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.

DNF at 35%

I really tried to finish this book, but just could not do it. I had such a hard time with the main character due to her victim mentality and immaturity. I couldn't stand Mark or any of the supporting characters either. I see that some reviews say it got better by the end, but I truly could just not get any further.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

THE CUTENESS! I cannot. Even. It had family saga, family drama, cats, love, and more love. It had the overbearing parents, feelings pulling them together and pushing them apart. I will always come back to romance, and this shows why. Lau knows how to write believable characters and make the romance feel alive. I looooved it! 4.7!

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie was a fun read. It is chockful of realistic characters with their own personality quirks. Emily is a writer who works as a barista to help pay the bills while waiting for her big break in the publishing world. Her roommate Paige hates her job and vents her frustrations at the gym. Mark is a quiet person who prefers keeping to himself in a city of millions.

The first half of the book is told from Emily’s POV, but the story then switches between her and Mark. There were times when I was reading the first half when I wanted to know more about Mark and what he was thinking and feeling. When we only have Emily’s POV, she knows everything and everyone’s motives. But as the relationship changes, we learn that maybe she’s scared of what she doesn’t know.

The story’s spice level is non-existent through the first half of the book. But as the relationship changes, so does the spice level. It doesn’t become super spicy, but there are some on-the-page intimacy scenes.

While the characters have their quirks and flaws, they all grow and change. One may say that they mature, but it’s more that they open up to each other and realize maybe they didn’t know the whole story like they initially believed.

Who do I believe should read Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie? Answer a couple of questions for me first. Do you enjoy reading romance books that feature fake dating? What about romance books with family drama? Or that places importance on the characters’ cultural identities? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should read Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie!

I was excited to hear Lau had a brand new book out as she’s become one of my favorite Romance writers on my auto-buy list! Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie takes us through the formulaic trope of fake dating that turns into something more.

This novel was entertaining read from beginning to end. From Emily’s friends to her lively and sometimes overbearing (but in a good way) family each character’s colorful personalities brought so much to the table. Because of these characters and misunderstandings due to unexpected circumstances the story has much comic relief and keeps a very lighthearted tone throughout the book.

The romance between Emily and Mark being awkward and then slowly warming up together despite their big differences was cute. The lengths they would go to for their fake dates was heartwarming actually, especially when they start to build up a strong rapport with each other. They made a cute couple and the novel includes a few spicy scenes but as whole felt more like a sweet contemporary romance.

Outside of the romance I liked the aspect of Emily’s journey of adulthood and trying to figure out her career, romance, and feeling stagnant in her own life. I could relate to her character a lot and the discussion of what it truly means to be an adult.

“There’s not only one way to be an adult,” I say. “Just because I don’t have a husband and kids— that doesn’t mean I haven’t grown up.” Sure, sometimes I have trouble believing I’m allowed to call myself an adult, but I won’t admit that to her. “It’s not like it affects you; it’s not like I’m expecting you to give me anything. I still take care of myself.”

My only complaint about the novel is that most of the story took place in Emily’s pov and I wish we got more snippets from Mark as we get so few in the story. It would have gave his character even more depth and it would have been interesting to get some his first thoughts to meeting Emily instead of just reading from her pov.

If you haven’t read Lau’s novels yet, I suggest you give this one a read for its inclusion of a bit of family drama, societal expectations, laugh out loud moment, and an enjoyable romance.

I really enjoyed this one. It checked a few of my favorite romcom boxes: fake dating, opposites attract, and pushy family meddling.

Emily is the only single daughter left in the Hung family and she’s feeling the pressure. Her mother (and his) want her to date perfect Mark Chan. She finds that somewhat repulsive - doesn’t he wear sweater vests? But to get them off their backs, they agree to fake date. Turns out, there’s more to Mark than meets the eye.

This was an entertaining read: cute, funny, and with a bit of spice.


Thank you @Atriabooks and @simonandschuster for the gifted digital arc.

This was lovely! I really adore Jackie Lau's indie published romances and while this has a different tone and heat level than those, her voice and Chinese-Canadian (specifically Toronto) elements really shine through. This is a fake-dating, dislike-to-love, with Pride and Prejudice nods. It's not a total retelling but the nods and winks are there. Emily is a writer and barista who is 33 and the only one of her sisters who is not married. She feels pressured by her mom and older sister especially to settle down or "be more adult." Mark is the person her mom can't stop talking about and their meet cute is not so cute, they do not get on when they first meet but Emily's mom is a true Mrs. Bennett who will not stop talking him up and talking to her daughter. Emily and Mark reluctantly decide to start fake dating to placate their parents but of course it becomes real. There's great descriptions of food, an adorable cat with an Instagram page, discussion of the publishing industry and this is one of the first romances that actually has talked about the pandemic and current cost-of-living and housing market issues. It just makes everything more realistic and lived in, not depressing.

You can count on Lau's characters to be well defined, funny and for the family members to be so important to the story for the hero and heroine. At times, I was, like Emily, frustrated by her family, but at the end, I was really touched with how her mom was portrayed. Highly recommend Lau's books and this is no exception!. And yes, the Cherry Pie has a cute tie in... don't worry!

I love a Jackie Lau book. Her brand of rom-com hits all the right rom-com notes for me. This is a fake dating with an overly involved family extravaganza.

I identified with Emily pretty strongly. There were even certain thoughts that felt like they were lifted out of my brain. I just kept reading and nodding and thinking Emily is my people.

I think a lot of folks might find Mark a little bland but he too is my people. On the quiet side but thoughtful and aupportive…and can we talk about Ms Muffins? I love a guy who unapologetically loves his cat.

It’s not explicitly stated but like many of Jackie Lau’s main characters, Emily and Mark both read as neurodivergent to me. Hanging out in both their POVs made me feel like my brain was stretching out and letting out a deep relaxing breath. Speaking of POVs, we start the first half of the book strictly in Emily’s brain and then get a dual POV for the second half. I was a little surprised at first but I think it ultimately worked well.

I freely switched back and forth between ebook and audio and both Catherine Ho and Feodor Chin did a lovely job on the narration.

**I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

OMG I love Emily and Mark!! This is Fale Dating written to perfection. I absolutely fell head over heels for this book. I will be buying a hard copy to put on my to keep shelf. It was in the top 10 books I've read this year!! "Chef's Kiss" perfect!!!
I just reviewed Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

The idea behind the romance and plot was cute, but I had a lot of difficulty nevertheless getting through the book. I think the writing style just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie; it was super sweet!

All Emily's mother does lately is talk about Mark Chan, especially now that Emily is the only one of her sisters unmarried, She just knows her mother will stop at nothing to get her married off. After all, she's 34, a barista, a struggling writer, and a tutor -- none of the things her parents expected for her or worked for when they came to Canada. She's tired of disappointing her mother...

So when Emily actually meets Mark, she convinces him that the only way to stop her mother's meddling is to fake date. Surprisingly the sweater-wearing, seemingly boring Mark, says yes. Now they just have to convince their families!

This was cute, a bit spicy, sweet, and funny. The romance part was great; I loved Mark once we really got to know him. I like how Lau introduced Emily's family and friends, and we really got to see more of Emily's relationship with her mom - I love how that played out!!

This was my first Jackie Lau novel but it won't be my last! Such a cute book!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review, All opinions are my own.