The cover of this book accurately depicts the story within-note for example the Argyle sweater. If also reflects the sweetness of this enjoyable romance.

This is a story where interfering family members try to set up a couple who initially are not interested. What happens when they decide to fake date? What will happen on the way to a happy ending? Readers will most happily turn the pages to find out in this perfect summer read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

This was cute! While I understand why we didn’t, I do wish we got more of Marks POV aside from part 2. I really enjoyed seeing things from his perspective. Emily was relatable enough. I really loved her meddling family and thought the story was overall really great. This is my second book by this author and I’ve enjoyed the stories both times!

This was cute. I liked Emily and found her funny. To be honest the cover and cherry pie focus seemed a little juvenile. I would’ve also liked more of Mark’s perspective and background about why he was as stern as he was. But overall I enjoyed it and would read more from this author.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau is a charming rom-com that follows Emily Hung, a writer and barista, who enters a fake relationship with the seemingly dull engineer Mark Chan to appease her meddling mother. As they navigate through various staged dates, Emily discovers that Mark is far more than she initially thought, leading to genuine feelings and personal growth for both. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Toronto, the story explores family dynamics, self-doubt, and the journey towards self-acceptance. Despite a slow start, the book delivers a heartfelt and satisfying romance, rich with authenticity and relatable themes.

I would like to thank Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

“Books can help people forget but also help them cope at the same time, and what I do is important, dammit. Even if you write something dark and twisted, it can help readers escape to another world. Or it can show them that other people are experiencing the same feelings that they are, maybe under different circumstances, but similar nonetheless. It can make you feel not alone when you're lonely, or it can simply entertain you when you're bored.”

Read if you like:
📖 Author MC
❤️ Fake Dating
👵 Mom plays matchmaker
🇨🇦 Asian-Canadian characters

Emily Hung is an author who has sold her first book and has an advance for her next book but has to work as a barista to pay the bills. She struggles to gain the respect of her family and convince them that writing is a “real” job. But she’s also the last unmarried daughter to immigrant parents which makes her to sole focus of her mother’s matchmaking efforts. She’s sick about hearing how perfect Mark Chan is and when she finds herself forced to sit with him at her sister’s wedding, she devises a plan to get her mother off her back. Mark doesn’t seem too keen about dating either, so they decide to fake a relationship long enough to have tried so they can move on with their lives.

This was a cute take on the fake dating trope and I really liked the mother-matchmaking angle. I really liked the family dynamics and the growth of the relationships between Emily and her parents and older sister. The first half of the book was a bit slow and felt dragged down by the Emily’s frequent lamentations about how hard the publishing world is, all good and valid discussion, but I felt like the point was trying too hard to be made. The second half picked up and I enjoyed getting to read Mark’s POV. All-in-all, a fun rom com with an added bonus of interesting family dynamics and growth.

🥧 Romantically Cozy & Deliciously Cute! 🥧

Jackie Lau never misses! Love, Lies & Cherry Pies is laugh out loud funny, provides important commentary on the publishing industry and was absolutely swoon worthy! Plus, there is the most purrfectly adorable cat!! 🐾

💐 Fake Dating
🔍 Meddling Mothers
😹 Hoot & a Half
📚 Bookish
💖 Romance
✏️ Author
🫶 Family
🔥 Steamy
🐾 Purrfect Cat

I loved Love, Lies & Cherry Pies so much! Jackie Lau has created another hilariously heartfelt romance and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you so much Atria Books for the gifted copy!

Really lovely romance novel, always great to see Asian American male characters. Love how the theme of “real work” and “adulting” are explored… what are the benchmarks other people use to judge your decisions? Whose work is more important than others?

I needed a light read so this was a pleasant break. Quite a lot of unexpected spice too!

Such a cute cover for such a cute book. Cute romcom. It was an easy read and was enjoyable. Easy read for a cozy day.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to finish this one, but I did order a copy for our public library and I’m hoping to finish this one soon

Family pressure & fake dating = Count me in!! I enjoyed both of the main characters (Emily & Mark) and loved getting to know both of them! Emily's mom is my favorite character in this book! I love how we got more of her story and reasoning why behind some of the things she said/did in regards to Emily.

Thank you to Atria for this ARC of Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie in exchange for an honest review. I love that the author's love for their culture is so evident in the writing. This book is definitely for fans that love the general vibe of Crazy Rich Asians. Fake dating, meddlesome family members, and so much love and laughter to go around. It was a quick read and while Emily and Mark didn't make the biggest impression on me after the fact, their fake dating romance was really enjoyable in the moment and just overall a very cute story to read!

Really cute story! I did feel like it fell flat a little at the end or maybe it was just a little drawn out. Overall, I think this was a fun, cute read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This was so much fun to read!

Emily’s mother is desperate for her to get married, and is constantly trying to set her up with Mark. When she finally meets Mark, he seems very uninterested. In an effort to get her mother off her back, she gets Mark to agree to fake dating her. That way she can focus on her writing her next book. Soon, their fake relationship isn’t so fake anymore.

I loved the chemistry that the two main characters had. They are so adorable together! This definitely is a slow burn, but then it gets fairly spicy towards the end. I thought this book was funny, adorable, and an overall great read! I definitely recommend this book!


📘: Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau
🗓️: April 23, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, Jackie Lau, and Atria Books for this ARC!

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

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.

For fans of enemies to lovers and funny romances, this book balances laugh out loud moments with scenes that are sweet as pie.

This one was delightful! It was a sweet story about an author finding her true love, through an unlikely source. Her mother. As much as I liked this one for the romance, I loved it even more as a story of a mother and daughter finding common ground. The cat was a very nice touch as well :) I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters in this one, the setting, the reference to real problems millennials are facing in our society and the romance of it all.

This story follows an author whose mom tries to arrange her with a guy and the two decide to fake a date. This book was really cute and I was very invested with the story from the beginning. I loved the storyline and how much of the publishing life was put into this story. It shows how hard the publishing life is and I loved that. There are a lot of family moments in this book along with learning how to navigate a huge family. The story is diverse and I loved seeing the story take place in Toronto. This book is mainly told in Emily’s pov but in part two, we get Mark’s.

Emily is the FMC who is an author and part-time barista. Her family doesn’t take her seriously and wants her to get married. I loved seeing her independence, especially in an Asian household. Then we have Mark who comes off stern and grumpy in the beginning but he’s honestly such a sweetheart. I loved his character and getting his pov of what he thinks of Emily. We do have a lot of side characters in this book but I mainly loved Emily’s mom as she explains everything which I thought was so thoughtful. The story is fake dating, forced proximity and an arranged couple with a bit of steamy scene and the chemistry is so there.

The ending was well done and I loved how the family all came together. There was miscommunication but I loved how it was all explained and how others viewed it differently when it was not meant to be bad. I do have to say that one-star drop is mainly for when Emily thought she had to break up with Mark after everything was exposed. I didn’t see the purpose of that conflict and was so lost. Overall a great story which I recommend.

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

3.5 rounded to 4

"Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie" by Jackie Lau is a delightful romance that blends humor, heart, and delectable desserts. Emily was cute, and I was rooting for her. Lau's writing always feels like a friend telling you a story. I just dislike the miscommunication trope so much that It bothered me in the first half.

Tropes:
-Fake Dating
-Opposites Attract
-Miscommunication

Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Jackie Lau

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

Synopsis: Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly : convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…

My Thoughts: Emily’s family means well, however, they love to meddle in their children’s lives for the greater good. Her mother thinks Mark Chan is the perfect match for her, while her mother raves about Mark, Emily secretly cringes. Emily and Mark are forced together at her sister’s wedding and she gets the sense that he wants nothing to do with her. There is only one solution to keep her family from meddling in her personal affairs, fake dating Mark. Emily gets Mark to finally agree to fake date her. Her family knowing they are “dating” is not enough, they pop in at their various outings together, so they have to spend more time together to fool her family. Each time Emily is with Mark, she gets a different picture of who he actually is. Maybe there is something there after all… This follows the tropes of family pressure/meddling and fake dating.

The first half of the story is told from Emily’s POV and the second half of the story includes Mark’s POV. I would have liked to have him earlier in the story to understand the inner dialogue of what he was thinking and feeling. The first half of the story was a slow burn while it built the characters and delved into the publishing world, and the second half of the book moved at a faster past with the relationship blossoming. While I have never been to Canada, the way the author details Canada in the storyline, the sights, sayings, scenery, really made me feel like I was there. While Emily’s mother loved to meddle in her life, I believe it was done from a good place. The family dynamics were refreshing on both sides.

Emily was indecisive, sometimes made questionable decisions, and was infuriating at times. Mark was the quiet, sneak up on you hero. He was charming, caring, and supportive. Some drunk texting, pressure from their mothers, and initial impressions, leads into a relationship that they did not expect. The characters were well developed, had depth, witty banter, chemistry, and was really intriguing. The supporting characters were fabulous, especially, the meddling mother. The author’s writing style was complex, steamy, sweet, swoony, and engaging.

This was a lighthearted, refreshing, cute romantic read. I loved the family dynamics the most. While I would like to have some POV from Mark early one, with his internal diaglogue. I felt like this was a fun, entertaining read that I enjoyed. I would recommend to other readers.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau was a cozy afternoon book. I was unfamiliar with the author Jackie Lau, and enjoyed this read. Emily and Mark fake date to get Emily's mom off her back. Fake dating troupe is fav. A cute read.

This was a sweet Pride and Prejudice-adjacent story but I found it to be a little one dimensional. Ms. Margaret Muffins is an excellent name for a cat, though.