Thank you Avon, I loved reading a variation of grump/sunshine romance that was set in a new to me setting and involved a welcome exploration of Asian culture and countries. What stands out other that a swoony vibe slow burn romance is the exploration of cultural identity, culture in general, and the pressures of expectations from others. Nora Nguyen gives depth to the characters and the plot with these notes, making their chemistry and the story filled with unexpected richness! An impressively nuanced read.

I was so excited to "travel" to Vietnam while Evie and Adam went on the matchmaking tour. I absolutely loved "seeing" the landmarks there. This was my favorite part of the novel.

The ending was wonderful, but it didn't fit with the rest of the novel. The resolution didn't make sense for how Evie and Adam acted towards and with each other. I never thought they had a deep connection or chemistry. It only seemed to me that they only were together for the sex. I found myself rolling my eyes every time Evie still wanted to be with Adam despite his on and off again attitude towards her. They rejected each other way too much for a meaningful relationship.

Overall, this was a predictable novel that used plot elements that felt forced and not natural for the characters. Evie and Adam didn't have believable character growth arcs to justify their deep love for each other.

This romance was a love letter to Vietnam! I loved getting to “see” the beautiful sights and nature in Vietnam through the character’s eyes. I found the idea of a matchmaking tour to be such a fun concept: visiting beautiful places with other singles to hopefully find love. It’s so romantic and I loved it. I also loved Adam and Evie’s chemistry! They had such good banter and tension and I was obsessed with them. Overall, this was a solid romance read and perfect for anyone looking to read a book with Vietnamese culture. I would definitely recommend it!

3.5 stars rounded up! I went into this with no expectations and thought it was a super cute and fun romance! Predictable in the best ways, but also had amazing descriptions of Viet Nam scenery and places I never knew existed that sound so beautiful! The scenery and sight seeing almost steal the show, but Evie is such a strong and loveable main character. Easy fun and delightful read for me!
Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars

🗣️ dual POV
❤️‍🔥 the fiesty banter! the forced proximity! their chemistry!!
✈️ this will give you wanderlust for Vietnam
❤️‍🩹 grappling with grief, duty to family, & identity beyond careers
📚 if you loved The Paradise Problem and How to End a Love Story, this will have you giggling & cheesin’

a matchmaking tour in Vietnam! this was a quick read, I had fun traveling with Adam and Evie and their whole group! it felt a touch slower in the middle but truly delivered on the character’s stories, their relationships, and the *romance*! there are heartfelt gems tucked into these pages. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

This book was totally unexpected and such a fun read. I loved getting to see Evie grow throughout the novel. I absolutely adored the scene setting and the travel aspect. It really made me feel like I was right there with them in Viet Nam and in San Fransisco. It really painted a beautiful picture of Viet Nam and you can tell there was a lot of attention to detail in the selection of foods and locations. I liked the romance between Adam and evie. I will say it felt a little juvenile in writing at times which took away from the story for me. I did like the ending but felt like we didn’t need two time jumps. Overall, it was surprising and such a fantastic romance.

Book review NetGalley

4 ⭐️ What a cute, fun, perfect, spicey romcom. While this book started a little slow for me, once I was invested I could not put it down. This was the perfect grumpy sunshine romance.

I love how this book immersed me into Vietnamese culture and really helped me to appreciate the differences. When I tell you I loved Evie, I loved her. She was cute, quirky, and so relatable.

This was an advanced read copy I received through Netgalley so it’s not going to be officially published until September 24, 2024! But this is my honest review!

Add this book to your to read list, I promise you won’t regret it! & then let me know what you thought!

#books #bookstagram #booktok #bookrating #library #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bookrecs#bookcommunity #booklovers #booksofinstagram #bookish #fivestarbooks #romancebook #kindlebooks
#kindleunlimited

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review an early digital copy of Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour.

Cheesy. Formulaic. Romance usually isn't my thing, but I have read a couple of fun ones lately, so I thought I would give this a shot, hoping to learn of another culture and enjoy a "trip" to Vietnam. The scenery was beautiful and the city bustling. The story was predictable and totally as you would expect. Unfortunately Evie was a wonderful character, but she did not come into her own until the last few pages. I was intrigued by her new life, I wish we would have seen more of her personality and desires earlier in the book.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate this cover? Absolutely stunning! I wanted to love this but it fell flat for me. The FMC trying to find herself after leaving her job felt like it was missing something. It didn’t work for me a ton but I did enjoy the writing and all the characters I got to meet. I wish it came together in a more satisfying way but I’d still read anything by this author!

I looove the travel and adventure aspect of this!! Now I need to go on an organized tour and find my true love.

Evie goes to her father’s home country of Vietnam for a “match making tour” as her recently passed aunt stipulated she must in order to inherit her house - a 3 story in San Francisco. I would do it too Evie!! There she meets Adam, who works for the tour agency along with his sister. The two have a rocky first meeting but start to bond really fast. The trouble is that Evie does not fit into the strict standards Adam’s controlling father set for him, and Evie’s writing career is keeping her in America. This starts a “will they or won’t they” push and pull situation as both go from strong attraction to one another, to trying to be practical about the reality of their incompatibility.

Read if you like:
-lovers who start out sort of hating each other (I don’t think enemy or even rival is the right word for them)
-travel and exploration
-family drama and overcoming expectations
-a little grief/healing

I get a little irked personally by characters switching up their feelings all throughout the book but that’s just my taste. I think the reasons for their conflict felt real and believable. A little insta-lust followed by a quick romance that felt a bit unnatural to me. It didn’t take me out of the story too much though. Overall it was cute, adventurous, and entertaining!

DNF. I couldn't get into Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour. The biggest thing I struggled with was the writing. I had a hard time with the third-person narration. I also thought some of the "bigger" vocabulary words felt out of place. The beginning of the book started off slow and I had difficulty staying motivated to read. I did like the Vietnam setting. Nguyen did an incredible job immersing the setting into the story. I also enjoyed the plot line...I found the whole matchmaking tour interesting. Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC.

As a condition to inheriting her aunt's wonderful house, Evie is tasked with going on a match-making tour. She doesn't have to fall in love, but she is expected to spend time getting to know people and enjoy the culture she missed out on as a child. Facing a long writer's block and loss of creativity, she's a little reluctant to go, but feels like it may be just what she needs to jumpstart her stagnant life.

Adam is the CMO of the new match-making company, but he is struggling to connect with the experience for their clients, so he is signed up to accompany the tour and see if he can find the emotional connections that are made. He never expected to find someone like Evie, but once she appears, she drives him crazy. He just can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

This was a fun grumpy-meets-sunshine, forced-proximity romance set in some wonderful environs in Việt Nam. There are some amazing descriptions of the history and experiences of the culture, all used to create a backdrop to a well-written romance. It seemed to wrap up a little quickly right at the end for me, but overall a strong story and character development.

Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen is a sweet, just a little spicy, romance set in Vietnam. The idea of a matchmaking tour is such a fun premise, and the characters in this novel make it even more entertaining. Adam and Evie are both relatable and I was rooting for them to figure it all out, almost from the first chapter. Ms. Nguyen's writing makes me want to take a trip to see the sites on the tour, it sounds like an experience that would be as informative as it is beautiful.

What I did not realize before reading the 'About the Author' at the end of the book is that Nora Nguyen also wrote Banyan Moon under the name Thao Thai. Banyan Moon has been on my TBR for months, and I need to move it up the list!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC of Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen. The opinions in this review are my own.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, charming, action-packed and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and will look for more books by this author.

Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen is a fun and delightful debut romance novel.
A fun filled adventure that loved being apart of.
These characters were fun, loving and imperfect.
The plot was well-paced and captivating from start to finish. The characters were charming and witty. I highly recommend this fun and quick read.

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A poet goes on a matchmaking trip in Vietnam but finds herself falling for the unlikeliest person of all. Evie Lang's life is not exactly going great, her beloved aunt has passed away and she's been fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. When she receives a surprisingly letter from her aunt telling her that she's been left a deed to a San Francisco row house and all Evie has to do to inherit it is go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Viet Name? Evie can't say no, the house is the place where all her happiest memories are and if it means spending a trip with strangers looking for love (despite being freshly broken up with) she'll do it. Then there is Adam Quyền , a guy who is working round the clock as the CMO for his sister's elite matchmaking business and despite being someone who doesn't know anything about love, he's determined to do the job. Adam and Evie couldn't be more different, she's chaotic and flighty, he's serious and uptight. Yet when they meet each other... something sparks between them. But can a relationship work when they come from two completely different worlds... and the fact that they live in two different places once this trip is over. This was a really sweet read and the romance was cute. I think my favorite aspect of this book however was the exploration of Vietnam and all the traveling and site seeing that happened. It just felt like a magical look into Vietnam and a really beautiful tour. The story itself was a sweet and easy read but the description of Vietnam and all the tourist exploration was what made this book a real delightful read.

Release Date: September 24,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

the beef i have with meddling families is unmatched...

this book has been on my radar for a bit because i saw a picture of the cover and immediately fell in love, it's just so beautiful. the story itself also sounded pretty interesting. usually matchmaking books aren't my favorite but i decided to test this out because i was just so into the cover. overall this wasn't a bad book, the writing was really good and it painted a beautiful picture of vietnam and the places they visited. i just don't think the romance was endearing enough. there were certain parts of the book where i wasn't even sure if i wanted adam and evie to end up together and that's not the best thing for a romance.

the story of evie finding herself and realizing what she wanted to do after leaving her job also just felt bland. like i don't get why she started whatever little thing she started at the end. adam was so hot and cold that it wasn't even fun to read about. they would have sex and then he'd not speak to her for days, i'm sorry but that's not attractive. also the way his sister spoke about evie and just the way she spoke to her brother in general was so annoying. the amount of people that said he was still in love with lana even though she CHEATED on him was crazy. it just wasn't cute and then we found out she lied to him about why evie left and i was pissed.

though this didn't really work for me and did like the writing and all the new characters we met on the matchmaking trip. i would read a story about fen and mei in a heartbeat!!!

*thank you NetGalley for an ARC*

Rating: 4.5/5

“But what I’ve learned is that the best moments are the ones that happen when you’re fully in the moment. The best connections are the ones that happen in good faith, where two people allow each other to become vulnerable with each other. Love, friendship. Art. It’s only possible when you allow yourself to leap.”

(BRB, booking a trip to Vietnam.)

I adored this book. This author did a fantastic job of taking a romantic comedy just a step further to tell a really meaningful story. This book had such a great balance of romance, friendships, complicated family dynamics, humor, and spice.

The themes of grief and identity were handled so beautifully, and it was refreshing to see these characters be so human. I really enjoyed getting to see these fully fleshed out characters try to navigate feelings they never expected to have and find solutions to problems that were actually high-stakes. It makes it all the more worth it when things fall together for them.

In addition to Adam and Evie, we got a full cast of supporting characters who really made the story feel whole. I really enjoyed getting to tag along and experience Evie’s female friendships and Adam’s relationship with his sister. All in all, this book is fantastic and will stay with me for a long time. Firmly in the “more than just a romance” category. I can’t wait to see what Nora Nguyen does next!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for this NetGalley arc.

I really enjoyed Adam and Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen! This was a fun romance with a beautiful Việt Nam setting!

Evie's beloved aunt has passed away and left her San Francisco house but in order to receive it, she needs to visit her family’s home country and go on a matchmaking tour.

I loved the setting and reading about the beautiful location plus the food in her book. While it was a little insta-romance I liked Evie seeing her family’s roots and finding inspiration for her writing. I liked Adam's devotion to his family and seeing him realize what he needed to be happy.

It was fun to see that the author also writes as Thao Thai (Banyan Moon)!

Thanks to Avon Books for my advanced copy via Netgalley! Adam and Evie's Matchmaking Tour comes out on Tuesday - September 24th!

This was such an interesting book! Yes, it's a romance at it's core, but the beautiful backdrop of Vietnam provided a gorgeous setting for the book!

Evie, poet and adjunct professor at a small liberal arts college, is stalled professionally, personally. Her boyfriend and department head just fired her and her agent seems like he's going to drop her. When her favorite bohemian family member Auntie Hảo passes away, she leaves her a gorgeous classic row home in San Francisco--with one catch. She has to go on a matchmaking tour in Vietnam and attempt to find love.

Adam is CMO of the matchmaking company. He has a huge chip on his shoulder. His Stanford MBA is probably above his role, but his sister asked him to help. Adam's family is straight from Crazy Rich Asians. Seriously.

The cultural backdrop and fun cast of characters set this romantic comedy apart from the others. Fun fact, author Nora Nguyen wrote Banyan Moon under a pseudonym. She wrote this beautiful, but very spicy romance under her own name! I cannot love this more.