Though this seems like a fitting ending for the series, it’s still bittersweet.

After honeymooning through Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband, Nathan, meet her Ma and aunties in Jakarta to celebrate Chinese New Year. Second Aunt’s long-lost love (tipped off by Fourth Aunt) surprises the family with a generous bounty of red envelopes.

Unfortunately, a gift for a business rival to secure a deal is inadvertently included. Though Meddy and the Aunties agree to return it, retrieving it is no simple matter and unleashes escalating tension among a triad of ruthless competitors.

This has the zany, over the top antics that characterize the series, and suspension of belief is required. The setting offers the Aunties a chance to reflect on their decision to immigrate to the United States. I enjoyed reading about the Chinese New Year traditions and meeting some of the extended family. In this book, Fourth Aunt also gets more of a spotlight, Second Aunt gets a romance, and Big Aunt returns to the job where she was so respected.

Sometimes the Aunties are very funny, but sometimes they can be cruel and cutting. Regardless, Meddy is expected to “respect her elders.” I know this is a cultural difference but it’s hard for me to accept when the Aunties are dismissive or worse. (I am sure the Aunties would be horrified at how I talk to my mother!)

My grandma and I once were in the San Francisco area coincidentally around Chinese New Year and caught a parade. I loved watching the dragon!

A fun conclusion to this series but didn't meet the high bar that was set by book one. The aunties are always entertaining and worth returning to but, for whatever reason, I struggled more with the plots of both books 2 and 3.

But I think this series works when you are in the right mood for it. You have to be able to suspend a lot of disbelief and just have fun.

Quality of Writing 3/5
Pacing 3/5
Plot Development 2/5
Character Development 4/5
Overall Enjoyability 3/5

The names of the criminals and the over-the-top interactions were so funny. There was so much chaos and unrealistic things that's happened especially with the aunties, that made me want to go and read the other books in the series for the interaction. Though this was a cozy mystery, there were still twists and turns, and I liked how the investigations turned out. The romance between Nathan and Meddy was also cute. I recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers who like unrealistic and fun plots. Such a fun series!

This was a cute continuation of the Aunties series. It had the pacing and dynamics that I've grown to expect from Jessie Sutanto in this series of books and she definitely delivered. While being on the scale of cozy mystery, there are still a lot of moments of levity and shenanigans that keep the story light and fun. I've enjoyed how Meddy's character has grown and progressed throughout the series and seeing Nathan's role in this story now that they're married was a really satisfying element of the story.

There are definitely a lot of characters in this book - Meddy's large family and extended network comes out in full force. This both moved the story along well and also got a bit overwhelming at times. I liked that the story was set in Indonesia - there were some interesting elements of the story that could be explored because of that setting. Although, there were a few times where it felt kind of easy to forget that they were overseas.

The drama in this book is dialed all the way up too - which makes for some amusing situations and plot lines that made me chuckle. This is definitely a madcap romp of shenanigans and humor that was light and refreshing to read. It's a quick read as well. I probably wouldn't call this a totally standalone book - it's definitely helpful to have the context of the previous stories to understand how we got to where we are with some of the main characters development.

Overall, a very fun and entertaining story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun and hilarious novel. I loved the family dynamics and characters. This book made me want to read other books in this series and anything else the author has written.

Honeymoons are supposed to be a time to relax and get to spend time with your new partner, right? So why is Meddy so stressed? Could it be because she is introducing her husband to the full extended family (close to 80 people)? Well, that could be a big part of it. It could also be the (purported) mob boss who has accidentally handed out a gift to the wrong person, but he's not quite sure who got the red envelope meant for his business rival. And, when they don't show up with the right gift, something very valuable to Meddy is held instead.
Still a crash of craziness and I think regular readers will enjoy the mayhem.

Four stars
This book comes out March 26, 2024
Follows Four Aunties and a Wedding
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

These Aunties have me in stitches every single time! This series never disappoints. Read them all for love, laughter, and family!

I was excited to see this new and last installment in Jesse Q. Sutanto's Aunties trilogy and the main question for me was, would it get repetitive and a bit stale or would it stay just as fun and over the top as before and this book delivered. It was fun and crazy with just the right amount of mystery mixed in and the Jakarta setting made the book even more special ! I loved seeing Nathan and Meddy together after having come to love them in book one and two.
The writing is still just as light, entertaining and humourous. I was entertained from the beginning right through to the end. I never knew what trouble the family would get into next, but it was so much fun to be along for the ride.
There were lots of moving parts and things happening, but there was a good pace to the story, propulsive !
The characters were excellent, yet again and there aggressively loving interaction and the humorous culture references made this book so special. Even though Meddy and her mom and aunties were constantly at odds with each other, there was an overwhelming feeling of love and loyalty which was just so nice to read.
The Jakarta setting and the description of some more elaborate mansions added to my enjoyment !

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The third and final book in the Dial A for Aunties series is here and it's another wild adventure. As with previous installments, you're definitely going to have to suspend quite a bit of disbelief at the outrageous situations this family keeps getting themselves into, but once you do that and sit back and enjoy the ride, it's quite fun. I didn't love this series quite as much as I loved this author's Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (that book made me laugh out loud more times than I can count), but you can see how they were certainly written by the same author with the same sense of humor. There was one particular plot point at the end that seemed sort of... just dropped in there that threw me off a bit. It's not that I wasn't expecting it, it's just the way it was done seemed a bit abrupt. But other than that, this was very entertaining and a a satisfying conclusion to a fun series.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this book. I really liked the first one, the second was okay, but the hi-jinks of the aunties really just lost me on this one.

This was my favorite of the Aunties trilogy, possibly because I found it the least stressful of the three to read! Meddy and Nathan are celebrating their honeymoon in Jakarta with her entire extended family, and it’s so much fun to read. The food descriptions are fantastic, and it feels like the Aunties are content and happy being around so much family.

Of course, in classic Aunties fashion, everything goes wrong! Ma drugs random people! Second Aunt breaks out the tai chi! I feel like this book does a great job of continuing the experience we’ve had with the Aunties in the previous two books - I love how each book builds on top of the conflict from the previous book, rather than introducing completely distinct issues.

This was the perfect ending to the Aunties trilogy, and I’m so pleased with the way the story wrapped up.

🤍🇮🇩🤍
📖Review
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 13/100
📚The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
💫Genre: Fiction, Mystery, & Romance
✍️Authors:
Jesse Q. Sutanto

📝Synopsis 📝
Nathan and Meddy are newly married. And right after their honeymoon, they decide to spend their Chinese New Year in Jakarta with her mom, crazy aunts, and extended family. All is good until someone gets a gift they weren’t supposed to and someone goes missing.

My thoughts 💭
Oh my goodness this book was so much fun. There was never a dull moment and ma and the crazy aunts were something else 😆 We all have a few nuts in our family but these ladies were a mischievous handful. This was my first book ever of this author and went in blind not knowing this was book 3 and the last one for that matter. It was still a great standalone and let me tell you there was so much character development that I never felt lost. My favorite part was the adventure of finding auntie and the second chance at love 💕 There was no steam or spice which was ok for me because there was so much mystery and events going on that I was hooked 🪝
The HEA ending was the cherry on top 🍒
✨✨✨✨✨

🤍Thank you so much @netgalley and @berkleyrokance for approving this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨Publishing Date:
March 26, 2024

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Ever since I met them in Dial A for Aunties, I have had a wide-eyed love affair with Jesse Q. Sutanto’s "Aunties" series. In The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties, all my favorites have returned to Indonesia to celebrate Chinese New Year with the family. Don’t ask ‘what could possibly go wrong' rather, 'when.'



The Good, The Bad, and the Aunties is the third and final book in a trilogy. While the series is fabulously entertaining and best read in order, this book could be picked up and read as a standalone, too.



While I don’t generally write a review starting with the recommendation, I’m going to mix things up for this one--I must be under the Auntie’s influence. Don’t jump into this series expecting a typical cozy mystery or a serious murder plot and police procedural. Come for a side of mystery. Stay for the comedy and the over-the-top family humor. And the Asian food. Gah! I’m starved for Asian food after this.



Meddy and Nathan have come off their honeymoon. I enjoyed seeing him supportive of his wife while totally fitting in with the Chan family crazy. Meddy is the voice of caution when her mom and the Aunties don’t bat an eye about diving into mafia business when Second Auntie’s teenage-crush-turned-mafia-crime-lord makes a Chinese New Year gifting boo-boo and lands them all in the Laksa soup.



How a land title got in the gift packet was interesting, but the aunties' antics were my favorite. The runaround was dizzying, but like previous books, Meddy, Nathan, and the aunties pull through in the end with the answers and their batik dresses intact. Meddy tends to be the cautious fuddy duddy, but she’s helpless to curb them in the end.



I was sad that this is the last of Sutanto's hilarious Auntie family adventure and cozy mysteries, but all good things must come to an end. Want a mystery you can giggle through? Add the Aunties to your stack.

**Review may contain spoilers for the first two books in the series**

The third time’s the charm for author Jesse Q. Sutanto and her Aunties series. (read the reviews for Dial A for Aunties and Four Aunties and a Wedding.) In wrapping up her series, Sutanto takes her madcap cast to Jakarta, where Meddy, her husband Nathan, her mother, and her three aunts have returned to celebrate Chinese New Year. But in The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties, like the first two books of the series, nothing goes as planned.

If Meddy’s family seemed too much in the U.S., back in Indonesia, where Meddy’s mother and sisters are reunited with their cousins from multiple branches of the family, they’re too sprawling to keep track of. And that’s the wrinkle that sets off this book’s adventure: Nathan accidentally gives a red envelope (the traditional Chinese New Year gift for children) to the wrong person, which results in hostage-taking, kidnapping, drugging, and party crashing in order to save family members from warring Indonesian mafia members. In other words, business as usual for the aunties.

With Meddy and Nathan firmly a team, the third book in the series sidesteps Meddy’s biggest issue in the first two books: She no longer needs to hide anything from the man she loves. Her mother and aunts have claimed Nathan as their own, and he willingly participates in machinations necessary to save their family members. Now that Meddy no longer has to lie to Nathan, her other shortcomings become clear: She simply doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to her mother and aunts, even when her judgment is proven correct time and again. To do this, Meddy will have to overcome Chinese culture that insists that elders must be obeyed no matter what, and that there’s nothing worse than losing face.

Tone-wise, the third book in the series matches the first book, with bickering relatives exchanging insults and undying loyalty, and the villains about as scary as Count Von Count from Sesame Street. Sutanto’s plotting, structure, pacing, and twists continue to put on a master class for other thriller writers. After three books, though, the style gets a little tiresome, and I think Sutanto was right to pull the plug on the series—or at least take a break from it. She leaves Meddy and Nathan in a good place, and in a few years, she might wish to revisit them.

Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Ahhhh what can I say? I am HEARTBROKEN!!!! I want MORE of the aunties, I want more Meddy and Nathan. This book made me laugh, have gooey feelings and fall in love all over again for the 3rd time with the aunties. I connect with this book so much because the aunties remind me of my family so much. I wish there was more of them because to me they feel like real people. Do I need to say that I recommend this book? Please read this series! It’s so good! Again, heartbroken because I want more but I’m so thankful and honored to have read about such an amazing and slightly crazy family!🥹

Rating – 4.5 stars rounded off to 5.

A hearty entertainer with all the feels! A perfect mystery + romance combo.

Thanks NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC!

I knew I had to read the first two in the series to fully enjoy the third book and goodness! I’d have missed out on so much fun if I hadn’t got acquainted with these quirky, meddlesome and trouble attracting aunties!

Take a bow Jesse Sutanto for creating these amazing characters 👏.

Synopsis –

A peaceful family get together and Chinese new year celebration in Jakarta becomes a nightmare for the newly-weds Meddy and Nathan Chan, when Second Aunt’s former lover comes bearing gifts. One of the gifts is meant for a business deal and when it is all given away, there comes the danger knocking. Just like the first 2 books in the series, we go on a roller coaster ride with the aunties, as they tackle some rich and powerful folks this time, to save one of their family members.

Review –

Like their predecessors, this one’s loaded with full-on entertainment. There’s chaos, drama, elements of suspense, the cute ‘awww’ invoking romance and of course, the stars of the show – the Aunties!

I loved that this premise gave the opportunity for Meddy to connect with her roots and meet her extra-large family in Indonesia. This adds just the right edge to the aunties’ personalities and we get to witness them in their element, right on their home turf! They shine, reminisce and relive old memories, showcase their talents – making it so much more enjoyable.

The stakes are high as the aunties go head on with Jakarta’s most influential and wealthy tycoons. But this time, nothing can stop them as they all work together as a tight unit.

There’s no dearth of hilarious dialogues, situational comedy and impossible shenanigans that the aunties get up to. We get to laugh until our belly hurts, stare in awe as they pull off the herculean task, realize the power of family and how it is simply above all else. I especially admired Meddy, as her sharp acumen and quick thinking truly saves the day.

I just can’t get enough of the aunties - their tai-chis, drug experiments, delicious cooking and simple wisdom. Wish there were more coming in the series!

Don’t miss out on all the fun and adventure with aunties!

I wish I had these aunties in my life! The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties was a bit outlandish, but it was all good fun. While Dial A for Aunties is by far my favorite The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties was good as well. If you're looking for a fun novel to escape the terrible real world, I highly recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

I absolutely adored Dial A For Aunties and The Goid Bad and the Aunties was just as good. It took me a little longer to princess the story, but it was just as good once I got going. I cannot wait to share a full review here soon. I loved Maddys story and that family whether by birth or self made is truly everything.

❝ What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. ❞

☎️ Dial A for Aunties is the first book I’ve read by this author and I couldn’t wait to read book #3 of the Aunties series.

I find this book series to be a comfort series due to being able to make strong connections with the characters especially during their banter. I always felt right at home and found myself laughing throughout at their antics.

This took me longer than it should have.

I enjoyed the first Aunties book a lot. The second was okay. This one felt like too much. I wanted to love it and really enjoy it and sadly, I didn’t. Meddy really started to annoy me in this one. The ending was sweet enough though.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in return for my honest opinion.