I will never ever going to stop reading fake dating books, especially when the book is so well written and cute like this It was wonderfully written, the characters and romance were great, I liked the setup and the story.

3 stars
Workplace romance meets friends to lovers!

Matt and Cadence work for the same realty company and have the all too great banter/tease friendship, although, both want something more (secretly). An important deal for Matt to close which could offer him a promotion leads these two on a trip to LA—conveniently where both their families reside. Matt's family wants him to settle down while Cadence's family just wants her around more. Both settling in a two-bedroom suite, leads to their confession of feelings and the start of a romance. Only it's never that easy.

This book had a lot of potential and I was really hoping this would hit the mark, especially with the Asian representation. However, things moved way too fast, the plot got boring for me, and there were many things that felt like filler. It started off VERY strong but the momentum and desire to continue reading just kept slowly fading away. I made it to about 50% before I started to feel the wants of DNF'ing but I pushed through.

The ending was very sweet and honestly the type of ending we don't get very often and something I always crave. So props to that. Overall, this was still a good read.

An absolutely adorkable story of two coworkers who each somehow don't realize that theirs is a mutual interest and chemistry? Moments of sweet and saucy banter pepper heavier bits of family drama and expectations.

In Julie Tieu’s latest novel, she gives us a classic desk-mates to lovers office romance.

I loved being able to see the sparks between Cadence and Matt develop from both of their perspectives as the story unfolds. The mutual respect and desire to see each other excel at work was a great touch. The additional layering of strong cultures and family ties was a central element to the book which I loved.

This book has a bit of ~spice~. Nothing you wouldn’t mind recommending to your mother, but definitely wouldn’t be HR “approved.”#officejokes

While I felt the last quarter of the book could have been expanded, I was satisfied at the ending. Matt and Cadence were two characters I loved to see come together and only wish I could read an epilogue about their success.

Cadence and Matt work in the same realty company and have a teasing kind of work relationship. He’s angling to be best friends while she fights a growing attraction, and co-workers have dubbed them Asian Pam and Jim and work spouses. When Matt comes down with the flu, Cadence gets him home but doesn’t stay to help him; they later reference it as a missed opportunity.

His Filipino family is desperate for him to settle down with a wife and have a family; Cadence is estranged from her aging father and stuck brother, following the death of her mother. Matt is angling for a promotion to LA to be closer to his family, and an opportunity to seal a deal and advance his career results in a forced proximity vacation for them, where it’s revealed that Cadence’s family home, adjacent to a pivotal property, might become the plot twist of the book. Matt decides to bring Cadence as his date to a family party and she mostly holds her own through the gauntlet of relatives.

Cultural details, from food to honoring of ancestors, add depth to the story, and I found myself hungry for more of this. The point of view switches back and forth between the two characters, as indicated by the split cover design. By the halfway point, the fake dating piece had not yet been introduced. Billed as a rom-com, the romance was underwhelming, with intimate details mostly shied away from, and as for the comedy, I found Cadence more snarky mean than funny. That said, I did appreciate her boundaries, and how hard it can be for women to succeed in a male-dominated office environment.

Better editing would have made this Asian-American office romance shine; I found a half-dozen errors that I shared with the publisher. It seems like it was originally written in a more immediate present tense, and then edited for third person alternating points of view. It’s likely they will be corrected in the final proof, but I didn’t find the characters particularly warm or compelling, and had to push through to the (predictably resolved) ending.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #CirclingBackToYou from #NetGalley.

This had a lot of promise: friends to lovers, workplace romance, diverse representation. It was cute, but I ultimately had a hard time connecting with Candence and a lot of the plot hinged on miscommunication when a conversation between the two MCs could have resolved the drama. I ended up dnf-ing at about the 30% mark.

Thank you Avon for the ARC, unfortunately I have tried to read this book a few times and for whatever reason I’m struggling to connect and get enough momentum to really get into it. I’m putting this one aside for now and hope to give it another shot some time soon.

A cute workplace romantic comedy centered on friendship and family!

Cadence and Matt, long-time coworkers who share a cubicle and often have each other's backs at work, are both competent, funny, and kind characters, which makes it an easy read. I was quickly invested in their workplace friendship/flirtationship, though it felt like the leap from friends to lovers happened a bit abruptly, and I wasn't completely sold on their dynamic by the end. Their relationship is egalitarian and logical, built on a strong friendship and ability to collaborate. This could be a pro or con depending on your taste in romance stories!

I sometimes felt like we got a little bit too into the machinations of the commercial real estate business and that Matt was never able to overcome the allegations of his character being a little unserious, relationship-wise.

Overall, a quick and cute read with interesting family dynamics and strong cultural representation!

This was so cute! I loved the Asian representation and this was a cute fast read. I’m a sucker for the fake saying trope and working in an office myself, I loved reading about an office romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (2.75 stars)

I love me a good workplace romance, especially once that centers around a friends-to-lovers arch rather than a friends-to-lovers arch, but I felt like my expectations for this book were completely different than what I got in realty. The sign of a good rom-com to me is witty banter, otherwise known as dialogue that will make me giggle. I didn't really experience this. In addition to that, I wasn't feeling the connection between Cadence and Matt that I always want in a romance novel. Mainly, I think this had to do with Cadence being unnecessarily rude to certain characters from time to time. What I appreciated more than anything was the multicultural dynamic and diversity included in the story, as well as the setting in San Fran, which was fresh and different.

Circling Back to You was the perfect read at the perfect time. I laughed. I cringed. I swooned. I couldn't stop smiling after I finished it. I am positive this will turn into a comfort read for me. Tieu is funny and her humor is always perfectly timed. Much of this can be attributed to Matt and his personality, but it's also the banter between Matt and Cadence that is entertaining. He's a cinnamon roll lead whose emotions lead the way while Cadence is a little more closed off, employing strict divisions between work and play. It was refreshing to see Cadence as the more rational half whereas Matt is largely dominated by feelings.

The struggles Matt and Cadence deal with in the workplace and at home are largely universal ones, but I couldn't help that it was the little details that made me so happy. Rice porridge is the meal for someone who is sick. Fish sauce and soy sauce are staple pantry items. Salonpas is a go-to for pain relief. My kitchen and my medicine cabinet felt seen. I felt seen. It reflected my life without feeling like they were on display as a learning tool--they're norms.

If you're a fan of workplace romances or the friends-to-lovers trope, I recommend picking this one up. I cannot emphasize how much I adored them together as work colleagues/friends and continued to root for them as their relationship status changed.

Julie Tieu has blessed us with another heartwarming romance novel -- but this time in the form of a workplace rom-com with a career-focused and independent woman at the center. Circling Back to You features Cadence Lim, a Chinese-American analyst, and Matt Escanilla, a Filipino-American broker. Compared to the fictional couples in the other romance novels I've read, Cadence and Matt do get together rather early on in the novel -- quite like the couple in The Donut Trap, the author's debut novel -- this was a plus for me as I felt it gave a lot of leeway for the author to explore the development of a healthy, functional relationship between Cadence and Matt, particularly how Cadence and Matt balance their relationship with their career aspirations.

If you're looking for a more mature romance novel to read, i.e., setting and respecting boundaries is your love language, this book is for you. My favorite line from Candace -- "Don't put me in the position to adjust my whole life around you if you wouldn't do it for me.

What you can expect:
💙 grumpy (Candace) / sunshine (Matt)
🌁 Karl the Fog references
💻 toxic corporate culture vibes

**Note to publisher: This review will be posted on bookstagram @movedbyprose closer to publication day**

I absolutely loved this book! I'm a big fan of Julie's first book and I was excited to discover I loved this one even more than the first! I think what really worked for me in this one was watching Matt and Cadence's relationship evolve in a way that felt totally realistic and relatable. There weren't any off the wall meet cutes (though I love those too) or over the top conflicts, this was just a beautiful story of two friends falling in love. I felt like these characters could be my friends and people I knew and it was just really sweet to see them discover their feelings for each other. This is a low-angst romance and I loved every second of it!

This had a lot of potential. Some of it was met but it also fell flat in a lot of ways for me. Cadence was too walled off to really be that relatable. I didn’t want to root for her when she was such a jerk to Matt all the time. He was pretty stereotypical as well. It held my interest for a while but I ended up DNFing this one just over halfway through.

4.5/5 stars!

some tropes/aspects to convince you to read this lovely book: dual POV, friends-to-lovers, Asian MCs, flirty dance battle, forced proximity, strong woman lead, will-they-won't-they, familial healing from grief, and more!

This story was so cute and funny, Cadence and Matt made me sick from the feels at some points <3. Cadence is such a strong and confident character. She's excellent at her job and knows her worth. It was enjoyable to read her internal monologue about external decisions that were going to negatively impact her. She didn't take crap from anyone, we love to see it. Matt is so cute and flirty, he's hard-working and really supports Cadence, it was lovely to see! I appreciated reading about Cadence's grief and the journey and effort it took to properly reunite with her family and heal as a family.

I LOVED the romance build up and tension. The middle ground before the I love yous came in felt a little flat to me, but it was still such an enjoyable and entertaining workplace rom-com!


This ARC was provided by Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC! I was so excited when I saw this book, having the cute cover design and then seeing two POC main characters. The representation in this book was refreshing, I love reading every aspect of it. Being Filipino American I adored seeing Matt’s family dynamic/ values and seeing the descriptions of all the food. Also, the author does an excellent job of incorporating bits of San Francisco into the story, and if you grew up in the city this adds another extra element to this book. The plot itself was very light and easy to follow along. The chemistry between the two main characters was adorable, it was a bit of a grumpyxsunshine with the female lead being the grumpy. Overall, I loved this book and the representation it included, the story was amazing! I can’t wait to see more from this author!

Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu was a playful rom com which featured two Asian characters giving it a nice diverse culture change. This office-set romance tended to focus more on the office then the actual romance. It was cute but I found myself struggling to read it once it became a little bit more about their jobs. Overall a good read.

4 stars

Circling Back to You follows the story of Matt and Cadence . They have been platonic friends/colleagues until they were assigned to go on a work trip to la. They hook up and Cadence end up meeting his really huge Filipino family as his (fake) girlfriend. Would their job promotions create havocs in their budding relationship?? Cadence is Chinese-American and Matt is Filipino-American. I really like the Asian representation .

It is a dual pov, which I love. I loved Matt but Cadence was a bit icy. but at about 30% I started losing interest and took a few efforts to overcome that . I loved the writing . I would definitely give the other Julie Tieu books a shot . I loved their friendship throughout the book.

It was an overall nice and cute read . I would recommend it if you like fake dating, friends to lovers, workplace romance.
OUT JULY 12TH

Thanks to Netgalley and Harpercollins for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new to me author. Reading the summary, I got very excited. But I will say, at the end of reading it I realize how very hard it must be to write summaries that get people excited about the book, but also encapsulate what the book is actually about. Because what I read, I definitely feel was way different then what the summary led me to believe was coming. That took a bit of the enjoyment out of the book for me.


So the basics, without going into too deep spoiler area are Cadence and Matt work for a realty company in San Francisco, and both have family back in LA. They are good friends who develop feelings. Matt is striving for a promotion to move back to LA to be closer to his family, while Cadence is searching for a better job, but does not want to go back to LA because she is estranged from her father. This is the basic conflict of the romance.

I fully acknowledge that I might not be the audience for this book, as I am not Asian American or from a culture who value multigenerational households, so this aspect of things didn't really make sense to me.

So the book moves on and one thing that started to kill it for me is, I didn't like the two leads. I dunno, but they both had moments where they seemed very shallow and annoying. Like moments where Matt gives Cadence a hard time for wearing comfortable clothes in a hotel she is staying at. Or thinks that he will 'fix' Cadence's underwear issue (because she wear skin toned panties) by making her go to the lingerie store. I dunno, that just came off as blegh to me, especially from someone we are supposed to root for.

Cadence was kind of mean through the book, but a large portion was justified, in professional settings and setting boundaries etc. But at other times, it just seemed weird.

Overall, because of my dislike for the characters, I wasn't really rooting for them as a couple, so the big resolution at the end was not in the least bit exciting for me, because I just didnt care.


What I did like, was a bunch of the supporting characters. Despite Cadence not liking him, I actually enjoyed her Dad. At least what we got of him on the page. Description wise, I can see why there would be issues of him as a father, but as a character, his scenes were enjoyable and seeing his choices and such and how they affected the plot kept me going. Also her brother Tristan made me laugh a bunch too, just because he was the epitome of 'Whatever' 95% of the time.

Matt's family was enjoyable. I will say, the author did well writing believable family scenes, like how the cousins rag on each other and just interact. How the elders sit and throw in their two cents occasionally.


Another thing I liked. While the main characters didn't do it for me as people, the writing itself wasnt terrible. The dialogue and the pacing and all that fun moved at an okay speed for me. When things skipped around a bit, it wasn't abrupt and confusing, always easy to track.

I think I would have rated this book much much higher if I just wasn't so personally annoyed by the main characters.

TW/CW: parental death, grief

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Two workplace friends, Cadence and Matt, turned best friends end up falling in love when they go to LA to close an important deal. I love a good workplace romance and the friends to lovers trope. It was good to see diverse representation and inclusion of culture in the book.

Circling back to you was enjoyable romance, but felt more like an adult coming of age story. I wish there was more romance and comedy. I loved Matt and his Lola, but there still wasn't very much character development and I found Cadence to be an annoying character. The friendship and especially the romance felt forced at points and the grief storyline could've been handled better.

Overall, it was a cute quick read if you can push past the slow beginning. I will definitely look out for other books from Julie Tieu as I loved her writing style.

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!