2.5 stars. This rom-com was a bit lackluster. Cadence and Matt work together at a real estate agency. Matt is the nice guy, sweet and considerate, sleeps around a bit but not too much. Cadence has no time for romance. She is no nonsense, sends money home to her brother and elderly father and has a slight crush on Matt. Matt is up for a big promotion which would entail a move from San Francisco to Los Angeles so Cadence really thinks a relationship with Matt would be stupid if he's going to leave. They end up fake dating on a work trip to help out Matt who told his family he had a girlfriend to get them to stop pressuring him to find someone.

The problems that I had with this novel include why the fake dating trope, they were sleeping together (in mostly fade to black scenes). Also, Cadence was quite unlikeable, brusque even a bit mean to Matt. The story just kind of didn't know what direction to take and I ended up not caring that much. I liked that they were Asian American, you don't see that too much without it being a cliche and so this novel had that going for it but not too much else.

This romance did something that I have either rarely, or possibly never seen? Made me root for the couple, but actually showed them getting annoyed or not totally vibing with each other the entire time. It was really refreshing! Definitely worth the read! Tha k you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

Matt is Cadence's "work husband" and vice versa. Cadence hates the office gossip surrounding her and her work best friend, but that's what happens in a cubicled office. When they both get sent from SF to LA to nail a business deal, their relationship complicates. Family drama, pining feelings, and miscommunication abound in this friends to lovers romance.

This story was cute and fun! I appreciate when writers include deeper emotional situations in their novels. This one specifically deals with family death and deep family issues. It adds to the richness and bonds the reader to the characters. I really enjoyed this book!

I enjoyed this book - but it's hard to articulate why? I felt it was slightly too long, but I did enjoy this workplace romance with some fake dating thrown in, the emphasis on culture and family, the diverse representation, and the California setting.

I think this was a cute book, and I will definitely highlight on my Bookstagram.

There is no denying that Julie Tieu loves writing about love, and it definitely shows in her sophomore novel CIRCLING BACK TO YOU from Avon Books. Julie joins us on the podcast to talk about how she found her way in the world of all things rom-com. Julie introduces us to Candice and Matt, the ultimate "will they/won't they" couple working in the real estate business. Their friendship blooms into an office romance, but when climbing the professional ladder proves to be a roadblock from love, they must figure out what they are willing to sacrifice and keep.

Cadence and Matt are coworkers and best friends, but they've been suppressing their feelings for each other for years. But during a work trip to Los Angeles their relationship's tested and suddenly romance doesn't seem all that bad.

I felt like this novel had a bit of a slow start, but the plot picks up when they're in Los Angeles. The characters in this story are interesting while Cadence and Matt are compatible it's interesting that they both look at family in different ways.

I think this is the perfect novel for those who enjoy friends to lovers and a bit of an office romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙏𝙞𝙚𝙪, 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚.

After reading The Donut Trap last year I wanted to pick up Julie Tieu’s latest novel, and I’m glad I did. I find her books to be really quick and light contemporary romance reads.

In this romance, we follow a fake-dating trope between Cadence and Matt in an office setting. I enjoy it when we follow two colleagues who have romantic feelings toward each other. The banter between the characters was very well developed.

I loved that Julie includes the characters’ families and their dynamics. I think it’s so important when romances don’t just focus on the romantic connection between our MCs, but also on their family and background.

I felt like I got to know the characters so well with this kind of writing style, the amount of talk about the families just added so much more joy to the story.

I felt like both characters were relatable from early on. They both want the best for themselves and want to succeed in their careers. They’re both working on improving their lives in the best way possible, and I felt more attached to them because of that.

I really liked how the author included the struggles and amount of growth these characters had to get through.

Overall, this was such an enjoyable and lighthearted read. I loved the romantic feeling between the characters and their family dynamics. I will be picking up more from this author and I highly recommend this for a quick, light, and enjoyable contemporary romance!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy, all thoughts are my own!

Read if you enjoy:
✨ Office romance
✨ Fake dating
✨ Dual POV
✨ Friends to lovers

@julietieuwrites has done it again. I read The Donut Trap from this author last year and had such a great time, that I was so excited to get to Circling Back to You.

It has so many tropes that I am a sucker for. You will always get me with friends to lovers and an office romance.

The writing and story drew me in and had me rooting for Cadence and Matt.

If you haven't picked this one up yet, go ahead and do yourself a favor and run to your favorite bookstore now!

Circling to You are so endearing! modern romance at the office? Please, yes! The novel itself was a lot of fun and a great example of a modern romance that you shouldn't miss. Asian representation and discussion of culture and familial values were also present. Although I thought Matt's character was more engaging, Cadence had a strong sense of empowerment that I liked.

Cute and quick read overall. romanticism at work. fake dating. The characters were written well.

Circling Back to You is so charming! An Asian American contemporary workplace romance? Yes please! It's everything you wanted too, in the middle of—ehm—rise of Asian main character paired with white love interest, this romance book have an Asian American heroine and an Asian American hero/love interest! It's already a big point plus for me. The book itself was very fun, and a very solid contemporary romance that you wouldn't want to miss.

I'm always ready for a friends to lovers, work place romance like Circling Back to You. Cadence and Matt are both feeling the pressure from their traditional families to settle down and focus less on work - and neither of them plan to do that. Friends at work, they are sent on a business trip and a fake dating scheme is concocted (because those are always a good idea, right?) to appease the parents. But as always happens with fake dating, emotions become involved.

This one was a solid romance. There was Asian representation along with discussion of cultural, family values. Matt was more interesting of a character for sure, but Cadence had the boss woman energy going that I appreciate. Overall, I enjoyed the read but it isn't one I'm likely to remember for a long time and want to circle back to (see what I did there??).

I have read this author before though and fully intend to continue reading her work. A 3 star read is not a bad read by any means.

**Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

I’m overwhelmed with galleys, and this one was published months ago, so I’m going to have to skip it:(

This was a really fun workplace romance—I enjoyed the two different POVs, and the intersection of family and work was well-developed and nuanced. Another fun romance by Tieu!

This was definitely a cute read, but it fell a little flat for me. The romance felt a bit underdeveloped and I just didn't really feel the chemistry between Cadence and Matt as much as I would've liked to.

Cute, fast read. Office romance. Fake Dating. Characters were well written. I enjoyed it very much. Fun interactions and a fast read.

This felt like a very surface level office/friends to lovers romance to me. There didn’t seem to be much conflict or reason that the two characters should not have been together. I did like the different cultural representations and the family dynamics, but the relationship between Matt and Cadence seemed a little lackluster.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager/Avon, and Julie Tieu for the e-arc of Circling Back to You in exchange for an honest review.

Circling Back to You was a cute office romance with fake dating and friends-to-lovers thrown in as well. There is some family drama (and some family drama that didn't need to be, isn't that always the case though?) but overall it was a light read. While I liked this one, it was one of those romances that I forgot about almost as soon as I was done reading it. For some reason it just didn't stick with me and probably won't be on my list to reread, which is odd, since I adored The Donut Trap... I'd give this 3.5 stars, but it just doesn't have the extra oomph to bump it up to a 4 star for me.

Thank you net galley for the arc. This was a light read. Workplace romance meets friends to lovers . The beginning was a little slow for me but I’m glad I picked it back up. Cadence and Matt are on a work trip and are near both of their families and have to do a little bit of fake dating. I love how this book doesn’t feel unrealistic like most romance books.

This was really cute. I'm white so rep wise I can't comment on it but that being said I can comment on other things like tropes! Work place romance, fake dating and friends to lovers all in one is a perfect combo. I am a huge sucker for fake dating and this did a decent job with it. If you're looking for a light and fluffy feel good romance try this.

I absolutely LOVED Julie Tieu's first book, THE DONUT TRAP, so I was disappointed to find out that CIRCLING BACK TO YOU just didn't hit the same for me. Maybe it's because of the office setting, or maybe I wasn't feeling yet another fake dating book at the moment, but I just couldn't get into it. I'm really excited to see what Julie has in store, though!