Book Review: "First-Time Caller" by B.K. Borison

I’m so grateful to Berkley and NetGalley for providing access to an advance copy of this amazing book!

Aiden is the host of “Heartstrings,” a Baltimore radio show that provides romantic advice for the lovelorn and those struggling to find or keep love. But lately, he’s not been enjoying his job, and that’s been reflected in the ratings. He’s just over the whole concept of love.

One night during his show he gets a call from a 12-year-old girl named Maya. She tells Aiden that her mother never goes on dates and that she is lonely, and asks Aiden to help her. When Lucie, Maya’s mom, discovers who her daughter has been talking with, she unexpectedly bears her soul on the radio. And of course, the show goes viral, so people all over the world are rooting for Lucie to find love.

“When the whole world tells you you’re silly for wanting the things you want, you start to believe them. You start to think you’re not worth it. That if the things you’re waiting for do exist, they’re not for someone like you.”

The radio station’s general manager invites Lucie to join Aiden’s show in the hopes that he can help her find her happily ever after. As listeners follow along, Lucie starts dating again. But will she find her soulmate this way, or are the feelings sparked behind the microphone the ones she wants to pursue?

I absolutely fell in love with B.K. Borison’s Lovelight Farms series, and while I’m sad that she didn’t continue with that, this is the start of a new one I love already. She is such a fantastic storyteller, and the characters she creates are tremendously memorable. They’re the kind of people you want in your life.

Book Review: "The Ex Talk" by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Everything is true if you heard it on public radio, right? See what Rachel Lynn Solomon's The Ex Talk has to say about that!

Shay Goldstein has been working at a public radio station in Seattle for 10 years now, and she’s the youngest senior producer the station has had. She loves her job, and while she wishes she could one day make it on the air, she knows she doesn’t quite have a radio voice, so she’s content at doing what she does.

Dominic Yun is the station’s new wunderkind. Straight out of graduate school, he somehow has charmed his way on air already and he thinks he knows more about journalism and radio than everyone, especially Shay. Of course, she’s jealous of his success, and if he wasn’t so damned handsome (and tall), she’d hate him even more. (Or maybe she hates him more because of those things.)

During a brainstorming session, Shay suggests a great new show idea: a program hosted by two exes, discussing relationship advice, etc. Shay’s boss thinks “The Ex Talk” is just what the station needs, and he proposes that Shay and Dominic host the show, given their issues with each other. It doesn’t matter that they haven’t dated—they’re storytellers, right?

Faced with lying to listeners or unemployment, the two decide to host the show. Of course, it’s a big hit: people love the on-air chemistry and banter the two share, and some even hope they’ll “get back together.” And as their relationship becomes more complicated and intense, the show gets even better.

The problem is, they’ve lied to nearly everyone—their colleagues, their families, and, of course, their listeners. The deeper they fall for one another, the bigger of an issue their deception becomes.

The Ex Talk is such a playful, romantic, and sexy story. I loved Solomon’s last book, a YA novel called Today Tonight Tomorrow so much, and this was terrific, too. Sure, you know much of what will happen, but I couldn’t get enough of this deliciously fun rom-com.

Hoaxes don't help...

Yesterday I posted about the absolutely unacceptable way a New York mother responded to a birthday party invitation her son received from a classmate with two gay fathers. Many of you shared my outrage and cynicism.

Well, it turns out cynicism and outrage were appropriate emotions, but for the wrong reason. You see, the two people pictured above made the whole incident up.

DJs Leeana Karlson and Steve Harper, with Long Island's K-98.3, made the whole thing up. Apparently at the behest of K-98.3 management, the two admitted today that the entire story was a lie and issued an apology.

"Dear K-98.3 Listeners," the statement begins, "On Wednesday, we told you the story of Sophia's birthday party, and one parent's objection to the same-sex household of Sophia's parents. We also posted the invitation on our Facebook page, and invited comments from our followers.

"This story was, in fact, totally fictitious, and created by the two of us. This was done without the knowledge of K-98.3 management or ownership.

"We were attempting to spur a healthy discourse on a highly passionate topic, but we made a mistake by misleading our listeners into thinking that this specific situation actually existed. "We are very sorry that we perpetuated this falsehood, even after it was clear that it had taken on a 'life of its own.' We deeply apologize for violating your trust, and we will work hard to regain that trust."

At this point the radio station's management hasn't commented on their plans for the pair. I hope they get fired and never work in radio again.

Let's face it: the type of treatment Karlson and Harper created actually does happen in our country. But when hoaxes like these catch the media's attention, they add fuel to the fire of those who deny that discrimination and prejudice exist, those who say that anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people aren't necessary. They're the reason that certain states—Kansas being one recently—can feel empowered enough to introduce a law in the state legislature that says discrimination against LGBT people for religious reasons is okay.

Hoaxes like these don't help. We need to talk about these issues, to make this type of prejudice really stop, but creating a scheme to promote dialogue isn't the answer.