Lunar Love

By: Lauren Kung Jessen

Narrated by: Raechel Wong

This sweet, enemies-to-lovers debut rom-com filled with Chinese astrology will undoubtedly prove to be a perfect match with fans 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?

©2023 Lauren Kung Jessen (P)2023 Forever

Critic reviews

"Tradition meets modern progress, and it's a delicious combination!”—Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World

"A refreshing and unexpected take on matchmaking! This will be a perfect match for any reader looking for a heartwarming romance steeped in cultural traditions."—Jesse Sutanto, national bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties

"Lunar Love has everything I love in a book: smart characters, a love story with chemistry, the nostalgia of family traditions, and a plot that is both emotional and laugh-out-loud funny. Oh, and did I mention the food? Yes, please. This sweet opposites-attract story shines brighter than a supermoon on a warm summer night. It has all the feels and will make you believe in soulmates. It’s a match made in heaven for all rom-com fans."—Elizabeth Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of Lost In Paris

Appreciated the mixed identity narrative.

Light in the romance, but a nice tribute to culture and identity. I wish the storyline was a bit more complicated.

Wished it was better

I was so excited for this book and had a pre-order. I really wish it was better.

The concept and overall storyline are great, and I really appreciated all the details about the Zodiac and other Chinese customs that came up.

However I really don’t understand our main character Olivia, she was really unlikable from the get go and never became endearing. Bennett was this almost manic pixie dream girl type of perfect guy who was inexplicably in love with this kind of horrible woman. The characters stubbornness really stunted her, and kinda made her journey feel fake or undeserved. She flip flops too much and too easily that you’re like, did you really even learn your lesson Olivia?

There was also a lot of things that you find out happened by a quick dialogue exchange instead of actual character development. It was jarring when this happened. Or side storylines that come n go for no reason and are easily resolved. Just doesn’t feel real.

Overall I liked a lot of the characters, and the performance was good except for Olivia, her voice was very annoying- maybe done on purpose?

I’m disappointed with my experience of this book, but still think the basic storyline and concept are great. I hope to read more from the author in the future.

Sweet Book for the Lunar New Year

This story is very sweet and a perfect read for the Lunar New Year! It’s an endearing love story of not just lovers but love of family, culture and traditions. I appreciate listening to a good tale whilst also learning about about other cultures. The voice performance wasn’t the best for some characters but luckily they did not appear in the story enough to be too bothersome. Overall a fun book and good listen!

Meh.

It’s a debut, so I really wanted to like it more. But it wasn’t very funny or suspenseful or steamy or thought-provoking. The narrator wasn’t great either.

Sweet and Tender

I’m glad I stuck with this book—-so many really sweet, tender moments and I loved the setting. At first, after that gorgeous opener, I wasn’t sure, but once I got in deeper the tide was all love. Also the relationships and the way the Chinese culture was shown and explained—well done.

To Perfectly Imperfect Matches

Incredible storytelling and compelling characters, also definitely more fun facts than I expected but totally saving those for later.

I really loved this take. So Fun

I would definitely recommend this book if you want some fun, love, and a unique perspective on people navigating modern times and how to bring age old traditions into that.

Lovely story light read

I love the story and how unforgettable people should be when they want to be so predictable

Decent read overall

Overall I liked this book. I especially loved the relationship dynamic between the main character and her grandmother. I thought the plot concept was pretty good too, and there were multiple times throughout the story where I properly laughed out loud.

Where I struggled was with the personality of the characters, specifically the main character, Olivia. I didn’t fully understand or believe her level of stubbornness or determination throughout the book. The conflict seemed kind of forced and shallow, only being there for the sake of having an issue for the characters to disagree over, and the love interest was a little 2d for me. It felt like his only purpose was to pursue Olivia, even when she was kind of awful to him.

Idk, I liked it overall but it sort of felt like nothing was developed enough for me to really invest in the characters or care about the conflict.

Except for the grandmother. She was perfect and I would die for her 😭❤️

Meh

Not my cup of tea but it was cute. Painfully slow burn and the end felt rushed.