Book Review: Funny You Should Ask

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Thank you Netgalley and Dell for an advance copy of Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman.

Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned. 
 
Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes.

Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

This is my first time reading a famous person/non-famous person romance and I devoured it.  Yes, it is a romantic story, but I also felt that both Chani and Gabe grew up in the ten years from the first time she did the infamous interview. 

I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the then and now timelines.  I think it pushed the book farther along quickly and made you want to keep reading to see what happened in the past but also what would happen now. 

While Chani was a strong character in the now timeline, you could see how much she had grown from the then timeline as a twenty-six year old journalist.  Both she and Gabe struggled with divorce and for Gabe sobriety and public struggles. 

There were not many supporting casts in this book.  You got to see Chani’s ex in her thoughts but never actually met him.  But Ollie was a huge supporting character and I loved everything about him.  I would read a book about his life story because he was so interesting. 

The descriptions of Los Angles and Montana were both perfect.  I felt like I was at the house party and premiere and then freezing my butt off in Montana. 

Overall, this book was one of my favorite romance novels I have read this year.  I know that some complaints could be made that these characters only knew each other for a total of six days (three from the now timeline) but I think it was a matter of love at first sight and a growing attraction from affair while both Gabe and Chani were keeping track of each other’s lives without communicating.  I think Chani and Gabe needed that ten-year break to really be ready for each other.  I cannot wait to recommend this book to everyone.

Have you read Funny You Should Ask?  The book is coming out today.  So make sure you get it!