SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

A showrunner and her assistant give the world something to talk about when they accidentally fuel a ridiculous rumor in this debut romance.

Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn't come at a worse time—threatening Emma's promotion and Jo's new movie.

As the gossip spreads, it starts to affect all areas of their lives. Paparazzi are following them outside the office, coworkers are treating them differently, and a “source” is feeding information to the media. But their only comment is “no comment”.

With the launch of Jo’s film project fast approaching, the two women begin to spend even more time together, getting along famously. Emma seems to have a sixth sense for knowing what Jo needs. And Jo, known for being aloof and outwardly cold, opens up to Emma in a way neither of them expects. They begin to realize the rumor might not be so off base after all…but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames?

Release Date: May 26, 2020

Berkley Penguin Group

Queer Female Romance

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

Something to Talk About is the debut book from Meryl Wilsner, and I look forward to their future books. Jo Jones has been a household name since she became famous as a child actor. She needs a buffer to pull the spotlight off her and the rumors of her possible involvement with the Agent Silver movie at the SAG Awards.  She takes her assistant Emma as her "buffer" date, except they end up on the red carpet together and Jo and Emma are photographed together laughing and holding hands. The rumor mill goes absolutely crazy, and from the very beginning, the no comments don't really seem to be doing the trick.

My first impressions of both Jo and Emma were they both were strong women. Jo is a decade older than Emma and has been a fixture in Hollywood pretty much her entire life. She has written the scripts for the television show Innocents for 5 years and is now writing the script for Agent Silver, her very first movie script. Emma dropped out of film school, but dreams of being a director one day. She started out in props on Innocents and is such a dedicated and hard worker, she moved up to Jo's assistant within a year. Emma does way more at her job than most assistants would be doing, and Jo tells her she does the work of an executive producer and is more than willing to make her one. Emma just needs to hire her replacement as Jo's assistant over the summer hiatus.

I really liked both Jo and Emma as individuals and together. They had an amazing working chemistry, and I could tell from the very beginning they had pretty strong feelings for each other. I had to laugh that until the SAG incident and the media coverage that followed, neither had ever really explored what those feelings meant to their working or personal relationship. My only issue with the entire story was lack and often miscommunication between Jo and Emma. I guess because Jo was older, I expected her be more forthcoming with her feelings. I did love she was super protective of Emma, just as Emma was protective of Jo. I guess because I knew how they both felt because there was so much internal dialogue, I expected one of them to step up sooner and share their feelings. I will say once they finally both were open with one another about their feelings, the payoff was more than worth the wait.

Something to Talk About was a wonderful debut story. I loved Meryl Wilsner's voice and can't wait to see what they write in the future. 

Rating: 4 Stars (B)

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