained information about Judaism, mental health struggles, OCD, millennial guilt, imposter syndrome, microagression at a workplace, sex education.
The author gives you a straightforward voice throughout the book, with endearing and frustrating characteristics to the main and side characters. All parties involved have a uniqueness to them, which is telling and secretive at the same time: you know exactly how to picture each individual. There’s always a little added extra special magic by the quill of Rachel, which makes her characters humanly flawed and intriguing at the same time. The coming of age of the millennial generation and the struggles of everyday life amongst the chaos of the twenty-twenties is the tangible truth behind the tale of Chandler and Finn, too.
I applaud how the male party was the less experienced one when it came to the physical part of the relationship, and the more experienced one when it came to the emotional part. The lesson-based spicy scenes were also a nice touch, as oftentimes in romance novels everything just clicks, therefore vastly differing from reality.
The almost transactional way of finding love is well written. It’s almost self-explanatory how the main characters will, of course fall in love, not because it’s the expectation of the genre, but because with every dialogue, look, touch between them they seem to find solace amidst the whirlwind of their relationship, business situation, the outside world. Adding the lust to the undercurrent of emotions is almost an afterthought, as you know from the get-go they’ll most probably will figure it out.

TROPES FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE:
- one night stand
- mutual pining
- opposites attract
- forced proximity
- friends to lovers
- meet-cute
- mental health rep
- contemporary romance

Chandler is a ghostwriter and after a disappointing experience at a signing for a book that she has ghosted for an influencer, she ends up having a one night stand with a hot guy she meets in the bookshop cafe. Sadly the sex is not as hot as the man and she chalks it up to experience and forget it as fast as possible. She moves on to her next gig – ghost writing the memoir of Finn Walsh – one of the stars of a cult classic teen werewolf show. It should be a step up for her – except that it turns out that Finn is her awful one night stand. Obviously Chandler’s determined to keep it all very professional but when Finn finds out that their night wasn’t as mind blowing for her as he thought it was, she agrees to help him out. As they write the book together they realise that they get on really well – but Finn is famous and Chandler is not, so is there any chance of a future for them?

Oh yes. This is a Sex Lessons but definitely no feelings/emotions book and I was absolutely here for it, because of course I am. Most of the book takes place as Chandler accompanies Finn on the fan convention circuit so there’s also a fair bit of forced proximity going on with this too, which again is something I love (see also Mrs Nash’s Ashes). This is another of The Summer of Famous Heroes but I really liked the Finn is terrible in bed twist to this one. And of course this does mean that the steam level in this books is H-I-G-H because of course what would be the point of doing this closed door. And having read Rachel Lynn Solomon’s other books I would say this is steamier than they are – which is not a problem for me, but I mention it for those who like their romances slightly more closed door. But I guess if you see a plot that is basically Sex Lessons for Reasons you should be expecting a fair bit of bedroom action.

And alongside all of that, Chandler herself is figuring out what she wants from life – with a bit of help from Finn. Before her one night stand with Finn, she was rejected as a romantic prospect by a friend that she’s had a crush on for years and she’s also very scarred from being laid off from her journalism job – which is what led her to ghost-writing in the first place. So along with the romance you also get to watch her figure out what she really wants and to build up the courage to go for it. And I do like it when the heroine has more going on than just a romance – and when thinks work out for her not because of the romance. And I hope that makes sense and isn’t too much of a spoiler. I did rewrite this whole paragraph because the first attempt gave too much away!

Thanks so much to Rachel Lynn Solomon, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the eARC, all opinions expressed are my own.

This rom com was absolutely addictive, 5 star and I absolutely loved it! It has such a unique premise and story was well written, Absolutely hilarious! Chandler and Finn have a one night stand. Whilst Chandler is left incredibly unsatisfied, they soon cross paths when Chandler is hired to ghost write his life story and soon realises his celebrity status. when Finn learns that the explosive one night stand was one-sided, he works with Chandler to work on his skills...

The characters have one of the most healthiest relationships I've ever read about. I loved the confidence Chandler has and the journey of self discovery that both characters take was great. The forced proximity and the different conventions the characters attend was a great way to carry the plot at a well developed pace. The relationship between the characters was intense and the chemistry was undeniable with instant tension!

Beyond this, the story does a great job in showcasing the struggle with careers from both characters. Similarly, and most importantly. the representation of OCD was well written and handled sensitively. Solomon provides an interesting and important insight into the struggles Finn faced when growing up with OCD, with a father who couldn't understand Finn's complex relationship with food, the emotional abuse he faced was absolutely heartbreaking and Solomon created an excellent contrasting and healthy relationship with Finn and Chandler. A duo that truly complement each other.

I absolutely loved this story and highly recommend!

Chandler is a ghost writer for a famous author but when she meets the author at a signing she realises that the author doesn’t recognise her. Feeling sorry for herself Chandler, visits the bar where she meets a charming and handsome man where they discover they have really good chemistry. The pair then end up having an awkward one night stand and Chandler decides she wants to just forget that night. At work Chandlers next project is ghost writing a memoir for Finn Walsh an actor. Although it turns out Chandler already knows him from their one night stand. Chandler is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional but when Chandler tells Finn their night together was underwhelming, Finn is distraught. The pair strike a deal - When they aren’t working on Finns book, Chandler will teach Finn the art of satisfaction. As the pair grow closer to each other they must figure out what’s most important to each other business or pleasure.

I really enjoyed reading this book and discovering more about Chandlers character and following the story progress with Chandler and Finn. I highly recommend reading this book!

From its premise, this book was interesting and refreshing. After all, from my experience, a romance book where the main characters don’t have amazing sex from the very first time is not easy to find so I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for a while. It would have been very easy to make it all about sex and their “lessons” but that wasn’t the case at all. I loved how Rachel was able to find such a great balance and have both plenty of spicy scenes while also giving the characters space to grow closer and connect emotionally outside of them.

I loved both Finn and Chandler and their relationship, which was incredibly healthy. They really prioritised communication and I appreciated that; they talked about their issues, gave each other space when needed and were each other’s safe space, someone they knew they could be vulnerable without being scared of being judged.

Although I wish this book was double POV - because I would have loved to know more about what was going through Finn’s head -, following Chandler’s journey so closely was great. Her struggles with pulling herself back and her fear of failure and giving her dreams a chance hit close to home so it was particularly heartwarming to see her decide to be happy and follow her dreams knowing that even if they didn’t lead to success (neither immediately nor in the long term), it was something she had to do for herself.

I also have to mention the GAD (Chandler) and OCD (Finn) rep, which I really appreciated. They were both pretty open about their mental health and I really liked reading those conversations and learning a bit more about how they can affect people.

If you’re looking for a refreshing, sex-positive book with great characters, check this one out!

★ 4/5 Stars ★

Thank you to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a really fun time reading this one. I loved both Chandler and Finn, from their hilariously awkward one night stand through to their trip sound the convention circuit, ghost writing relationship and the lessons. I loved how in getting to know Finn for his book we also got know Chandler and how open and vulnerable they were with one another. Finn was an adorable nerd and full of heart. Chandler was refreshingly honest and open about sex and intimacy whilst at the same time very relatable with her fears and insecurities about what she wanted for her future. Chandler and Finn’s banter with each other was charming and funny and the author did a really great job building a realistic and touching connection between these two people thrown together in strange circumstances. Chandler’s lessons were just perfect and an excellent way to illustrate the building of the tension, heat, connection, and chemistry between her and Finn. A really enjoyable read. 4.5 ⭐️

I was sitting here for a couple of hours trying to figure one why this story did not work for me as much as it did for others.
I think one of the main things for me was that the issue that seemed to have the FMC unsure about his feelings for her was a non-issue for me.
Another point was that I couldn't feel the chemistry between the main characters, even though the whole premise of the story was her teaching him what she liked in bed. It was probably because I felt that the story lacked the spark needed to bring intimacy between the main characters. I also was not interested in the vampire college thing - actually, I wanted to know what Ethan's deal was, but there was no confrontation there, so that felt unresolved (although sometimes just letting things go is the answer).
Overall it's not a bad story, I really enjoyed the premise of it. I guess it just did not tick my boxes.

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK for the ARC via Netgalley UK. All opinions are my own.

So... I've been sleeping on Rachel Lynn Solomon. I already had two of her books on my TBR, but this was my actual first book from the author, and this was so good that it made me read the other two straight after, and I must say, Business or Pleasure was my favourite. I love how her characters are flawed and so different from what you normally get from romance books. In this one, Finn is not very good in bed (I can't tell you how much I cringed in their first sex scene 😶). After this disastrous one-night stand and equally awkward meeting the next day, Chandler decides to take matters into her own hands (pun intended) and fills the vacancy as the resident ghostwriter and sex expert. This is one of the best portrayals of a couple I have ever see; communication is on point and chemistry is off the charts. Make sure you preorder this fun and steamy romance, as I know you'll love it as much as I did.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

A fun and spicy take on the typical make-over trope. Sharply written, with just the right balance of humour and compassion for the main characters, and one of the most refreshing portrayals of sexual relationships in a romantic novel I’ve read in ages. Let’s have more guys like Finn please!

A fun sexy twist on the makeover trope! After a one night stand that wasn't quite so explosive, Chandler and Finn find themselves in the same room again. This time it's for Chandler to ghostwrite a book for a C-list actor best known for his work on a Werewolf TV show. Finns finds out that Chandler didn't quite get hers during their night together, and while travelling on his signing tour, he asks her for help in the bedroom department, and steamy lessons ensue.
This was an absolutely delightful read, both Chandler and Finn were written with such heart and honesty that is definitely Solomon's trademark style. With charming banter, spice written with care and thought, and a chemistry to die for, this should definitely be your next read!

The storyline of this book was quite good fun but I did struggle to connect to any of the characters other than Finn. It was enjoyable enough but was missing something for me personally.

After a disastrous one night stand, ghostwriter Chandler finds herself in a tricky situation when she discovers her next celebrity author is none other than the bad-in-bed Finn, whom she abandoned after their lacklustre time together. Finn is mortified, but asks Chandler to teach him how to be better whilst they work together on his memoir ...

This was a great plot, but frustratingly turned into one of those books that I completely forgot about every time I put it down. When I was reading it, I was keen to find out what happened next ... But the moment I put it down, I struggled to pick it back up again. I can't really work out why - it was an easy read with characters that worked. Just not the book for me, maybe!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately this eARC was messed up format wise which made it too hard for me to read. So I will have to wait for my preorder to arrive to read it. Giving it 5 stars on here as it looks so good but please know this isn't my actual review.