Overall: 4.25/5
Spice level: 2.5/5
Tropes: best friends to lovers, workplace, mutual pining

So many parts of this story were really cute. Zoe and Derek had great chemistry, and i loved all the cultural references.

I loved that Zoe built a career out of running a lingerie boutique for plus size people. And I also loved that her weight was never part of the story. She just was a fat person and that's it.

I felt more growth in Derek's character than hers, especially when he finally stood up to his longtime mentor when he tried to run Derek's show into the ground by white washing it.

The pacing did have some slow parts but overall, I enjoyed the book.

We meet our FMC Zoe in her element— at her plus size lingerie store, Something Cheeky, helping a client find a bra that makes her feel confident. It was such a great opening scene I was instantly swept into the book.

I loved the characters in this book, the new best friend and the old college best friend. The banter was so fun!

However, there wasn’t any subtly to the romance aspect. Yes, we expect a friends to lovers with a happily ever after but I think this book would have benefited if it was just Zoe’s POV.

DNF’d 20% through

I love Thein Kim's books. But this one left me wanting. I think the plot dragged a touch but I did enjoy the laugh out loud moments and the steam. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I still will revist Lam's work in the future.

This was beautifully done romance novel, it had that feel that I was looking for from the description. The concept was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the cast of characters. It uses the romance element perfectly and enjoyed how everything was created. Thien-Kim Lam was able to create a great story and characters and look forward to more.

Beautiful best friends to lovers trope set in the world of theater with a focus on finding your voice and not being typecast into a box. Thien-Kim did an amazing job really building this world and these characters, I honestly felt like I was watching a show at points.

Loved the representation of different sexualities (esp the demisexuality), anxiety and the struggles immigrant children go through (as one myself I can relate). Very well done. Feel like anyone can pick this up and find something to relate to.

This book was so cute! If you are looking for a friends to lovers romance then this book is for you! The romance was so cute! I would highly recommend this book!

I really liked this, but I felt like the communication between the characters felt awkward and stunted sometimes. It made it hard to read through some of the scenes. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it to friends.

Wow. This was amazing, I love the plus size representation. How the couple is set up. This was a very well done friends to lovers. Loved every second of it . I like how the author created a book that makes you think and be engage with it. Definitely exited to get a copy

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a lovely friends-to-lovers story with plenty of heavy pining from both ends. Zoe is a lingerie clothing designer who yearns for more - when she gets the opportunity to join up with old best friend Derek on a musical theatre project that combines both of their dreams. My only fault with this book is that the circumstances around Derek and Zoe's "falling out" are tangentially explored and left me a little confused - essentially, it is not nearly as dramatic as it could've been, and I honestly think I'm glad for that. It made their love story more focused on the pining and the confession rather than trying to make up for previous wrongs. As far as writing, my only fault with the book is the way Lam seems to sometimes over-explain things - and not necessarily always culture? She references the name for DMV twice, and several things more Vietnamese culture related; I understand that this is a choice made by the author, and a decent amount of explanation sometimes is fair, but I felt in some cases it was overexplained and perhaps repetitive. That being said, Lam really captured incredibly well that tension of the well meaning white man with all the power and funding behind him and the pressure that he places on both Derek and Zoe.

this was SUCH a cute friends to lovers!!!!! the cover is what drew me in initially but i love love love me a good friends to lovers, and they delivered! the chemistry was there, the characters and their friendships with the side characters specifically CARRIED this book and the steam was steamin!!! i already need the next from lam!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Zoe Tran designs sexy, plus size lingerie at her own award winning lingerie boutique, but she’s looking to branch out and design her own clothing line. When her college best friend shows up with an opportunity to design costumes for his upcoming Vietnamese production of the Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college, she finds it’s the opportunity she’s been waiting for.

Derek Bui is a theater director who’s been in love with Zoe Tran since freshman year of college. Now he’s directing the musical they conceived together with an all Vietnamese cast and creative team that has the potential to go to Broadway. He offers Zoe the opportunity to work on their dream production together, while also hoping he can finally confess his true feelings for her. But with the pressure from the theater’s artistic director to make the musical “less Asian”, he and Zoe butt heads on whether to stay true to their vision or succumb to the pressure. Can their love last past tech week?

I was really excited when I received this arc. A bad-ass plus sized lingerie designer and a musical theater director working together on an original concept - sign me up please!

While Derek asks Zoe to join him on the production team to see out their vision of the musical, he also has ulterior motives. He’s decided to be up front and honest with Zoe about his feelings… after he’s given her time to get comfortable being around him again of course. Meanwhile, Zoe is also starting to notice the butterflies in her stomach the more they work together.

There’s so much depth to the story. I’m an actor and a WOC, and I really related to the struggles Derek and Zoe faced. Underrepresented groups still have a difficult time producing and acting in theatrical productions. Sadly, make things “less ethnic” is a common reality behind closed doors. In fact, according to current data, the percentage of Asian actors in theater, particularly on Broadway, is significantly lower than the overall population, with estimates between 5 and 10% of roles. Representation matters and kudos to Ms. Lam for bringing awareness to these issues.

Now on to the love story. Typically, friends to lovers is not my favorite trope. Oftentimes, I want to smack the two characters together because of the frustrating excuses they give themselves in order to not be together. But Ms. Lam turned this trope upside down in a positive way. Zoe cut off all her friends including Derek, after a horrible professor caused her to switch gears away from her dream of being a costume designer in her final year at university. While she felt the need to reach out to Derek throughout the years, the fact that so much time continued to pass, made her shy away from it. And that’s totally understandable. The two communicate about this fairly early in the story, and they pick up the relationship where they left off which is quite refreshing. Ms. Lam also gives us a thought provoking reason as to why the two never get together in college. Being the only two Vietnamese American students in their drama program, Zoe wanted to squash the idea that they would date simply because they were the only two Asian Americans in the program and officially friend zoned Derek.

Ms. Lam brings to light a lot of microaggressions POC experience in their day to day lives in a way that asks the reader to really engage, and not be just a bystander. Derek and Zoe constantly have to navigate spaces typically dominated by white men, and we can feel their struggle as they constantly have to stand up for their vision for the show. Which let’s face it, is something those who are privileged do not need to deal with. Ms. Lam handled this beautifully.

I really enjoyed the scenes of them working together on the show. You get a real sense of their passion and the drive to provide opportunities to underrepresented communities. Their banter was light, easy, and witty. I also loved how Derek championed Zoe when she had doubts and was a real partner to her.

“Z, I’ll trust you until you can trust in yourself,” he said quietly but with plenty of confidence.

Ms. Lam did a wonderful job of balancing very real and serious issues with the light heartedness, sexiness, and emotional arcs you expect in Rom Coms.

TW: Fatphobia (a remark made by a secondary character about a secondary character)
Racial microagressions, racial slurs, hate crime

I liked the humor and the character interactions. I also valued the portrayal of Vietnamese culture.