Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the opportunity to read and review this one!! Olivia Huang Christenson is both thrilled and nervous to be taking over her grandmother’s Chinese-Zodiac-focused matchmaking company, Lunar Love. She soon learns, however, that a new dating app, also focused on the Chinese Zodiac but NOT on compatibility, has surfaced, she becomes frustrated and angry. Bennett O'Brien, the founder of the app that could literally ruin her family's business, also just so happens to be a VERY eligible bachelor. Romantic rivals-to-lovers shenanigans ensue.

I really liked the premise of this one - I honestly thought it was less of a romance and more of a family, cultural, and tradition-focused story. Olivia was a VERY passionate and driven character (almost to a fault, in my opinion, but I understand that she was very set on upholding her family business's legacy). Bennett was a cute character, and evidently VERY opposite from Olivia. I liked that they ended up together and that it taught Olivia that compatibility on paper doesn't mean everything, and taught Bennett that there's more to dating than data. I enjoyed learning more about Chinese culture in this story as well (like I said, that was more impactful to me than the romance was). The character development was super strong and I loved the banter between Olivia and Bennett! I'd recommend this one for those who love sweet romances that offer MORE than just romance.

I think I saw this marketed as a hate to lovers and honestly it’s more of a will they won’t they style romcom because I don’t think there was any spot where I think they hated each other. It was more of a starcrossed lovers due to being competitors and technically incompatible matches. I really enjoyed this one, I thought it was fresh and fun and Olivia and Bennett are so cute. I could honestly see a C-drama made out of this book. I used to be obsessed with the Chinese zodiac as a kid thanks to the manga Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya so this was definitely right up my ally. I remembered reading books that take place in old world China, Japan, and Korea and reading about matchmakers and I had always wondered what happened to those businesses if the families emigrated to the US or as modern times have changed the way people look for love so this book was great at satisfying my curiosity on that front. By the end, I found myself wanting more knowledge about what happens after Olivia and Bennett finally get together and it mentions that they’re merging the two companies which is great, exactly what I wanted to see but I wanted to know more about how it was going to work. I really liked that business side of the novel and I just wanted to see more of it.

I think my only issue with this book is that it kind of felt like it over used the word tradition. Like yes Olivia, we get that you prefer a more traditional approach to matchmaking but girl you don’t have to remind us every 3 pages. I get why the author had it come up so much, but there’s only so many ways to look at that conversation.

The other thing that bothered me is that by the end of the book, everyone was an incompatible match. Like there’s no way that everyone in this family made an incompatible match for themselves. Even Olivia’s PoPo was revealed to have married someone who by definition was incompatible. They’re a family of matchmakers, there’s no way. I think it was done to show it’s more common than you think but it left me feeling like it kind of negated the whole purpose of Lunar Love.

#BOOKREVIEW 📚
Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 336 / Genre: Romance

Olivia Huang Christenson has matchmaking in her blood. So when it’s her turn to take over the family matchmaking business, she’s determined to make it succeed under her leadership. And the latest threat to the business is a dating app, which also uses Chinese astrology to match clients. And, of course, the owner of said app happens to be a hot, charismatic, half-Chinese, half-Caucasian super nice guy named Bennet O’Brien. Olivia “pretends” to be interested just to gain insight into his business but of course all the sparks are real on both sides. There’s some enemies-to-lovers and fake dating involved, and Chinese food porn but no hot sex scenes, just sweet flirting and an invested interest in seeing these two get together. I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advance copy of this book. I loved it!

This was a cute story just in time for Lunar New Year. Liv has just inherited a matchmaking business from her grandmother. This business focuses on zodiac signs to find the perfect matches. However, there is a new, rival matchmaking business that comes to town and the owner, Bennett, has some new ideas on how to present zodiac signs for folks looking for love.

If you like matchmaking and romance, this will be the book for you.

I absolutely love anything that is zodiac or astrology related, so when I saw the name of this book, I had to grab it. The chemistry between Liv and Bennett is palpable from the moment they meet, albeit it’s because they are fighting over sweets, and I don’t know that I’ve ever loved a couple more.

Imagine if you had just taken over the long standing family business, only to find out that a competitor is coming in and trying to steal your idea and modernize it. Obviously the only plan is to try and sabotage it, right?

But what happens when that plan goes wrong and in the midst of trying to bring relevancy to your company, you accidentally spotlight the new one, and fall in love at the same time?

Also Liv’s anxious tick of playing with her necklace is SO me and it made me love her even more!

I just adore this book so much. I cannot wait to get a physical copy of it for myself once it comes out, so that it can be a constant comfort read for me!

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Can two matchmakers fall head over heels in love based off of their zodiac compatibility? Olivia has just taken ownership of Lunar Love, her family’s matchmaking business that has survived three generations. When she meets Bennett, she’s quickly interested in getting to know him, until she finds out that he is the CEO of a new app based on the Chinese zodiac. When these two rival matchmakers enter into a match-off with the goal of making the other fall in love first, will they be able to deny their instant attraction to each other or find a way to work past their incompatibility?

I liked this one a lot but it had potential to be so much better. The Chinese zodiac and culture angle was unique and so did the app vs. traditional matchmaker plot. However, a lot of the story got weighed down by the main characters character (or lack there of) development which took away from developing the story or even Bennet’s arc more thoroughly.

Thanks to Net Galley, Grand Central Publishing(Forever), and Lauren Kung Jessen for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you like:

+ Non-spicy Rom Coms
+ Rivals to Lovers trope
+ 50 First Dates

I thought this was a really cute book! I really loved the zodiac romance theme in this book. It was so unique and I loved that! Once I started this book, I was hooked right away.

I thought the rivals to lovers romance between Bennett and Olivia was done so well. I thought they were such great characters and their love story was realistic. There’s also such great side characters in this book, like Olivia’s grandma Pó Po. There was so much more to this book than just romance. This story had themes of family, culture and traditions, and lessons of love. I really loved reading more about Chinese culture and zodiac signs. I thought the author did a great job with that. I would highly recommend checking this book out if you’re a fan of romance and zodiac signs!

DNF at 48%

Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. I’m never a fan of lying by omission and Olivia’s plan to infiltrate the competition was flimsy at best. The deception plot just didn’t sit well with me, especially after Bennett shared such personal information. Even after all was revealed, I didn’t like how they both reacted to the others deception. Things may pick up in the second half, but I don't feel invested enough in the characters or story to continue. I wanted so badly to love this one, but I’m putting this one down at 48%.

CW: death of parent (past), grief

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy*

This book was fine - I enjoyed the writing style and the representation. I wasn't sure why the heroine was so focused on 'compatible' matches, with seemingly no wiggle room, and I was confused because the heroine was always going on about needing clients to keep the business afloat, but also was always saying how the business was so well established. I would try another book by this author though, since this is her debut.

BOOK REC📚💫
Thank you @netgalley & @readforeverpub for this ARC! Lunar love was the perfect book to start off the year and help me with a book slump! I am a sucker for an enemies to lovers trope and @laurenkjessen did not disappoint! I love the witty banter but stayed for all of the descriptions of delicious food! If you’re looking for an easy read about two rivals fall for each other once they realize they aren’t that different after all!

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is a very cute, very sweet romance. Both protagonists are very likable, and I was rooting for them along the way. I love how the author incorporated the Chinese zodiac and the importance of family into the story. Olivia is supported by a wonderful cast of friends and family, and I loved everyone in the book. I also really appreciated LA and Pasadena as the backdrop for the story. It was genuine and obvious that the author was from/had lived in the city, which was awesome!

The writing was a bit clunky at times and it took me a bit to get into the story. Some of the dialogue moves the story forward really quickly. There would be times when I'd be like, "Wait, what?" and have to turn back the pages to make sure I didn't miss anything. However, the book is an overall enjoyable, fast read.

The romance itself is pretty PG and sweet. The author bookends the story with Lunar New Year, which works very well. Overall a very cute romance!

This was a really cute rom-com that would have hit it out of the park if there had been more character development in the beginning. I had a hard time connecting to and rooting for Olivia and Bennett because I didn’t get much backstory until very late in the book. The last quarter gave me what I had been looking for, we became invested in their relationship, but I wish that had come sooner. I really enjoyed the cultural references in the story, and thought the story was unique, I just really wanted more depth in the personality of Olivia and Bennett earlier on in their story.

What is there not to love about this book??? I loved everything!

I liked that the book just jumped right into the main situation. I don’t particularly enjoy long setups or intros. Plus it means more time in the actual drama.

Also, this book sent me down a deep dive into my Chinese zodiac. I'm the year of the Rabbit.

Lunar Love had me on a rollercoaster of emotions. Half the time, I was like save yourself and keep your business afloat. The other half, I was like he’s so sweet - date him.

Every time I thought I knew where this book was going, I was hit with a new twist, it was so much fun. Especially chapter 9. I was shook and just kept getting more shook.

The chemistry was instantly there and the build-up was so good.
The whole will they won’t they because of their drastic differences gave them many opportunities to understand each other better. The work they put in to learn about each other gave each character and their relationship a satisfying and complete arc.

When it comes to love it is unpredictable, no matter how much you try to control it. And Olivia and Bennet prove that with their incompatibility or their complimentary traits.

I’m obsessed with PoPo she’s so funny.

Thank you NetGalley, Laura Kung Jessen and Forever Publishing for the ARC.

This book reminds me a lot of The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren. It’s cute and I love how the culture of the main character was approached (I will def be trying the recipes in the back of the book!) I felt like the book was missing something and I found my attention wandering a few times.

I loved this book! I received it as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. Watching Liv and Bennett go from strangers (hello bakery meet cute) to rivals to lovers was a captivating journey and I never knew where it was going to go (besides HEA obvi). Liv’s struggle to navigate bringing her family business into modernity while also keeping true to the legacy and tradition of the Chinese zodiac shows just how much she cares about her legacy and family. And for me, one of the biggest parts is that as someone who just lost an important part of the family right before the book releases, I appreciated how the death and grieving was a celebration of their life and talking about how loved they were. I highly recommend this book and while it took me a bit to get through it (grieving and moving at the same is hard lol) I’m so glad I was able to read this story! ❤️

Thank you Read Forever for providing me with ARC to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was excited to read this story about matchmaker Olivia and her business. She is taking over the leadership role in the family business as her grandmother and Aunt have retired from the business. Unfortunately there is a dating app that has come out that seems to be similarly based on matching people up using the Lunar horoscope. Olivia is concerned about her competition and has an opportunity to go undercover to learn more about her competitor.

There were parts about this story I enjoyed reading and learning about. It was interesting to learn some of the Chinese traditions around deaths and weddings. I enjoyed reading up on this and would like to learn more about it. The story had a really nice flow to it and was cute.

I would recommend this to someone looking for a cute light read.

Its odd stereotypical and un-stereotypical at the same time. I'm glad for all the asian romance writers with asians as main characters.

This is a trope of stubborn old fashion main character with a polar opposite. I appreciate how the MC cared about traditions. Although became sort of unlikable with her reactions and not even in the love aspect, but in business.

The writing style is good and it was an easy read.

Lunar Love was the perfect, sweet romcom I didn’t know I needed.

Olivia is a very real and relatable character. Watching her struggles and seeing her grow as a character. Bennet was the perfect male lead. What I most loved about this book was the way there was a delicious tension between Olivia and Bennet and it was done without making him be a jerk. So many times in romance books the male is mean and slightly sexist. Bennet was none of those things. He was fascinating, sexy, lovable, and so interesting.

The pacing was perfect. I was never bored.

Overall, this is a great romance that has mixed race and Asian representation. It has strong family vibes, and a sweet romance. Highly recommend.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒔, 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 💗

This debut romcom was really cute and sweet! The writing is fun, and I loved the hilarious neetcute in the beginning. The banter and competition throughout the book was great - I love a good enemies to lovers. I wasn't a huge fan of the FMC Olivia, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the fun storyline. However, I loved the MMC Bennett, and I liked him immediately! Overall, if you enjoy enemies to lovers romcoms with lots of witty banter I think you will like this one! My rating would be higher if I had connected with the FMC more, I spent a lot of the time rolling my eyes at her.

📖 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮:
• enemies to lovers
• romcoms
• Chinese astrology
• matchmakers
• family business
• witty banter
• competition
• entrepreneurs

Thank you to the publisher for sharing this arc right me!

3.5⭐