Circling Back To You is the typical contemporary romance. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it but there weren’t any elements that made this a 5 star read for me. It is extremely predictable but sometimes that’s exactly what we need!

Read if you like:
- Asian American representation
- Friends to Lovers
- Workplace romance
- Real estate

What I Didn’t Like
- Not much romance
- Slow paced (but still a quick and easy read)

(3.5 ☆)

What to expect:
- multicultural family
- delicious descriptions of Asain dishes
- colleagues to lovers
- a sweet and cute read based in California
- fake-dating trope
- big family gatherings
- adorable gay side couple trying to adopt (!!!)

<b>Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC of "Circling Back To You" in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.</b>

Though the beginning was a little too much info-dumpy for me, I would like to say that I quite like our main characters. Cadence was extremely likable within the first act, though towards the middle she was starting to get on my nerves. Matt, however, was such a light within this novel.

I loved how diverse this was. The big family trope is something that fills me with so much warmth, especially when they're all likable like they were in this read. The pacing of this novel caught me a little off guard and I found myself flipping back to see how to piece together the timeline.

Both of our main characters are neighbor cubicle employees of a high-stakes real estate company. Cadence works as a big shot analyst and Matt is our magazine voted the best broker in California. When they're thrown together to land a sale with a top-priority investor, both of their livelihoods are on the line.

I loved the fake dating in this book, though. I am a sucker for fake dating. This book capsized on the feelings behind a fake relationship, though I wish it was more established. I think there were only two or three actual talks about them faking it, but at the same time, they weren't faking it? Maybe it's the third person format because I'm so used to the first person, but this made the pacing a little more weird for me.

Regardless, this was a pretty good cutesy workplace romance read with friends to lovers. You can grab your own copy on July 12, 2022, when it hits shelves.

Unfortunately this one didn’t hit the mark for me.
I never found the relationship to be believably real. things felt predictable and over played and I just didn’t ever connect with the story or the characters.

One of my greatest disappointments of adulthood was realizing that there is no point at which you have your life completely figured out for all time. In every decade we find ourselves considering our priorities and our choices. After reading her debut, The Donut Trap, I think I can safely assert that Julie Tieu writes characters who are figuring out how they want to be in the world really well.

In Circling Back To You, Cadence Lim and Matt Escanilla are at a point in their 30s where career, family, and personal goals need to be reassessed. They work together and everyone in the office thinks they are, or should be, a couple. For a good third of the book they pine, and even when they do decide to try dating, they have to figure out what that means in the face of job opportunities and family needs and expectations.

An added complication is the different ways they interact with the world. Cadence hides her grief with reserve. Matt hides his anxiety with sparkle. Tieu makes sure to show that the two have built a strong work partnership, and the foundation for a friendship and more. But they both have to learn to communicate feelings and be honest about what they want. Cadence has been so firm in her separation of work life and personal life that Matt has a lot to learn about her. Matt is willing to learn all he can, and I love that he takes a back seat to Cadence when he needs to.

I like the way Julie Tieu writes. She’s engaging, has a firm hand on her characters, and writes with nuance. The marketing department at her publisher doesn’t seem to know what to do with her books though. There are funny moments in Circling Back to You, but it doesn’t feel a rom-com. And while Matt proposes at one point that Cadence pretend to be his girlfriend, there is no fake dating. I had similar issues with The Donut Trap. It’s a shame because people will pick up the book expecting something very different. If you are looking for a good friends to lovers, workplace romance with a healthy side of dealing with family expectations, and excellent AAPI representation, read Circling Back to You.

CW: death of parent and grand parent in past, grief, parental disapproval, racist microaggressions.

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley. My opinions are my own and freely given.

DNF at 18%.

Co-workers Cadence and Matt are pretty much expected to get together, everyone at the company sees it but them. While Cadence's family has become strained and she wants a new start, Matt's family has been nagging him to find someone to settle down with. Naturally, the best way to solve both of their issues is to fake date!

I know, I know, I'm DNF-ing pretty early on, but I can already tell that this book is not for me. I'm not vibing with the characters, and to be quite frank, I'm starting to get tired of the fake dating trope as a whole. Maybe I've just read too many of them in the past few months, or maybe the trope is tired and authors should set it aside for a bit. Either way, I don't want to read it.

I'm also not finding the humor very funny... I don't know if I'm just being picky but these jokes aren't even making me smile the tiniest bit. The banter between the main characters doesn't give me friends vibes, it just gives me co-worker vibes. And let's be clear, there is no way that either one of them didn't know about the other's feelings for one another. They were so obvious about it, it hurt.

I've read some other reviews as well, and from what I've read it seems like this is the best possible decision for me. This book was doomed from the start. I was never going to like these characters, even if the trope had been different. It seemed promising when I first heard of it and I had heard really great things about Tieu's other novel, The Donut Trap, but I am just never going to get hooked onto this one. Maybe at some point I will come back around to it and give a proper full review, but honestly it seems pretty doubtful.

DNF @50%

As a friends to lovers supremacist, I went in really expecting to love this book and it just ….. did not work. Part of my problem is that this edition needs a good deal of work before it’s ready to be published—the writing doesn’t flow, there’s a lot of repetition, everything is told not shown, and there are constant grammar mistakes and missing words.

Beyond these issues, the relationship itself didn’t convince me. The starting point for Matt and Cadence has them as friendly coworkers who’ve known each other for years, and there isn’t really any development or change between them before they’re suddenly in a relationship. I just didn’t feel the chemistry and there’s no clear progression from point A to point B.

The diversity in Circling Back to You is, at least, great. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a filipino love interest in a romance (I’m sure there are some out there, I just haven’t personally seen any), and the cultural aspects with both of them were the most interesting parts of this book. Additionally, I felt that sexism in the workplace was very realistically portrayed, and even if it’s the absolute bare minimum, I did appreciate that Matt didn’t let his coworkers get away with their misogyny towards Cadence—you’d think this would be a given for a love interest, but somehow it isn’t, so it was nice to see.

Overall, I wanted to love this book but just couldn’t get through it. Maybe I’ll come back to it and finish it, but I wouldn’t count on it.

A cute workplace romance from Julie Tieu with meddling families and forced proximity. Great for fans of Jasmine Guillory!

Matt and Cadence have worked together for years and try to keep the sparks they feel for each other at bay, but when a work trips forces them together, the sparks can't help but fly!

I found this book to be okay. It was kind of slow and pretty predictable, but it is a cute, light easy breezy read. It also has great Asian-American representation and kick butt women killing it in their careers.

It was spicy but tamed and I really enjoyed the MMC Matt. However, I found I didn't sympathize with Cadence, the FMC, much and found her a bit mean as times. I also felt there were too many side characters for me to feel attached to or get to know while reading.

It's got friends to lovers and miscommunication tropes so what more could you want??? Maybe a bit more action and a bit more romance...

Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books, and Harper Collins Publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you @avonbooks for a copy of this book.

This was a cute office and forced proximity romance. I really enjoyed Matt's character who was portrayed as a player. He was sweet and had an adorable family. Candace was a bit standoffish and I had a hard time with her rub with her family.

I enjoyed the Asian representation and the complexity of an office romance in the story.

I enjoyed the beginning a lot, their relationship moves so fast though and cadence was just a lot sometimes. Still a good book I just wouldn’t come back to it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read the ARC for my honest opinion!

What a cute office rom-com! Female Grumpy/Male Sunshine + unspoken feelings + close proximity tropes! I immediately fell in love with Cadence and Matt. It made my heart so happy to have Asian representation with some great banter that had me smiling (and screaming because it was so dang cute)! And a supportive feminist man? Where can I get me one of those?

I literally could not put it down that I stayed up until 5am to finish it. Minimal spice, but it’s the sweet relationship that seals the deal.

EDIT: a really important note I forgot when writing my original review! There are gay side characters in this book that choose to become foster parents with the explicit goal of adopting an infant. The “birth parents” are discussed as possible barriers to their happiness and all of the protections in place for screening and training foster parents are discussed as over the top red tape when there are “so many children just waiting for a home.” As someone who has worked in child welfare and listened to adopted children this is a gross and dangerous perspective. Foster homes are an important resource to keep children safe while working to KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER. These children have families who love them and are often simply unable to care for them due to economic issues (poverty is one of the highest contributing factor to losing temporary or permanent custody of a child). This book promotes the idea that entering the system as a foster parent looking to adopt is the goal when it should be the last possible option to consider a opposed to thinking of fostering as an opportunity to help support a family in its most extreme time of need. Please listen and seek out the voices of adopted and fostered people if you want more information on this issue.

I really love the beginning of this book but man did that third act feel funny. First of all this is a good book and I will definitely be seeking out the other book by Julie Tieu. I found the beginning of this book to be charming and engaging and the sweet friendship and tension between Cadence and Matt was fun to read and engaging.

But then some cracks in the characters started to show. I though Cadence was a little bit too timid about her boss and her feelings about Matt despite moments of anger and being told over and over that she is a badass. Matt on the other hand has moments where he gets pretty manipulative towards Cadence trying to get what he wants from her without being fully honest about his feelings and wants. Don't get me wrong I liked flawed characters but these seem like they were accidents not consciously added characters flaws that the characters could grow from.

Tieu wrote in her afterward that she started this book pre-pandemic and then had to shift gears when the world changed and it kind of reads like that. At about the half way point this book has a huge shift and introduces over a dozen new characters from both Cadence's and Matt's families and the issues and cultural differences and pressures of their families. I liked these characters but it just felt like too much and also like we were suddenly all over the place. So many things happen all at once, no one actually talks about their feelings like an adult and when you the reader take a step back and realize it has been a single week you feel exhausted.

Overall my issue with this book is that it starts slow and sweet and then starts running completely off the rails too fast, too much, but also some how slow and puttering along. It just fell flat.

Thank you to Net Galley, and Avon and Harper Voyager for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reviews Posted: June 28, 2022
Goodreads
Storygraph

Okay, I had such a fun time reading this book. Mainly because I am a sucker for friends to lovers. I also really enjoyed reading about their separate family dynamics, and the way they banter just has my whole heart.

I thought the romance was super cute, and I think both characters complimented each other nicely. I think their workplace dynamic worked well in leading to their relationship. Having both families be intertwined within the stories and I think it added to the romance overall. Their relationships with their families also had me rooting for them to be together even more.

I love when romance books have dual POVs because I feel the relationship is more fleshed out. Also, when it comes to romance, it can be difficult to understand a character's reaction without dual POVs. Seeing how they both were pining for each other made me smile for the whole book.

Cadence and Liam are co-workers at Prism Realty. They are what is called work husband and work wife, they are also nagged by their families to get a partner and such and build a familial life. But then their relationship takes a turn when a business trips takes them to their hometowns and they start to see each other in a different light. Now I will admit, I am all here for the co-workers trope but I was disappointed at how incredibly boring the writing of this book is. Like I couldn’t get myself to finish it, but here we are. I tried to love it. Didn’t make it there. This book was also very fast paced, something that can be highlighted and I see as a positive thing is how open Matt and Cadence were with each other and it is very honorable.

This novel starts out with Cadence and Matt already close, maybe even best, friends at work. They’re also both attracted to each other, but haven’t taken things any further. Then they end up going on a business trip to LA and, wouldn’t you know it?!, they have to share a hotel suite there. What a tired trope - it’s almost as if any time a couple checks into a hotel, you know that there will be only one room left and…cue the sexual tension that is soon to be fulfilled.

So that is one part of the novel. The other part is both of them coming to terms with their family expectations, especially Cadence’s. She doesn’t want to move back to LA where she would have to live with her father and take care of him instead of her older brother who’s been doing that for years. Matt wants to move to LA so he can be near his very close and intrusive family. Conflict ensues, but it all gets resolved rather easily.

I found myself enjoying the book a bit more as it went on, but I never found Cadence all that likable as a heroine and that created a barrier for me to overall recommend the book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

So, this was underwhelming. Sure it had cute little moments and in the beginning I saw the potential, unfortunately it fell flat. I didn't like the romance and If I don't like it than what's the point of it all??

I think this would've been better as a slow burn. In the beginning of the book we know they've liked each other for some time, but we, as readers, don't get enough time to savor their friendship and so, when they become lovers it felt rushed??

I did like matt and cadence as separate characters tho, matt was fun, and i loved cadence, i love that she's a difficult person and knows her worth and what she wants, she's a hard person and i could totally relate to her.


Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a friends to lovers/workplace romance that was a great story, but not a great romance.

I was really looking forward to this book because I love a good fake dating trope, but this one just didn’t get off the ground for me. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between them.

Matt was a fun character, but seemed shallow and that he was not really fully fleshed out for me. Cadence was always a little on the mean side for me and I didn’t really understand her.

I had such high hopes for this one, but didn’t really connect with it.

Circling Back to You, by Julie Tieu
lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Rating; 2.5 stars

Circling Back to You is a friends to lovers/fake dating/workplace romance that comes out on July 12, 2022.

This was cute, light read, but unfortunately didn’t hit the mark for me.

First of all, I really hated Cadence’s name. It threw me off the whole time I was reading. Normally names don’t bother me but this one was jarring.

Secondly, the chemistry between Matt and Cadence wasn’t really believable. The whole time I was reading this I was confused because they were supposed to be work besties but had a lot of issues that didn’t seem plausible for people who spend a lot of time together at work. Especially the banter between them of Matt convincing Cadence that they were best friends. The work “drama” and arranged trip felt forced for both characters. Also, I expected a lot more to come from the “fake dating” element that was introduced, but it felt like it was really forgotten.

The dual POV was helpful for storytelling, but I thought the writing and plot were a bit choppy throughout. It almost felt like I was skipping things while reading it; there wasn’t enough time spent on certain sections for character and story development.

The families were the big stand out for me. I loved the juxtaposition of Matt’s large & loud family and Cadence’s small & quiet one. Obviously both families had communication issues to work through but I appreciated the honesty from both.

I will say the third act conflict was realistic and made sense for the story. I do think, though, that Matt and Cadence clearly had communication issues throughout the whole book and spent most of their time together trying to read each other’s minds.

I loved the Asian representation in this book and really appreciated the way the author tackled sexism and micro-aggressions in the workplace. However, I think this book tried to touch on too many topics without really addressing them deeper than surface level.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books, and Julie Tieu for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Circling back to you follows Cadence and Matt, co-workers and good friends. We find out early on that they are called " work husband and work wife by their colleagues." This is a workplace romance featuring friends-lovers and the close-proximity trope. Because the book dives straight into the plot, you do not get a feel of what their chemistry is like in the office, and because there is no baseline for how "friendly" they are, it's hard to believe when things escalate to " very friendly. " Matt, the male MC, was a hilarious, golden retriever boyfriend who was just the perfect amount of sarcastic. Unfortunately, the female MC was unnecessarily mean to her father and Matt and didn't grow or evolve out of this persona. This was a quick read that was not very deep even for a romance book... it also had zero spice and borderline zero chemistry. Thank you, NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager, for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

This book had a lot of potential and I was really hoping this would hit the all the right spots, sadly it fell a little short for me.

What I liked: Office romance, forced proximity, fake dating, friends to lovers, Asian representation, sweet HEA.
What I didn't like: How unnecessarily mean Cadence was: to her father, to Matt. The lack of chemistry. No sizzle.

As others said, it starts out really strong, gets really bogged down in the middle, and had a great ending. The Donut Trap by the same author is one I'd highly recommend though.

Cadence and Matt work together at a relator brokerage firm, and their banter makes the work day much more enjoyable. But while they are becoming successful at work, they both are struggling with their relationships with their families. Cadence has a complicated and somewhat estranged relationship with her father and brother, and Matt feels like his job is creating distance from his large Filipino family. When a job opportunity takes them back to their hometown, they begin to wonder if their relationship could expand outside of their work. This book was charming and fun! I enjoyed the banter between the Cadence and Matt and their close friendship throughout the book. Matt's quips are so much fun and make the book very entertaining. I also loved the Asian representation and the time Matt and Cadence spent with their families. But this book did feel like the classic workplace romance. It was fun but was very predictable and didn't seem to have anything new. I had high hopes for the book, and the first part of the book lived up to my expectations, but by the middle, the plot had stalled a bit, and I was a little bored. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it was not a standout.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon Books, and Julie Tieu for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.