Business or Pleasure: The fun, flirty and steamy new rom com from the author of The Ex Talk

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.

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!

This book 🥰! What a fantastic read that just left me feeling all warm and cosy inside.There’s so many good things about this book, but the thing I loved the most was how healthy and communicative the relationship between Chandler and Finn was. Like yes please, I now require all future book boyfriends to be able to communicate their feelings and be open to taking feedback. Even the third act drama was handled so well it didn’t make me want to throw by kindle out the window which it usually does.Other things I enjoyed were:- The cameo mention of Shay and Dominic- How the cover really ties into the story- THE ONLY ONE BED TROPE- Wonderful side characters- The suggestion of an Aquamarine 2 (which I would totally watch)The spicy parts definitely gave me Kiss Quotient vibes, which I really loved and again, the respect and openness between the two MCs was such a breath of fresh air.The nod to abortion and mental health issues as part of the story that just flowed and made sense was executed perfectly.Overall, a fantastic book which I just loved.Thank you NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the ARC.

Having read one of Solomon's YA novels, it was a real treat to return to her writing again. One of 'Business or Pleasure''s strengths definitely shines through in her writing style, and it is easily my favourite part of her books. The situations all feel very real and thought out, and it's clear there's a lot of love gone into this. I adored how open and honest the book was, and the way in which it dealt with mental health and OCD, which I didn't expect going in and was a lovely surprise.Personally, though, I didn't always love the chemistry between the two leads. I think they were definitely both well-developed characters that had a very honest and refreshing relationship with each other, but I simply didn't feel myself rooting for them as much as I have done in other romance novels.A fun read though, especially if you love the author!3.5