A magical read. The characters, the family, and the food sprang right off the pages. I would love to read more about the supporting characters!

I absolutely loved this book! Vanessa and her aunties were so warm and a delight to read. It was just what I needed right now.

This was such a cute little stand alone. I didn't realize this was adult until I started it. I swore it was young adult. But it was a happy surprise. This was a wonderful little story to escape the world and just dive head first into a world where magic exists and matchmaking is on the wind. I loved this so much!!

I loved this book and Vanessa’s journey to understanding her special gifts. I loved the aunties and cousins and the overall family vibe of the novel.

I loved seeing Paris through her eyes and she truly believed that it was the city of love.

I am really beginning to love Roselle Lim’s writing. She has such a way of weaving a story plot together. Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is full of magic, family (drama), love and omgee food! This story was all full of color and wonderful smells. It reads more as women’s fiction than romance and for me that was perfectly fine because our protagonist is on a journey to find herself and why her gift reacts the way it does… but finding romance along the way is a good thing too.

This was incredibly charming and enjoyable, and a lovely virtual trip to Paris. I enjoyed the magical realism aspect, and the depictions of Vanessa's close family. The descriptions of place and food are the most enjoyable and detailed parts of the story, and they can truly transport a reader to the experiences Vanessa is having. A great second book by the author!

Roselle Lim’s new novel, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is a heartwarming story about love, family, second chances, and most importantly, about finding one’s self. Vanessa Yu, the protagonist, is a fortune teller but wishes she wasn’t. For most of her life, Vanessa has been unable to control her “gift,” blurting out fortunes at random and driving away friends and potential boyfriends. Because the gift has been nothing but a curse her entire life, Vanessa longs to just be rid of it so she can live a normal life. That doesn’t appear to be an option so when her aunt Evelyn, the only other family member who can tell fortunes, offers to train her, Vanessa jumps at the chance, especially once she realizes it means she’ll be traveling with Evelyn to Paris where Evelyn is opening up a new branch of her popular tea shop.

One of my absolute favorite parts about this book were the author’s lush descriptions of the sights, sounds, and especially the FOOD of Paris. My mouth was watering with each turn of the page as I read about decadent French pastries and the like. Vanessa is also a very likeable character, so it was easy to root for her. I felt so much sympathy for her as she began to fear she would live her entire life alone if she didn’t get control over her abilities. I can’t even imagine that kind of pressure.

The story isn’t just about Vanessa though. There’s also a fabulous subplot involving Aunt Evelyn. She’s actually leaving the Yu family permanently and relocating to Paris. When it becomes clear to Vanessa that Evelyn’s trip to Paris isn’t a temporary one, she is dying to know why, and since Evelyn isn’t talking, she enlists the wonderful Yu Aunties, who are more than willing to go undercover and find out what Evelyn is up to. I adored the closeness of the Yu family overall and those Yu Aunties are a hilarious addition to what is already an entertaining story.

I don’t want to say much more but I will say that I think this is a story that romance fans are going to love. Love is in the air for several characters as Vanessa discovers that while she may hate fortune telling, she thoroughly enjoys playing matchmaker and bringing lovers together. If you’re in the mood for a charming and romantic story that will tug at your heartstrings and leave a smile on your face, be sure to pick up a copy of Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop.

The premise of Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop sounded so fun! I had never read a book by Roselle Lim, so I was excited to get into this one. Unfortunately, I did not connect with this book at all. I honestly don’t think it was bad, it just wasn’t for me. I wasn’t able to get into it, which was disappointing because I really wanted a fun romance to help get me out of my reading slump.

I don’t know how old the main character is supposed to be (if it was mentioned, I probably wasn’t paying attention), but she felt kind of immature. I know she wasn’t too young because she apparently had her own place with a wine fridge and her parents were nagging her to get married. But I couldn’t help imagine her as like nineteen or twenty. She just felt like she was lacking a lot of experience with the world. Not something I disliked, per se, but it definitely threw me off a few times. One thing I didn’t really enjoy was the dialogue. It felt a little unnatural to me. Like, it was trying to be casual or informal, but didn’t really fit.

However, this book did have some good moments, too. Vanessa’s aunt Evelyn reminded me a lot of Santa (the shop owner) from Last Christmas, which just made me smile. It also made it impossible not to picture her as Michelle Yeoh. Which I’m more than fine with. It might have even made this book more enjoyable for me. Like I said, I struggled to connect with this book. But I was a little bit invested in Evelyn’s storyline. Which was kind of strange, since she is not the main character here.

Anyway, not a bad book. I can see a lot of people really enjoying this one. It just wasn’t for me. To be fair, it might have been because I’m coming out of a reading slump, but I don’t think that’s entirely to blame.

A sweet romance with three-dimensional characters. If you love Paris, or food, you'll love this lovely romance. Valerie made her first prediction at three, and has been rebelling against it ever since. All she wants is to be normal, and fall in love. But fortune-tellers don't fall in love. So what happens when the wayward Valerie is brought to Paris, city of Light, love and food to help her aunt with her new tea shop? Sometimes, you have to rebel against your fate!

I picked up this book because I loved the first one. It was nice to meet new characters in this book. It had some of the same type of charm as the first book. However, I did miss the humor and the close emotional connection I experienced with all of the characters in the first book.

Vanessa was a good lead character. On one hand it would be cool to have her ability but on the other hand; it can become a burden. Thus I felt for Vanessa. She really was just trying to live her life. The location of Paris was nice. As I was reading this book, I could picture everything playing out in my mind.

My overall feelings about this book was middle of the road. There were moments that I was really digging this book and other moments where I found myself skimming it. Yet, I do look forward to seeing what the next book is like. I hope it is like the first one.

Vanessa Yu comes from a family of fortune tellers In the bottom of a teacup, she can read tea leaves and predict people's fortunes, be it a good one or bad. Too many times though she isn't able to keep her mouth shut at moment when she had a very big push from the cosmos to tell peoples fortunes at unfortunate moments, like in the middle of a wedding party, when she just saw that the groom would be leaving the bride in a painful divorce soon. Her own love live though is nonexistent, as she consulted a matchmaker in Shanghai who tells her she has no red line in her hands, there is just no one to match her.

And then her eccentric aunt Evelyn invites her to come with her to Paris.While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, she meets her own love interest Marc, and finds out about an old flame of her aunt that pops up again in the time they are in Paris.

I loved Roselle Lim's previous book Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune so I was quite excited there was a new book written by her coming out. The book topped my expectations I had of it. The story is very different then any other book, mixing the Chinese and Parisian culture in a perfect (tea) blend! Vanessa just knows she has a talent for fortune telling, she only has to learn how to use and when not to use it, and even more she has to find out where her own future lies. She meets a handsome French Asian guy named Marc while they are both sketching outside on a Parisian square, and before they know it they have their first date. Not knowing that his father is an old flame of her aunt Evelyn and that aunt Evelyn predicted this in her fortune tea reading. But that old flame, Girard, was heartbroken a decade ago when aunt Evelyn left to live in San Francisco, and now his old anger about that results in making bad press about Evelyn's tea shop, stating to tourist tours that her tea shop is just a facade for Chinese triades. But in the end, things start to look a little bit better for Vanessa and Evelyn, and I loved how the author wrapped up the story.

So overall, this is a very nice new and also fun story full of nice twists, turns and fortune telling teas that I definately recommend reading!!

This was a super cute, lighthearted, and fun read. The story is very atmospheric with lots of food and art. It will make you want to hop on the first flight to Paris! Listen to my full review on the podcast.

Here is the link. http://www.shelfaddiction.com/blog/review-of-vanessa-yus-magical-paris-tea-shop-by-roselle-lim-shelf-byte

I love reading books set in Paris. The city, the culture, the people, what is there not to love about Paris? In Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop, I am taken to Paris by Vanessa in her quest to be able to control her gift of predicting the future. A gift that she wishes she did not have.


Vanessa and Evelyn must work together to be able to control Vanessa’s gift of predictions. While Evelyn embraces her gift, Vanessa does not. They butt heads, argue, and fight all while loving and protecting each other. The aunts, left-back in the states, still find their ways to meddle. The families still show their love and support.



What would a story set in Paris be without some romance? Both Evelyn and Vanessa find some romance. The twists and turns in these relationships had me wondering if they really could find their red threads and their happy ever after. I enjoyed meeting the men in their lives, seeing how they would be able to have relationships with all that was happening around them, and I was thrilled with how it all played out.



I recommend picking up your own copy and enjoying this wonderful story of love, family, magic, and Paris.

This book was such a great escape from the stupidly stressful reality that life has become. I loved how vibrant, magical and romantic the story was. I Loved the main character, the setting was so well done and made me want to hop a plane to Paris. I also loved the food descriptions. It's impossible to read this book and not leave with a food craving! I definitely recommend this one!

I have been dying to review this book! I have to admit first off that romance isn’t a genre I tend to get into, not in books, tv or movies. But lately, maybe I’m softening up in my old age because I got really into a super cute romance K-Drama on Netflix for the first time (Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung if you’re interested – loved it!) just recently, and when I kept seeing people posting about this book on Twitter I looked into the author. Her timeline is full to the brim with cute pics, and these little plushies … I’m not sure if she makes them or not but they are adorable … so I decided to take the plunge and try for this ARC. The Netgalley gods smiled on me.

I feel like I just don’t have the right words to describe how much I loved this charming little book. Delightful! Enchanting! Diverting! Captivating! All of those words and more. This book reminds me of everything I loved about old Audrey Hepburn movies like Roman Holiday and Sabrina. There is a little sprinkle of magic on every page. It makes you feel the way I can only imagine it must be like to be in Paris in the springtime.

All of this is a credit to the authors ability to create mood and atmosphere. The people are charming, the locations are amazing, the air smells delicately floral, and the food … omg the food. I wanted all of the treats she described in this book!! I don’t think I’ve felt so inspired to taste what I’ve read about in a book since I read A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle many years ago. I actually tried to make palmiers after I read Vanessa Yu (reader, I burned them).

I can’t say too much about the plot because I feel like the synopsis did a good job, but I will say that I looked forward to the end of every day so I could get cuddled up in bed and keep reading this book. I’m very much looking forward to reading Ms. Lim’s first book soon, in fact, I just borrowed it from the library. I can’t recommend this book enough. If you’re looking for a sweet, kind, tasty getaway during lockdown this is the book for you.

Song for this book: La Vie en Rose by Michael Buble & Cecile McLorin Salvant

Brimming with family, food and fun, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is a sweet story that celebrates Paris, paintings, pastries and the joy of discovering your own unique path through life.

Vanessa Yu sees dead people. Well, not really but she can foresee death, adultery, proposals, arguments, new jobs, job loss and a host of other things. Since she gazed into the bottom of her first tea cup at three years old, she has been cursed with the ability to tell fortunes. Worse, the prophecies verbally burst out of her, with no effort on her part being sufficient to prevent it. And to top it all, it happens with any drink – gazing into someone’s cappuccino mug, taro slushes, a thermos full of coffee – you name it, she can read your future in your beverage.

Fortunately, Vanessa has been able to limit the number of people exposed to her gift. She works in the family accounting business and spends her free time with relatives who, even though they consider her weird have at least become accustomed to her eccentricity. And it’s not as though they are unfamiliar with her plight. Her Aunt Evelyn has also been blessed with the sight since birth and has maneuvered the gift with grace and skill. Unfortunately, Vanessa was such an unwilling pupil her aunt stopped trying to teach her and left her to apply the ability on her own.

When Vanessa starts to have more frequent visions and to get painful headaches after every one, she decides she needs to do something to get this aspect of her life under control. Fortunately, Aunt Evelyn knows she needs help before Vanessa can even ask, and shows up on Vanessa’s doorstep, ready to whisk her off to Paris. The following morning, they head to France, where her aunt is opening a new tea shop. They can work on Vanessa’s precognition talents as they set up the store.

The expensive Shanghai matchmaker her parents hired warned Vanessa she would never find love, but on her first day in Paris she meets the delectable Marc Santos. The two quickly bond over their mutual interest in architecture, food and sketching. Vanessa has (sorta) accepted she isn’t meant for passion, that any relationship she manages to forge with Marc is doomed to failure. But as she gets caught up in the charm of the City of Love and Lights she can’t help but dream of romance.

I was initially concerned that Vanessa would make a difficult heroine. She was whiny about having this ‘gift’ thrust upon her and was equally morose over the matchmaker telling her she would never find true love, and her relationship with Evelyn is combative. The enchantment of Paris quickly works its magic on her though, and after she meets Marc and spends several days enjoying delicious cuisine, breathtaking sights and wonderful companionship, the real Vanessa – a loving young woman who is fiercely loyal to her family, adores art in all its forms, is a complete foodie, and has an amiable yet assertive personality – starts to shine. Vanessa can’t live with her gift as it is but she is determined she will not simply comply with the rules in order to control it but will seize her own destiny and develop her own path.

Evelyn, too, comes across as a gorgeous, graceful, sophisticated but cold and negative person. She has structured her life around a mysterious and archaic set of rules that govern fortune telling and has added to that the burden of family obligations, both of which have seriously hampered her ability to be happy. I hasten to add that Vanessa and Evelyn have an absolutely wonderful extended family, it’s just that Evelyn doesn’t want the same enmeshed lifestyle which all of them share. Once in Paris and working on her dream of owning a tea shop, her loving, artistic and generous side is made manifest. I loved how Vanessa’s challenging the rules that govern their ability had Evelyn very slowly realizing that she, too, could move beyond them.

Cultural heritage, community and family are all important elements of the novel. Although she is fourth-generation Californian and very American in most respects, the legacy and customs of Vanessa’s ancestors remain a strong influence in her life, especially the magical elements, such as a matchmaker who can see the red emotional chords that bind lovers and use that to find your soulmate, and of course her own talent for seeing the future. Vanessa’s family all work together and play together, and she is very aware that when making decisions she must consider what her family will think of them. She also recognizes how much support she receives from them, not just financial but emotional and spiritual support as well. The way they care for each other – by helping resolve issues through direct interference – is an inherent part of her nature as well. As she explains to Evelyn, this is an important expression of their love and one meant to make whoever they are helping feel seen, valued and supported.

Much of the story is taken up by both Evelyn and Vanessa exploring what they want from life and working out how to get it. There is romance here, but it plays a secondary role to the journey of self-discovery both ladies are on. Marc and Vanessa’s relationship is cute and charming when they are together but there was a darker component that developed around the midpoint of the book which gave me some concerns. The author shows the issue as resolved by the end of the tale but I couldn’t help but wonder if this wouldn’t be a dimming factor in the otherwise bright HEA going forward. In keeping with that, Evelyn’s love interest does something that I found hard to forgive and that I thought showed an underlying cruelty that I wouldn’t want in my own significant other. These discordant notes kept me from thoroughly enjoying the love stories.

Fortunately, I loved everything else about Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop. The fantasy/magical surrealist component of the tale is completely charming, deftly handled and utilized with precision and skill. It wove perfectly into the narrative and was compellingly believable. The characters’ journeys were wonderful and the prose lyrical and elegant. Despite the glitches in the romances, I would recommend it to any fan of women’s fiction.

This book is just as cute as the cover! This easy-to-read work by Roselle Lim is a Parisian-Chinese-American fairy tale for grownups full of FOOD, art, color and even some fashion. Vanessa Yu is a young accountant in Palo Alto who is part of a large, close-knit, successful and overbearing Chinese-American family. What Vanessa finds most overbearing, though, is her inherited gift of predicting the future-- which to her is uncontrollable, rather dark and always happening at the wrong time. Vanessa's Aunt Evelyn, who shares this gift, whisks her away to Paris to help her hone her special powers, and the story is light, fun and romantic. Though romance is not my genre, travel and culture always pull me in hard, and this one did not disappoint with its incredibly loving descriptions of the tastes and aromas of food (both French and Chinese!) set against magical realism, the backdrop of beloved Paris and a kooky but big-hearted Chinese-American family. As Vanessa's Aunt Evelyn tells her, "The world is full of wonders-- you just need to trust in it." Probably something we all need to hear right now, indeed.
This is a really fun read for a pandemic, a rainy day or a beach chair and I'm a sucker for any story about a family that is bonded by good food. I plan to seek out Lim's first book, "Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune", which is about another topic close to my heart--- a restaurant family.
This book is available today in paperback, Kindle format or audiobook.
#VanessaYusMagicalParisTeaShop #NetGalley #rosellewriter

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "Vaness Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop" by Roselle Lim, Berkley, August 2020

Roselle Lim, the author of "Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop" has written an entertaining, delightful, witty, intriguing, magical, and enthralling novel. The genres for the story are fiction, women's fiction, fantasy, and Magical Realism. The timeline for the story is set in the present and only goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events. The story takes place in Paris, and talks of California. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, and complicated. The themes within the story are finding your path or destiny, finding oneself, and love. The author discusses the importance of family, love, and hope.

Vanessa Yu has had a special talent since she was 3 years old. She is able to predict some events for other people while studying the tea leaves. Make no doubt about this, Vanessa doesn't like the ability to see what will happen for people and doesn't know how to control when this will happen. As she gets older, she gets headaches if  she sees a glimmer of unfortunate news. The only other person in Vanessa's family with this ability is her Aunt Evelyn, who is going to Paris and opening a tea room. Vanessa really doesn't want to be a fortune teller.

The Yu family is very close, and they are determined to find a husband for Vanessa, who works as an accountant. They call in the best fortune teller of matchmaking that money can buy, and the matchmaker is perplexed why Vanessa doesn't show a red thread for love.  

Vanessa is now determined to go to Paris for a while and learn from Aunt Evelyn how to deal with her fortune-telling power. Another one of Vanessa's special talents is finding love matches for others. Will Vanessa ever find her own true love? I  recommend this amusing and entertaining novel for other readers to enjoy!

What a wonderful trip to Paris, and yes I mean this book.

This is my first time reading anything by Roselle Lin and I was most blown away by her prose. From the scenery descriptions, to the vibrant magic that embraces even the mundane. What I took away the most was that this novel was unique beyond measure to me.

The story follows Vanessa Yu and her search to control her predictions. Like anyone with some sort of magic, she doesn't want it at all. She's gone above and beyond to avoid confronting this part of herself that they more so control her. Her Aunt Evelyn is also a fortune teller as this gift runs in the family, and has decided that she is willing to try to teach Vanessa again but she must come with her to Paris to do it. With her most recent prediction involves the pain of someone she loves, Vanessa's all for it and the two of them leave for the city of love. What I will say about how the predictions work and are described by Vanessa to the reader is one that will leave you hungry for more. It's something I've never read before and now I can't think of them any other way.


Once arriving she's immersed in the magic that is Paris and at this point in the book it's immersed in magical realism. I haven't read too many novels in that particular style but the ones I have I love it and this book is no exception. The flight of the blue butterflies, the threads of fate, transitions of the present to a filter overlapping the past. It's beautiful. Roselle has a way with words that leaves you feeling like you are in the clouds at sunset.

The story progresses with her training, matchmaking (against her aunt's behest,) and exploring a maybe love of her own.
I truly adored this read, the only thing I wasn't keen on was how the ending felt a bit abrupt. It's one of those things I can't really put my finger on and say "this should've been different" because then we might have a totally different ending. However, I do feel like some of the resolution could have been fleshed out. Other than that, and honestly not that big of a deal, this was a fantastic story and helped me out a slump I was in.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves traveling through books, being in love with love, food, and finding a different path than the one that was given to you.

Thank you to the Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an eARC.

This was another lovely magical story from Roselle Lim. The book follows Vanessa as she works to control her fortune-telling abilities. For her whole life, Vanessa has fought them but after a particularly hard prophecy she finally decides to have her aunt teach her how to control them. Vanessa travels to Paris with her aunt, Evelyn.

Of course, Vanessa is trying to find love and her family is pushing for that too. Her well meaning extended family sets her up but many of her dates lead nowhere and Vanessa is sure love is not meant for her.

In Paris, Vanessa leans into her lessons with her aunt, and thinks she may have found love. She ultimately learns more about herself, her family, and her gift.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s magical realism based in Chinese culture. I loved seeing how Vanessa and her family’s beliefs came into play in story.

There is a lot of delicious foodie scenes, so be prepared to be hungry when you read this one. And want to hop on a plane and travel to Paris.

There were a few cheesy moments, but I accept them as part of this story. It was a lovely story and definitely recommend.