I read this in a day. Not a beach day. Not a day set aside for reading. A Monday. Because once I read the prologue I WAS HOOKED.

There might be things in the literary universe better than a delightful rom-com read on one’s porch in sunshine in April in Michigan … and I currently cannot think of any.

Our heroine is a sketch writer for a show like Saturday Night Live; our hero is a guest host. The premise is a question Curtis Sittenfeld posed to herself: why do “hot” female celebs marry/date “average” guys and not so much an “average” woman marrying/dating a “hot” male celeb (the book itself points out this heterosexual-normative framing)? And Ms. Sittenfeld does it in this weirdly amazing meta way of letting us know exactly what issues she’s going to address by the sketches in the comedy show.

I loved the behind the scenes look at The Night Owls, the cast and crew, female friendship, and how seemlessly the pandemic was woven into the story.

As with the best FunFemaleFiction, Romantic Comedy explores deeper issues in an accessible way. In this case, in a much needed, cheery, bright, fizzy love story.

5/5 stars