Love, Lies, and Cherry Pies by Jackie Lau
Contemporary romance. Own voices. Fake relationship troupe.
Emily Hung is living her best life. She’s a published author and part time barista. But now that she’s the last unmarried daughter, her mother has stepped up the matchmaking. Emily has heard from Mark Chan over and over. To finally get her mother to back off, Emily agrees to a date with Mike but it doesn’t go well. A second date by manipulation has them agreeing to fake date to ease the pressure. They find each other more interesting the next time and the relationship goes from fake to possibly friends. Can their mothers be right?

First impressions, maternal pressure, and drunk texting lead both into a relationship that surprises them both. A bit of passion and time spent with extended family builds depth between the two.
Mark let’s silence tell his story so it took time to get to know him. Playing babysitter while Emily is writing is the most adorable chapter.
Entertaining and romantic.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Just like her other books, Jackie Lau has created characters who seem real and relatable, family dynamics that are somewhat complicated but backed by love, and a story full of banter, fun, and secrets. Fake dating is always one of my go-to tropes and Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie hit the spot.

First off-- major points for mentioning Trunkits. This was a fun read that balanced humour and familial relationships in addition to romance. I'm still not sure, though, how I feel about the first part of the book being exclusively one POV while the second part added in Mark's POV. It was also very much a slow burn book with almost no heat for a while-- not complaining, or saying this as a detriment, just letting potential readers know in case they prefer their romance to move a bit faster. In the end, the HEA was worth the journey.

Emily is tired of her mom trying to set her up with Mark Chan. So when her mom pushes them together once again at Emily’s sister’s wedding she decides to take things into her own hands. She convinces Mark to be her fake boyfriend for long enough to get her mom off her back. As they spend more time on their fake dates, Emily realizes there’s more to Mark than she originally thought.

This book was a fun read willed with family drama, millennial angst, and of course the entertaining mishaps of fake dating. I really enjoyed this story, and although it started off a bit slow as we got to know Emily and her struggles with her family, it really picked up once we got Mark’s POV and I flew through it. As a fellow millennial, I really related to many of Emily’s struggles and anxieties. Mark was a great counterpart to her, and he was full of surprises. As we got to know him more I was fascinated by his many unexpected layers and I grew to really love him.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This author has a great sense of humor! Emily’s inner dialogue often had me laughing and her characterization of Mark, before she got to know him, was quite spot on. Until she saw behind the sweater and could read his slight facial expressions. This stoic engineer had a sense of humor but found it hard to open up to people. Well, everyone except Emily it seemed. Their cute interactions and made them easy to root for but it was their idiosyncrasies and the way that they supported each other that sold me on the story.

As you got to know these characters the reader was given insights into their characters, making these sweet and funny moments more poignant. Both of them were fighting against insecurities and challenging family dynamics giving the story some much needed conflict so it wasn’t just about a fake dating scheme. As with most of our own lives Emily and Mark’s were balancing acts and throwing “finding love” into the mix caused ripples both good and bad. The author’s spin on this story was fun and cute, but the real-life problems resonated for me and I think it will for other readers as well.

I originally felt like this story read more as women’s lit instead of a rom-com, but eventually it picked up! I love a good fake dating, though this was a bit more clean than my usual romances haha. I think anyone that grew up in an Asian household (or a lot of other minority households for that matter) can feel the struggle Emily was on-and-off letting take over her thoughts. I do wish she was a bit less of a complainer at times. Mark was sweet, but there seemed like at points they didn’t have a ton of chemistry. I’d give this a 3.75 rounding up to 4 stars! Also, I’d like some cherry pie now pls 🥧

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is my first novel by Jackie Lau. While I have heard of the author before, this is my first novel that I had the chance to read. Emily Hung is a writer and barista in Toronto who is the last single daughter of five, and her mother is determined to get her married. To get her mother off her back, Emily creates a plan where she fake dates the son of her parents’ friends, Mark Chan. The two go on fake dates where they run into those that know Emily’s family. The POV in the story stays mostly with Emily, so the reader mainly follows her journey. Mark’s POV does get included later, though, where the reader can finally see his side of the story.

As the story begins mainly with Emily, the reader gets to know her more than Mark. Her career as a writer is explored in a lot of depth, although, for me, it was too much. There were a lot of terms, processes, and other details about being an author that were included. While I can see how they can be interesting, there were too many in the story and, at times, I felt it distracted from the rest of the story. The romance was decent, and I think the characters had great chemistry, however, I think I wanted more exploration on the transition from fake dating to actual feelings. Since most of the novels followed Emily, I feel the reader misses out a lot on learning about Mark. While this does happen in single POV novels, the fact that his was included towards the end, made me wish that it was either included the whole time or not included at all. As for Emily herself, she was not very likable to me, but I can see other readers find her relatable. For me, I couldn’t connect with her, but I can see potential. The general concept of the story was great and lower stakes. I think the author has a lot of potential and I can see myself reading more from her in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

4.5 stars.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie had me smiling throughout. It was just fun.

Emily is our Asian FMC, living in Toronto and dealing with her overly involved family. When her mom keeps pushing her towards certain eligible men, she decides what better way to get them off her back…by giving them what they want? Enter: fake dating Mark.

Their fake dating was pretty adorable. Emily was so resistant to real dating, but Mark really was just so wonderful, she couldn’t help but give in. I enjoyed her internal monologue and their banter was humorous, and I liked getting dual POV (just wish we had a little bit more of Mark). Mark really was a great MMC, I just wanted a bit more character development.

Emily and her family really ended up communicating (my favorite!) and I loved them coming together. Overall, Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie was a pretty low stakes read with minimal angst and I’d happily read it again.

Thank you to Atria Books for the review copy.

Emily Hung is an adult. She’s in her 30s and she is a published author. But that doesn’t stop her from feeling the full impact of her imposter syndrome. It doesn’t stop her from working as a barista. It doesn’t stop her sister from acting like Emily can drop everything and babysit for her on any given weekday afternoon. And it doesn’t stop her mother from trying to set her up. Emily is the last single daughter in a family of 5 girls, and while she is not the youngest, she is the last one who is still single. And now her mother can’t stop telling her about Mark Chan.

Mark Chan is the son of friends of her mother, and he’s apparently the perfect man for Emily. At least, Emily feels like that’s what her mother thinks when she can’t stop talking about him. Or seating her at the same table as him at her sister’s wedding. Or tricking her into having brunch with him.

Finally, Emily can’t take any more, so she comes up with an idea. If she and Mark pretend to date, then she’ll get her mother off her back. She’s a novelist, so she can create a story for them, complete with date ideas. She just has to get Mark to agree to this, and then they can coordinate times and get their stories straight. Surprisingly, he agrees with the fake relationship idea, so Emily goes ahead and sets up some fake dates.

But when Emily is telling her mother about her dates with Mark, her mother has questions. The bubble tea date? Her mother knew someone who was nearby and didn’t see them. (Emily said they went to a different tea shop.) The class in frosting a cake? Her mother knows the woman who teaches it. (She said they went to a different class.) But Emily gets nervous. She’s worried that she’ll get caught up in one of her lies, so she decides to change the plan. She and Mark need to date for real.

As the next few weeks go by, Emily and Mark go out several times, and Emily starts to think that she had maybe judged him a little quickly, based on the fact that her mother liked him. As she gets to know the real person, she finds that Mark is actually kind, generous, and artistic. And he has a cat. With an Instagram account.

But the more Emily finds that she’s becoming genuinely attracted to Mark, the more she worried about her family. What will they say when they find out that Emily really does like the guy her mother set her up with? And how will they react when they find that their relationship started out as fake? And when that does all come out, how will Emily show that she really is an adult, capable of taking care of herself, after having acted so immaturely as to create a fake relationship?

But as it turns out, Emily is not the only one with secrets. And when she learns the whole truth, her life is turned upside down.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie is Jackie Lau’s latest rom com. Filled with insider tips on the publishing industry, plenty of food talk, and lots of family togetherness, this slow burn romance brings the sweet along with the heat. The characters are strong, the feelings are real, and there is a genuine sweetness to the relationship as it develops.

I liked this book a lot, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. I thought Mark was an interesting character, but I also felt like I didn’t get to know him as much as I would have liked. I wanted to hear his voice much earlier in the book. Emily had a much stronger voice from the start, and I felt like I knew her better and could root for her (or roll my eyes at her). But it’s still a great story, like a milkshake with a slice of cherry pie on top.

Egalleys for Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie were provided by Atria Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A sweet rom-com. The setting of Toronto was fun and I enjoyed the family dynamics and fake dating. This one took a bit of time for me to get through due to the slower pacing.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie was definitely a cute rom-com. Enemies to lovers and fake dating are usually my jam so I was excited about this one. I really loved the cultural references and the family drama.

I do have to say I was able to connect more with Mark than Emily. Emily seemed like she couldn’t move past constant complaining and negativity. It made the book drag a little and was rather slow at times.

While this book wasn’t really my jam, I can see how others might love it. I definitely want to read more from the author in the future.

Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a little slow to get into, but once all of the characters were introduced and the plot fleshed out a little more, I was much more interested.

Emily is a struggling author in her mid-thirties who has always felt like a failure in her mothers' eyes both because of her career choice and relationship status. After much consternation, she agrees to go on a date with Mark, the man her mother is insistent on setting her up with. But the catch is that Emily and Mark decide to fake a relationship.

This was a fun twist on fake dating because it was truly fake. It was entertaining to see Emily's dynamic with her family and the excuses she came up with. I especially loved reading about her interactions with her spunky nieces.

Ultimately, I wish there wasn't an enemies to lovers subplot here because I did not buy that at all. Like many other stories with that trope, it wasn't clear or believable that Mark and Emily were enemies. This was still entertaining to read, but it would've made more sense to me if it were solely a fake dating story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

This book was fine. I found the cultural storyline of a meddling mother playing matchmaker to her daughter feeling like a been there, done that story line. It did have a nice mother/daughter resolution, however. My biggest issue were the characters. The FMC had so much potential as an author and woman finding her way against the grain, but she came across as very immature. The MMC felt like a cardboard cutout. He was so stiff and felt like a caricature. I had trouble believing they're fake dating to lovers relationship. The siblings, extended family, roommates and other side character all jumble together. None of them were easily distinguishable. The story gets better as it goes on, but in a saturated world of rom-coms I fear I will forget this one. I did love that MMC had a cat named Ms. Muffins. Silly, cute and swoony always wins for me!

Thank you to the publisher for the netgalley widget.

2.5 Stars
I enjoyed this when I first started it but the FMC, Emily got so unbearable as the book went on, especially with the “conflict” because it was the most unnecessary problem ever and she really lacked maturity and growth. The MMC, Marc literally had no personality and pretty much admitted that as well, he was just there and his POV chapters actually made him come off more one dimensional than anything. I hated the ending in this because I just did not want these 2 together and by the end I did not like Emily at all. The spicy scenes were also lacking in this a bit for me and I wish their relationship was developed better. Just an okay romance read, definitely prefer her other books to this one though.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

I loved this book. It was the perfect mix of culture and romance. I am also always a sucker for a fake dating book. Well written. Thank you for the arc.

To start off, I LOVED all the Canadian references and the characters in this book! One of my biggest struggles with people who write Canadian characters is the fear that they’re going to fill that character with stereotypes and I’m SO glad that Jackie Lau did not do that! With all the Toronto references, I’m now very curious if some of these food places that were mentioned are real cause they sounded so good and seemed like places I might need to check out!

I loved the characters and reading a story about Asian Canadians! This was cute and funny and, overall, really enjoyable! I’m definitely going to have to check out her other books now simply because I enjoyed the writing style and the story of this book.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau is a charming book about finding love where you least expect to – on your mother’s list of suitable men (oh no)!

Emily Hung is a part-time barista, a debut author, and a full-time skeptic. When her mother tells her she has the perfect man picked out for her, Emily is 100% OFF-board. At least until she realizes that, if they play their cards right, pretending to date might just give them both a much-needed respite from their mothers.

Mark Chan is serious, private, and not interested in Emily Hung – at least until she comes to him with a fake dating scheme that he finds ridiculous (he thinks?). Intrigued by her confidence in her plan, he goes along with it – but quickly finds himself falling for Emily’s charm, even as he’s frustrated by her seeming inability to pick up on the hints that he’s dropping that he’d rather their fake relationship turn into the real deal.

I loved Mark and Emily’s slow, sometimes frustrating, build-up from acquaintances, to friends, to budding love interests, to all-in partners. I thought the ties to Pride and Prejudice were well done – Emily was completely convinced she knew who Mark was and how he would think and act in every situation, much like Elizabeth assuming she understood Darcy’s motivations – while, of course, being wildly off-base. Mark was perfectly broody – but, in this book, we got to see some of the story from his perspective, which was a big plus! So, unlike Pride and Prejudice, we didn’t have to wait for Mark to write a fateful letter to change Emily’s mind, we got to see communication actually work in the characters’ favor (a BIG win when it comes to the miscommunication trope, in my opinion). I also thought the nod to Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’ Diary (another love story inspired directly by Pride and Prejudice) was both clever and well-done.

Another aspect of this book I really enjoyed was Emily’s relationship with her mom. At first, she seems much like a Mrs. Bennett – overly involved in the decisions her children are making and putting her own desires for them first. However, the twist at the end of the book gave Emily and her mom’s relationship much more nuance – and I loved that they were able to see things from each other’s perspective and come to an understanding. While Mark didn’t get his letter writing moment as the “Darcy” character, it felt like Emily’s mom did, and honestly, I think that was a meaningful change that really resonated with me as a reader by the end of the book.

If you’re a fan of Jane Austen, loveable rom-coms, and relate-ably Millennial characters, definitely pick up Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie!

If you're looking for a fake dating trope, this is a great read. You can't help but root for Emily, an author frustrated by her family's expectation for her to find a guy and settle down yesterday. When her mother relentlessly brings up a guy named Mark, she is exasperated.

When they eventually start talking, Mark and Emily agree to some fake dating to buy time... and don't expect what will come in terms of what it means across relationships with others.

Empathetic characters, set in Toronto, loved this! Thank you to Netgalley and to Atria for the ARC.

This was such a fun rom-com setup. I always love fake dating, but the added layer of fake dating the guy your mom wants you to really date was hilarious. It’s obvious from the start how this scheme will end, but it’s still a lot of fun to get there. There’s a hint of pride and prejudice with Emily’s assumptions about Mark, and I enjoyed seeing her preconceived notions crumble. The romance is sweet, and I promise you’ll be a fan.

No spoilers but there’s a stylistic writing choice about halfway through the book that completely surprised me and totally worked. I almost wish the whole book had been written that way.

Emily Hung is 33, a published author/barista, and single. And she’s mostly content with her life- even though others may judge her choices. To avoid the constant matchmaking from her Mom, her and the latest man she’s set up with, Mark Chan, decide to give fake dating each other a try. But first impressions aren’t always correct - and before long, fake dating starts to feel awfully real.

I loved this romance! It was so sweet (and a little spicy) while also tackling real-life topics in writing and publishing, and explored life for singles dealing with familial expectations. I’ve never been to Toronto (except when I was a kid) and now I want to explore all the amazing sounding foods.

Also, Mark’s cat has the best name, you’ll need to read the book to find it out (just like Emily had to wait until they met face to face).

I received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.