Book Review : Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen



Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : Forever Publishing
Publication Date : January 10th, 2023
This sweet, enemies-to-lovers debut rom-com filled with Chinese astrology will undoubtedly prove to be a perfect match with readers of Helen Hoang, Jasmine Guillory, and Helena Hunting.

Always a matchmaker, never a match...

Olivia Huang Christenson is excited-slash-terrified to be taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking business. But when she learns that a new dating app has made her Pó Po’s traditional Chinese zodiac approach all about “animal attraction,” her emotions skew more toward furious-slash-outraged. Especially when L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app that could destroy her family’s legacy . . .

            Liv knows better than to fall for any guy, let alone an infuriatingly handsome one who believes that traditions are meant to be broken. As the two businesses go head to head, Bennett and Liv make a deal: they’ll find a match for each other—and whoever falls in love loses. But Liv is dealing with someone who’s already adept at stealing business ideas . . . so what’s stopping him from stealing her heart too?

B&N
I just finished reading Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen and I enjoyed it so much!❣️✨ It's always fun to see the matchmakers fall in love(even though they try not to)😆. This one was a really cute competitors to lovers(they weren't really enemies tbh) romance with Olivia, a matchmaker who has taken over her family business that matches clients with compatible Chinese zodiac signs and Bennett, who has come up with a dating app that matches users with the same concept - but isn't too rigid with their zodiac sign compatibility.⁣
These two have an adorable meet cute at a bakery and surprisingly Olivia later discovers that he is the founder of a new app that *might* threaten their business, so she sneakily signs up and goes on a date with him for espionage purposes *cough* and discovers that though they might not agree about many things, there is a spark between them. Bennett is basically a sweet guy and it's hard not to resist him. After a while, Olivia's identity does come out and Bennett also seems to know certain things(so the mutual lying cancels each other out?😂) and in a surprising twist they end up in a bet to find a match for each other to see whose way of matchmaking is better!🤣 ⁣
I loved the fact that things were cleared up in the first 30% and there wasn't much deceit(it stresses me out so much lol). Bennet was such a sweet cinnamon roll and he was very patient! Olivia is very stubborn and too hard on herself and others. She was quick to jump to conclusions, especially about Bennett, but I could see why she didn't trust others much given her history. It was nice to see Bennett challenging her views and she learns to trust others - and herself too. I also loved her relationship with her Pópo(my favorite!) and her other family members! Both of the characters are mixed-race and I loved seeing their relationship with their culture and how they sometimes didn't feel 'Asian' enough. Overall, this was a lovely debut centered around family, love and traditions(P.S.there's no steam in this one but surprisingly I didn't miss it🤣)⁣

You can also find my review on my bookstagram here


*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Lauren Kung Jessen is a mixed-race Chinese-American writer with a fondness for witty, flirtatious dialogue and making meals with too many steps but lots of flavor. She is fascinated by myths and superstitions and how ideas, beliefs, traditions, and stories evolve over time.

From attending culinary school to working in the world of Big Tech to writing love stories, Lauren cares about creating experiences that make people feel something. When she’s not writing novels, she works as a content strategist and user experience writer.

She also has a food and film blog, A Dash of Cinema, where she makes food inspired by movies and TV shows. She lives in Nashville with her husband (who she met thanks to fate—read: the algorithms of online dating), two cats, and dog.

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