Fancy Meeting You Here
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Julie Tieu

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Avon Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Every single one of Elise Ngo's close girlfriends--Rebecca, Jesse, and Beth--is getting married within the same few months, and every single one of them has asked her to be both bridesmaid and florist. Though it's a lot for her to juggle, the work and exposure is a boon to her struggling flower shop. The stakes are high at Rebecca's high-profile wedding, where the guests are mostly political connections of Rebecca's parents. Desperate for the event to go off without a hitch, Elise enlists the help of an outside caterer who turns out to be Ben Yu, Rebecca's elusive younger brother. Though Ben is prickly and aloof, he offers Elise much needed business designing flowers for his mom's campaign fundraisers and Elise begins to see there's more to Ben than his gruff and handsome exterior. But their romance takes off as the political campaign ramps up, complicating their relationship with unforeseen consequences. Now always-the-bridesmaid Elise must fight for what she wants to finally get her own happily ever after.

My Thoughts: This was a lighthearted sweet read. Elise’s friends are getting married, she is each of their’s bridesmaid and florist. Her flower shop is struggling and she needs something big to keep it afloat. Her friend Rebecca is the wedding she is most concerned about, as Rebecca’s mother is in politics and the wedding will be high profile. Enter Ben, Rebecca’s brother, and a caterer/chef. Ben enlists Rebecca’s help providing the flower arrangements for a few political events. As they spend time together preparing for the wedding, their relationship grows. However, will the relationship get sidetracked when the political campaign gears into action? Elise will have to dig deep to fight for what she wants, as she is the one in charge of her own HEA. This follows the tropes of friend’s brother, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and grumpy v sunshine.

The story is narrated in first person POV by Elise. There are a lot of characters in this story, but once you get it down, it flows nicely. Elise is kind, caring, loyal to a fault, and wants to take care of people. Ben is grumpy, broody, handsome, and charming. Then there is the friend group, to have a friend group like this in life is endearing, and even rare. Each of the supporting characters elevated the story by bringing something unique. This had both political campaign and wedding elements, which I loved. The characters were developed (I would like to have seen more development) throughout the novel, they had some depth, witty banter, chemistry, and were intriguing. The author’s writing style was creative, inspiring, funny, and kept me invested from cover to cover.

This was similar to 27 Dresses or always the bridesmaid and never the bride scenario. I was provided with the digital arc but listened to the audiobook as I am a little behind in my reviews. I loved Tieu’s other works. While this one needed a little more character development and cleaning up the plot holes, I still enjoyed this book very much and can’t wait for the next novel by Tieu. The audiobook really helped with sorting out the numerous characters and I would definitely recommend picking up the audiobook.

I did like the book overall, it was a very low-stakes romance with a ton of heart. The best friends can stand a severe talking to but, at the end of the day, the romance wasn't as believable as I wanted it to be

This book follows a florist designer who tries to save her business but begins to fall in love. The author did a great job with introducing the story as I was intrigued with the plot. However, over time, I began to like it less and less. The writing went downhill as the plot began to disappear, the conflicts became weak and the dialogue became cringy. There’s also way too much political stuff compared to romance which was a bummer. This book is also told from Elise’s pov.

Elise was a mix of great and bad FMC. I loved how strong of a character she was and never gave up on her goals but she was also boring and didn’t have any development. Now I wish we had Ben’s pov because I think that would have been better so we understood his character more. It felt like he was barely in the book even though he was the love interest and was just there when the author needed him. The other side characters, mainly the best friends, were kind of horrible friends. They were all getting married in a span of months and hiring their best friend knowing she might be struggling and not paying enough. The romance felt nonexistent as there was no chemistry and the guy was barely there.

The ending was honestly sad to the fact people realized they had been treating Elise with no care but I also stopped caring about this book. I had high hopes for it but this book was not it for me. I wish there was more to this book because there was potential with the story concept which is similar to It Ends with Us if I think about it but without the abusive boyfriend.

*this book was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Elise is spread thin. Between her three best friends getting married in the same summer and her wedding florist company struggling to make ends meet, Elise is trying to juggle keeping her friends happy and her business afloat. She has no time for love or dating or much of anything for herself. Enter Ben: her best friends brother, and hot to boot. When he’s the only person she can trust, will she find room in her busy schedule for love or will the stress tear their happiness apart before it can bloom?

Fancy Meeting You Here is a fun twist on the "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" trope because not only is our main character the bridesmaid for all of her friend's upcoming weddings - she is also the florist.

Elise is feeling stretched thin between keeping her shop afloat and her friend's happy, the burnout is getting close. She enlists the help of Rebecca (her friend)'s younger brother, Ben. Ben is stoic and snappy but is willing to give great business advice.

However, the longer they spend together the closer they get. The chaos of wedding season and politics can get in the way though.

I think this book is a great example of what it is to burn yourself to keep others warm, I have a bad habit of doing this myself and its easier from the outside looking in to say she needs to take a break. It is a good reminder to have healthy boundaries with everyone. I also really enjoyed the romance and that sometimes a grand gesture can come in the most unlikely of ways.

I think this contemporary romance was a good balance of finding oneself, especially when it comes to careers, and family expectations. This was a fast read and wish it had been a little longer.

I really enjoy reading Tieu's books and look forward to more future work.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

I loved this little romance, so many fun times between Elise and her friends, as the wedding time progresses and the tension between her and Ben. It had me GIDDY.

I love romcoms about weddings and this one was fun and lighthearted, exactly what we need right now. Can’t wait to read Tieu’s next book!

I loved Circling Back to You. It made Julie Tieu a must-read author for me, so I was excited about this one. Elise is a florist and all her closest friends are getting married. She's doubling as the florist and bridesmaid at all three weddings.

There were multiple things I loved about the book. The girls' friendships were one of the highlights. I understood Elise's desire to go the extra mile for her friends because I would do the same. I loved the cameo and the references to certain other characters, especially the mention of an extra-involved groom. My favorite part of the book is when Elise and Ben first meet each other. He assumes that she isn't the florist and they hit it off from there.

While I enjoyed the book, a lot was going on from the multiple weddings to the magazine contest. The romance is woven throughout all these with another problem that presents itself a little later. Although everything is interconnected, I kind of wish the story had focused on a few things. This is very much a reading preference on my part though.

Read this one for the friendships and the romance. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

This was a fun grumpy x sunshine always a bridesmaid never a bride romance between a busy florist who is juggling pleasing her best friends by playing BOTH bridesmaid AND florist for each of their back to back weddings.

Cue the grumpy brother of one of the friends who helps her out and always seems to be around. I really liked this on audio narrated by my fav Natalie Naudus and recommend it for fans of authors like Suzanne Park or Jackie Lau. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: open door, mild details

3 stars.

I liked "Fancy Meeting You Here" by Julie Tieu. It's not the best book of the year, nor is it my favorite book of 2023, but it's a solid read with some good banter, interesting characters, adequate humor, and great Vietnamese cultural representation. I will admit that there is a lack of chemistry between the main characters, Elise and Ben, at first, mainly because it takes a good 50% or so for their romance to get going. The execution of them getting together takes a while to unfold, and not in a pining/longing way. It's just slow-paced and rather uneventful. Elise is a wedding florist who is helping several women in her core group of friends with their weddings. She dropped out of college and is a little strapped for cash amidst starting her floral studio and business. Ben is Elise's friend Rebecca's mysterious younger brother. He is a chef and a huge grump. Initially, he doesn't seem to like Elise very much, but that's because he doesn't want to tip anyone off that he likes her. A lot. Things go from non-existent to hot-and-heavy rather quickly between the two of them. I wish there had been a bit more build-up full of swooning and pining between these two characters. The longer we get to know them, the more they grew on me. I didn't love the way Elise's friend group treated her at times. They frequently take advantage of her and her business, and honestly, don't seem like the best friends?? They clearly care for each other and have each other's backs, but it doesn't seem like they know each other as well as they think they do if she has to hide her stresses about helping with their weddings from them. I liked the parts about wedding stress, including pushy families, traditions being coopted, financial troubles, writing toasts, setting up behind the scenes, and last-minute requests for changes. Tieu handles these scenes really well, detailing the chaos in full and accurately. I think the subplot about Rebecca and Ben's mom's political career slows the book to a crawl. I love it when romance books mix in politics or political aspirations, but I found this entire subplot to be merely filler despite that it revolves heavily around their mom's campaign. The third-act breakup is wholly predictable. Still, if you're looking for a low-angst, low-toxic romance to enjoy this winter, you might find some enjoyment with this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Julie Tieu, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I've been reading Julie's work from the get-go with Donut Trap and I always love her books and fall head over heels for her character pairings! This one was no different.

THIS BOOK!! 👏🏽 I didn't know how much I could relate to this book until I started, and let me tell you, I COULD NOT STOP. I read this book all in one go, and it was so good. This book felt like it was for me. It reminded me of the group of four girlfriends I have – similar to the book, all different, but it just worked for us because 'we embrace our differences,' it was so nice to read about the girls' relationship. Not only that, but I relate so hard to Elise's struggles with her mom and Asia/Vietnamese expectations of a career/relationship/education. AND the fact that I started working in the wedding industry (on the side), I understood all her struggles and love for weddings and perfection. This book was everything and having Ben and Elise fall for each other was the icing on top. The banter was great, I was actually LOL for this one and not just in my head like most books 😉. Though it can be predictable, I didn't mind, it was the lighthearted, fluffy read we all need. This is it, READ THIS BOOK. RUN!

▫️what I liked:
- core friend group
- love wedding

▫️what I didn’t like:
- Elise needed to be more honest with everyone and herself
- I need an epilogue of Ben and Elise
- I know Ben was supposed to be the chef but he lacked this quality for me

I wanted to love this book, really I did. I was just so bored. I’m not a fan of the wedding scene and maybe that was my issue. I’m not saying that someone else wouldn’t absolutely adore this book. It just wasn’t for me and that’s okay.

This an enjoyable enemies to lovers, best friend’s brother romance.
Elise is a florist whose friends are all getting married. She prides herself on her designs, and is doing the flowers for all her friend’s weddings as well as being a bridesmaid. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a lot of stress for her.

When her friend Rebecca gets married, she hires a caterer to help out, who turns out to be Rebecca’s handsome chef younger brother Ben. Ben and Elise have a run in when they first meet, but he hires her to do the flowers for his mom’s political fundraiser. Eventually they start seeing each other, but their relationship might not survive Ben’s work on the campaign. Elise is ready for her very own HEA with Ben and wants to see her business survive as well.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

FANCY MEETING YOU HERE - JULIE TIEU
4⭐
This is a cute rom com.
Some troupes include grumpy vs sunshine,
found family, friends like family, closed proximity.
Perfect for me after I read a heavy thriller.
Thank you publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The thought of being in 3 different weddings fills me with dread - which is one of the reasons I wanted to see how this all played out. Julie Tieu is an author I love and she always makes me laugh. She did not disappoint! The address stress of being a bridesmaid for all of your close friends and being matched with someone you're not fond of is a recipe for a good time.

I wasn't fond of some of the girlfriends, but I really enjoyed the main characters.

I love Julie Tieu’s books so much. They’re always so fun but also give you some emotional parts as well. I was a little behind in picking this one up but that was on me, once I started it I flew through the book. Definitely would recommend to contemporary romance lovers!

Such a fun sweet book! I adored Elsie and Ben and together, they had great chemistry. The wedding storylines were fun and the political campaign gave the story additional tension. The chaotic but optimistic Elsie was a perfect complement to Ben's thoughtful pessimistic ways. The friendship between the four women felt real and natural with each character distinct from the other. I loved reading about the traditional Chinese wedding. Overall, a delightful rom-com I highly recommend!