Two Stars

I picked SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT up on a whim. It was on my TBR, of course, but I hadn’t planned to read it the day I picked it up. I was actually going to just read a chapter or two to get a feel for Meryl Wilsner’s writing style as a debut author and come back when I had time to really sink into the book. Well, the book was so easy to read and such an effortless page-turner at the beginning, I quickly read more than 40% of the ebook and became incredibly invested. Unfortunately, the book failed to keep my interest, and I slowed way down.

The cover and premise of this story are engaging! A F/F fluffy romance set with a Hollywood backdrop and an age gap romance? Count me in. Although boss/employee relationships aren’t my favorite, I was willing to set aside some reservations and just enjoy. Emma is a young assistant for her boss Jo, a longtime Hollywood star turned writer/director.

I liked some of the banter and the secondary characters, so I kept waiting for things to heat up between our heroines… and waiting… and waiting. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a slow burn romance as much as the next person, but there was NO tension between our main characters. None. Zero. Zilch. I didn’t feel so much as a zap between them. I don’t really think they did either based on their actions in the book. Often, Emma’s admiration for Jo felt more like hero worship rather than true love. On Jo’s side, she was so reserved I just didn’t get much from her at all, even during the chapters we were in her head.

In addition to the couple’s storyline slogging along slowly, I thought many of the plot points (and there were many plot points because the relationship between the main characters was often on the periphery) were incredibly amateurish and predictable.

As I mentioned, Wilsner is an excellent writer, and the story flows well. I think that almost made the uninventive plot and fizzled out romance even more of a glaring problem. I am glad to see F/F romance getting recognition in mainstream publishing, and I hope Wilsner has a long and successful career, this book just didn’t work for me.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

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