3.5 Stars.

🥧 The vibes:
- fake dating
- Enemies to lovers
- Family dynamics
- Cat dad MMC 🐱🖤
- Opposites attract

🥧 My thoughts:
In this one, we have Emily and Mark who have been heavily pressured by their respective parents to meet and date eachother. They meet and it couldn’t go worse. Emily thinks that Mark is stuffy, boring, and judgmental. He’s just the type of man that her mother would insist she be with, and Emily absolutely refuses to give Mark a chance. After continued pressure by their parents to settle down and get married, Emily convinces Mark to fake date to hold off their parents’ intrusions.

🥧 Oooof. Emily is so unlikable at the start of this book. I found her to be extremely judgmental, very rude, and tactless. I couldn’t believe how horrible she was to Mark. And then the repetitive theme of Emily being an author and thinking every single person is against her for being an author. She thinks everyone pities her but sometimes it felt like it was just Emily who needed to put on confidence pants and just own her choices. This book focuses heavily on Emily’s insecurities and self doubt.

🥧 After 30% in I was sold and having such a wonderful time- smiling at Emily and Marks interactions. And then when a new POV is introduced- I fist pumped the air like a fool.

🥧 Though it took me time to get into this one, I enjoyed Mark and Emily so much more once the ball got rolling. I wish we had more of them together and thriving because those were my favorite parts.

‼️ Further explanation for the rating: ‼️
Themes felt repetitive at times. Emily was difficult to love for me. It may be personality - but sometimes she seemed overly victim mentality that I just wanted her to snap out of it. I wanted more of Emily and Mark and less self doubt 🙈. Lastly- sister Allison was the worst. And I’m sorry to have very little grace for her ugliness towards Emily.

Release date: May 7, 2024.

Thank you so much to Jackie Lau, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

*note- posted on Storygraph, Instagram, goodreads, and barnes and noble. Links provided. Will be posted on Amazon after release date when Amazon allows me to.

Review on Instagram stories - will be saved under the “story reviews” highlights permanently.

4 stars

Emily and Mark are a fake match that become a great match, and their story is so much fun to read.

Having any privacy is difficult these days thanks to social media, and that issue is really compounded by meddlesome family members. In Emily and Mark's case, it's mostly Emily's too interested mother who pushes her daughter into this fake dating scenario. After all, a person can only take so many invasive questions about their love life in their early 30s. Who can blame her?!

Fortunately for readers, Mark agrees to Emily's quirky fake dating scheme, but even more auspiciously for all parties involved, the fake dates turn to real feelings fast, and how could they not? There's a lot to like about both of them, and they're pretty adorable together.

I really liked both of the main characters, the mutual respect they (usually) show for each other, and the generally charming nature of their banter. I did crack up at some hilarious details from their intimate experiences (especially with the acknowledgement that "somehow" something that usually takes a sec is instant), but hey, fiction can include ideal versus real scenarios sometimes. This is an engaging read, and I'll be back for more from this author.

She's a child of immigrants feeling pressure to succeed . The romantic story was okay.


****************I received an ARC for my honest review from NetGalley.*****************

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is a rom com based on Emily, a woman born of Chinese immigrant parents, and Mark, who is her mother’s choice for a romantic partner. Emily is a writer, as we’re constantly reminded of, and Mark does something for a living. I couldn’t tell you what because his life isn’t as discussed.

I’ve read only one book by this author, the Stand Up Groomsman, and I didn’t like it at all. This book is much better, and I actually liked some of the characters. Emily was hard to handle through much of the book because she’s so judgmental and focused on the same three topics in her head.

At about the 60 percent mark, the book turns into dual perspective with Emily and Mark. It seemed like a whole different person wrote the last 40 percent of the book, and the chapters were written like they were the same person. I couldn’t tell them apart.

There’s so much talk about toxic men, but we never see Emily’s friend, who is living with her new boyfriend for the first time, get called out for being toxic. She absolutely was, and I couldn’t stand her character. Emily’s mom, however, made this book. I absolutely loved her! My mom isn’t anything like her, but we were also born in another country and moved to North America. I couldn’t help but like the mom.

All in all, this book was entertaining and fun to read. The author is growing in her writing, and I’ll read more books of hers in the future. I’m not usually a fan of the constant miscommunication trope, but I had fun.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

Can I get a Mark in real life please and thank you! If you are in the market for a sweet, fake dating romance, with very low stakes, but absolutely delightful then this is the book I recommend to you. Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie (let’s take a moment to acknowledge this adorable title) is everything you want on a cozy weekend reading on your couch. Emily and Mark are two well developed characters each with their own POV who completely balance each other out. I read this book in one sitting and absolutely adored it.

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
This is a fun, entertaining read. Mark and Emily are intriguing, complex, interesting, relatable, entertaining, fun, strong characters. I enjoyed them as individuals and as a couple. Their romance, with its twists and turns is fun to read. I loved both the family and friendships in this story and the ways in which they play out and affect our main characters. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The story is easy to read and get into. This is my first book by Lau and I’m looking forward to read more from this author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This fun romcom by @jackielaubooks is set in Toronto and follows a struggling writer, Emily, who watches as the last of her 4 sisters gets married and is trying desperately to ward off her overly involved asian mother who is desperate to set her up with the illustrious Mark Chan. The only problem? Mark Chan seems pretty uninterested and very uninteresting. But, when Emily's mother goes as far as tricking Emily into a date with Mark, Emily realizes that maybe making her family think she is actually dating Mark will get them off her back and let her focus on her writing. But is a fake relationship doomed to implode? Or will Mark and Emily catch feelings? And is Mark actually more interesting (and interested) than he appears? Well you'll just have to read it to find out!

I loved a lot about this book, the characters were super well done, the Asian family dynamics (especially in a first- and second-generation Canadian family) were interesting and funny. I liked that the life of a struggling author was prominent throughout (it reminded me at times of Yellowface, though a completely different storyline), and also I felt the early thirties familial and societal expectations of marriage and children very relatable! The only thing that kind of bugged me was that it changed from FMC single POV to dual POV with the MMC midway through... I kind of got why the author did it, but it was a little strange and I think it could have been single POV. Otherwise I was fully on board with the writing style and plot all the way through!

This one is definitely a slow burn but it gets fairly spicy once the action does start to happen. It is also pretty funny and so fits the rom and com criteria. It was fun and I would definitely recommend it. I know Lau has a a few other books so I will definitely be checking them out!

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher @atriabooks for giving me the chance to read and review this one!

All the great tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers, and Pride and Prejudice connections. Yes, please!

Emily’s mother wants her to marry – she’s the only one of her five daughters that has not tied the knot. She’s also in her thirties which her niece refers to as old. She keeps hearing her mother talk about Mark Chan, and she wants nothing to do with him. Uncoincidentally, Mark is invited to Emily’s younger sister’s wedding, and they don’t have a memorable first encounter. Emily has strong feelings about him because of what her mother has said, and because of her mother’s overzealous interest in Emily’s love life.

After a second mom-set-up meeting with Mark Chan over brunch, Emily has the idea to fake date Mark to keep her mother from meddling any further. He’s in! Through fake dating, both Emily and Mark begin to realize that their first impressions were incorrect. And just like Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, they slowly open to the possibility of one another.

I loved this book! The interactions between characters, the humor, slow burn romance, and all the Pride and Prejudice connections made this one of the best reads this year.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Atria Books for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Lies and Cherry Pie features another meddling mother trying to get her daughter married. Emily Hung is a writer. She is currently published and working on her second book. Emily is doing okay but is currently living with her friend and roommate Paige as well as working as a coffee place to make ends meet. When Emily's mom pushes her toward Mark Chan, her immediate reaction is to shut it down. He is the opposite of the kind of guy she would ever be interested in in spite of the fact that he is attractive. Eventually, Emily comes up with a fake dating plan to keep her very nosy mother satisfied, and she can focus on her writing.

This is a sweet story and Emily and Mark are very different people. They view their fake dating through very different lenses and this added a really unique element to the story. Mark is so gentle and I loved that he has a cat who he has created an instagram account for. Emily conveyed to readers an interesting behind the scenes look at the publishing industry, particularly how being published doesn't mean you can necessarily quit your day job. These two have some very sweet moments and the conflict wasn't overdone. I will be checking out more books from this author because I enjoyed her writing style and the way she developed the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced review copy.

For the most part, I enjoyed this fake dating rom-com. I've never read Jackie Lau before, but after reading this book, I definitely plan to check out her backlist. This one had a strong start for me. It kind of fizzled out a bit after the beginning, only to pick up steam toward the end.

Emily Hung is a 33-year-old author and part-time barista with four sisters who are all married. Since Emily is the last single daughter, her mother is dead-set on making a match. Her mom relentlessly tries to set her up with a guy named Mark Chan, and even invites him to Emily's sister's wedding. They agree to fake date to get Emily's mom off her back, only the more time they spend together, Emily realizes Mark isn't the judgmental, boring engineer she thought he was — he's actually a great guy.

I have to admit after being really into the book for the first 25% or so, it dragged a bit from 25% until 50%. I wanted more chemistry and tension between the leads, more "this is supposed to be fake but I think I might be into him." The best part of fake dating for me is when the characters realize things aren't so fake anymore and decide to act on their attraction for real. However, there needs to be some tension for the payoff to feel earned.

I thought maybe there would be more tension once Mark's POV kicked in halfway through the book. I thought it was an interesting choice to bring in his POV at the midpoint, but I'm not sure it added much. His chapters were mostly short and didn't provide a ton of insight into his character. I thought being in his POV could help explain what his motivation and stakes were for agreeing to the fake dating scheme, but unfortunately those things never materialized. I absolutely loved his cat, though, and wish her Instagram account were real.

All in all, I'd say this is 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. It's a cute romance, and Lau's writing was fun despite some of my issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received directly from the publisher, thanks to Netgalley. I didn't know Jackie Lau and I was quite curious to discover her writing.
Emily is a thirty-year-old Asian-american who, unlike her 4 other sisters, is not yet married. And for a good reason, this is not one of her goals in life. She has other ambitions, such as writing a novel for example. So when her mother throws Mark Chan into her life, a perfect young man in all aspects, Emily doesn't even bother to consider him. He is not made for her, since it is her mother who finds him perfect. And yet...

Romance based on fake dating, I sometimes suffered a little while reading because the lies of Emily who makes her mother believe that she is really going out with Mark accumulate. And I had a hard time understanding the reason that pushed her to break up during the “third act breakup”. In any case, it was a nice foray into mother-daughter relationships that are simpler than they seem...

-fake dating, Asian representation, dual pov
-writer and barista, Emily Hung is the last of her siblings to be married. Her mom sets her up with golden boy, Mark Chan
-it took me a bit to warm up to Emily, she was quick to judge and defensive right off the bat
-I enjoyed reading about Emily and Mark’s “fake” dates, they had sweet moments 🥧🍰🧋
-thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

3.6⭐️

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie releases May 7, 2024

1.5

Emily is part author, part barista, and also the last of her siblings to be married. Her mother is adamant on setting her up with someone — namely, Mark Chan. Emily and Mark agree to enter a fake dating arrangement after meeting each other at the wedding of Emily’s sister.

This book irritated me more than it probably should have. Something about the casual writing style did not work for me, and I found it very odd how the book took a complete shift at 60% from a singular pov narrative to an alternating dual perspective, which threw off the pacing. Mark's pov didn't even add any value, either.

Emily was very judgmental as a character which, in turn, made her unlikable. Furthermore, meddling family members that are <I>so</I> up in your business exasperate me to no end and this had my skin crawling just thinking about all the similar experiences I put up with growing up in an Asian household.

For a romance book with fake dating at it’s core, the romance was not delivering. There was no chemistry between the two leads and no sexual tension leading up to their sex scene, which felt so out of place. Honestly, up until that point, you could have told me they were distant cousins or something and I would have believed it.
There just wasn’t enough information about Mark for this to be convincing — why did he agree to everything so easily? What’s in it for him? What are his motivations? Why is fake dating beneficial to him?
More time was spent on the development and explanation of Emily's publishing payments than the romance...

Another thing that kept popping up was the mention of entitled millennials, which got repetitive and tiresome real quick.

This was an enjoyable. Romantic comedy with fake dating and sloooow burn. Initially I thought this was going to be a chaste romance because for at least the first half of the book there was zero physical interaction between any character, let alone the MC's. But happy to be wrong, and loved the long drawn out romantic part of the story.e read full of drama, family expectations, some laughs, fake dating, and romance.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is a good example of a “just fine” romance for me. I liked the characters, but nothing about it sparkled. After the first few chapters, the Pride and Prejudice/Bridget Jones’s diary retelling or comparison disappears, so I don’t really know why it was there in the first place. A cute and forgettable book.

I loved this book! Emily is a writer and barista who fears she doesn't live up to her parents expectations and is frustrated by her mother's obsession with setting her up, in particular with the seemingly perfect Mark. There are nods to Bridget Jones's Diary and Pride and Prejudice that are absolutely delightful but my favorite part was how well this book got the writing and publishing world. Emily was extemely relatable in the pressures she put on herself, feeling that she was letting people down by following her dream, and in how the pressures from the writing world pushed in on her. But even if you aren't a writer or a part of the publishing ecosystem, the fake relationship, family drama, and the soft but steamy romance between Emily and Mark is so well done, you should definitely read this book!

Oh my goodness, what a super cute, delightful concoction of romance, humor, and a plethora of heartwarming moments that will leave readers craving for more. Emily and Mark are an unlikely pairing and their journey to coupledome is a slow burn. The family dynamic is easy to relate to and will have readers cheering for Emily.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

One of the qualities that draw me back to Jackie Lau's works time and again is her ability to connect readers with her characters. On the one hand author and barista Emily Hung's experiences as a traditionally published but not bestselling author in the current landscape were all too painfully familiar. On the other hand, while I have not been the last unmarried daughter in an Asian Canadian family, nor do I drink coffee, and I am of an age with Emily's parents rather than her (okay, I did wince when she bemoaned her age, which is younger than half of my offspring), I was still emotionally invested with her challenges, thanks to Lau's skills. I also appreciate Lau's use of multiple=POV, allowing insights into not-as-stiff-as-initially-perceived Mark Chan's interior life. My only disappointment is that I was unable to find an Instagram account for the delightful Ms. Margaret (never Meg!) Muffins.

Rouding up from 3.5 to 4. I love a fake dating trope, but this one just didn't click with me. The FMC, Emily, mostly just irritated me for the first half of the book. I can't really pinpoint why, honestly, it may have just been a me issue (ergo the rounding up), but I found her so irritating and somewhat whiny. HOWEVER, when she actually admitted she liked Mark (MMC) she became much better (again, could have just been me). I loved Mark from the second meeting and knew she'd get there too, but she was so against liking him becasue her mother did she took a long time to actually admit she liked him. Their chemistry is great (the spice is spicy) and the friendship they developed first was very real.

Emily's family dynamics are a big hurdle in this book and her whole family brings a wild energy into every scene they are in. They do get some closure and heart to hearts toward the end, which is really good.

Overall, a really fun book that I would recommend. Special shout out to Ms. Margaret Muffins being the best character.

First, thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I absolutely adored this book! I loved Emily and her independence and passion for writing. I love how much her family means to her even though they drive her crazy. And I loved her mom! She was the star of the book for me. Let’s not forget Mark! I loved him! He was perfect for Emily. Their flirtiness, even when they were fake dating was so cute! He’s attentiveness to Emily and constantly cheering her on in her writing was adorable.

I loved Jackie’s writing style. The story flowed really well and I appreciate the dual
POV in part 2. This books was very well paced, and it has me both giggling and tearing up which it what I love in a romance book. Overall, it was a great read! Thanks again NetGalley!