The Ex Talk: The perfect enemies-to-lovers TikTok sensation Paperback – 5 May 2022

This was a really cute book. Shay and Dominic had great chemistry and some fun banter. It touched on grief, loneliness and self doubt bur still managed to remain sweet and light hearted at other times. Quite predictedable but still enjoyable.

In this enemies to lovers read we follow the life of Shay Goldstein, radio producer. Radio is everything to Shay and her dream is to be on air. Which is why when cocky Dominic Yun rocks up, flashing his fancy degree and getting air time he instantly becomes the enemy. In a series of events these two somehow end up cohosting their own show, however, to do so they are having to pretend to be exes. What could possibly go wrong?I LOVED this book. Is it possible to give a book a five star review purely because of the amount of Buffy the Vampire Slayer references? No? Well it’s also incredibly well written, absolutely hilarious and filled with the glorious enemies to lovers sexual tension. What I also really liked about this book was the acknowledgement of loss and grief, as someone who recently lost a parent I felt I really related to Shay and her struggles. Can't recommend enough.

I had this book on my shelf for such a long time before I finally read it and I’m so happy I picked it upThis book was so cute and funny but it also felt very relatable. Some of her thoughts and feelings as well as some of the events she goes through/has gone through feel like they’re very normal things which I enjoyed about this bookAt some points in this book, it was actually quite sad and I must admit to tearing up at certain points throughout this bookAgain, with some of the ideas for the show, they were so emotional and I kinda really wish it was a real show because I feel like more people need to hear thatI genuinely really enjoyed this book, it was one of my favourite tropes but it was done in such a unique way, the plot was so original compared to anything else I’ve read and I really would recommend this for anyone who enjoys fake dating cute romance books

Jumping on the popular enemies to lovers bandwagon, i can see why this book worked. However, there was a disparity between the two main characters; it kept being mentioned that they were about 5 years apart in age. Why should that matter? Unless it was a 25 year age gap then i'd be worried but there wasnt a need to keep mentioning their ages over and over again. Also some of the romantic scenes were a little OTT. A good read but needed more depth.

I want to have a love story at least a quarter even of theirs it was truly an amazing read

I absolutely adored this book! I'm always scared when a book is so overly hyped that it won't live up to it, but I loved every single page. The characters were adorable, sexy and witty. Thoroughly recommend.

"My hand slips on my laptop, and I accidentally hit the like button. On a really old photo of him and his ex-girlfriend. The only rational solution is to set myself and my laptop on fire."Loved the banter and relationship between Shay and Dominic. First of all you totally dislike the guy cause he'll tell you all about his Masters and can't stop dropping it into conversations (zzzz) so you think 'great he's a know-it-all' *eye-roll* but when Shay has to work with him the banter between the two really opens up and you realise he's just insecure about everyone around him with their experience - awww.Basically settle down with a cup of tea and enjoy their insecurities, steam, and romance.

I'm so fed up of new romance releases trying to be edgy and cool and shoving every diverse trope they can think of in their books. It hardly ever feels genuine and feels like it's just done for the sake of trying to be cool. In this instance Shay is Jewish, her mum is dating a Nigerian guy, Shay's best friend is Indian, Dominic is Korean, Paloma is gay, Ruthie is bisexual and so on. Why do authors suddenly feel the urge to emphasise every characters ethnicity or sexuality? And how many times are we going to hear Dominic is tall? We get it, he's tall and you're tiny. Height is always another thing authors always throw in books for no apparent reason.

Loved it! This workplace romance delivered so much tropey catnip. There’s• Workplace romance at a public radio station. In fact, it’s KNKX, my local station! Turns out the author worked there. The author’s knowledge of the radio & podcast world came though without excessive detail to bore the reader.• Pacific Northwest setting• Enemies to lovers. Shay’s a hard-working producer who’s given up on getting her turn at the mic. Dominic’s a freshly baked graduate—M.A. from Northwestern, which he mentions at the drop of a hat—and the sexist station boss hands him the position Shay deserves.• Fake dating, except the hero & heroine must convince their radio and podcast listeners that they used to date and have since broken up, so they must quickly invent a history. Doing so gets the romance ball rolling.• Psychotic dog• Steamy slow burn with some delicious payoff• Older woman, younger man—though with her at 29 and him at 24, it’s not a huge age gap. Shay worries that someone as young and gorgeous as Dominic couldn’t possibly be seriously interest in her, which leads to the• “Just casual” conceit. We know that’s not what either wants, of course.• A lovely side plot about finding new love after grief. Shay’s father died in her senior year of high school, and their love of radio motivates her to this day. Mom has since fallen in love with a wonderful man, but Shay’s grief continues to shackle her. I particularly loved the podcast episode where Shay’s mom & her fiancé, also a widower, discuss finding love after loss.Some reviewers bemoan the characters’ use of memes and pop cultural references. It didn’t strike me as excessive, and it reflects what I see among friends and family in that age range. I found it cute and realistic.All in all, a touching, funny, sexy, entertaining read. Highly recommend.

I didnt really mean to read this tonight and shirk everything else I was planning to do but *britney spears voice* OOPS I DID IT AGAIN.I haven't read any of Solomon's books before, but I was really interested in this one's premise, especially as someone with a background in radio myself (both on the production and hosting sides! Just like Shay. Although, I certainly didn't have a Dominic Yun. Tragic.).Speaking of Dominic Yum-- I mean, Yun-- the sexual tension between them was insane especially in the first part of this book. I was truly dead. And their banter was amazing--some of the stuff they said on their show made me Chuckle.All in all, I loved this one. So enjoyable, so unique, and such a page turner.

I love Dominic and I love Shay and I wars incredibly excited about this book, which sometimes is a problem, because the book itself can be underwhelming. While that wasn’t the case there’s some aspects of this I didn’t love completely, but Rachel’s voice is incredible and she’s an auto buy author for me!

Es el libro que queria

Eine Fake-Relationship Geschichte der anderen Art.Das Konzept von dem Buch "Ex-Talk" von Rachel Lynn Solomon fand ich interessant. Statt zwei Charkater die so tun, als wenn sie in einer Beziehung sind, versuchen Shay und Dominic ihre Radio-Hörer davon zu überzeugen, dass sie mal in einer Beziehung waren und jetzt halt zusammen eine Radiosendung moderieren. Dabei konnten sie sich am Anfang gar nicht ausstehen.Eine interessante Mischung also aus Enemies-to-Lovers mit einer Prise Fake-Relationship innerhalb einer Office-Romance.Auch die Art wie die Geschichte erzählt wurde, nicht nur aus unterschiedlichen Sichtweisen, zwischenzeitlich auch mit den Transkripten der Radiosendungen die die beiden moderieren, macht es abwechlungsreich beim Lesen.Man merkt, dass die Autorin weiß wovon sie spricht, denn es kommt gleich ein Gefühl auf, als wenn man selber im Sender ist und bei den Abläufen wie eine Radiosendung produziert mit wirkt.Shay finde ich zwar zwischenzeitlich etwas anstrengend mit ihrer Art, aber das Zusammenspiel mit Dominic ist schon unterhaltsam.Gute Unterhaltung abseits der "Klischee"-Berufe einer Romance-Geschichte.