As much as I wanted to read this book when I was first granted access via NetGalley I never managed to get round to reading it. I have now gone back through and read the Synopsis and found that now this book is just not for me and will not be reviewing. I want to thank the publisher for allowing me to have access to the book but due to my tastes changing in reading this book no longer appeals to me.

I had great expectations for this book, but sadly the book didn’t live up to them.
I didn’t feel any chemistry between Jo and Emma. There was no tension between them and I did not care about their relationship.
The plot wasn’t overly interesting either.

3.5* rounded down

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner follows Hollywood star Jo and her assistant, Emma and their budding relationship.

Due to the nature of their professional relationship, this was the slowest of slow burns (although I understand why) and it was a bit frustrating to me as a reader that they didn’t get together even slightly earlier in the book. That being said, the power dynamic was never uncomfortable to read and I liked how the author dealt with current issues.

I liked the tension between the characters and seeing their relationship develop from boss/assistant to friends to lovers. I enjoyed the writing style as well, although it felt a little long in places.

That being said, I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading the author’s second novel- Mistakes Were Made.

Thank you to Piatkus and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: #metoo storyline, racism and sexism in Hollywood/film industry, sexual harassment

For a romance, there was a surprising lack of chemistry, tension, and ... romance. The first kiss isn't until around the 90% mark and there's little romantic build up before then - the characters don't seem to have much of a spark between them and it doesn't help that Emma always calls Jo either "boss" or "Ms Jones". The style also didn't work for me. It felt dense and clunky and somehow it took me FOREVER to finish, I was sure it must've been about 500 pages but apparently it's only 320.

I liked this one! Loved the dynamic the two main characters had. It got a bit slow through out, we had to wait for the cute romantic parts, but I enjoyed the story overall.

Unfortunately I had to purchase a new Kindle device and could no longer access this book. I will come back and review if I read this in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book. Unfortunately I hadn't found time during the year to read this book, and so I will be picking up a paid copy in 2021 to support the author instead as an apology.

I really wanted to love this book. Like, really. A Hollywood F/F romance? With a diverse cast of characters? Sign me up! Unfortunately, several things about Something To Talk About left a sour taste in my mouth, not least of all Emma's jaw-droppingly unprofessional reaction to what she perceives as a slight from her boss, Jo. Regardless of the romantic chemistry between them, it felt completely unrealistic that uber-successful Jo would be the one begging for forgiveness (for the most ridiculously tiny issue!) from her assistant after Emma gives her the silent treatment like a toddler. I really struggled to invest in the characters after this, although reading other reviews I'm clearly in the minority on this.

Ahhh this was the cutest story!!
There were so many elements of this book that I LOVED. When I saw this was a female-female romance, I knew I had to read it. I liked that the romance was quite a slow burn romance, it wasn't rushed. We saw Jo and Emma's friendship gradually morph into something more, and I'm so grateful that it wasn't insta-love. I'm also incredibly grateful for the feminist themes. I loved that this book touched on women's rights, and was full of strong women.

It was everything, highly recommend.

I’ve said it in the comments of other’s reviews for Something To Talk About, I’d overlooked this book because I am not in love with the cover. Illustrated covers can be great but this one did not catch my eye going in. It looked quite serious and so I didn’t look at it properly. But when I learnt it was Berkley’s first F/F romance I looked at this book again and knew I needed it in my life. Especially when I found it was slow burn! I am a sucker for a slow burn and it was written so well here. You can imagine my excitement when I found this was being published here in the UK (yay for the UK finally acknowledging the brilliance of romance and purchasing rights for some fabulous books). When I saw it on netgalley to request I did instantly. I had this review all typed up and ready to go weeks ago but it’s fine, always good to wait a little while to talk about books I love.



Let’s get into the book, this focuses on Emma and Jo, and amazing couple who I would totally fight for. Jo is a former child actress who has transitioned into being an amazing writer in Hollywood and Emma is her assistant who is amazing and supportive and can just intuit Jo’s moods and what she needs on a day to day basis. Jo is in line to write the script for a big Hollywood film and there is a lot of chat surrounding her, it’s award season and she invites Emma to the SAGs to run interference and to just be a friendly face. Instead, they end up having a photo on the red carpet which makes them look a lot closer than employer/employee and the rumours start. And I loved them. Emma was far more heart on her sleeve earnest in her feelings, probably due to the fact she was younger, and Jo was much more restrained. This was partially due to her being closeted, but also because she had been in the limelight at a young age and seen betrayals and what happens with fame, how quick folks are to turn on you. But she brought herself back through writing shows and being amazing at it. The pair were opposites but they perfectly complemented one another.



I was shipping this pair from the start. They were so cute together. When Emma was there panicking over dress prices and dresses being too low cut and then when she came out in the perfect dress and Jo was practically speechless, I knew I was on to a winner. That kind of chemistry takes skill to write and it only carried on developing throughout the book.



I actually grew to like Jo more than Emma as I was reading. I think I understood her and her reserved nature a little better. I got why she held stuff back from Emma, usually because she assumed other’s would reveal it first. She both liked Emma and held her at a distance as she struggled to understand her feelings. I know Jo should have been smarter but she hadn’t truly let herself grow close to someone in years, she was a little rusty. I got that level of reserve because putting yourself out there is scary. And more importantly she was Emma’s boss! It never got fully addressed but that kind of power imbalance in a relationship is difficult. Jo couldn’t pursue Emma, it would be unprofessional, and the only reason this relationship worked is because it was clear from the star Emma would be moving on in her career and wouldn’t be working for Jo anymore.



Emma, I struggled with. I liked her, she really was so lovely. She was open and kind and I loved how much she cared for Jo even before she realised her own feelings. She did little things to make sure she ate and left her office on time. But I think I struggled with some moments of Emma’s immaturity. I understood why she was angry with Jo later in the book, even respected her that she didn’t let Jo off of the hook with a half arsed apology, but her behaviour in the workplace? She was so immature. There’s being annoyed with someone you work with and then there’s letting it impact your job. Her role was to assist Jo and sometimes while she was annoyed it acted as a hinderance. I know it all got addressed, they aired their feelings but it was something which bothered me about Emma. Once she realised her feelings and how they had made her act, though, then I liked her a lot more. I did respect her for wanting to ask for more respect though. She deserved that, I’d just wished for slightly more professional workplace behaviour. It was a minor niggle, though.



As you can see, I loved the characters in this. And not just the main ones, the secondary characters were amazing too. Emma’s sister was brilliant and made me hungry with all of her baking. And Jo’s best friend? Loved her and how she was ready to call out Jo on things and support her when she needed it. Ugh, this book had a full cast of characters that was great to read.



Honestly, it was a really great romance that worked to remind me there aren’t enough F/F romances being published and certainly not by big publishers. It’s great to see more LGBT+ romance coming out and I’m working to expand my reading horizons. I already want to read more books from authors of colour but it’s about time I tried to read more diverse romance in general. Romance has been straight and white for too long, there are still plenty of romances like that which are amazing, but it’s good to see romance recognising there is more out there. And let’s get off my soapbox telling you stuff you already know and just say check this out if you haven’t already.

I received a free ebook version of this book through Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this! My review is still honest.

Wow, I actually finished a book! I've been in the worst slump for a couple months now-fingers crossed this book has broken that pattern, because it was good, it was gripping, I didn't want to put it down and I really enjoyed it!
We need more f/f romances, and this one was done very well. Not only does it have great lesbian and bi rep, our love interest is Chinese American and calls out the racism in society. This book calls out sexual harassment and is brilliant for it's feminist and female empowerment themes.
It is also on a surface level a very cute romance, and one that feels sensible to build up to. It's a slow burner, to the point it's actually a little annoying how bad these characters are at just communicating, but the end result is so sweet and so lovely. I really liked the characters, especially side characters like Avery and Evelyn.
I do think a couple of loose ends were left and I was frustrated by how long the communication issues dragged on for, so its a 4 star for me rather than a 5, but this is a really good romance.

This is a beautiful story of an experienced hot shot in Hollywood with her assistant. Both belonging to the same field but their age gap and their professional relationship leading on the story.
This is my first read from girl love and I was expecting more.

Having heard quite a lot about this book I was looking forward to reading it, and whilst it perhaps wasn't entirely what I expected, I enjoyed it and appreciated the fact that it addressed more issues than your average romance novel. It tells the story of a Hollywood powerhouse Jo and her assistant Emma who fuel rumours about their relationship following an appearance on the red carpet.

What the book does well is in adding some important issues into the mix - workplace romance and the power imbalance, interracial relationships and the #metoo movement in particular. However as a romance it is such a slow burn and I struggled to get invested in the characters, and so I did find my attention wandering at times, when normally it would be the sort of book I would romp through. Once we finally got past the will they/won't they, the payoff felt a little rushed. I did enjoy the book in parts, so overall I would say I liked it rather than loved it - and given it was a debut, will be interested to see what Wilsner does next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this sweet and witty romance. Looking forward to reading whatever Meryl Wilsner writes next.

[Gifted]
A fun rom-com set behind the cameras in Hollywood between a TV show writer and her assistant. This tackled topics of bearding and 'gal pals' for celebrities, and was a light hearted fun read.

3.5

I did enjoy this book, I read most of it in one day. The characters of Emma and Jo really balanced each other out well, Jo being strong and sensible, Emma being the fiery but sweet character. I really believed in their love for each other. There were moments where they were just happy in each other's company and I loved it. I also really liked the side characters as well, the supporting members of family and friends.

However, the not being together part took AGES to get to, so many times I thought this must be it 'Sha-la-la-la-la.... just kiss the girl'. But noooooo...... *reads patiently* The plot goes backwards and forwards between the two characters, which was interesting to see both points of view, but there was a bit of repetition as the reader hears both sides of the plot point.

It tackled some interesting topics too, in particular the MeToo movement in Hollywood.

If you're looking for a light-hearted sapphic, long flirty build-up then this is a good book for you.

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did - but I ended up loving it.
The writing occasionally felt clunky at the start, but the last half of the book is very strong. It also feels real, or at least relevant to real world issues, whilst still managing to be uplifting.
I'm generally not a fan of age gaps at all, but I was so invested in Jo and Emma - I think the main part of their relationship I liked was how consistently they show up for each other. Even when they're having issues, or there's been miscommunication, a lot of the tropes which have put me off other romances don't happen here (or are believable when they do happen). Their romance makes sense, and develops from a strong partnership in the platonic sense of the word beforehand. It felt like reading the best fan fiction (and I mean this as a true compliment!) - slow burn, pining, and all.
For most of the book I was going to give 4 stars, but I rounded up because it just made me so happy! I was utterly gripped by the last half, and read this in one afternoon / evening (pretty rare for me).

Unfortunately I couldn't get fully invested in this one and dnfd at 25%. I was so excited to read a F/F romance but it fell flat for me. Everything moved very slowly and was drawn out. The characters were one dimensional, and the love interests had zero chemistry. I did enjoy the writing, so will look out for this author's work in the future.

I enjoyed reading this novel and this is one of the first f/f romances I’ve read and it was good to see this publisher branching out and becoming more inclusive. I hope to see similar novels in the future. On the whole I like the character and their relationship but I felt that I never really got to know the characters completely and was kept at a distance as a reader.

I so wanted to love this book but sadly, it fell flat for me.
The beginning of the story was so intriguing and I loved that we both got to see Jo's and Emma's POV in the story. The idea of them being rumored to be together after their stolen moment at an awards show certainly kept me going. But the characters were just so one-dimensional. I couldn't tell you anything important or even whimsical about either of them, much less the secondary characters. Jo also had more chemistry with her best friend Evelyn than she had with Emma which just shouldn't be the case. There's also a difference between pining and just reiterating the same four sentences whenever it comes to describing feelings and this book definitely hit the latter. Everything felt so unemotional from both perspectives. The miscommunications were irritating and unnecessary and I wish more time would have been spent on Emma and Jo developing their interests and feelings instead of on miscommunications that only dragged out the story. The plot line concerning sexual assault in Hollywood was definitely worth reading but it could have been handled with more finesse. Still, I do applaud its portrayal in the story.
Lastly, I just had a lot of issues with the repetition. Nothing happened for the first 150 pages of the book and the almost kisses just lead to more miscommunications and Jo going off on her own in the last 10 percent of the book and not consulting Emma was just as annoying as the first time she did it, showing that she didn't learn anything and was still a stationary character.
Altogether,this book had a lot of potential and I wish I would have loved this more because f/f romances are so few and far in the publishing industry, especially in adult literature but this just wasn't for me, it seems.