Emma is deeply annoyed by the media writing about them, but goes along with Jo's policy. While they both strive to deal with not only this but the obstacles women in Hollywood face, the two grow closer. In time it's clear that, while they weren't dating, perhaps Emma and Jo might want that after all...
Tropes:
- Age-Gap Romance: Emma is twenty seven and Jo forty one. They fall for each other and become a couple in the course of the story, having been mistaken as one earlier.
- Alliterative Name: Jo took Jones as her stage last name, resulting in this.
- Almost Kiss: Emma almost kisses Jo. As a result, Emma at last realizes she finds Jo attractive.
- The Beard: Jo's publicist suggests she defuse the rumors that she's dating Emma through being seen going on a date with a man. She immediately rejects the idea. Jo is not out as a lesbian to the public, but won't go along with any "cover" like this.
- Berserk Button: Jo is infuriated at her father calling Emma a slut and suggesting she be fired. She orders him to leave her office and bars him from returning without her prior permission.
- The Big Damn Kiss: After they have both realized their feelings for each other, Emma kisses Jo.
- Broken Pedestal: Emma had strongly admired director Barry Davis, who'd talk her more about how to direct films in one hour than all the books which she'd read about it. All that implodes after he offers her career advancement if she'll give him a handjob, which devastates her on top of her horror at the sexual harassment.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Jo and her father get on poorly. He's always disapproved of her Hollywood career, unlike her late mother. When he insults Emma, Jo's assistant and suggests she be fired, Jo finally snaps. She tells him off angrily and orders her father out. Her best friend Evelyn notes it was a long time in coming for her to do this.
- Closet Gay: Jo is a lesbian who's out to her family, but not publicly. She considers it none of their business, and doesn't want to have her personal life gawked at more than she's already suffered from her Hollywood career.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Emma acts like Jo befriending her sister Avery and supporting her struggling bakery through an investment are huge betrayals. Jo agrees, and the book's narrative does too. The reader however might be baffled as to why it's anything but at most a minor gaffe, given Jo was actually helping Avery. Emma treats it like they're in a committed relationship and Jo cheated on her almost. Jo feels the need to seriously apologize.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Jo's father calls Emma a slut in Cantonese, knowing that she won't understand it while Jo does. Infuriated by this, Jo tells him off about it along with other things.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Emma screams when she climaxes while finally having sex with Jo. She's glad Jo has nobody close by her house so no one will hear her.
- Informed Judaism: Emma is revealed to be Jewish when Jo thoughtfully provides kosher-friendly treats (with beef rather than pork). She doesn't actually keep kosher, but appreciates the gesture. Emma doesn't attend synagogue very often apart from on the High Holy Days, but does celebrate Hannukah with her family.
- Insulting from Behind the Language Barrier: : Jo's father calls Emma a slut in Cantonese, knowing that she won't understand it while Jo does. Infuriated by this, Jo tells him off about it along with other things.
- Lipstick Lesbian:
- Emma reveals she's bisexual. She's got long hair and is overjoyed to wear a very pricey, stylish dress.
- Jo turns out to be a closeted lesbian, with a similar personal style to Emma's from what's said.
- Missing Mom: Jo's mom died when she was still a teenager.
- Mistaken for Romance: Jo and Emma, her assistant, are taken for a couple while having what's actually just a friendly moment laughing together in public as reporters looked on. Due to Jo's long-standing police of not commenting on her love life, the rumor mill just keeps spinning.
- Naturalized Name: Jo uses the last name Jones, since when going by Cheung nobody in Hollywood gave her jobs. She's understandably bitter about this.
- One Head Taller: Jo is described as pretty short. Emma, on the other hand, is taller, described as having long legs and must bend over when kissing Jo.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Jo's full first name turns out to be Josephine, but only her father calls her that.
- Rotating Protagonist: Jo and Emma are co-protagonists in the book. Different chapters alternate the two's perspectives.
- Sexual Extortion: Barry Davis, who's a famous Hollywood director, offers to advance Emma's career if she'll give him a handjob. Emma's shaken and horrified by this, telling her boss Jo who reacts furiously. Jo bans him from her building and having any part in the show she's writing, before issuing a release about what Davis did. Soon several actresses publicly state Davis harassed them too.
- Sleeping Their Way to the Top: Emma is presumed to be having sex with Jo as a means of advancing her career by Barry Davis and Jo's father. Davis sexually harasses her with a similar offer, Jo's father claims she's a slut who should be fired. In neither case are they right about this.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Jo and Emma, her assistant, are perceived as dating. It's not true, but the gossip outlets play up the idea nonetheless.
- Slut-Shaming: Emma gets this multiples times over her supposed relationship with her boss Jo, which is thought to be for career advancement.
- Barry Davis, the film director Emma admires most, sexually harasses her, assuming this. Emma is devastated over his behavior.
- Jo's father calls Emma a slut and Jo should fire her. This infuriates Jo, who orders him to leave.
- Switching P.O.V.: The book switches between Jo and Emma's perspectives.
- Tranquil Fury: Jo never raises her voice or shows outward emotion after Emma tells her she's been sexually harassed. However, Emma can tell she's furious at this, and later Jo trembles in rage while telling her staff as well.
- Twofer Token Minority: Jo started as a teenager playing an adopted Chinese-American girl raised by a white family. No other characters of color were on the show. She complained about it later in a column along with the racism which she'd suffered while acting. Jo makes sure her own show, Innocents, is more diverse (including with not only ethnicity but sexual orientation, as she's a closeted lesbian).
