I’m not a huge romance reader, but the setting of Vietnam pulled me right in and I loved it! The writing is immersive and the descriptions of Vietnam as a place, and of it’s people, especially the Aunties, was fabulous.

The predictable “will they, won’t they” romance trope was a little tiresome as it went on a bit too long, but the characters of Evie and Adam were well written and I enjoyed their individual journeys of self discovery; Evie, after losing her job and relationship, her life seemingly going nowhere and grieving for her beloved Aunt, her last link to her Father and her Vietnamese heritage. Adam, feeling the need to comply with his wealthy and pushy parents’ wishes and demands. Never being able to fully let go and be himself.

The matchmaking tour helped them both to find more than just love as they were forced to face up to who they really are and what they want from life.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Nora Nguyen and Quercus for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I need everyone to read this book immediately so we can all gush about it together because this was IT!

This book is the epitome of the romance genre to me — a wonderful, spicy love story sprouting between two characters who both have a lot of baggage but fall for each other despite it all. Add in beautiful sceneries, many important topics, a wonderful cast of characters, and this is truly *the* romance book. I always search for that giddiness when reading romance; the giggles rising inside of me, the butterflies, and the angst. This book had all of that and more. Additionally, the descriptions of Vietnam were beautiful and will easily make the reader want to visit and experience it firsthand!

I've loved Evie from the start — the love she has for her late aunt and father, the disconnect she feels from her heritage, the poet she aspires to be despite the mess that she currently is. Evie felt palpable, and always true to herself. When Adam appeared, the chemistry erupted from the page. Their banter was a delight to read, and I loved their (not so) sneaky meet-ups. I loved how he fell first, how they both felt incredibly protective of each other in different scenarios, how they simply couldn't be separated from the beginning. I loved how the author built these two characters and gave them struggles that played into the story perfectly.

It's obvious how much I loved every scene and interaction because I physically have to force myself to stop writing this review. I've enjoyed this journey from start to finish and can confidently say that I will be reading anything this author writes in the future!

Highly recommend this one, especially if you want a romance that will simultaneously provide the thrill of their attraction and the heartfelt moments of love between them.

Unfortunately as much as I wished I enjoyed this book, I found it hard to connect to the characters but it was a nice change of pace and different settings and ways of opening up people’s minds to new ideas.

A sweet romance about two total stranger who meet at a matchmaking tour in Vietnam . Evie's dead aunt Hao left her in her will her San Francisco row house only if she go in a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Việt Nam . Now after she lost her job and broke with her boyfriend there is no reason not to go . Adam is the CMO for his sister’s matchmaking business and he has to join the tour . From the first time they meet there is attraction betwwen them but he is holding himself . Adam's working very hard but his father is never satisfied with him . Evie is a poet but has lost her inspiration but traveling and seeing all these beautiful places help gain friends and maybe her inspiration back . Will the tour bring them together even though they live across the world ?
I received this book from netgalley , the author and the publicer as an ARC . Thank you . All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Evie is a Vietnamese descendent who just lost her favorite aunt, and her last link to her father’s culture and heritage. Her writing and teaching career is failing, her love life is a mess, and she’s far from whom she dreamed she would become.
Her last aunt desire was for her to go on a matchmaking tour on Việt Nam, to give love and adventure a chance. Will she finally find herself?

In a world where Romances are mostly USA or UK centered, reading one happening in Việt Nam was a breath of fresh air.

I loved to read about some well know landmarks, and I appreciated the inclusion of heritage, legacy and cultural differences, as well as detailed and different perspectives on grief.

While the love story didn’t necessarily ressonate with me, I was still invested in Evie’s and Adam HEA, I will certainly check again this author in the future.

<i>I would like to thank Quercus Books | Quercus and NetGalley the eARC in exchange for an honest review.</I>

It was great to read a book set outside the norm with it being in Vietnam. This book has romance and humour and characters which I unfortunately did not gel with. The premise of the story was good and I did enjoy it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me and I couldn’t get into it. I kept having to reread pages as I wasn’t retaining any of the information. I ended up DNFing the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC

The culture and exploration of Vietnam was really the strongpoint of this novel. I loved learning more about the country and their culture. The book was deeper than I expected and explored themes of grief and trauma. The enemies to lovers relationship was good as well. Not the fun summer romance I was expected, but a good story

I was hoping for a light-hearted summer romance from Adam and Evie's Matchmaking Tour, but I was a little disappointed. I think this is a great debut novel and I would be interested in the author's future projects, but unfortunately, I didn't connect with the characters enough to be invested in their story, so I DNF'd the book at 60%.

The setting and premise were fun, and I enjoyed reading about Viet Nam's history, culture, and nature. The familial pressures and work stress that both Adam and Evie deal with, alongside processing trauma, served as a deeper, more meaningful backdrop for the romance, but I felt that they weren't expanded upon properly. I also generally struggle with romance books written in the third person because they make the story feel impersonal, and I have a harder time connecting to the main characters, their motivation, and their emotions.

My main problem was that I didn't enjoy the two main characters, they were a little flat and inconsistent, and I downright disliked Evie. The contrast between her and Adam was interesting, but the emphasis was overwhelmingly on the physical aspects of their relationship. They barely had meaningful conversations, instead, they shared endless, immature banter that didn't endear me to either of them and certainly didn't help them get to know each other. I tend to prefer books that read more romantic and swoony, and sadly this book didn't give me that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I can totally see why people might love this book, especially with all the heritage and cultural stuff. It’s definitely got some beautiful themes, and I really wanted to like it. But honestly, it just wasn’t my vibe. 😅 I tried to keep going, but I ended up DNFing it at 10% because I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it’s just me, but I wasn't connecting with the characters or the story. Not my cup of tea, I guess. But I’m super grateful to the author for giving me an ARC! 🙏💖 Thank you so much—I wish I could have loved it more!

When I first saw this cover I knew it was a story I had to read. I loved the illustration and how it pulled me in without giving anything away. But once I opened it and began to read I experienced a story I couldn’t put down.
The way this book takes you on an adventure across Vietnam and the love story of our 2 leading characters while touching base on more heavy topics such as loss shows the talent and dedication the author put into their book. Nora uses her own personal experiences to help sell the story, drawing us in to the location as if seeing it with our own eyes. As for the characters, I loved that we received a background story for everyone, pulling me in as I felt their emotions, completing the journey along with them. Overall this was an easy read and I really hope we can see more of the secondary characters in future books. If your are looking for a close proximity romance, then look no further!

Two very different lives, at home with grief stricken mum in middle America then the summer in San Francisco with her Vietnamese Aunty.
Finding her place as a published poet and the academic world for validation Emmie is stuck.
The death of her beloved Aunty and losing her academic contract spurs Emmie to accept her aunt's wishes on go on a matchmaking tour of Vietnam.
Culture clashes as well as personal ones, friendship and enlightenment are found.
A wonderful story about finding your place and where you fit in.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

What a beautiful story! As much a romance between two very different people, as it is a book about family, legacy, and grief. A journey through Vietnam with rich descriptions that made me feel like I was there on the tour with them. Now I want to go on a holiday!
Evie was a really interesting and relatable character. She struggles in relationships, she feels everything deeply, and she feels like a failure professionally. Her relationship with her mother, and also with her homeland, were thoughtfully explored, though perhaps not deeply.
I can't say I related at all to Adam, as I have a very different relationship with my parents and my siblings, but I'm also not Vietnamese. My family doesn't have a strong connection to legacy, or even culture, if I'm honest. Some scenes with Adam interacting with his parents or his sister, Ruby, were hard to read. But I think they were necessary to explain his character and his motivations.
The cast of side characters were memorable and fun, so it was easy to remember who was who. Fen was particularly a favourite.
Also, I love the cover! It's gorgeous.

This was a sweet romance that had me wanting to go back to Vietnam!

The writing was beautiful and described the setting and the love story between these two characters wonderfully. I'm not a fan of insta-love, so this part of the story wasn't my vibe, but I did enjoy it overall. I wish the side characters had been fleshed out a bit more, too.

This is a great romance, and different in that it's set outside of the usual American/European locations that a lot of books tend to be these days.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Quercus for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't hugely connect with Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour, unfortunately. I struggled to push myself to read it. The plot was interesting, I can say I haven't read anything like it before. But it wasn't really enough to keep me hooked.

I will say, the second half of the book did pick up and I found it easier to get through. Adam and Evie as characters I did find to be quite bland and they felt like they went from not liking each other to being in love too quickly for my taste.

All in all, it was fine. It just wasn't for me and I probably would've DNF'd it if it wasn't an ARC.

3.5 stars actually.

This was an easy, fun read. There were moments that had me laughing out loud which I always appreciate in a rom-com.

Not sure what to write as I think it was a fine romance debut. I had slight problems with the flatness of the characters sometimes and would have liked maybe for the ending to be slightly different but the Vietnam parts and everything about the food really brought the story up and made it interesting.

I was expecting a light, easy read from this debut novel and that's exactly what I got.

I loved the descriptions of locations and food in Vietnam - it's one of my favourite places to visit and this book made me want to go back again.

This starts out as an opposites attract, I think. Adam is described as grumpy, but he came across practical and maybe a little disillusioned. Evie describes herself as an introvert, but her behaviour doesn't really track with that. I couldn't quite get a handle on who these two really were, so the romance aspect fell a bit short for me. I could see that the characters were attracted to each other, but not really why.

The pace was also a little slow for me, but that could be because Evie's Aunt's gift had to be set up.

It was a nice read overall.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I loved this book!

Evie and Adam's story had me laughing, smiling and feeling a whole host of other emotions. It was cute and hot.

It was a nice dive into Vietnamese culture and the different sights around Vietnam whilst keeping it quite light-hearted.

I loved it and I would definitely read more from this author.

Chapter 1-4
I found the beginning a little slow, more telling then showing us readers but I understand that it’s to build up the world and story we’re starting

Chapter 5-9
The story is easier to follow from this point on, the main characters have a nice tension between them. It doesn’t feel forced, they genuinely feel attracted to each other and as a reader I can feel it.

Chapter 10-14
The suspense is building nicely, we’re getting to see our characters now now including our side characters which really adds to the story. Ruby feels dislikable especially with how she’s describing Evie and Adam isn’t standing up for her but I get that it’s a slow burn and he has inner turmoil to work through before he can really open up emotionally.

Chapter 15-19
A lot of back and forth, Adam isn’t really sure of what he feels while Evie is more in-tuned with her emotions. I found the push and pull a little repetitive but it only makes the reward so much sweeter, we get to see Adam start to give in and it’s very satisfying.

Chapter 20-24
The first spicy scene! It didn’t feel rushed to get to this point, the actual scene was pretty short and not too descriptive which I personally like but I am expecting more in depth scenes later on.

I felt like the conversation about Lana was far too short to pack a punch, we’re supposed to feel like Adam really had this connection with Lana and that the cheating really ruined his view on relationships like we’re told to believe earlier on. It feels a bit like we’re being told instead of shown. Adam’s and Evies connection still feels a little too much like lust rather than an genuine like.

We didn’t really get a proper read of the parents, they feel a bit flat and I’d want Adam to cower in front of them to show the dynamic between more. They feel like the stereotypical strict parents, slightly 2D

Spicy scenes sure are tricky, I found the second one a bit too quick paced. I had to pause multiple times and try to figure out what positions they were in, I would like just a bit more description of what exactly they were doing.

Chapter 25-29
The meeting between Adam and his father was well written, felt fully flushed. The tension here was what I wanted at the first impression of the parents, controlling, slightly possessive and demanding.

The conflict felt realistic, not some third act breakup that leaves us more irritated than wanting more. And although it’s quite stereotypical for Evie and Adam just to miss each other in the nick of time after his conversation with his grandmother, it still feels fully flushed and realistic. Props to Nora, you have to be talented to take a common trope and still make if interesting and feel like a repeat of another book.

Chapter 30-33
I like the insight of her present life, fulfilled even without Adam. It’s a part most romance books miss, that everything isn’t about romance and love despite the genre. And though she might not be satisfied and got everything she wants, she’s still content to a level.

The ending didn’t feel rushed, I liked how they both had time to think and evaluate their emotions even if it wasn’t on purpose and completely due to ruby’s choice to hid evies letter from Adam. I did however feel like the marriage wasn’t necessary, I can see them staying engaged for a while as they’re content with just each other without the title as husband and wife. But that’s more so an personal opinion than an critic.


Overall the book was pretty good, 3,75 ⭐️. The writing is not the best but definitely impressive since it’s a debut novel, I see potential in Nora’s writing and will be keeping an eye on any future releases

I wanted to give this one a read mostly because of the tour part. A matchmaking tour in Vietnam sounded dreamy and it really was. I would LOVE to attend one myself.
I thought the characters felt a little flat, maybe immature. I allow this was so especially at the beginning of the story, and I understand that for them to be able to grow throughout the narrative, the starting point had to have some room to grow for them. However, they felt a little flat as a result. However, this was a very enjoyable read.