“I didn’t think it was possible for so many words to come out of somebody’s mouth that quickly,” he said. “And I auditioned for Gilmore Girls.” 

I was not expecting my first read of 2022 to be a five-star read but here we are. I cannot put into words how long I have been looking for a book like this and this was perfect. The writing style, the character development and the romance were all done amazingly. It followed addiction, success and fame as well as the issues that come with that and love. I just had so much fun reading about these characters, and I cannot wait to see what Sussman writes next!

Funny You Should Ask follows a dual timeline following Gabe and Chani. Ten years ago, Chani is assigned to write a profile of up-and-coming actor Gabe Parker. Gabe has just been cast as the new James Bond and although many people are against this so Chani is challenged to make the fans love him. However, as the interview takes an interesting turn Chani is left wondering where to draw the line with her interview. Ten years later after both have gone through the struggles of life Chani is asked to do a follow up interview with Gabe which means the two have to come back together and face all their feelings from ten years ago. 

I’m going to start by talking about the dual timeline. This kept me hooked the whole way through. I love it when books have dual timelines because it always just keeps me wanting more. That’s exactly what this book did. The cast all tiptoed round this weekend that had happened ten years ago leaving you turning the page the whole way through and wondering what exactly did happen. Sussman wrote this whole book in a way that you just couldn’t help turning the page and wanting to learn more about this pair. Also, the interviews and articles throughout were really interesting to me as well and developed the plot in a really interesting way without everything just having to be spelled out on the page. 

“It’s almost like I’m coming home. Not to a place, necessarily, but to a feeling. To a possibility of more. And that completely and utterly terrifies me.” 

The romance. I understand the romance in this book will not be for everyone. But I believed in the chemistry within this book and that they would still be thinking about each other ten years later. This is the slowest of slow burns which is not my usual favourite however, this was done with enough chemistry to keep me believing in the romance. The characters were so authentic and realistic and watching them struggle through different aspects of their lives made me feel so connected to them. 

I think that Sussman handled difficult topics particularly well during this book specifically sobriety and the downfall of fame. We see it all the time in the media with big stars having to go to a rehab centre and I think reading about it like this really puts into perspective of what could be going through their heads. The fact that Gabe is still struggling with addiction, and it has not just ‘magically gone away’ as it does in most romance books was so interesting to me to read about. 

Obviously this book was a five star read for me. I cannot stop thinking about this book and Gabe and Chani. Gabe is officially on my list of book boyfriends and Chani is someone I aspire to be like. I would recommend this to any lover of second chance romance or slow burn books because it was all portrayed beautifully. I cannot wait for Once More With Feeling which comes out later this year which I need to get my hands on ASAP!