Rachel Lynn Solomon's debut light fiction, The Ex Talk, incorporates a love of public radio, will-they/won't-they tensions, humor, heart, and some steamy scenes.
In Solomon's The Ex Talk, Seattle public radio producer Shay Goldstein is in her late twenties, she's put in her time, and she thinks that her ideas deserve respect. So when young hotshot Dominic Yun shows up and, as a male, automatically has the ear of their misogynistic boss, Shay is beyond annoyed. The two soon find themselves driving everyone around them crazy with their constant bickering about anything and everything.
Meanwhile, Shay feels that she's following all of the typical steps of becoming a grown-up: she has the job, she bought a (currently empty-feeling) house, and she keeps trying to settle down. Her widowed mother and her longtime best friend are each in love with wonderful partners, and Shay's beginning to wonder if she continues to leap into commitment with the wrong people because she's still reeling from the loss of her dad.
When Dominic and Shay get talked into posing as exes in order to host a promising radio show about relationships, they're forced to get to know each other better in order to fake their past--but they actually open the door for a potential future for themselves instead.
The Ex Talk is a fast read with lots of sexual tension along with some racy-steamy romantic interludes, and the book suited my summer reading mood wonderfully.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
If you like romantic, sometimes racy light fiction that offers character backstory, witty banter, and some satisfying heart, you might also try Emily Henry's Beach Read or People We Meet on Vacation, Christina Lauren's Soulmate Equation, or the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism.