I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I loved this look into the theater world of D.C. and the Vietnamese culture. This romance was so much fun with everyone knowing they were meant to be together but the two of them. He was more aware of his feelings. The ending was perfect for the story but I can't go into too many details without giving the plot away. Definitely worth a read!

This book has some cute concepts, but it overall felt messy. There are too many plot points going on that rely on a timeline that feels out of proportion for the ages of the leads. This man is not Andrew Lloyd Webber, nobody is giving him the money to launch an unwritten musical in 6 weeks. Unless she came from serious money, it is unlikely that a woman in her 20s would have the cash flow to open a boutique shop of her own high-end fashion. Put these characters in their late 30s or early 40s and suddenly everything becomes much more believable for their careers, and the second chance at romance. Also, the female lead's friend group did not feel fully fleshed out, but rather like the author was trying to check off a list of inclusions. Nothing about it was particularly believable or enjoyable to read, which is too bad because the idea was fun and I would love to see this musical if it were a real thing.

I enjoyed this second chance-type book full of culture and sexy times. I’ll admit, I LOVE when the hero is a goner for the FMC from the beginning.

I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed this.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperAudio for this copy. I loved it so much. It was so enjoyable and the characters were a fun time.

I absolutely loved this story. I loved the tension; the honest reflection of the pain points for both main characters and their supporting friends and the peek behind the curtain at theatre production.

The narration wasn’t my favourite, particularly during spicy scenes. But the story itself was rich, emotional and I was rooting for a happy ending on every page.

I adored this book. The narration was chef's kiss on this one along with the plot. I adored these two and how their chemistry between these two and the love these two had. I loved them. I loved this. I have only love and appreciation for this story and everyone needs to read it.

4 stars
3 steamy kisses

I really enjoyed this story overall. I remember the blurb and book cover won me over so I was glad to get a chance to listen to this story. The author was new to me and I liked her work. I enjoyed the premise of the story because as a minority I felt I related to some aspects that the charaters faced during the production of this show and overall in life. I appreciated the authors approach to showcase some of these issues.

I recommend checking out this story if you're looking for:

Friends to lovers
Mutual pining
Forced proximity
Costume designer x director/producer

Thank you to HarperAudio and the author for a free advanced lister copy of this book.

3.75

I love all the representation in this book. And all the theater stuff! It was really a fun read and I think has a really great pulse on many issues that Asian Americas face in many professions. I loved the chemistry between the 2 mc’s.

Something Cheeky by Thein Kim Lam is a romance between our plus-size lingerie designer, Zoe, and stage director, Derek. Zoe and Derek were friends back in college, and Derek always had a crush on her. Years later, Derek is directing a Viteames Cinderella rock musical, and Derek asks Zoe to design the costumes for the show. Zoe accepts the job, and they both end up working together. However, the theater's artistic director is making it difficult for the creative team and everyone around him. As Zoe and Derek's connection grows and the tension between the artistic director and creatives rises, will their relationship stay afloat?

As a musical theater performer and nerd, I appreciate this book. I loved all of the musical theater references and the behind-the-scenes of making this musical. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Derek and Zoe (such a cute couple). My only qualm with this book is some of the dialogue between the characters. The dialogue was a bit cringy at times, specifically during the spicy scenes, but other than that, this was such a cute story.

Last week, Thien-Kim Lam released her latest novel, Something Cheeky. I’ve been wanting to read her books, and when I saw the description for this one, I knew it was time to dive in.

Zoe and Derek were best friends in college, but lost touch after she was pushed out of the program. Now Derek is in Washington, D.C. bringing his first musical to the stage, and he wants Zoe to design the costumes. This Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical will shine a light on their culture, and could open the doors for more BIPOC voices in theater. Working together brings back not just friendship, but also romantic feelings. Can a love story fit in amidst their commitment to the musical?

Why I Chose This Book:
I love musicals and theater, so any book with those themes will capture my interest. I was also excited to read more about Vietnamese culture, a former friends-to-lovers romance, and discussions around authentic representation in media.

What I Liked:
- Zoe and Derek! They have great chemistry as friends, and it translates well to their overdue romance finally unfolding all these years later.
- Vietnamese culture and identity. They’re working with an all-Asian cast to bring an authentically Vietnamese musical to the stage, including cultural heritage and language. I loved getting to see a glimpse of that here, as well as discussions around what it means to really be Vietnamese (for example, Derek isn’t fluent in the language).
- Battling Gregzilla. Freaking Greg. He represents everyone who diminishes and dumbs down underrepresented voices. Racism, misogyny, fat-phobia… this guy has no limits. Take him down!
- Mr. Bobbins! What a purrfect cat!
- Zoe’s friend group. Zoe has some wonderful and supportive friends (who appear in the author’s previous books!), and I loved seeing them lift each other up here.

Audiobook
Vyvy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh narrate Zoe and Derek, respectively. Derek’s parts flowed really well and I appreciated his pronunciation and characterization. Zoe’s narration sounded a bit more robotic… still good and very easy to understand, but it could have used more emotion or inflection. But all in all, I did enjoy the audiobook.

Final Thoughts
Something Cheeky is a delightful romance about friends finding each other and love again. I loved the musical development and behind-the-scenes, the Vietnamese culture and language, and fighting back against white-washing and belittling. This is a fantastic novel, and I look forward to reading Thien-Kim Lam’s previous and future books.

Something Cheeky is a heartfelt romance that seamlessly weaves themes of identity, culture, romance, and expectations in this story of the complexity of personal growth – especially when you’ve found yourself with someone from your past.

Following Zoe Tran, a successful plus-size lingerie designer, who is living her dream at her own boutique, Something Cheeky gives the reader a loveable, diverse cast of characters. One such character is Zoe’s college best friend, Derek Bui, whose unexpected return sparks a whirlwind of emotions. Derek is pursuing their college dream to produce a Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical and he needs Zoe to design the costumes – but he also needs to process his long-term love for her. This exciting but high-stakes opportunity for Derek and Zoe becomes contentions when the very white producer requests to de-Asian many elements of the show. How Zoe and Derek respond to the challenge can make or break them.

The representation in Something Cheeky feels genuine and authentic, though I would have loved for Zoe’s demisexuality to be explored in a way that felt deeper. I would have loved more time to explore the romance between Zoe and Derek, but find the rapid tradition from former friends to reconnected lovers to be perfectly reasonably for two adults who clearly harbored feelings for one another for so many years. Frankly, the cultural aspects of the theater and larger community were far more interesting anyway!

A wonderful, quick read for lovers of culturally relevant stories with dynamic characters, a little spice, and romance.

4.5

I liked but didn't love Full Exposure when I read it in 2023, so I was excited to see more from Thien-Kim Lam and this blew my expectations out of the water.

Something Cheeky follows Zoe Tran, a plus size lingerie designer, and her college best friend Derek Bui, who reenters her life when he's preparing to create and direct a version of their dream musical and wants her to design the costumes. As such, this book heavily centers musical theater which I absolutely loved. It criticizes the lack of support and representation for minorities in theater (looking at you Miss Saigon), and more generally criticizes microaggressions faced in the workforce. Lam does an excellent job portraying some of the challenges Zoe faces being a plus size Vietnamese woman. There are chairs she has a hard time sitting comfortably in, when her and Derek get together she wants to keep it a secret because she knows people will assume she slept with him to get the job, and more. Zoe is also demisexual, and I always love to see aspec representation in media.

The relationship is very much he falls first, and I loved watching some of the hijinks that prevent him from confessing. I also appreciated that when the third act conflict occurs, it's primarily external, though I appreciate that the resolution shows clear personal growth.

One of the things I remember loving about Full Exposure, is how Lam incorporated the Vietnamese immigrant experience of New Orleans, and she does the same thing here but with the DMV. Zoe and her parents both have businesses in Eden Center, which is a historically Vietnamese strip mall in Falls Church and that was fun to see.

I mostly listened to the audiobook and I really liked the dual narration. I thought both Vyvy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh encapsulated their characters very well, and I will be looking out for more of their work too. I also didn't realize that Lam's debut Happy Endings was connected to the characters in this and in Full Exposure, so I'm looking forward to going back to read that.

I truly enjoyed this book. There were some hang-ups for me personally. I felt like the book was a bit drawn out and found myself questioning where things were going. Certain aspects of the book weren't always believable for me and I found it hard to suspend disbelief. The spicy scenes needed a little more work in my opinion as a few of them left me cringing a bit. Despite all of this I found the book enjoyable and if anything it sent me on a boba obsessed run for the last two weeks.

3.75
I loved all the representation in this book; plus size, AAPI, Vietnamese, demisexual, LGBTQ+! And all of it was done really organically throughout the story by the characters without ever getting preachy.

The theatre stuff was also really well done. To the point that the villain reminded me so much of an irl villain in my own theatre work that I had to set the audiobook aside overnight to not get triggered. Otherwise, I would have finished this book in one day. You can tell Lam really knows her stuff with how true to life the whole getting a production ready vibe was, including all the showmances. She even wrote a grand musical style finale and wrap up for all the storylines.

However, I had a hard time rooting for Derek throughout the book. He gets redeemed by the end in time for an HEA, but I was really frustrated by a lot of his actions (and inactions) and felt like he needed to grovel a bit more. I also struggled with the cheesy dialogue at times.

The audiobook production was great. I always enjoy duel narration. Both narrators, Vyvy Nguyen and David Huynh, were awesome, and I have to give a special shout out to Huynh for not making the women's voices unbearable.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio/HarperAudio Adult for the ARC audiobook of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ALC.

I looked forward to and was happy to get this advanced copy because I’m a theatre nerd, and wanted to read a different culture that wasn’t my own. On that end it went great. Especially on audio where I could hear the actual pronunciation of the Vietnamese words. Also appreciated the plus size FMC not being self loathing.

What did work for me was the dialogue, and also chemistry between the FMC and MMC. Derek was such a pushover, where was the character development? I feel like there was minimal redeeming with him, like did he deserve Zoe? Did he stand up for anything? Plus the dialogue felt very blah, there was no tone separation in my opinion. I needed that because there’s a lot of side characters, we are hearing from almost the whole ensemble and it felt one note.

Really wish this had more romance and whimsy like the cover. Where were the descriptors? They were working with fabric in a Vietnamese rock musical…where were the colors? Such a bold character in Zoe yet I felt robbed of really SEEING the story. The romance felt lacking because I needed more glances and moments. For them to be best friends, it definitely seemed like they barely knew each other to be in love so quick. Also…no epilogue?

Overall enjoyed the theatre bits and it was very nostalgic in that aspect. Loved the Vietnamese representation, and a fat positive FMC. Also think those demisexual folks will like to know they are represented too.

4.5⭐️ rounded up

This was sweet, steamy, and poignant as heck. I loved the friends to lovers vibes and the way Zoe and Derek transitioned to a romantic relationship. Derek’s pining was honestly quite adorable and I liked Zoe’s representation as a demi-sexual. The fact that she’s also an empowered plus size badass working to help other women feel empowered and sexy makes me love her all the more. She’s stubborn as heck which is sometimes a problem in the story, but I like that she stands up for herself and what she believes in. Derek is tough because he absolutely has the people pleaser tendencies and you just want to shake and hug him at the same time. He is also a lady pleaser though so definitely a plus on his resume ❤️‍🔥
Greg is obviously a turd and he just got worse and worse. But I feel like he was really useful tool to highlight the harmful of being insensitive both by ignorance and by choice. I actually feel like I learned a lot reading this as well.
I’m really glad I ended up getting this as an audiobook because I enjoyed ByVy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh’s narrations, and I think hearing them pronounce things throughout book was very helpful. They both did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life and projecting the emotions of the story into their own styles.
Overall it was a really great book and I want to go back to find Happy Endings now too!

Thank you HarperAudio and NetGalley for the listening opportunity!

🎧 Audiobook + 📗eBook: Something Cheeky

✍🏾 Author: Thien-Kim Lam- I read Full Exposure and gave it 4 ⭐

📅Publication date: 3/4/25 | Read: 3/4/25

Genre: Adult Fic, Multicultural Interests, Contemporary Romance

Tropes: friends to lovers, in love w/ BFF, body positivity

🗣️Narrator: Vyvy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh voice all the characters with standouts from Zoe, Derek, and Thao. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 8:54

🌎 Setting: Washington D.C.

👆🏾POV: 3rd person dual Zoe and Derek

⚠️TW: SH, racism, 3rd act breakup

Summary: Estranged BFFs Zoe and Derek meet again after pursuing theatre in college. Derek asks her to join his musical as a costume designer to fulfill their dream of an all-Asian cast of a Cinderella rock musical. Derek has an unrequited crush that he wants to pursue while Zoe will try to redeem herself.

👩🏾 Heroine: Zoe Tran,27 owns Something Cheeky lingerie boutique

👨🏾 Hero: Derek Biu, 27 living in New York pursuing his directing career

🎭 Other Characters:
*Gregory Powers-Prestige Repertory artistic director, Derek's mentor
*Katie Mai-part of the musical
*TJ Nguyen-Zoe's BFF
*Boss Babes-Zoe's BFFs Trixie(roommate), Josie Parks (h from Full Exposure), Keisha (Trixie's bf sister), and Reina Guidroz
*Thao-Derek's co-writer and composer
* Mr. Bobbins-Zoe's cat

🤔 My Thoughts: I loved the Asian rep and speaking the Vietnamese language. I empathized with their plight to be represented by themselves. Zoe and Derek took a stand for themselves and the cast against racism. Their romance was sweet even though they had to hide it. Zoe had a lot of friends that supported her, and Derek had to learn about the nastiness in the industry.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice level 5/5🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio , and Thien- Kim Lam author for this ARC and ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

I loved this story - worth the read for Zoe & Derek. It is always great to read about different types of sexualities, and the spectrums that exist. I loved that the female lead was also plus-size.

This was my first book by Thien-Kim Lam and I really enjoyed it! I loved Zoe and Derrek reconnecting. This was a good heartfelt read and I'm excited to read more books by this author. The only thing that I struggled with was the sex scenes. I'm not sure why they were a miss for me, but overall I enjoyed the book a lot!