This is a modern retelling of Mulan set in California in the world of finance bros. Mulan steps into her father’s shoes to try to acquire a very traditional family’s business. Problem: the son is very handsome and certain members of the family are very endearing. Antics ensue as she tries to connect with them as Zhou (her father) and maintain her secret.

I thought this was a really unique take on the story of Mulan and even in the backdrop of a business acquisition deal, Jesse Q. Sutanto cleverly incorporated the badass gender-norm defiance, family pressure and pride, and impressive character growth from a story we all know and love.

I also appreciate Jesse’s trademark wit I’ve enjoyed throughout all her books and the way that comes through in plot points and the characters of this story (particularly the chaos gremlin that is Mushu!!!). As always with Jesse’s work there is a lot of value to the insight she provides into being a part of an immigrant family - the joy and love side by side with the pressure and turmoil. I think her words always craft a very authentic telling of some of the experiences that are unique to families who come to America looking to build a different life.

This is the first “Meant to Be” book I’ve read. I love the modern telling of Mulan. It was a sweet romance that you would expect from a Disney story. It’s lighthearted, funny, and a quick read. Some of the feminism was a bit too on the nose for me, but overall it’s an inspiring story of a woman fighting to prove herself in a man lead industry and falling in love in the process.

Cute romance. The only issues I had were the continuous use of the word “finance bro”. It was on almost every single page. If I ever see the term finance bro again I’m going to lose it. James was insufferable. The extremely large main cast of the Li’s was too much. I kept losing track of who was who and the family relations. A family tree would’ve been nice. Plus, Shang’s cousins besides James were completely ignored except at the very start during introduction and at the end of the book.

I was lucky enough to get the ARC from Netgalley. This book was a fun ride for the 5th installment of the meant to be series (Disney based) from Mulan and her partner in crime Mushu. The beginning was hard to break the mold of the movie but once you mentally removed the movie it was fun to live in this version of Mulan. If you want a fun, light read, and love a large family dynamic this book is for you!

This was my first Jesse Sutanto book and I loved it! I’m looking forward to reading some of her other books.

I think I had some misconceptions about her writing based on reviews I’ve read or heard in the past. This particular book did not have any graphic sex. There was some language, but it wasn’t excessive. The cultural references were interesting and fun and didn’t seem overdone to me, though I can’t speak to their accuracy at all, not having any Chinese ancestry myself.

This is my second-favorite Mulan retelling (I’ve read a few) and the only one I’ve read where Mulan didn’t pretend to be a man, which made the romance seem more practical.


Many thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the Advanced Reader copy!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book. I was so especially honored to receive it, because I love this series so much. This iteration did not disappoint!! It was so goofy and silly but had a good balance of serious moments and romance, too! With all the characters and plot devices we know and love from the original movie, only reimagined and given a 21st-century makeover, it was a quick and easy read. Highly recommend for fans of this series, Disney fans in general, and fans of the twisted tales/villians/princes series!!

Ok I ready about 60% of this book before I eventually DNFed it. And truly truly has nothing to do with the author. I’ve been looking at her other books and want to check her other books out. But I couldn’t handle the secondhand embarrassment hahah. This is also the first of the Disney meant to be series that I have read. So yes I liked the writing style and I liked the characters! But man I’m bad at feeling second hand embarrassment.

This book is essentially a modernized version of the classic tale of Mulan as told and portrayed in Disney's cartoon version of the story. I came in quite excited and not know exactly what to expect, and unfortunately was a bit disappointed in how the storytelling shook out. In this version of the story, Mulan works for her father's private equity firm and starts out the novel frustrated by the fact that she is constantly being talked down to, as a woman in finance. Her father suffers a heart attack and essentially she has the task of acquiring the whiskey distillery business that her father had been corresponding with via email for the past little while. Unfortunately, it's owned by extremely traditional Chinese men, and don't take kindly to women in roles of power. With all that set up, she takes her father's place and pretends they've been emailing with her the entire time. Due to some claims her father had made in the emails, she is put in a bit of a sticky situation, and is asked to spends time with Shang and his family on their family ranch so she can prove herself to them.

In general, the premise of this was interesting enough, but it did feel a bit stretched to fit in with the Disney adaptation. In its own right, the story is quite silly, and definitely needs a heavy suspension of disbelief to get through. Other than that, the writing was a bit clunky for me, and the romance came on Extremely fast. It was definitely very much insta-love (although Mulan at one point has a moment literally acknowledging and being shocked by said "insta-love"). In general, it lacked the heart I was hoping for, as it was stretching to do maybe just one or two too many things in the story. For some reason it just didn't quite click for me. It was fine for a fun little silly "turn your brain off" kind of romance novel, but I found myself rolling my eyes at the choices being made and the style of writing.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Backstory! I love the movie Mulan. I have absolutely loved two of the four Meant to Be books and enjoyed the other two. I loved Jesse Q. Sutanto's Vera Wong mystery , though, I did DNF the other books by her I tried to read. That being said, I was beyond excited to receive this arc.
Now, onto my thoughts on Worth Fighting For. I enjoyed it, but I didn't end up loving it. I liked the character of Mulan, the fact that she was a finance bro was amusing and a nice twist. Her relationship with her parents and Shang's relationship with his mom were so sweet. I thought the premise for her deception was a bit contrived and never really made much sense to me. I also rolled my eyes at watching a Tiktok video meant she could sheer a sheep with little difficulty. I think if it had been longer and been able to flesh more plot points out I would have liked it more.
It was a solid 3 star book for me, but I could see how others would enjoy it more. I think if I had been able to turn my brain off for a couple things it would have rated higher for me. All in all, it was a good addition to the series and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Worth Fighting For is a modern retelling of Mulan set in the Bay Area. Mulan is a workaholic finance bro whose firm is looking to acquire Shang’s family’s whiskey company. This was such a fun read—I enjoyed every minute of it!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Worth Fighting For from the Meant to Be collection completely stole my heart! This story had the perfect balance of emotional depth, tension, and romance. The connection between the characters felt so raw and real—I was rooting for them every step of the way. The push and pull, the moments of doubt, and the undeniable love that made it worth fighting for had me hooked from start to finish. If you love a story that tugs at your heartstrings and makes you believe in love that’s truly meant to be, this one is an absolute must-read!

I was very excited to receive this E-Arc as my favorite movie of all time is Mulan so thank you Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley.

However, though this is a retelling of Mulan. The story is nothing like the movie, so do not expect to many movie references.

I'm rating this 3 stars because I honestly didn't feel there was much interaction between Mulan and Shang for this to be considered an actual romance. I felt the story heavily focused on Her career. This gave 90% career 10% romance. Which was kind of disappointing.

I did however enjoy the dialogue between Mushu and Mulan. I felt Mushu's character made the whole story enjoyable. I think there was so much more that could have been done with this retelling in my honest opinion.

I am greatly struggling with my review for this book. Because my love of Mulan runs DEEP. To be honest, when it came out, I was more on the older end of wanting to be a princess era so I encountered some feels for princesses later in life. My adulthood frankly. Mulan is one of those. I have been obsessed with the story of a strong woman who will do what she must for her family. The ending of romance is a bonus--she wants to save her country first and foremost. Oh how it warms my heart that my daughter now is into Mulan herself.

So let's just say this book had HUGE shoes to fill going into it. And I have loved every other Meant to Me book. Whether because I have appreciated the modernizing of the princess I loved.....or the writing style because an author I liked wrote it. But, I must confess that upon ending Worth Fighting For, I was very very mixed. And that was not how I wanted to be.

Perhaps it was the author--I was less familiar with Jesse Sutanto than I am say Jasmine Guillory or Christina Lauren. Perhaps it was my Kindle's formatting and so many hyphenated words that didn't need to be and I was distracted. Perhaps it was due to the setting being in the business world and while an accurate way to involve a woman in a typically male dominated profession, I was slightly bored by it all. I still loved Mulan. I still loved Shang. This version of Mushu cracked me up. All good things with an ending that made me smile. But the smile was just not as bright as it has been other times.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At first, I was a little skeptical about this book. I had trouble getting into it and felt the start was a little slow. But as soon as I caught on, I was hooked. I loved the twist to the Mulan tale (something I didn't think could be done before). Mulan is a tough businesswoman, but I appreciated that the readers got to see her anxiety a bit. Shang is definitely a dreamy incarnation of Li Shang. And I thought Mushu as the sassy cousin was fun too. I thought this was a perfect addition to the Meant to Be series. I really enjoyed it.

I was curious how this would translate into a more modern story. It worked really well. The banter was great. There’s obviously some suspension of belief for this series but I really enjoyed this. One of my favorites in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was fantastic! I had great expectations because Mulan is one of my favorite Disney films, and I was not let down. I found the book amusing as I watched Mulan, a city girl, attempt to blend in on a farm, and Mushu was ridiculouslyfunny! I was unable to put it down! Overall, I thought this book was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyone who has been enjoying the Meant to Be series or who simply adores Mulan should definitely check it out!

Mulan was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid, so when I saw there was a book reimagined as a contemporary romance of Mulan, I was excited to read it. The direction the author took with the story was unique with many cute, subtle references to the original movie scattered throughout the book, but the story overall felt slow at quite a few parts and sometimes a little forced/rushed in others. I didn’t feel as invested in the characters, didn’t feel that the chemistry was really there between the main characters, and just overall had a harder time getting into it. I thought that it was a decent read, but it just didn’t quite meet my expectations. I wanted to love it, but it was just ok. Thank you Jesse Q. Sutanto, Hyperion Avenue, and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Mulan meets modern world. I loved the premise of this adaptation and was so excited to hear that Mulan was next in the series and that Jesse Q. Sutanto was the author. I enjoyed this book, but was left wanting a bit more in terms of the story pace. Overall, I liked the read!

This was so fun to read a modern day retelling of “Mulan”! I fell in love with the characters very quickly, and was rooting for both the love interest and the professional success! Reading more about traditional Chinese culture and assumed gender roles throughout the book was very informative and made me root for Mulan’s success even more. The writing was engaging, thoughtful, and also humorous! This is a new author for me, and I’m happy to have been introduced to her as part of the “Meant to Be” series!

*A sincere thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing the advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.*

I absolutely love the story of Mulan- it’s one of my favorite Disney movies & Jesse Q. Sutanto is one of my favorite authors, so I was already so excited w/ this book! The idea of having her pose as her father’s position and history rather than as a man herself was a great way to modernize the story & it helped build a lot of great drama & fun for the story.
The chemistry between Shang & Mulan was adorable & I loved their sense of humor together! It was definitely very Disney-cute but also w/ some fun twists.
Mushu’s character was definitely my favorite, and I really loved how she was used for some comedic relief especially during some heavier parts.
Like the Disney original, sexism is a theme throughout & it is difficult to swallow at times but the entire story has a satisfying conclusion & is a fun time overall.