If you love enemies to lovers trope then this is for you. This book was sweet and filled with tons of moments that made me smile. Olivia has taken over running Lunar Love, her grandmother’s matchmaking business based on the Chinese zodiac signs. When she meets a man that she potentially might be interested in, but this man isn't just so random person, instead she learns that he's a rival matchmaker whose building an app also based on the same premise as her business. They end up making a matchmaking bet and so the story unfolds. The plot was fun and fresh and i really liked both characters very much. A cute read.

Old school meets new school in this contemporary romance— Olivia’s all about tradition, taking over the family matchmaking business, Lunar Love from her grandmother. Since its inception, Lunar Love has focused on traditional in-person connections. Enter the competition, Bennett, who thrives on modernizing matchmaking with technology. Through coincidental encounters and interesting discoveries, Olivia and Bennett’s lives intertwine in some sweet and unexpected ways.

I absolutely ate this romance up. This is exactly how you do a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers. For two individuals with opposing viewpoints, they complemented each other so well. This is what makes successful relationships in my eyes. To not let your differences tear you apart but to let it challenge you and bring you together. Olivia and Bennett were a yin and yang balance of a relationship. I was fully invested in their relationship and rooting for them the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Happy (belated) Lunar New Year! I picked up Lunar Love a couple weeks after the Lunar New year and it was a fun introduction to Chinese zodiac. I loved the matchmaking business and family background tied into Olivia and Bennett’s love story. Enemies (in this case, business rivals) to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this one did not disappoint. Lunar Love is a sweet, fun and unique romance, perfect for this time of year!

Thank you, Grand Central Publishing (Forever) and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book.

4/5 stars

One of my favorite tropes, enemies to lovers. This rom-com was cute and refreshing. I learned so much about the culture which was a great build in the story.

DNF @20%

I had a lot of hope for this book after the first chapter. It was well written and I liked the premise. It went downhill pretty fast after that. It didn’t seem like the author could decide what the characters motivations were and they just kept throwing different thing out there hoping the readers would relate to one. The main character was also supremely unlikable.

ARC generously provided by NegGalley and publisher in exchange for fair and honest review.

Always a matchmaker, never a match...
Olivia Huang Christenson is excited-slash-terrified to be taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking business. But when she learns that a new dating app has made her Pó Po’s traditional Chinese zodiac approach all about “animal attraction,” her emotions skew more toward furious-slash-outraged. Especially when L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app that could destroy her family’s legacy . . .

Liv knows better than to fall for any guy, let alone an infuriatingly handsome one who believes that traditions are meant to be broken.

Lunar Love is a romance novel that I needed. With the romance genre being heavily dominated by white authors, it makes me happy to see more and more authors of color make their debut in the genre. Lunar Love follows Liv and Bennet who both run matchmaking businesses that involved the Chinese Zodiac. Liv has recently inherited her grandma's business, Lunar Love, which has been around for over fifty years. Bennet is the creator of ZodaicCupid which is a dating app that incorporates the Chinese Zodiac into its algorithm. Throughout the novel, you follow both of them go head to head in order to promote their business along with the bet they strike. Both of them will find a match for each other and the first person who falls in love first loses.

Lunar Love was more than a romance novel to me. It was one that showed both main characters learning and relearning how to be vulnerable and navigate in their culture. It talks about loss along with topics surrounding one's legacy in a family business.

What impressed me about Lauren Kung-Jessen’s debut novel was how it truly was a love letter to family, tradition, Chinese food and culture. Lunar Love, while rooted in reality, reads like a fairytale at times even when there are moments of sadness, as things always have a way of working out without too much fuss. The book also does an amazing job of delving into the history of the Chinese zodiac and how it can be used in matchmaking. I loved the character zodiac charts that were included in the book, as this bonus material, along with the recipes and the author interview, made the overall reading experience more enjoyable.

In spite of all that, Lunar Love, sadly, wasn’t it for me. I do appreciate how Bennett was actually a soft-hearted and good person and not an arrogant tech bro, which unfortunately is more common than not in these enemies/rival-to-lover type romances. And I love how both he and Olivia were able to bond over the unique experiences of being half-Asian. It was so obvious early on that even without the family connection, Olivia and Bennett would be good for each other, not just professionally but romantically. This is why I was disappointed in how Olivia acted towards Bennett, who, for the most part, did not do anything to deserve her wrath. Their romantic chemistry also definitely took some time to develop,, but it does have its adorable moments, so I can see why this book has many fans. Still, I personally felt that while its great that the harsh realities of running a small business was never sugarcoated, it doesn’t justify how cut throat Olivia was and this ended up putting a damper on way the love story that was meant to happen between the two matchmakers unfolded.

What a fantastic debut novel for Lauren Kung Jessen! 💖

The story is a rivals to lovers trope based around Chinese culture and tradition. The author does a beautiful job of unfolding the relationship between the two main characters while also telling a deeper story about Asian culture, family, tradition and how to honor our ancestors while still paving our own path. As someone who is also half Asian and half white, raised by my Filipino family, I saw so much of my own life in this story. I loved being able to relate on so many levels with the main character. This book was beautiful and I loved every bit of it!

<b>The Good</b>
The chemistry between Olivia and Bennet great at their very first meeting. This books takes care to make you understand where both of them are coming from and why they hold their own beliefs. I love rivals to lovers and also the leads having to match someone with someone else. It's a very interesting concept. I am interested in the Chinese zodiac so this aspect was very interesting to me.

<b>The Bad</b>
I don't like lying as a plot device in romance books. It made it hard for me to like them together at the beginning. I also understand that them being incompatible was the point of the message of the book, I really wish that Olivia's traditional beliefs weren't presented as stiff and unyielding while Bennet's were presented as going with the times and must be conformed to. I also don't think one zodiac app would be able to cause the downfall of her family business when there are dozens of them for years. People who can afford personal matchmaking are not the same people using dating apps. I also wish they showed more of the matchmaking actually working rather than it being constantly retcon'ed like "actually none of us were matched this way so your lifelong devotion means nothing!".


<b>The Rating</b>
I give this book a <b>2/5🌟 rating.</b> I wanted to love this book but it frustrated me more than anything.

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I adored this book so much! Lunar Love is an enemies to lovers rom-com filled with sweet and fun banter, lovable characters, and many references and interesting tidbits about Chinese American culture and the Zodiac. Liv owns a Zodiac match making business that has been in the family for 50 years, when Bennet comes along with his own Zodiac app that threatens decades of tradition.

This is a perfect February read and I look forward to discovering more from this author in the future!!

Sweet for both its chaste kisses and its numerous tasty-sounding baked goods, Lunar Love follows two matchmakers with different approaches to love, and how they eventually find ways to compromise, merging tradition with modernity, data science with emotional intuition, and rules with chance. The story also celebrates family, and the ways lives link together over multiple generations. I enjoyed learning a bit more about the Chinese zodiac and it was fun to revisit some of L.A.'s landmarks after years away. Overall, a joyful love story with a heroine who makes a lot of mistakes, but who grows toward a more nuanced view of life, love, and even the moon.

This book literally feels like a warm hug! What a lovely history. Full of asian culture, romantic feelings and a lovely couple. I loved Liv/Bennet relationship
I loved their relationship and how it was built into a loving relationship
It was the perfect book to kick off Lunar New Year!
An amazing rivals to lovers romcom

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC.

I was really excited about being able to read this one, and it did not disappoint! It was so fun, sweet, and swoony! I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers, so having this added to it all made it that much more enjoyable! Olivia and Bennett are a perfect pair. I liked that they both worked in dating businesses! Olivia’s was a traditional Chinese zodiac matchmaking passed down from her family, while Bennett’s was a modern app. This put them as rivals! These two are are now in a bet to find each others matches, the kick is they also have to chaperone one another’s dates! Seriously enjoyed these two and seeing how they fell for each other! Such a sweet romance!

Thank you to Forever publishing & NetGalley for approving me to read this book. I'm so grateful and was truly so excited when I received my approval.

First, I'd like to say Lauren Kung Jessen has created such a wonderful story with Lunar Love. This debut novel gave me all the feelings from happiness, sadness, worry and so much more. I genuinely didn't want to put this book down whenever I had to. Lunar Love, gave me that true rom-com feel and even at moments felt like I was watching a movie, which I truly loved.

Olivia, is a strong, determined individual who has her reasonings for being the way she is, but learning about her past, seeing her family, the family business ( which is Lunar Love) and their closeness made me love her storyline so much. With Lunar Love, she had her Po Po and Auntie to guide her until it was her time to take over and make it something new but also keep it true. Although she tended to be stubborn, it was clear she had ever right to. She just wanted true love, structure and others to find love as well, Her heart was in the right place but I think Bennett coming into her life, helped her to open up.

Bennett, he's full of random facts, new ideas and such a good heart. While reading, he automatically got added to my favorite book boyfriends list. His story touched my heart and made love learning about him and why he started the business that he did. He had some things he wasn't willing to break his shell for, Olivia brought it out him and in the end I feel like they both blossomed.

Them together was such fun banter, authentic connections and lots of understanding. Truly, by the end of the book I was squealing, swooning and just so incredibly happy for them. They made being opposite and having differences okay, because at the end of the day LOVE is what is important not just the compatibility you may or may not have.

Lastly, I really enjoyed gaining more knowledge about Chinese zodiacs and traditions. Though both main characters come from mixed backgrounds their ability to try and learn and represent their Chinese roots was lovely to see, not only did they learn on their own, but also together.

This is the perfect novel and I'll highly request it to anyone. 5 stars!

Tropes: enemies to lovers

One Sentence Summary: Olivia is a mixed race Chinese American young woman who has recently taken over her family’s Chinese zodiac-based matchmaking business, but it’s threatened when a new dating app based on the Chinese zodiac pops up and Olivia decides to bring it down no matter how attractive and charming it’s developer is.

My thoughts:

Being Chinese American myself, I was intrigued by the idea of a matchmaking service that’s based on the Chinese zodiac, especially when I had a hope Lunar Love would take place in LA. Most fiction involving Chinese and Chinese American characters has been largely hit and miss for me considering I wasn’t raised with the most traditional parents and grandparents, but I hoped that this one having mixed race Chinese American characters would have more for me to identify with. On that front, I ended up very pleased, but, as this is also a romance, I was disappointed with the sheer predictability.

Olivia has just been handed the reins of her family’s matchmaking business in LA’s Chinatown, and she wants to do her best to keep it the same, to do things the same way her grandmother had when she first opened its doors decades before. But she can’t hide from the fact that, with modern devices offering modern solutions to dating, they’re losing business, no matter how much care and consideration they take in making matches. But this idea is also impacted by Olivia’s own history of dating someone who wasn’t compatible with her. Then she runs into Bennett, who, it turns out, has just released the beta version of his upcoming dating app, which is also based on the Chinese zodiac, but not as rigidly as Olivia’s matchmaking service. The two immediately butt heads over it, so they challenge each other to find a match for each other using their respective services.

It was undeniably fun watching them, but I could smell the story’s route from a mile away. Olivia tried to hide her tracks a bit by hiding behind her belief that matches must be compatible and by trying really hard to not actually fall for Bennett. But Bennett is really such a good guy and he’s almost perfectly transparent. I almost wanted to knock Olivia over the head and get her to see sense, but she’s quite a stubborn character almost right up to the end. I adored Bennett and everything about him, but I especially admired his flexibility and adaptability. Olivia was a bit harder to come to terms with. She’s so rigid and stubborn and will use any little thing to get out of falling for Bennett. It was almost annoying, especially towards the end. I mean, I absolutely understood her, but she just felt mired in the past when literally everyone else around her was catching up to the times.

Fortunately, everything else in the book made up for the fact that the romance was predictable and Olivia was annoying. Having been born and raised in LA County into a Chinese American family, I grew up going to Chinatown and exploring the larger area. It was fantastic to explore areas I knew and had visited in this book, and I loved there was a lot about food. Lunar Love spoke to my soul in these ways. It took me places I haven’t been in a long time, and gave me foods I had grown up with. But it also gave me traditions I both knew and wasn’t familiar with. Olivia and Bennett, having grown up in mixed families, are still learning the traditions themselves, just like I am. I felt a kinship with them as these traditions popped up in their lives. Some were familiar to me, and others were brand new. But it really made me feel like I could identify with this book despite not being mixed race.

Lunar Love is a sweet, fun romance. It’s cute, but predictable. I didn’t like that I could see it a mile away, and I disliked even more that Olivia just put up hurdles all over the place simply because she wanted to. Bennett was just such a good sport through the whole thing, and I got the sense he really preferred to have Olivia than win the bet, which was just so sweet. But the things I loved were really how the story blended the traditional with the modern, showing how each has its place even as time goes on; the LA setting; the food; and the absolutely delightful secondary characters. Their friends, co-workers, and families were all delightful, so this book was filled with some really fun personalities, and plenty of opportunities for Olivia to grow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

"It's as though Bennett's the painter and I'm the canvas; every kiss a stroke of the brush, revealing, little by little, the unexpected masterpiece that is our embrace. "

🏮Chinese Zodiac matchmaking
🏮Set in Los Angeles
🏮Rivals to lovers

I really enjoyed Lunar Love. It was the perfect book to kick off Lunar New Year!

Being of mixed Asian decent, I appreciated that representation and thought Lauren Kung Jessen did a great job with it. I have an interest in zodiacs and matchmaking, so this was the perfect book for me! I usually like spice in my books; this one has no spice, but it was such a great story that I didn't even notice. I loved Bennett. I mean who doesn't love a man who's always coming through with delicious food. ❤ I really felt the chemistry between Bennett and Olivia. What a great love story with some very beautiful quotes. Highly recommend if you are looking for a light hearted, no spice romance.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC.

Instagram Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CoJgzYarCdk/?igshid=OGQ2MjdiOTE=

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5049450478

"I know that you're curious and smart as hell, that your eyes look like milk chocolate in the sunshine, that when you're not sure what to say, you bite your bottom lip.[...]I also know that my worries don't feel so heavy when I'm with you, and that your laugh is my new favorite sound."

Olivia Huang Christenson is finally getting the chance to take over her families chinese zodiac led matchmaking service. The pressure is definitely there to make sure the family legacy thrives with her... but it's not easy when there's a new app floating around that also uses chinese zodiac matchmaking. It's really not easy because its founder is Bennett O'Brien, the man she may or may not have flirted with and definitely is attracted to.

Now that she's deemed him the enemy, the two of them create a little competition... They each have to find each other successful love matches using their matchmaking respective services.

_______________________

A wonderful debut from Lauren Kung Jessen.

It took me a while to warm up to Olivia. With the competition, Olivia goes a little off the rails when she first finds out he's behind the app, and is rigid in holding onto zodiac matchmaking. The author does a good job of explaining why Olivia behaves like this, but it was still a bit much right off the bat. Bennett isn't without flaws too, but I found him a lot softer and more reasonable when it came to the business / competition between them. Regardless of their spats, I think they had really great communication and worked through this well together by the end.

The representation in this book was fantastic. Jessen made it so that we could step into this world, this culture, even if you're not a part of it. We get to see the family dynamics, the traditions, the food, and everything Olivia holds near and dear to her heart expressed through her culture and family in this book. I love that Olivia and Bennett had a shared experience of being half chinese and what that meant to both of them.

A great rivals to lovers story that brings culture and generational influence into the mix to create strong characters. Olivia and Bennett working past their business competition and falling for each other was so endearing, because they really could see and understand each other in such a unique way. The story was sweet, emotional, and a great time. I am so excited to see what else Jessen writes.

Thank you Netgalley, Forever Grand Central Publishing, and Lauren Kung Jessen for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

-4 stars

Ok this book was absolutely phenomenal i read it as a group read And so glad i had people to chat with about how amazing it was

I really wanted to like this book, but it just fell flat for me. The characters didn't feel realistic and to me the FMC reads young and lacks depth. I couldn't really connect with the characters or plot so it seemed to drag and repeat. I was also confused that the MC are in their late 20s/early 30s and are just now learning their heritage. I understand its a mixed family but the female main character is very very close to her Chinese family - why is she only learning marriage, death, cultural practices now?

It also felt like the motivations were shallow for the main character. In many cases she made decisions that affected years of her life on a split second decision without ever questioning them. As a personal pet peeve I also don't like deception plot lines - they feel childish and are difficult to resolve without anyone being at fault. So the whole fake dating at the beginning wasn't a great start for me. It also felt like there was constant waffling, she hates him, but then goes to the pitch meeting to support him, but she still hates him. It felt hard to follow how she felt about the MMC and why at any point in the story.

Lastly, the focus on compatibly, I think this might be a cultural misunderstanding but I could not wrap my head around why this was such a big deal to the FMC. I don't know if it wasn't explained well enough or if I just missed it, but it felt like it was supposed to be a huge deal and I just could not get why.

A lot of people seem to really love this book so I think this might be a case of it's me, not you.