✨ Book Review: Yin Yang Love Song ✨

Lauren Kung Jessen delivers a heartwarming and swoon-worthy rom-com that blends fake dating, family expectations, and the weight of cultural superstitions into a beautifully layered love story. 🍵💖

I personally love the rich cultural depth that Jessen portrays —from the significance of Chinese herbal medicine to the powerful role of family and community. Jessen seamlessly weaves in these elements without slowing down the fun, giving us a rom-com that is as meaningful as it is romantic. Fans of Helen Hoang and Jasmine Guillory will love the witty banter, tender emotional beats, and undeniable sparks between Chryssy and Vin.

My final verdict? A must-read if you love:
✅ Fake dating with actual emotional stakes
✅ Strong-willed heroines and swoon-worthy musicians
✅ A perfect blend of romance, culture, and self-discovery
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Cute Herbalist Meets Musician Romance

Lauren Kung Jessen's newest, Yin Yang Love Song, is about TCM practitioner and entrepreneur Chryssy, whose family runs a retreat for people suffering from heartbreak. Cue the Chao brothers, Vin and Leo, famed for being both cellists and heartbreakers. Set mostly on the West Coast of the US, Jessen explores the intersection of family curse and psychology, how women (and men) suffering from broken hearts can mend themselves using TCM and how, when looking for love, an end date is not necessarily a bad start for a relationship.
Tropes in the novel include forced proximity, fake relationship and healing.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Eunice Wong and Eric Yang for Chryssy's and Vin's chapters respectively. The narration was very, very beautifully done and immersive. The story itself was nice, if maybe a little bit cheesy for my personal taste. The women in Chryssy's family are all named after flowers, which was cute until it got too repetitive to listen too. I wonder how realistic some of the music-industry related plot things are but if you are here for a sweet, wholesome romance, you will get that. The two protagonists have some great banter and there are some very sweet and heartfelt scenes with their respective families. Life lessons could be learned!
An additional bonus, since the book is about herbal blends and recipes, is the PDF of the teas and baked goods mentioned in the novel! While Jessen mentions that TCM is not a replacement for Western medicine when it comes to actual issues such as heart attacks, the gentle nature of herbal treatments is definitely appealing and the recipes sound delicious.

Chryssy Hua Williams’s family is cursed, and her 9th break-up proves it! None of the women in her family have ever found lasting love. Chryssy is a Chinese herbalist and runs a wellness center for the brokenhearted with her aunties. In a chance meeting of celebrity cellist Vin Chao (known to be a heartbreaker), they strike up a deal. They’ll fake date, and when he “breaks” her heart, he’ll see an increase in ticket sales and she’ll see an increase in publicity and business.

This book was so cozy for me! Chryssy and the aunties put so much care into those suffering from heartbreak at the retreat. They are skilled at observing people so thoroughly that they know exactly what each person needs to heal. I really enjoyed learning more about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I also loved that Chryssy and Vin were both going on personal journeys. The book explored mental health and burnout beautifully. Chryssy and Vin’s relationship was a slow burn and such a sweet journey to love.

The audiobook was so well done! Narrators Eunice Wong and Eric Yang were the perfect voices for these characters. I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a sweet romance!

Thank you to Lauren Kung Jessen, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you like:
💕 Fake dating
💕 Forced proximity
💕 Celebrity musician MMC
💕 Dual POV
💕 Closed door romance

I did a re- read of this via audiobook. In the past I have really enjoyed the author's other books. So when I read this in December and I didn't love it. It just felt wrong. So I decided to request the audiobook and give it another shot. I'm so glad I did. The narrators did a fantastic job of getting me to love the characters. I was rooting for the characters to find their chi.

Sometimes our heads really aren't in the right head space to enjoy things. It's best to pause and try again later.

“I spent the rest of the evening under the covers, reading one of my Mom’s medical textbooks about the heart, thinking one day I could fix them.”

I discovered Yin Yang Love song through its audiobook version. Both narrators did a great job enhancing Lauren Kung Jessen’s words. They were immediately the characters and contributed to my immersion in the story.
It is an incredibly cozy and comfy novel that will make your heart blossom and your mood light. Chryssy and Vin’s story is one of these that you let drag you without wanting to resist. L.K.J.’s writing is once again beautiful, descriptive but keeps a great rhythm that still allows the reader to take a breath. Here, it was even more important as self-care is one of the core themes of the novel, one of its lessons being that without being yourself, without putting yourself first –at least a bit–, you can’t feel good… and even less being able to love. I loved how once again the author mixes arts, traditions and sciences to talk about Love, it creates a unique genre of poetry that was already here in her previous novel. Once again, L.K.J. wrote a story that made me travel and dream for a few hours. I loved the journey.

Thank you to the author and Hachette Audio for this ALC. My opinions are my own.

I put this one off because the very beginning didn't grab me and I always have a long TBR list. However, once I gave it a good chance, I found the characters and the story so endearing. I really love non-traditional main characters in RomComs, ones with interesting stories/backgrounds or fun quirks and this one gave me that with both the female and male main characters.

I loved the evolution of their relationship... from fake dating to falling in love and the supporting characters were also really interesting and added to the story. The author did a great job of incorporating musical puns with the flower/TCM references.

This book has minimal spice, mostly kissing, one scene with more, but it isn't descriptive. I wouldn't consider it closed door, but I would say their chemistry is well developed.

Thank you to Net Galley and Hachette Audio for the ARC.

I’m officially adding Lauren Kung Jessen to my Can’t Miss List. I have enjoyed all of her books, and I love how she intertwines love, family, and culture into her stories. In this book, we had heartbreak, fake dating, banter, super famous cellists, herbalists specializing in healing broken hearts, family drama, and a love curse that needs to be broken. There were heavy themes of family, healing, and making a path for yourself.

Thank you, Lauren Kung Jessen, Hatchette Audio, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this audiobook! The sound quality was excellent. The narrators, Eunice Wong and Eric Yang, did an excellent job bringing the characters to life in this dual POV.

I’m not really quite sure where this book lands for me. I really enjoyed the Chinese medicine and the conversations regarding self-care and work/life balance. But the book didn’t feel like there was that much at stake. I know there is the family “curse” that Chryssy is afraid to overcome…but it just fell flat for me. Maybe it was the length of the novel, or the lack of the third act breakup (which I absolutely usually hate).

I enjoyed Lauren Kung Jessen’s previous two novels and will continue to read her work. I’m just not sure exactly why this one was hard for me to rate.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Prepare to be swept away by a tale brimming with a family love curse, hidden secrets, and sizzling chemistry. This book seamlessly blends captivating romance with the rich traditions of Chinese medicine. An absolute gem for fans of character-driven narratives, this book is a testament to the healing power of both love and tradition.

I was so excited to read Yin Yang Love Song after thoroughly enjoying The Red String Theory sadly it didn't work for me. It was boring and I was left sorely disappointed. The romance felt flat as did the characters. It felt like they were playing a role throughout, like a mutually beneficial business deal rather than a romantic relationship. There was no chemistry and no progression of the relationship moving from fake to real. However, I did like the heroine's occupation, the mystery surrounding the curse and the aspects of Chinese culture that was interspersed. I wasn't fond of the narrators voices but they did a good job with this book. There were cute and sweet moments but this book just didn't work for me, it just wasn't for me.

I’ve been following Lauren Kung Jessen since her debut, Lunar Love, and I can definitely say that Yin Yang Love Song is her best work (so far!)

Thank you again, Forever Pub, for sending a review copy with ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Yin Yang Love Song follows an up-and-coming Chinese herbalist Chrysanthemum ‘Chryssy’ Hua whose family believe in a generational curse where Hua women are said to be doomed to never find lasting love. But this curse will be challenged when Chryssy met global sensation cellist Vin Chao - a certified heartbreaker. Chryssy knows how to fix a heartbreak but what about a heartbreaker?

Let me start my thoughts by saying that I haven’t read a romance book for months now and I’m so happy that I picked up YYLS because the main trope of this book is fake dating. I always say that fake dating is a hit or miss but trust me in this one because the author delivered one of the most practical fake relationship set in a steady pace and wrapped with a realistic third act and conclusion.

YYLS is written in a dual POV following both Chryssy and Vin’s thoughts as they venture into their faux relationship. The development of romantic interest in this book is such a banger - both MC tried to hide their blooming feeling not because they are worried that the other might bot reciprocate it but because they are aware of their personal issues that they need to work on before they dive into a lifelong commitment.

The maturity of the MC translated to how they handled the transition from fake to real couple well and I just love reading about adults who are deciding like adults.

I also enjoyed the discussion about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as the core of Chryssy and her family’s business, In Full Bloom. I read about the Yin-Yang dynamics, the functions of flowers and herbs as natural remedies to human woes, and other practicea such as acupuncture. The author mentioned in her note that discovering TCM has been such a revelation and I just love reading about it.

In Vin’s side, the main discourse is about finding balance. Being a renowned cellist running in a busy schedule, his character is riddled with bottled up feelings about what he really wants in life and about getting rest. As adults, we tend to overlook the importance of resting and this novel highlighted the significance of taking a break in order to achieve whatever goals or dreams we envision.

Overall, this is such an amazing romance novel from Lauren and I highly recommend. 4.5!

3.5 rounded up. Once again, Lauren Kung Jessen has a way of writing romances that have such high concept plots and are overly cheesy...and I eat it up. I didn't quite fall in love with this one as much as I did with Red String Theory or Lunar Love, but I still found this so charming and cute!

You *really* have to like a cheesy romance to like this, and even though that's sometimes a sticking point for me with other books, Lauren has a way of making it work where it doesn't bother me quite as much.

This blend of romance and homage to Traditional Chinese Medicine was a lovely read. There were several intertwined plots and lots of characters to meet, which made it a little confusing when listening to this as an audiobook, but the writing was superb, and emotions ran high throughout.

This book will be great for anyone curious about TCM, interested in cello music, or just looking for a unique romance plot that hasn’t been done a million times already.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Hachette Audio for the opportunity to review this book!

It was so much better than I even hoped! Jenny Han type writing for adults, fade to black, heavy plot, family drama, with major romance friends to lovers

Thank you Forever Pub and Hachette Audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I’ve really enjoyed Lauren Kung Jessen’s books. This was such a comfort read for me.

I alternated between the ebook and the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narration by Eunice Wong and Eric Yang.

Chryssy and Vin meet at an event. He and his brothers are famous cellists know for their music and heartbreaking ways. Chryssy and her aunts help heal heartbreak at their inn with traditional medicine. They strike up a fake dating agreement when they figure they can help each other.

I love fake dating so I knew this would be a good one! The women in Chryssy’s family believed they are cursed to not have lasting love. This book has a little mystery as Chryssy and Von try to solve the mystery of the curse. Despite pretending to be in a fake relationship they start to develop a friendship which blossoms into more.

There is something just so comforting about Lauren Kung Jessen’s books. I was nervous for Vin and Chryssy that their relationship wouldn’t last, but most of this felt like a comforting hug. Her books just have a constant smile on my face. I also loved learning more about the Yin Yang and traditional medicine. I really hope we get more books from her soon!

Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen
Contemporary romance. Own voices. Mixed race Chinese American.
Chryssy Hua Williams is an herbalist at her family run healing retreat. She doesn’t want to believe in the family curse of predetermined heart break, but after counting her own 9 unsuccessful relationships, she’s given up on love. She’s going to keep her heart safe and uninvolved.
Van Chao is a famous rock cellist touring with his brother. They are known as being heartbreakers but it’s really an over exaggerated marketing ploy by their label. When Chryssy offers herbal tea at one of their engagements, they talk and realize their problems are similar. If they tell the world and family they are dating, even tho it’s fake, they can help each other build their brands and business. The more they are together, the more they question their motives. Does Van want to be a heartbreaker and does Chryssy want him to leave because of the curse? The answer is no for both of them. Now they have to figure out how to solve their looming breakup.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook narrated by Eunice Wong and Eric Yang. Each narrator performs their POV and it’s easy to tell who it is, not only because of chapter heading, but clear differences between male and female narrator. Probably the chapter headings were unnecessary in the audio version. Both do only slight variations of the voices in their chapters but since it’s their POV, it’s not an issue.
The two narrators are totally compatible with tone, speed and volume which can be hard to achieve.
Both print and audio are done well and are easy to follow. There were distinct voices for the female extended family so preferred the audio in general.
I do increase my speed to 1.5 which closer matches my reading and conversational speed.

Emotionally rich, romantic and charming. Belief can be powerful. So can love. I enjoyed their compatibility from the start and their growing closer. Low angst. Chryssy has a unique ability to look at things from a different perspective or angle. A priceless skill.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.

This was so good and it honestly hurt a little bit. Lauren Kung Jessen is definitely an auto-read author for me now! Narration was great as well!

This was a cute love story. It had a great background and had so much about heartbreak. Imagine growing up in a family where all the women are thought to be cursed. Well of course you have to do all you can to try to get rid of that curse if you meet a man who you think you could fall in love with. I love these kinds of books.

4.5 stars

Is it just me or is fake relationship just PEAK? I loved this story between a cellist and an herbalist combining forces to help his brother and in the end, each other in more ways than one. Tackling issues like burn-out, curses, and not believing in love, I enjoyed listening to these characters grow together and learn to relax. I also really appreciated learning about traditional Chinese medicine and am more interested than ever to give it a try.

The narrators were fantastic and felt perfectly suited to the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ALC!

Lauren Kung Jessen is back with her third romance, Yin Yang Love Song. When a celebrity bad boy teams up with a woman who works at a family business, their complementary missions seem like the perfect duet: They’ll fake date to play up his heartbreaker image and promote her heartbreak-healing retreat. But what happens when their breakup plans no longer seem like the right course?

Why I Chose This Book:
I really enjoyed Lunar Love when it came out a few years ago, and though I missed Red String Theory, I was excited to learn about Yin Yang Love Song. First, I love anything to do with music; here, Vin and his brother are part of a popular strings duo (something like Lindsey Stirling). Second, Chryssy runs a heartbreak retreat that utilizes natural, herbal remedies. Third, this book is set in my home turf, the greater Seattle area. How could I resist?

What I Liked:
- Chryssy has been dumped eight times… thanks to a generations-long family curse
- Vin is known for breaking hearts… but part of that is due to his celebrity image
- Healing broken hearts with tea, flowers, and other natural remedies
- Vin is a cellist in a popular duo with his brother
- Family dynamics for both Chryssy and Vin
- Getting to know the greater Seattle area, from clamming to exploring Pike Place Market
- Fake dating with a planned breakup
- How much do the stories we tell ourselves impact our lives?

Audiobook
Eunice Wong and Eric Yang narrate Chryssy and Vin’s chapters, respectively. Both do an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and infusing their words with extra meaning. Chryssy’s general calm and nurturing demeanor and Vin’s more stressed but charming personality all come out thanks to these narrators. Both kept the whole book engaging from start to finish.

Final Thoughts
Yin Yang Love Song is such a feel-good romance. I love the themes of natural healing and fusion music, the contrast of always dumping your partners versus always being dumped, and seeing your family’s relationships as something to fear or strive for. This was a wonderful romance, and I will be reading more from Lauren Kung Jessen for years to come. First on my list: Red String Theory!