Business or Pleasure

What a lovely romance read this one was. Rachel covers some heavier topics, but she still manages to keep the story funny and light-hearted and just a lovely escape of the last couple of days. As I got to the end of the book, I didn’t want the story to end, I wanted to continue to get lost in the story. I loved how Rachel weaves in important topics whilst ensuring the book is inclusive and to a point diverse.

Chandler is a ghostwriter for celebrities, and Finn is her next client. Nothing to out of the ordinary. Except from two very important points. The first is that she has already met Finn the night before, and the two got on like a house on fire. The second, is that they had sex, and Finn was not as skilled in this department as Chandler would have hoped. As the two did end up getting along so well the night before however, Chandler decides to put the disastrous one-night stand before her and help Finn out. However, they come up with a plan. In the day they will write the book. But by night, Chandler will be helping Finn become a master in the bedroom. However, the line between business and pleasure begins to blur.

I must admit that both Chandler and Finn are 2 of my favourite characters that Rachel has created in her books. I loved how nerdy (In a Cool Way) Finn was and Chandler was an incredible female lead. They really did bring out the best in each other in more ways than one. This was an incredibly sex positive book. There was so much tension between the two characters. And Finn was so supportive and eager to learn.

If you like Hollywood-ish romances, communication, and good spice, this is an excellent choice. It's light without being too light, and so easy to fly through and enjoy.

Meh, not good, not bad just meh. Liked the ghostwriting setting tho

Normally I love Rachel Lynn Solomon books but this one didn’t seem to have the spark for me that her others did. Cute moments but lacked a little bit of cohesiveness.

kinda disappointing cause i love rachel lynn solomon

I’m not going to lie….that was ROUGH. I have read other books by this author and absolutely loved them, but this one was not it for me. I would like to say that it was largely because of the premise, but it is also execution of said premise that made this painful. I’ll be the first to say that I didn’t read the synopsis too closely, so that is on me. I saw the author’s name and got excited. So imagine my surprise when the book was largely just a bunch of spicy scenes where she teaches him how to pleasure women. Not my jam to say the least.

That aside, there has to be some good plot points, right? EH…. sorta…sorta not. Its mostly chapter after chapter of her following him like a hopeless puppy to yet another indistinct convention or “con” as the fans say. It all blended together after a while. They would get on a good roll of talking about deep topics such as his OCD or her anxiety about her career and taking chances, but then it was undercut by yet another “lesson” in bed. The book was just trying so hard to be sex-positive by hitting the reader on the head with it, but it went way too far and now my brain is bleeding. I mean, they literally have conversations (yes… MULTIPLE conversations) about how she was a gender studies major so that’s why she knows so much about sex. Just yikes. I’m not even a gender studies major, but I got insulted that the entire field got generalized as just “being good in bed”.

I know the author can write, but the book just felt… disjointed and weird. If you said that the plot points were created largely through a spinning board and some darts thrown at it, I’d believe you. I’ll still try reading more from this author in the future, but I will definitely be paying more attention to what exactly it’s about.

Ok the premise of this was bonkers and I feel like the author shoved every romance trope under the sun into the plot but it kind of worked for me? The spice was spicing 🌶️🌶️🌶️

** spoiler alert ** My friend and I picked this up as a fun read and it delivered. It took a while for the rhythm to set [pun fully intended lol], but it was a consistent and easy read. If you liked The Kiss Quotient, this will be up your alley. The author does a pretty good job of making you care about what's going on in the characters' lives because there is a risk of it seeming first-world problem-y. The setting is that our main character 'Chandler' an aspiring author and currently struggling ghostwriter is to ghostwrite for our male lead 'Finn' an actor whom she meets under interesting circumstances. The characters' motivations and instincts help ground the stroy in their context and reality. The story has heart, humour, all the tropes you'd want, and a pretty healthy portrayal of sex, which is pretty refreshing.

eh? it just felt kinda one dimensional I don’t know maybe i’m in my hater era

rating: 4.25/5⭐️ rep: OCD, anxiety Thank you so much to Berkeley Romance for the free copy! Overall, I enjoyed this and it was so cute and fun! This is my fourth book by RLS, and while I think I do enjoy her YAs more, this was a great read! First off, the MCs, Chandler and Finn, have one of the most healthy and wholesome relationships I’ve ever read about. The way they support each other and have open conversations about sex and mental health was wonderful and honestly so refreshing to see. I think sometimes in romance books it’s easy to lose sight of what a realistic, healthy relationship looks like, and Solomon did an amazing job of demonstrating this. I thought the OCD and anxiety rep was pretty good(speaking from personal experience)and the conversations around them both were authentic and wonderful. Overall, I enjoyed this and I’m excited to read more of her books!

Chandler Cohen is at a crossroads in her life. The man she thought would be her future has told her he doesn't want a relationship. The subject of her most recent ghostwriting venture doesn't even recognize her, and her one night stand was a complete flop. The topping on the cake is her latest project is writing a memoir for Finn Walsh, the very man whose room she sneaked out of the night before. Chandler tries to remain professional with Finn until he asks her to give him some tips to make him a better lover.

Business or Pleasure begins with an intriguing premise but leaves much of the character development, conflict, and emotion until the very end of the book. Actually, the subplot involving Chandler's "tutoring" of Finn could have been left out completely, and the book would have essentially told the identical story. At the same time, some topics such as OCD and anxiety could have been explored in more depth. The characters of Finn and Chandler are likable but since the book is told from Chandler's pov, we don't get much of Finn's feelings, especially when he is told he is a lousy lover. Overall, Business or Pleasure is a cute romance that could have used more depth and more humor.

I needed more from this. I wanted to like it so badly but it slowly went from a 5 star to 4 and now settled at 3 as it continued to disappoint unfortunately.

The relationship overall was fine and pretty sweet but the actual growth and dynamic was lost on me. She’s the self-appointed expert on communication but then.. doesn’t communicate but also doesn’t see the hypocrisy in that. It was like she went out of her way to miscommunicate or interpret things wrong. It would be one thing if she got called out or called herself out about it but it was baffling to me how there was so much focus on his area for improvement in relationships but the same was not exactly done for her, only on her career.

The “voice” of these characters was so off at times. One moment I felt like they were teenagers and the next they had like 40+ vibes. It was so ping pongy back and forth in maturity.

This was not as spicy as I’d expect based on the premise, some of the scenes are solely suggestive and they’d be moving on to the next thing and I flip back like wait what? There was so much tension of build up but then the actual event was skimmed over. And then usually it would skip to days ahead in the next chapter so also no real follow up, even emotionally from the very vulnerable moments they presumably and reportedly were having together. If something is going to be described to me as the sex lessons trope by its own marketing then that’s what I would expect. Also, this might be a personal preference thing (and therefore not an included on the rating, only review) but the dirty talk was not it.

I believe this would be better as a duet. I feel like by the time the story and character development was just getting started the book was already over.

I really enjoyed this one.

The end wasn’t my favorite but I loved the beginning and middle. The openness and communication in their relationship is beautiful.

Finn is a fantastic nerdy hero. Great mental health representation. I love Solomon’s writing and the topics she explores with her characters.

Overall, I finished it very quickly and it made me smile lots.

Loved this! Story was sweet, spice was fantastic and it covered a surprisingly good amount of topics from mental health to abortion access to religion. A must-read!

Something Solomon never fails to do is charm me. I always have such a fun time reading her romances. I loved the premise of this one, and it was brimming with Solomon's signature wit. The banter between her characters is always on point, the relationships feel honest, and the characters always feel fleshed out. Chandler and Finn were so open and vulnerable with one another. Their relationship felt very mature, and I loved how they communicated their needs with one another. Aside from the romance, I found the plot engaging as well. It was fun seeing all the fan conventions, but my favorite aspect was the mental health representation. I thought Solomon did a nice job shining a light on OCD in a respectful manner. There were a few pacing issues and overuse of pop culture references, but other than that, I really liked this.