~ Workplace setting
~ Friends to Lovers
~ Grumpy/Sunshine
~ Fake Dating
~ Amazing Banter
~ Hilarious meddling family


I absolutely loved this book!
Circling Back to You follows two workmates Cadence and Matt and their relationship as it grows outside of work when they are on a work trip near their families and may have to fake date for a little bit 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Their conversations, the banter, Matt and Cadence teasing each other. They were so funny and real and I loved every seen where they were interacting with each other.
I enjoyed seeing their relationships with their family. Also, this book dealt with grief and how that effects the family dynamic. I felt like the serious things in this book were talked about well and didn't over power the lighter moments. I really liked how at different parts of the story, the main characters relationship wasn't quickly changing or facing immediate problems. They were able to just be. Their relationship felt real. Something believable in real life and I really appreciated that. This was a light and sweet contemporary romance that made me smile and laugh so many times! I really enjoyed Julie Tieu’s writing style and storytelling and would totally read more from her in the future.


Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love this book just as much as the donut trap it's a fun friends to lovers work place story and it was fun to see how Matt and cadence romance started to bloom and take off I loved this book and I will read again

I was really excited for this read! I love a good rom com, and was hoping this would be a unique new take on the work romance ploy. However I had a really hard time getting through it. The two main characters had their cute moments but felt like the book involved too much about their work, and too little about their romance. Overall, it was okay as romance books go.

Cadence and Matt are co-workers who have always been friends, despite their coworkers thinking they might have a romantic relationship. When a work trip takes them to their hometown, they each have to deal with family events, and their extra time together leads to some feelings between the two.

There was a lot happening in this book - not only was their relationship a major part of the story, but there was a plotline dealing with a work project, and both Cadence and Matt had some family drama going on. This led to a lot of side characters and subplots that were sometimes distracting and hard to keep track of. It also felt that some pieces of the story progressed a bit too quickly. While there was nothing I disliked about this book, I was not as engaged with it as I expected to be.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I always love a fake dating trope, and this one was a workplace romance paired with fake dating.

The best way for me to describe this one is grumpy Jim and Pam go to California.

There were things about this book I liked and things that didn’t land for me. Cadence’s personality was often a turn off as she did things I didn’t agree with and didn’t understand at times.

I did enjoy reading about the moments where Cadence and Matt were together. The way they ended up in California together was also kind of not believable for me (if any employer wants you to work on vacation, run), but the time in CA and family dynamics were interesting. Plus, I must say I enjoyed their banter and forced proximity.

I couldn’t relate to Cadence well, but her reactions to things also felt like they too held a purpose as she dealt with her own struggles.

I recommend this one to those who love workplace rom coms!

Thank you to Harper/Avon and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The corporate lingo as a title is what drew me in, but the books itself kept me going. I enjoyed this book and appreciate the tropes ranging from office romance, friends to lovers, and fake dating!

It was a refreshing change how the characters were analysts instead of working in literature/journalism. The progression of the relationship between Cadence and Matt was enjoyable and I appreciated the differing family dynamics, though I did hit a point 50% through that I needed to take a break because the plot seemed to slow down. Once I got back into it though, the plot stayed lively and it was easy to finish.

This was fine - I found the protagonist to be a little too rough around the edges, but I enjoyed the office friends to something more approach. I just wish our mc hadn't been so abrasive. Especially when the hero is such a golden retriever/puppy dog.

I love rom-coms, but this book didn't do it for me. The main female character felt too unrealistic and the banter seemed forced.

This was a sweet friends to lovers, dual perspective workplace romance between two Asian American co-workers who get thrown together on a trip. Forced proximity, fake dating, more steam than you usually get from this author and a lot of complex family dynamics had me speeding through this new book with pure enthusiasm. Recommended for fans of Suzanne Park. Much thanks to NetGalley and Avon for my advance review copy!

I really wanted to love this book as it hits on some of my favorite tropes: friends to lovers, workplace romance, fake dating... But I had a really hard time with this one. I felt like there was almost no chemistry between Cadence and Matt. I also really struggled with the amount of "shop talk" that was in the first 30% or so. I felt like they talked more about real estate and the ins and outs of their jobs than "friend" things which made it really hard for me to connect to them and want to keep reading.

Unfortunately at about the 50% mark, I decided to DNF because I could just not form a connection to the story or the characters. This one was just not for me.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This romance novel was so enjoyable to read. I love the aspect of them being coworkers that actually got along and who were friends prior to when the story starts in the book. I am always a lover of the fake dating trope, and the way it was used and incorporated into this story was so well done. Through the story they end up seeing each other in a different light than they had before, and feeling begin to bloom and surface between them. Through the ups and downs of this book they fight to remain together and not let the romance between them take a back seat anymore. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I enjoyed this book - not as much as some of the others in this genre & with these tropes, but definitely more than others I have read. It is a friends to lovers, own voices, miscommunication trope, will they/won't they book, and it fills the void of a lighthearted read if that is what you are looking for. I appreciated the cultural elements of this book, considering I don't come from a Chinese background, it was nice to have Julie incorporate her culture into the book, thus making it stand out from other books I have read in this genre. But overall the book was a little too trope-y for my taste - though this isn't fundamentally a bad thing! It just wasn't what I think I was looking for when I was reading right now. It has a HEA/HFN, but it was unique and I appreciated that. Overall this was a nice read.

Happy Book Birthday to Circling Back to You by @julietieuwrites 🥳🥳
Thanks to @netgalley for an e-ARC of this awesome book!
Cadence Lim has her life together, she’s moving up the corporate ladder and she has her apartment and routine in the Bay Area. Yet every year she makes the trip back to the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles to visit her estranged Dad and brother. This year things take a twist when suddenly her work bestie, Matt Escanilla is sent to Los Angeles for work at the same time. He enlists Cadence’s help in the office & outside of work at a family event. The two figure out their mutual attraction but can they make it work while also continuing to work together? And why does Cadence make a yearly trip to LA? Will Matt’s family behave long enough for Cadence to pass their tests? Will Cadence’s Dad finally open up to her about his life and health? Please read this awesome book to find out! 💕
I loved the themes Tieu writes about here including family drama and bonding, first-gen immigrant struggles, grief and love, and community supporting each other. Also, Matt and Cadence are so hot together! 🥵😍💕

This was a great friends to lovers mixed with a fake relationship story and I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🔥
Tropes: Workplace romance, friends to lovers, AAPI main characters, family oriented, Cali setting

I really enjoyed this book. It was so much deeper than a typical romcom, it discussed belonging and family dynamics. I resonated with the main character in that she struggles to feel like she fits in and questions if her job is going nowhere. The romance in this book was definitely the most realistic, raw relationship I’ve read about in RomCom. The couple deals with real struggles including life diverging, potential long distance, parents getting older and needing help. Overall would definitely recommend this book.

Cadence has a crush on coworker Matt, but she's focused on her career and treats him with cool professionalism. They're sent on a business trip to LA—where both their families live—and he asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family event. Will their fake relationship turn real?

This is a smart, complex story with a lot of moving parts. Both characters are hoping to get a promotion, which splits their focus between their career goals and each other. It takes a long time for them to soften and let down their emotional walls.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Circling Back to You progressed very quickly, which left me struggling to keep up. I wished that there had been time for more development or explanation of Cadence and Matt's relationship. There was a lot going on and it just fell a little short for me.

A reverse grumpy/sunshine trope wrapped in a workplace romance with Asian representation.

Matt and Cadence are working together in a real estate brokerage company as a broker and analyst respectively, having this kind of work-husband and work-wife relationship. They kept their attractions at bay until they decide they couldn't, not anymore.

This was a fast read and just took me around three sittings to finish. I found this entertaining enough to keep me going but not enough to make me feel deeply towards it.

Cadence came off as rude and condescending most of the time that I found it hard to connect with her. I admired her work ethic, though, I give her that. Matt, on the other hand, is your typical cinnamon roll hero who's not hard to fall in love with. They may make for good individual characters but I found their relationship lacking. There was no real sizzling chemistry and I even wondered what drew Matt to Cadence aside from her being attractive in a pencil skirt.

Also, as I belong in a Filipino household myself, I found the extended family relationships down to their meddling and gossiping relatable, HA.

Pretty enjoyable read if you're looking for the above mentioned tropes.

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager, NetGalley and the author for my early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me all the feels! Mat and Cadence we're so cute. It was just the romance I was craving. Her workplace observations were so relatable and I'm glad she always stood up for her self. I like that the story explored their families dynamics.

Overall a great read that i will be recommending to my friends.

Cadence Lim is the analyst for Prism Realty in San Francisco. Her cubicle partner is Matt a real estate broker.
They both secretly like each other but haven't said anything. Until they are both asked to work on a new proposal for a client in LA.

This was a fun workplace romance. I loved the banter between Matt and Cadence. I seriously cried when Cadence met Matt's family and his Mom was so nice.