I appreciated the representation of Asian and plus-size characters — it's wonderful to see! As someone who is Viet, I particularly enjoyed the references to Vietnamese culture. However, I feel that the story could benefit from more depth, as it seemed a bit surface-level at times. Additionally, the romance aspect felt somewhat unrealistic and could be more developed. Overall, it was still a decent read.

“GO HOME, GREG!”
But truly! Go home.

Something Cheeky follows the badass fat, demisexual Vietnamese designer Zoe on her journey from successful and independent lingerie designer/boutique owner, to theatre costumer extraordinaire!

During her usual boba break, Zoe’s college best friend walks in (after 10 years of not talking) to the boba shop and….has he always been THAT HOT? Derek had tracked her down in DC because he is creating and directing a rock musical Cinderella with an all-Asian cast, crew, and production team!

Zoe and Derek start working and hanging out together like old times, buuuuuuut is that a lil spark in Zoe’s belly every time they touch? Yup. Has Derek been crushing on Zoe since freshman year of college? Also, yup! AND THEN THEY KISS!
Balancing their new relationship and the production schedule gets tough, especially when their Art Director (aka Derek’s advisor) continues to try and remove the starkly Vietnamese elements from the show, including the language in dialogue and songs, and the costumes. Causing rifts in many of the established relationships. So, truly, “GO HOME, GREG!”

This was a fun and sweet friends to lovers romance steeped in laughter, culture, and wonderful people! And the narrators Vyvy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh’s performances were great!

I really loved the premise for this book. Asian American women rarely get plus size representation - much less as the main character in a romance! I did enjoy the narrators as well, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Overall this was a decent debut, and made for a fun, quick read. I'll be curious to read more by this author in the future!

📚 Something Cheeky @msthienkim
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ( 4/5 audio one star off because the characters don't speak their own parts in the other character's pov chapters. )
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 storyline
It was quite refreshing to see plus sized representation along with Asian representation. Not only did Thien-kim lam write a beautiful novel. She has now become one of my instareads

I’m so glad, I listened to this the narrators are fantastic! Engaging and interesting story line romance was there and lots of great representation for the Asian community specifically the Vietnamese community. The “love scenes” were very cringy in my opinion only because of how they were narrated. I’d totally read more from the author. I did feel weird as a white person reading and just wanted to hug the author /characters and tell them not all of us white folk are bad.

3 Stars

I really wanted to love this one, especially with the plus-size representation and the unique premise of a Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical. As a plus-size reader myself, I was excited to see that aspect in the story, but unfortunately, it felt like it was being thrown in my face rather than being naturally woven in. On top of that, I just couldn’t connect with the characters—everyone felt more frustrating than endearing, and I found myself getting annoyed rather than invested. The concept was great, and I appreciated what the book was trying to do, but the execution just didn’t work for me.

Something Cheeky is about two Vietnamese American college friends who reconnect after years of not talking to each other to make their dream of a Cinderella rock musical with an all Asian cast a reality.

I really loved Zoe and Derek's story and all their friends who are a part of it. I absolutely loved hearing about the Vietnamese fairly tale and how Zoe and Derek were changing it to fit their vision. I love how strong and confident Zoe is and how she is never willing to sacrifice any part of herself to make herself more "palatable" to some people. Her character is truly amazing. Derek is such an interesting character and I love his friendship and relationship with Zoe and his other friends. But it was truly enjoyable to listen to how these two complimented each other and really pushed the other to be better. Derek pushed Zoe to get back to her love of costume designing for their musical and she pushed him to really stand up for AAPI representation told in their own voice. This was truly a delightful story to listen to that at times delved into some serious topics.

I really enjoyed the audiobook of this. Derek's narrator, David Lee Huynh, was just perfect for that character! And it was very easy to tell which character was speaking due to the distinct voices. Zoe's narrator, Vyvy Nguyen, was really good, but I did find myself sometimes having trouble distinguishing which character was talking if there were a bunch of characters in the scene. At times it did also feel like Vyvy Nguyen's narration was a bit more matter of fact than David Lee Huynh, but it really didn't bother me that much and I still really enjoyed the entire experience.

This is probably one of the most enjoyable books for me recently. If you are a fan of best friends to lovers, own voices, theater, and spice - you should definitely check this book out.

Ａｕｄｉｏｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
3
Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie at her own award-winning clothing boutique, when suddenly her college best friend reenters her life. Derek Bui is offering a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago. These two friends get the opportunity to work together on their dream project—a Cinderella rock musical with an all-Asian cast.

Now I listened to the audiobook. It's dual-narrated, which is a major plus in my eyes. But the male narrator felt a little flat to me. I listened at 2x speed.

Thank you, Netgellay, and Harlequin Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thien-Kim Lam's Something Cheeky is a very sweet friends to lovers, demi awakening romance. Centered around Derek and Zoe, who were firmly in the friend zone back in college, they meet again as adults and plan to produce the Vietnamese "Cinderella" musical they wrote together.

Lam does a nice job building the romance in the story, especially as Zoe is demi and needs the time to come to see Derek as a viable love interest.

I enjoyed how Lam incorporates the stigma against Asian Americans into the plotline, and how the friends, cast, and crew overcome the issues as they rise up during the tale.

The story is beautifully narrated by Vyvy Nguyen and David Lee Huynh.

"Kissing my best friend was not on my bucket list."

Oh, the theatre kids are going to eat this up.
UGH, FINALLY! A properly yearning man, just what I needed. Something Cheeky lives up to its name in every way - Zoe's store, the namesake, being a pivotal part of the story - and the actual, fully audacious cheekiness of the story itself. The dialogue was difficult for me, at first, as I found the characters a little annoying. I actually thought I wouldn't like it (to be honest, I found the theatre kids to be a little pretentious and myself to be not good or worthy enough to be in their orbit. I've known since grown out of this) Besides all of my preconceived notions, I very much liked Something Cheeky. It is really refreshing to see a very confident and strong plus-sized FMC. It also gave me quite a giggle that Derek lacked a backbone, but Zoe, being the BAB she is, taking the reins and essentially putting him in his place was a chef's kiss for me.

"Of course Derek had a fan club. He had a way of making everyone feel special without making it feel contrite or cheesy."

Also, I know you're dying to know one thing: it is very spicy, and the open door scenes are fantastically well done. I kept thinking to myself "I need to call him" even though I have no one to call! The exploration of Zoe's sexuality and prowess is very well done, as someone who understands demisexuality. Bravo, Thien-Kim Lam. You have done very well, please take a bow!

Thank you, Netgalley and Avon Pub for the Advanced Listener's Copy!

One last thing!

"I can't be with someone who doesn't stand up for community or for me."

YOU TELL HIM GIRL!!!

4.5 stars rounded up

Friends to lovers with a demi-sexual, plus size heroine set around the staging of a Vietnamese musical, dealing with misogyny and racist microagressions! I've not read from this author before and honestly this was great.

Something Cheeky follows college best friends reconnecting after many years. Zoe Tran is running a plus-size lingerie boutique in Washington D.C. where she designs all the pieces herself. (love this, and love her feeling comfortable in her skin!) But her life is upended when her college best friend (who's also pretty hot) comes back into her life asking her to design costumes for a musical production he's writing and directing.

Derek is creating something they used to dream about- a rock-musical version of a Vietnamese folktale similar to Cinderalla. He wants an all-Asian cast and the songs will be sung in Vietnamese. He convinces Zoe to come on board, despite a bad experience pushing her away from theatre in college. And he's secretly carried a flame for her all these years and is finally ready to do something about it. But as things heat up between them, Dereks mentor and the head of the organization funding the production becomes pushy about making the show more palatable for white audiences. (Greg is the worst)

I think this does a really good job of of having conflict that is kind of external, but impacts the relationship because of how Derek responds to it. There is a real arc of personal growth and the romance is fairly sexy but based on years of knowing each other. This tackles racism, fatphobia, and misogyny in the world of theatre in a really great way and the ending is very satisfying. I will definitely read more from this author in the future! The audio narration is excellent- there are dual narrators for each perspective and they fit the characters well. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this long lost best friends to lovers. Zoe and Derek haven't seen each other since college, where they had been inseparable. Now, Zoe is a plus-size lingerie designer and Derek is about to get his big break producing his own musical in hopes of taking it to Broadway. But he needs Zoe with him to bring everything together. Zoe's self awareness and confidence in who she is was the best part of the story to me. She's secure in her sexuality, cultural identity, and her body. Derek drove me crazy at times in his unwillingness to see the truth in front of him, but I was glad to see where he ended up. Overall, it was a fun listen and great look into a culture I don't know enough about. I can't wait to read more by Thien-Kim Lam!

This was a fun musical theater friends to lovers romance. I absolutely loved the representation of Vietnamese culture and plus sized heroines. The audiobook was great, I loved hearing that precise pronunciation of the names and words. Dual narration is always a great selling point and I enjoyed both narrators.

Derek holding a torch for Zoe and basically coming up with an elaborate plan to win her was adorable and what ever girl dreams of.

Zoe working on her dreams and killing it in whatever she does was inspiring. Even if you may not be doing exactly what you thought you would doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still create art.

I will say for it being hyped as a rock musical, we didn’t get a great description of the music or really the costumes as to what kind of flare they had to make it a “rock” musical and not just traditional.

I even found myself relating to Derek in a way as someone who was never taught their parents language. A part of you will always want to relate to where you came from and do it honor, even if you aren’t fluent in the language. It was a great theme to incorporate.

Thank you again NetGalley and Harper Audio for the ALC

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
Something Cheeky was a cute, friends to lovers romance with great representation. This book will really appeal to all the theatre kids who grew up and now love a romance novel! The story line was really fun, though maybe a bit drawn out, the dialogue was slightly cringey here and there, and the spicy bits felt a little rushed and clunky, but over all I did enjoy this one!! It didn’t rock my world or anything, but it was well narrated and plenty cute enough to hold my interest.
3.5⭐️

Zoe owns a boutique that specializes in plus size lingerie. Derek is directing a Cinderella rock musical with a Vietnamese cast in D.C. Zoe and Derek were friends in college and haven’t seen each other in a long time. Derek seeks out Zoe to design the costumes for his musical. Zoe always saw Derek as a friend…until now. Derek is being pressured to make his cast “less Asian.” Will he cave to keep his musical going? Will sparks fly between Zoe and Derek?

I listened to the audio version of this book. There is a separate narrator for the chapters told from Zoe’s POV and Derek’s POV, which I liked. However, the narrator for Zoe’s POV wasn’t it for me. It felt like Siri or Alexa reading to me.

Okay, I loved the Asian representation and the plus size representation. We need more of both. I also loved that two of my loves (romance books and musicals) were combined. I would love to see more of that!

I think the narrator made me not enjoy it as much as I could have. I couldn’t get past the way she sounded robotic at times. With that being said, if you want a cute slow burn romance with musical vibes, read this!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Harper Audio. This has not influenced my review at all. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook Something Cheeky.

This has everything I love- body positivity (FMC is fat, happy, and weight loss is never a topic), diversity (Vietnamese rep!), LGBTQIA+, and musical theater. While I love and appreciate what the author did regarding the representation, this book fell extremely flat to me. The dialogue is so stilted and so awkward. The MCs go from not speaking for over 6 years to becoming best friends, coworker, and then more. I also found it pretty boring and the stakes seemed almost too low (even though they were trying to make a successful Vietnamese rock Cinderella musical!). 2.5 stars rounded to 3 because of the amazing representation.

This book had a lot of great representation!
•Vietnamese MCs
•Plus-size FMC
•Demisexual FMC

But unfortunately, the audiobook fell flat for me. I didn’t enjoy the voice actors and the dialogue didn’t draw me in. It was a push to keep listening and I didn’t connect to the story.

It’s a cute story of friend to lovers that I really enjoyed. And I would say a second chance story as well. Loved the confidence the fmc had and the mmc was the sweetest! Highflying recommend if you are looking for a cute and funny romance

We love a plus-size Asian FMC who designs and owns her own lingerie shop! Zoe is confident, talented, and thriving, and Derek, who has been in love with her for years, adores every bit of her. The friends-to-lovers dynamic, paired with demisexual rep, made their relationship feel so genuine and worth rooting for.

Zoe Tran is thriving at her award-winning plus-size lingerie boutique when her college best friend, Derek Bui, reenters her life with an offer to design costumes for the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they once dreamed up together. Derek, now directing the show, has secretly loved Zoe for years, and as they work side by side, their connection deepens. But when the theatre pressures them to make the musical "less Asian," they must decide whether to stay true to their vision or compromise for the sake of the show.

The book tackles important themes like microaggressions and whitewashing, and I hope readers take a moment to reflect when characters call out problematic comments. Some moments had me furious, others had me cheering, especially the ending. And while I liked the cover, it doesn’t quite reflect Zoe’s size 22 body, which feels contradictory to the book’s message about representation.

Beyond the social commentary, the romance was compelling. The spice was very nice, and I loved how confident Zoe was in her body, with Derek completely obsessed in the best way. A fun, sexy, and thought-provoking read.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Harper Audio for this book!

this book was a perfect Valentine's Day read. it got theatre kids, slow-burn romance, and enough mutual pining to make a fanfic writer weep 😂

Zoe Tran is thriving; running her own award-winning plus-size lingerie boutique, designing gorgeous pieces, and not thinking about her college best friend, Derek Bui. that is, until he pops back into her life with a dream gig: designing costumes for the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they created together in college. oh, and he’s directing it. oh, and if it does well, it’s going to Broadway. yup no pressure.

Derek has been in love with Zoe since freshman year, but since this man has the emotional bravery of a soggy napkin, he never told her. now, he’s got a second chance—except there’s one small problem: Zoe is demisexual and has only ever seen him as her bestie. but as they work together, late nights turn into lingering looks, and suddenly, the sparks are sparking. —of course, no theatre production (or romance) is complete without drama. the theatre’s artistic director wants Derek to “tone down the Asian-ness” of the show (sir, be fcking for real), and Zoe and Derek clash over whether to stand their ground or compromise to keep the production alive. cue the tension, the big emotions, and some chef’s kiss messy-but-beautiful character growth.

this book is a love letter to musical theatre, Vietnamese culture, and the kind of slow-burn that has you screaming “JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY.” it's funny, heartfelt, and will leave you craving a broadway production and a bánh mì.

10/10, would sell my soul for this musical to be real.

thank you HarperAudio Adult for the copy.
pub date: March 04, 2025