Late Night Love

• Author: Chayla Wolfberg
• Genre: Romance
• Publication Date: February 20, 2024
• Publisher: Independently Published

Thank you to Chayla Wolfberg for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

She has her dream job…but her cohost is a nightmare.

Emily Beckerman has the dream job as a writer on Live From New York, a world-famous sketch comedy show. But what she really wants is to write for the legendary Weekend Update segment. When it becomes clear that the current hosts will never give her that chance, Emily takes matters into her own hands and replaces one of their jokes with her own.

She never expected that her moment of revenge would cause an on-air meltdown that got the show’s Head Writer fired. Emily is even more surprised to learn that she’s going to be his replacement, because Live From New York is dangerously close to being cancelled.

The only problem is Chris Galloway, the other Update host and Head Writer. Emily and Chris are both convinced that they know the best way to save the show, and neither of them is happy about being forced to work together. But Chris isn’t who Emily thought he was, and when their animosity gives way to white-hot chemistry, she realizes that Live From New York isn’t the only thing at risk.

The author reached out to me a while ago with an offer to read her book before it was released. I’ve been so far behind on my TBR, and this book got pushed off until just recently. Silly me, I should absolutely have read this sooner, because it blew my mind.

The setting is clearly a spin on the multi-generational classic, Saturday Night Live. Emily has always dreamed of writing for the show, and it brought back my own nostalgia as an adolescent and teenager when that show was a central part of the week’s discussions. Although SNL seems to have lost some of its appeal in later years, Live From New York is at risk of being cancelled. The two best friends hosting the Weekend Update completely block all of Emily’s jokes. And I was mad for her not only because of the toxic and bullying workplace environment, but because her jokes were super funny and deserved to be featured, at least one time. 

Rather than dancing around the topic, I’m just going to come out and say it. While the Emily when she’s with family and friends, or even alone, is very likable, she is significantly less so at her workplace. It’s like she morphs from functional adult to petty juvenile when she gets to work. Emily does show a lot of growth over the course of the novel, but man was it a difficult journey! She isn’t the only one that progresses as a character in the book either, and I especially appreciated seeing those around her respond to her in such a loving and positive way. She’s confident about certain things that she knows she excels at, and while she has her flaws and insecurities, I absolutely loved that Emily having a bigger, curvy body shape, and that isn’t one of her big insecurities. As a bigger woman, I loved seeing the representation, and it felt so genuine and effortlessly done, which isn’t easy for an author to do. This is especially impressive to see in a debut novel.

I couldn’t help but feel as though the characters acted so immature for adults, although I loved the dynamics between each of the characters individually. There’s a physical attraction and sexual tension that occurs long before they decide to work together instead of against each other. And it’s also clear that each of them is doing what *they* think is best, without even considering the need to cooperate. Emily and Chris work closely with Faith, Riley, and Mandy behind the scenes, and they’re all really funny together, no matter who is involved in the conversation. 

Once interactions thaw between Emily and Chris, I couldn’t be happier. I loved how they saw what the other needed, and were there for each other in the perfect way. Chris did some seriously swoon-worthy stuff in the spicier scenes, and those scenes were written really well. These two eventually got to a place where they were tentatively vulnerable, and it felt natural once they stopped their childish rivalry, with ups and downs, and sometimes a push in just the right place. 

The book does talk about some deeper topics, and it works them into the story in a sensitive way: toxic masculinity, misogyny, antisemitism, anxiety, I always appreciate when authors, and especially debut authors, are willing and able to discuss various topics in a way that feels so natural, especially when you’ve experienced any or all of the things mentioned above. 

Overall, this is a debut that I have slept on, but there’s no need for you to miss out now that I’ve (hopefully) put this rom-com on your TBR. It’s naturally a great rom-com, living up to the high expectation that I had knowing how this is based on SNL when it was a cultural institution and a rite of passage (being allowed to stay up that late to watch). I found this to be one of the best enemies to lovers that I’ve seen, and it was the most swoon-worthy third act romantic gesture! Somehow it was also a little bit second-hand cringe, and it was everything to see it happen in a Jewish setting. I can’t recommend this hilarious romance that does a great job with an enemies to lovers and forced proximity storyline, because once Emily and Chris get out of their own way, it was wonderful.

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