Business or Pleasure Paperback – July 4, 2023

This book had me actually laughing out loud at some parts! I loved that the main characters were not in their early 20s or younger like so many books have. This book was much more relatable for women in their late 20s to early 30s. Some parts of the book were a little slow and it felt like the ending was rushed a bit. But overall, the book was funny and quirky-- a great read for a vacation or weekend!

I absolutely adored Business or Pleasure from Rachel Lynn Solomon!Chandler Cohen has made a career for herself ghostwriting celebrity memoirs. When the latest memoir is released and the wellness influencer author didn't even recognize her, Chandler drowns her sorrows at the bookstore bar where she strikes up a conversation with the handsome guy next to her. In something truly out of character for her, Chandler goes home with the stranger and it is .... anti-climatic in all the important ways. The next day she meets a potential new client who turns out to be Finnegan Walsh, the beloved star of a teen werewolf series from the early aughts and also her one-night stand. Finn needs a ghostwriter willing to join him on his tour of comic cons while they draft the book, and Chandler needs to force herself out of a rut. Early on, Chandler lets slip that their rendezvous was less than ideal for her which, of course, leads to an offer of sex lessons.Chandler and Finn just absolutely stole my heart right from the start. The sparks began flying during their meet cute and I had butterflies all the way to the final page. Finn is such an endearing nerd and the way he is head over heels for Chandler was just adorable. Chandler was so relatable - having put herself in a box of security and responsibility while her dreams of writing fiction take a back seat. The sex lessons chapters are *so hot* with Finn such an eager student, but I loved all the moments in between as Finn and Chandler build a friendship and get to know each other. The third act conflict is fairly predictable but resolved quickly so these two get their well-earned HEA!As with her other books, Solomon writes about mental health and Judaism really beautifully. Finn has OCD and Chandler has general anxiety disorder. We see both of these struggles on the page and the characters loving each other through them in a really tender and authentic way. Finn and Chandler are also Jewish and there's a really lovely chapter where they attend services together than had me grinning from ear to ear.Content warnings: On page anxiety attack; on page instance of a coworker making fun of Finn for his OCD

I read the Ex Talk, and found some similar themes in Business or Pleasure. This one jumps to TV, and the con circuit, instead of radio. It also addresses more mental health, though not in a super profound way. There’s plenty of sex-positive connection as the leading couple learn how to satisfy each other, while writing his memoir(!) Yeah, not your typical plot exactly.

I loved it! I think the idea was fantastic, I like how author takes some cliches and turn them around, this makes her stories so special and interesting. Loved to read about underrepresented things, I felt like so many important topics were touched. I loved characters especially mmc, he’s so cute and reliable. By the end I was a little bit tired from fmc, probably because we get only hers POV, so hers back and forth felt quite too much. I also felt some moments were quite slow, but I still enjoyed it a lot. It was light and funny, but also very sexy, with some drama and import representation of mental health issues and cultural differences.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Rachel Lynn Solomon never misses with her adult romances IMO, and I'm also not exaggerating when I say that I think that this is my new favorite by her. I have nothing bad to say about this book, I loved it from the first page. Everything from the plot, to the characters (main and side), their development, and the eventual HEA was top notch. Just like all of Rachel's other books this one is full of Jewish rep, but also anxiety and OCD rep and there was a cast of diverse (side) characters. I've been reading romance pretty much exclusively for a few years now and have never read anything with a plot even similar to this one, it was nice to read about a couple who fumbled at first in the bedroom, but worked together to figure it out. I also thought that the ghostwriter storyline was fun, and I haven't seen that done either. I loved the banter, and the chemistry between Finn and Chandler, and as someone who collects book boyfriends Finn very quickly shot up to top 5. He was so dang sweet! Not a toxic bone in his fictional body and that is my favorite kind of hero! Again I have nothing bad to say about this book, I think everyone who loves romance should read it ( it checked all of my boxes; funny, sweet, swoony and steamy), it is definitely one of my favorites of this year, and I can not wait to see what is next from this author.

I've put this book of for a while, finally started it, to put it down again and now finally read it! I have to say, it's better than I expected it to be! The humor is on point and the spicy 🌶️ are well written and have a very good build up.

I read Business or Pleasure in less than 24 hours so thought I’d give it a review ✨I’ve read Rachel’s two other adult books (The Ex Talk and Weather Girl), and two of her YA books (Today, Tonight, Tomorrow and We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This) and really enjoyed all of them. Business or Pleasure has to be my favourite so far!Chandler, a ghostwriter, meets a guy at a bar, and has a terrible (for her) one night stand. Determined to erase it from her memory, she’s delighted the next morning when she receives the biggest opportunity of her career: ghostwriting a book for Finn Walsh, ‘everyone’s favourite nerd’ and former star of The Nocturnals (it’s about werewolves, I pictured Teen Wolf). We all know where this is going - Finn is the one night stand guy!Chandler honestly needs the money, and yes, she’s definitely attracted to Finn, so she takes the job, travelling from convention to convention with him. Finn is stunned to learn she didn’t enjoy their night together, and so she agrees to give him sex lessons. But is their connection just physical, or something more?Unsurprisingly I love fiction set in the publishing world, and it was so interesting to read from a ghostwriter’s perspective. I loved the snippets of scripts and past interviews - that was such a fun detail to include. I also loved Teen Wolf years ago, and enjoyed reading about the fan culture and conventions from an actor’s perspective. And the romance is so CUTE! Finn is an all-round lovely guy. The dialogue, the characters, and yes, the spicy scenes were great.Business or Pleasure also deals with some real issues really well, including OCD and generalised anxiety disorder.Definitely one of the best romances I’ve read this year! Can’t wait for Rachel’s next book.

Lovely book, full of fun dialogue and steamy scenes. I enjoyed the writing very much.

I love that the author featured main characters with OCD and anxiety, that went through tough times discovering themselves. That’s not the most prominent point of the plot, but it was very important and well done.I deducted two stars for the lack of communication. Sometimes they would have a really meaningful moment, and then she would pull back making all these assumptions and gaslighting herself into them, and then in the next moment, decide she was just kidding herself, go all in again, to then AGAIN pull back for the same reasons. Like that time he was eating her out, she got overwhelmed, pulled back, went to sleep, and then the scene cut to days later—without them having talked about it. I know she has anxiety, but she said she likes communication since the beginning, so couldn’t she say something like, “I am sorry, I got overwhelmed”. It seemed like she was stringing him along sometimes. That lack of communication seemed like the plot was just being dragged until they finished the book, to have a resolution then, which is exactly what happened.I don’t regret having read it, but I wont be reading again, unfortunately.

I happily read the book. I’m always a sucker for movie star/ordinary person romances, and it was fun that she initially turned him down - but my head bugged out regarding the sex. I must be too old. Sex positivity is a good thing, but it feels rather heavy handed here. I must not take it too seriously …..