Late Night Love by Chayla Wolfberg

Standalone Romantic Comedy

I have been a Saturday Night Live fan for as long as I can remember. I remember trying to stay up as a kid but I invariably fell asleep during the musical act. But I have always tried to make it to the Weekend Update part, the highlight of SNL. A book based on a show I have loved my whole life? YES PLEASE. It was just a bonus that the heroine happened to be Jewish and mid-to-plus size.

I planned on reading Late Night Love by Chayla Wolfberg anyway, but she was kind enough to send me a paperback (I still bought it for my Kindle of course). I was so disappointed to find a spelling error on page 1. Then the author info-dumped the character’s background in the first 10 pages which I thought was an author’s note at first, but it was the FMC giving us her background. There was no hook to lure you in—a sure sign of a freshman author. I have to be honest…if she hadn’t sent me the book I’m not sure I would have continued to read.

BUT I AM SO GLAD I DID. After a rough start, I fell in LOVE with Late Night Love!

“Humor saved me and damned me. Growing up, I was the girl who made weird, borderline insulting jokes under her breath. Maybe if I’d been a boy, I would have been the class clown.”

Emily Beckerman dreamed of nothing else her whole life but writing for her favorite sketch comedy show “Live From New York”, but the idea of being the Weekend Update host was beyond anything she would dream of, as a size 18-20. She had been working as a writer for the show for years when the co-head writer position/Weekend Update host came available.

Emily was not a team player, she liked to write solo and wasn’t friends with any other writers. She wasn’t 100% likable in the beginning. She certainly didn’t get along with the other head writer and Weekend Update host, Chris Galloway (I couldn’t help but picture Colin Jost). Even worse, they were pitted against each other—only one would get the job next year. There was so much competition, banter and pranks to make the other one crazy, and I loved it.

Emily knew she had to work with the other writers to get the job and she changed and grew throughout the book. As Emily and Chris both loosened up around each other, they found they had a good balance—while he was too safe, she tended to be too risque. Together they were fabulous. Maybe that animosity between them was hiding an attraction?

I loved Emily as the book went on. She was so relatable to me as a plus-sized Jewish woman and I totally understood her body positivity on one hand and her self-doubts on the other, especially with her handsome co-star. She is also a romance book lover!

“I’ve made peace with the parts of my body that I used to try so hard to erase, but I never imagined that someone could find them worthy of such worship.”

Though Emily was Jewish, I would not consider this a Jewish book at all, just one of the characters happened to be Jewish. I mean let’s be real: it is New York and comedy tends to lean heavily Jewish. I think it fits perfectly in the story and it was not a main focus at all, (though there was an amazing scene during the High Holidays) just like the way it should be in life.

“When this season is over, I’ll read whatever books you want me to,” he promises.
“That is literally the sexiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

There was some good spice in this book as well, but if that’s not your thing and you love SNL, just skim it. It’s worth it.

Likes:

About a show like Saturday Night Live.
Lots of fun banter.
The pranks when they try to sabotage each other.
A lot of jokes were written for the show.
Emily’s growth throughout the book.
Anxiety Disorder was handled well and therapy was positive.
The Jewish representation without it being a Jewish book.
Her relatable self-doubts as a plus-sized woman.
A funny cinnamon roll hero.
She loves smutty romance books and shares them with her mom.

Dislikes:

Not only did it need another round of editing, the first chapter needed to be reworked completely.
There was no audition, not even an official rehearsal. She went from writer to on-screen in the most important segment of the show without anyone knowing how she would be in front of a camera.

The Down & Dirty;

Are you a Saturday Night Live fan? Late Night Love is a love letter to SNL featuring a romance between writers who host Weekend Update.

Once I got through the first chapter or two, Late Night Love by Chayla Wolfberg was fabulous! I laughed, I cried, I swooned and I had to fan myself. I loved how the show’s jokes were in the story. Honestly, after getting over the initial hump in chapter one, it was close to a 5-star read for me with everything I love in a book. So make sure you give it a chance and don’t give up too quickly.

I don’t think you have to be a Saturday Night Live Fan to love this book, but if you are a fan I would say Late Night Love is a book you NEED to read.