Great romance featuring office best friends. Good banter, family twists and hot moments. I would read more books by the author.

Circling Back to You is one of my most anticipated romances of the year, especially after I read The Donut Trap and loved it last year. Julie Tieu is a wonderful writer of light, fun, and sweet contemporaries, and Circling Back to You is just as delightful as her debut. Circling Back to You hits the nail on the head with this office romance. It tackles challenges that workplace friendships and romances are bound to have, maintains the so many comforting romance tropes, and adds in a wonderful family dynamic for both characters which gives everyone so much depth. I found myself not only rooting for the romance, which happens quite a bit in romances but also for each character individually. An absolute delight of a book!

**Quick Summary**: Cadence and Matt are best friends in the office. When work sends them on a business trip to their hometown, Matt asks Cadence to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family gathering. Given the opportunity to see each other in a new setting, they both start to change their perspectives on what their friendship really is. But just as they finally start to see their relationship for what it really is, promotions and new opportunities begin to arise that would tear them apart. Matt and Cadence must work together to get through these challenges... or not.

Circling Back to You does a wonderful job of connecting the characters' families into the romance. Too many romances are too isolated from the rest of the world but Tieu makes Cadence and Matt’s world so relatable and well-rounded. The way that the family dynamics affect the characters and their relationships ties so perfectly into the characters’ personalities, it gives the reader a perfect opportunity to get to know the characters. No family is perfect but our families help shape who we become, so it is a joy to read about Cadence and Matt’s families.

My favorite part of Circling Back to You is how both Matt and Cadence are both working to improve their lives from the beginning. They are both looking to further their careers, which eventually presents challenges to their friendship and romance, but it made the characters so much more relatable. Both of them are at the start of their careers and they are still working on climbing but Tieu is able to illustrate beautifully how much climbing the ladder can affect our personal lives. It is relatable, difficult, and important to read characters growing through this. So many people go through this stage in their life, or maybe they are still in it, and they might feel less alone by reading characters who also struggle with how much they are willing to let work affect their personal lives.

What a cute read! Circling Back to You by @Julietieu is great for any rom-com lovers that can't get enough of forced proximity and office place romance.  🥰

The book follows Cadence and Matt, workplace best friends that get sent from their home office down to LA to work on closing a deal with an important client. But what happens when the jokes about office spouses suddenly get real...? I devoured the book to find out. 😂

This book was charming from end to end. I thoroughly enjoyed Tieu's The Donut Trap, but somehow I loved this one even more!

Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the advanced copy!

This was a cute read. It was bit slow getting into the storyline, but I liked the workplace romance, the emphasis on family (even families that aren’t necessarily close), and that the main characters were a bit older, in their 30s. I’d give this a solid 3.5 stars! I felt like something with the chemistry wasn’t quite right between Matt and Cadence. It almost felt overly cheesy and forced at times. Also, other than Maddie (Cadence’s best friend), there was no mention of other friendships, especially for Matt. He only spoke to family members and work colleagues. That was a bit odd to me as well. Overall a cute read, but I probably wouldn’t reread or buy a copy myself.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

3.5 stars--CIRCLING BACK TO YOU was an enjoyable and lighthearted office rom-com, but I still wish both the 'rom' and 'com' elements were dialed up a notch.

I liked the main pair enough, and found Matt to be a charming male lead (and a Filo one at that). The workplace environment and politics were also believable; the diversity was delightfully refreshing; the family dynamics were realistic, relatable, and had surprising depth. I also appreciated how Tieu subtly tackled microaggressions and sexism.

My main issue, however, is probably the pacing. The book dragged at times and was a little slow especially up until the halfway mark; some parts could definitely be cut or tightened up more. I also would've liked some mention of Matt's life outside his work and family--currently it's like he didn't talk to anyone else but them. Where was his support system? Did he have any friends? Nothing related to this was mentioned. And while the book was certainly funny at times, it could have been more, including the 'romance' part towards the end. Currently there were also many typos and grammatical errors that I think would be sorted out through more proofreading and copyediting prior to the actual publication.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a fast, lighthearted read, though certain aspects could be dialed up a notch.

Circling Back to you is an easy read romance about coworkers and friends finding love during a work trip. I loved the connection the characters shared and the family dynamics. It’s a very sweet story

I’ll start off by saying it was kinda slow for me to get interested in it. I think like halfway through is when I started to like it. Over all I liked it didn’t love it. It’s a busy read if that makes sense.

I really wanted to love this book, and there was nothing wrong with the story or characters overall, it just didn’t hold my attention and I didn’t find myself wanting to read it at every moment of the day.

This was a good read! I enjoyed reading this office romance that followed two colleagues who take a work trip together. I liked that this book was not a typical workplace romance. I thought it was cute, funny, charming, and heavy at times when discussing the heroine’s late mother. I appreciated that this book contained diverse protagonists and included customs and rituals in Chinese and Filipino cultures.

This book contains the following tropes: work-place romance, fake dating, friends to lovers, diverse main characters.

Cadence is successful in her chosen field and excels at her job. She has a crush on her colleague Matt, but never acts on her impulses because Matt is up for a promotion and could be leaving San Francisco for Los Angeles. Cadence follows Matt to LA to assist on a work trip at the request of her boss, which interferes with her vacation to visit her father and brother for her late mother’s death anniversary. Her relationship with her family is estranged but she cares deeply for them. While on this work trip, Matt and Cadence’s relationship takes a turn and Cadence finds herself in a fake relationship attending Matt’s family gathering. Their close proximity and late nights working together serve as the catalyst to both main characters professing their deep-buried feelings for another. However, competing promotions and meddling families muddle their new romance.

I liked how this book contained representation for Chinese and Filipino cultures through family dynamics, comfort foods, funeral rites, etc. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Cadence and Matt. Overall, I liked this book and would recommend!

There is nothing as cute as an office romance. It makes people believe that in a place of work, they too can find love. This book was very cute and I liked it a lot. My only issue is that I after reading their first conversation (to us, not their actual first) I didn’t feel the chemistry. I was expecting someone else to be the main character.

orkplace romance, a little fake dating, diversity. If you're interested in any of those topics, this is a perfect read! Matt and Cadence work closely together and have always been a little interested in each other. Matt was too shy to say anything and Cadence let her doubts get in the way and she tried to push him away instead. Once they finally admitted it to each other, there was no denying their attraction and everyone saw it coming anyways! They of course had their bumps in the road, but they realized that their relationship was too good to let anything get in the way.

I especially appreciated how much of Cadence's Chinese culture and Matt's Filipino culture was shown in this book. It is rare to see this type of asian representation in a romance novel! I loved reading about Matt's interactions with his family as it all felt close to home.

This was a cute, easy read and I loved both main characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader's e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE ! Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy .

Circling Back to You was such a fun and cute read. I love jumping into books that make it easy, relate to the characters and have fun. Candace and Matt have this fun , shy banter with a little grump thrown in. It's a nice change that the lead characters had real life problems, weren't assholes and I love a good HEA.

Book includes
- A work place romance
-Loss of a loved one
-Fake Dating
-Friends to lovers
-fun chemistry

Circling back to you was a 4 star read for me. Cant wait to see what Julie Tieu writes next !!!

CADENCEMATT MY BFFSSSSS


so here’s the thing. i REALLY enjoyed this. it was a fun quick read. my only problem happens a the very beginning. when the book first starts the author makes it seem like cadence has been crushing on her coworker who she is not very close to, which is fine. BUT THEN suddenly they’ve been best friends this whole time and he out of the blue has feelings for her???? anyway, that was my only problem because it felt too sudden. But aside from that I HAD A GREAT TIME. Cadence and Matt are fun characters and I love them. Goodbye.

I loved the concept of romance in the corporate world (rang very true and close to home!). In practice I didn’t connect with the writing style. Thank you for the chance to preview!

I so wanted to be into this book but 30% in and I just, couldn’t. The dynamic between Matt and Cadence is uncomfortable in a weird way instead of a cute way. Josie made a lasting impression as a cockblock and I don’t like any of the characters. Cadence acts unnecessarily hostile towards Matt which I can understand just barely, but still not a fan of. Matt is a darling and if I do come back to this book it’ll be only for him, and maybe his lola.

This was such an adorable read! Matt and Candence are coworkers who go from friends to lovers in a really realistic and sweet way. I think the characters had a lot of chemistry and Tieu did a really good job of showing the struggles of moving on from grief and the pressures that children of immigrants feel to live up to expectations of their family. The romance itself felt really well developed and I enjoyed the their banter and intimate moments.
4/5
*Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers, for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Julie Tieu’s Circling Back to You is a fun contemporary romance between Cadence Lim and Matt Escanella. They are close friends who have spent numerous years working for Prism Realty. The scene heats up when they find each other out of the office!

i tried to like this book but it was just so hard to get through. i found certain parts of it boring and the main character to be unlikeable. i’m all for a grumpy heroine but she was just miserable. i prefer to relate to MC’s of the books i read and couldn’t relate to her at all. it’s nice that matt was such a nice guy, considering most of the books i read are of brooding, grumpy men. he was sweet. but the chemistry lacked. i loved the diversity between our MCs and really wanted to love the co-workers trope in this one. it really lacked for me and felt too obvious. like it didn’t feel like the reason that they hadn’t crossed the boundary from friends to lovers lacked. i’m sure that some people will love it, but it just wasn’t for me!

I really enjoyed this book. I especially loved the family dynamics and how thoughtfully and perceptively those were portrayed by Ms. Tieu. Cadence and Matt fit each other perfectly. The workplace dynamics were also spot on. And it even included some K-drama beta references like a piggyback ride and the guy picking up pharmacy supplies. Highly recommend!

I would give this 3.5/3.75 stars.

This book is one that I can see will be very popular with readers...it has many great elements like friends to lovers, workplace romance, kind of fake dating-but if that's your favorite trope, don't expect too much, diverse characters...and those are the themes that I really enjoyed within this book. The story follows the evolving relationship of Cadence and Matt, two coworkers who find themselves on a business trip together to Matt's hometown, leading to a "fake dating" plot for the two of them. As they fall in love they're also dealing with strained familial relationships and meddling.

This book was mostly light hearted...not so much a comedy, but just a romance. I did enjoy it for the most part but I had issues with the pacing. I felt like the story started off strong (maybe a bit fast, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles) and ended strong, but the middle of the book felt sluggish. This can usually be helped if the chemistry was off the charts between Cadence and Matt, but in all honesty, it felt a little lackluster. I think I didn't get as invested in their relationship either because Cadence can be kind of mean at times, while Matt comes off as sweet and cute the whole time...I definitely still liked them together for the most part, but there were moments when I didn't.

All in all, this is a book filled with diversity and cute scenes, and while I didn't love, love, love it....I really did enjoy it most of the time.