I enjoyed the book and appreciated all the mention of food and pastries, Chinese culture, traditions, and more. Furthermore, I love that the book has little to no steamy scenes, thank goodness (dirty sex does not equal intimacy). I also enjoyed the heartfelt moments between Liv and Bennett and loved that the author focused on family and traditions.

However, despite the book being marketed as such, LUNAR LOVE was not a true Enemies to Lovers. Even Rivals to Lovers would be stretching it since the anger was one-sided. So, I missed the pettiness; anger turned to passion and other heightened emotions that come with a true enemies-to-lovers trope (I have not yet found a book that does this trope as well as THE HATING GAME). Additionally, I never really warmed up to Liv. Instead, I found her childish and annoyed with how uncompromising she was about certain traditions.

With that said, I loved that LUNAR LOVE pushed me to think about the term “Asian enough” as the two biracial MCs share their insecurities of not fully belonging, especially questioning if they should run the businesses inspired by the Chinese Zodiac. So I pondered the term “Asian enough,” which led to beautiful conversations.

I couldn’t get into this one after 20% so I am not the right reader. I greatly appreciate the chance to check it out.

Classic technology vs. tradition romance - it was fun to read and I enjoyed the characters and the matchmaking hijinks.

I loved having the opportunity to read Lauren Kung Jessen's Lunar Love and am eagerly awaiting the release of Red String Theory. This one is was selected as a BOTM option and is all about a matchmaker trying to find love. A must for lovers of rom coms.

What a sweet love story and wonderful debut! I loved the growth that Olivia and Bennett experienced throughout the story as well as the exploration of culture, love, matchmaking and romance.

I thought this was a cute and sweet story about Lunar New Year. I love a holiday-themed book, so this book definitely was up my alley. I also love the cover art, which is what drew me to request this book initially.

I finished this today and thoroughly enjoyed it! I listened to the narration and the it was fantastic!

Olivia and Bennett have a sweet meet cute over cocktail buns but quickly find out their businesses are competitors. Olivia is determined to protect Lunar Love no matter the cost. I loved all of their interactions and really loved Bennett! The dates they scheduled for each other as part of their bet were entertaining! I really enjoyed learning more matchmaking and the parts of Olivia’s culture. This put a huge smile on my face! I hope we get more books from Lauren Kung Jessen!

3/5

I was really excited about this book for the concept alone, but it fell short of my expectations. I expected there to be more of the Chinese Zodiac element layered with depth of Chinese culture but that was lacking. The meet cute was adorable and fun to read, it set the tone for the enemies to lovers romance tale to unfold as it did. The dates that Olivia and Bennett go on are lighthearted and enjoyable to read. All of that said, the best way I can describe this book is by relating it to light cream cheese, it’s still delicious but it feels like something is missing.

I was intrigued by the premise and wanted to see more astrology/Chinese astrology but I found the story lacking - too disjointed, too much pretense/lying. The characters, especially the heroine, were not well developed in my opinion, she read both as juvenile and stiff at the same time.

It was a mixture of writing style that didn't quite work for me and plot and character development which I found not good enough.

It might work better for other readers but this was not the right book for me.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the eARC of Lunar Love! All opinions in this review are my own.

Olivia is trying to save her family's matchmaking business, Lunar Love, but when she meets Bennett, the owner of a new dating app based on the Zodiac, she doesn't know what to do. Olivia and Bennett make a bet that they can find the perfect match for each other. Whoever is able to make the other one fall in love first using their methods will receive the prize.

I loved this romance! From Olivia and Bennett to the wager, everything about this romance worked for me. I also liked how close Olivia was to her family and how it explored her balancing remaining faithful to traditions but also trying to modernize her business.

I can't wait to read more from Lauren Kung Jessen!

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is so fun, 2 rival forms of dating and their founders accidentally falling in love? Also the Chinese zodiac elements were fun. Unfortunately I did not click with the main character, she was severely unlivable and all the moves she did to further the plot seemed unlikely and against character. The male main character was much more likable and it was hard to follow the attempt of enemies to lovers through the main character’s eyes. This one just wasn’t for me, but I would try another book by this author

I really wanted to like this book - the concept of match-making and the lunar zodiac is something I absolutely love, but the characters were very hard to like. Their dialogue felt a little juvenile and immature, and I did not live the insta-love vibes.

Sadly, this is one of those enemies (rivals?) to lovers stories that didn’t work for me because I didn’t really believe in the reason for them hating each other. I did appreciate the on-page discussion of being mixed race and not being seen as “enough.”

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for my copy to review.

just wasn’t for me sadly, wish i liked it more

thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review

I really struggled with this one! I loved the concept, but the amount of lying between to two MCs felt like too much.
- Liv feels way too stubborn, even for a stubborn MC. I really struggled with the way she rationalized certain things she did, and her thought process felt very immature at times.

I absolutely loved this totally swoony rom com. The vivid cast of side characters (especially PoPo), the mouth-watering descriptions of food, and the heaps of tension stole my heart. The rivals-to-lovers and bet/competition tropes combined were simply perfection-- I love when two characters get competitive. The beginning reminded me a bit of You've Got Mail, when Liv meets Bennet not realizing that he's her matchmaking business's tech-savvy competitor. Swoon.
I will definitely be handselling this to customers interested in the genre, like fans of Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, and Helen Hoang.

I really wanted to love this book but I found it pretty predictable and at times hard to get through. I did really enjoy all of the Chinese culture that was built into the story and I had a fun time learning more about Chinese astrology. The storyline was a little all over the place for me and lacked some cohesion. I did like the authors writing style and would choose to read another book by them.

I thought this was a sweet read with a fun and original plot! I love an enemies to lovers, and I think that was executed well, I could see how Olivia and Bennet could have a rivalry but then develop other feelings, without skewing too far in either direction making it totally unbelievable. Will definitely be looking out for more by this author!

Really wanted to love it being from an Asian American background, but the references to the lunar calendar and how it plays into love as well as the protagonist's internal struggles all made the book a little cringy. I wish the representation was more confident/stereotypical. 3 stars

Loved this book! It felt like reading a hallmark movie in the best way possible! Filled with humour, romance, and great representation, Lunar Love was one of my favourite books of the year!