Low-Stress Enemies to Lovers | The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Title: The Ex Talk
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Published: January 26, 2021
Genre(s): Romance: Contemporary
Page Count: 336
Rating:

Summary from Goodreads:

Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can't imagine working anywhere else. But lately it's been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who's fresh off a journalism master's program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.

When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it's this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it's not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.

As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.

Rachel Lynn Solomon’s first venture into adult fiction is charming and magical and unexpected, a romance novel that perfectly combines the comfort of a soft, fluffy blanket and the honesty of messy human emotions. The Ex Talk is a romance novel for Millennials, in that it addresses issues common to those of us in our early thirties: a shit housing market, figuring out what job you actually want to do for the rest of your life, the difficulty of making social connections outside of college, adopting a chihuahua that is actually the “vessel for a traumatized Victorian child,” etc.

I admit that I was skeptical about this book. Workplace enemies to lovers may mean “omg must buy!!!” to many, but I’m still traumatized by my first attempt with the trope. (Which, incidentally, is also the first and last time I’ve read a romance about lawyers.) But I’m glad I made the attempt here, because The Ex Talk is just so, so delightful!

As is becoming more common with contemporary romances coming out in cartoon-covered trade paperbacks, this book is narrated only from the heroine’s perspective. So at the beginning, all we know is that Shay Goldstein hates Dominic Yun, who’s apparently some snobby whippersnapper with a know-it-all attitude and a fancy masters degree. I think there’s a real risk in telling a romance story where the reader is privy only to one-half of the couple’s inner world. This is especially tricky where its a hate-to-love romance. However, Solomon handles it very well in The Ex Talk, largely because Shay is annoyed by Dominic; she doesn’t outright hate him. And even then, the irritation doesn’t last long.

As always happens in romance novels, the person we don’t want to spend time with is the person who gets forced into our social circle. Thus, Shay and Dominic’s gross, misogynistic boss decides to monetize their conflict-filled dynamic into a radio segment/podcast about relationships, and he gets them on board via some good old-fashioned blackmail. Nice.

Over time, the two characters grow closer, and Shay learns that Dominic isn’t nearly as insufferable as he appears. He has Hidden Depths, including a romantic side, a forbidden Beanie Baby collection, and a love of cooking with his extensive collection of antique cast iron pans. He also thinks Shay is smart, sexy, and adorable, and is absolutely unable to hide it. Again, this is an area where the fact there’s only one narrator could have been tricky—we know all about Shay’s developing feelings, but little about Dominic’s. It works, though, because the reader has the privilege of experiencing Dominic’s actions and words without the static of insecurity and confused emotions. So even though the author never gets inside Dominic’s head, the text still makes it clear where he’s at.

In spite of the finicky premise and niche setting (Seattle public radio), The Ex Talk doesn’t feel like a story with a limited audience appeal. As I said at the top of this review, beyond the tender and wholesome love story, the author touches on a lot of highly relatable Millennial experiences as the story unfolds. Dating apps, podcasting, and Twitter are all relevant to the modern landscape, and the inclusion of these elements fleshed out the context of the story in a meaningful way.

I still strongly suspect that a full-blown workplace hate-to-love wouldn’t work for me, but this book is a softer approach to the trope, which I truly loved. Because it’s made clear in the early stages that Dominic is actually a big softie with giant googly eyes for Shay, I found it easy to root for their romance even, in the spots where miscommunication or poor choices made the going rough. The Ex Talk is adorable and satisfying, the perfect contemporary romance to read on a day you want to be kind to yourself.