Business or Pleasure — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Chandler Cohen has never felt more like the ghost in "ghostwriter" until she attends a signing for a book she wrote—and the author doesn’t even recognize her. The evening turns more promising when she meets a charming man at the bar and immediately connects with him. But when all their sexual tension culminates in a spectacularly awkward hookup, she decides this is one night better off forgotten.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Her next project is ghostwriting a memoir for Finn Walsh, a C-list actor best known for playing a lovable nerd on a cult classic werewolf show who now makes a living appearing at fan conventions across the country. But Chandler knows him better from their one-night stand of hilarious mishaps.

Chandler’s determined to keep their partnership as professional as possible, but when she admits to Finn their night together wasn’t as mind-blowing as he thought it was, he’s distraught. He intrigues her enough that they strike a deal: when they’re not working on his book, Chandler will school Finn in the art of satisfaction. As they grow closer both in and out of the bedroom, they must figure out which is more important, business or pleasure—or if there's a way for them to have both.

First Impressions

I have read 4 of Solomon’s novels, and all but one of them have been a 5 star read. When I saw she was coming out with another adult novel, I immediately added it to my to-read list. It’s not my favorite of her covers, but it’s still cute. The summary was intriguing as well but I honestly didn’t even read it before adding it to my lit.

What I thought

This book was fabulous. I couldn’t put it down.

Chandler is a ghost writer for celebrities. Feeling stuck after her last project, she meets a cute guy at the bookstore bar. She proceeds to go home with him and have the worst sex of her life. The next day, she gets invited to an interview for her next ghost writing project. When she walks in, she finds the celebrity is her horrible one night stand. After starting their writing project, Chandler informs Finn that their night together wasn’t great for her (and he confirms this has been the same with his exes). They decide that Chandler is going to teach Finn how to be a better lover.

This book. Oh man.

Chandler is funny and Finn is sweet. Both are dealing with mental health issues and they’re handled beautifully. Chandler has anxiety and Finn has OCD. I really appreciated how these illnesses were talked about and found a lot of realism in the way they were portrayed.

My one warning is that this book is SPICY. There are a lot of spicy scenes right from the very beginning. If you don’t like that, you won’t like this book. But I did feel they were very well done. None of them felt cringey to me. I actually found a lot of humor in tem which I enjoyed. When I read Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, there were scenes that I felt were so icky and cringe inducing that I knocked it down a star. This was not the case with Solomon at all.

Chandler and Finn’s chemistry just leaps off the page. He is so earnest and kind from the beginning that you can’t help fall in love with him. I was a little worried Chandler would fall into some of the insecurity trope, but it toed a line I was able to handle. I also appreciated that there wasn’t truly a third act conflict. There was a small conflict but it was something that was talked about immediately between the characters and handled maturely and realistically. It was wrapped up quickly and I appreciated it so much.

I also felt like I learned so much about ghost writing and life of an actor after they were on a big show. I found myself frequently picturing Finn like Tom Felton from Harry Potter.