The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park

“Chloe Kwon can't stand Peter Li. It's always been that way. Their families don't get along either: their parents operate rival restaurants in the Riverwood Mall food court―Korean food for the Kwons and Chinese food for the Lis. Now it's the holiday season and Chloe's the photographer at the mall's Santa Land, and Peter works at the virtual reality North Pole experience right across the atrium. It's all Chloe can do to avoid Peter's smug, incredibly photogenic face.

But it turns out the mall is about to be sold to a developer and demolished for condos. Eviction notices are being handed out right before Christmas. Their parents don't know what to do, and soon Chloe and Peter realize that the two of them need to join efforts to try to save the mall. Just when it seems like they can put aside their differences and work closely (very closely) together, they discover that the Kwon and Li feud goes far deeper than either of them realize...:” - taken from Goodreads.

For me, this book fell flat and nothing was really resolved at the end. Expecting a Christmas story, Santa at the mall is the extent of the holiday season that is portrayed. Thanksgiving got the most page time of any holiday story. Not one of my best reads.

Visit Suzanne Park’s website.

Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach

 

“Eliza Quan is the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her school paper. That is, until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her. Suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced Len—who is tall, handsome, and male—just seems more like a leader.

When Eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.

Amid this growing tension, the school asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization—she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.” - taken from Goodreads.

 A quick read where Eliza is dumbfounded not to be elected as the next editor of the school newspaper despite her qualifications. When her private tirade against losing out is published in the newspaper, Eliza decides to fight against what she sees as a misogynist society at her school.  Drawing on the support of the female population, it's not too long before she finds herself at a crossroads when she develops feelings for Len, the boy who beat her out as editor. Will Eliza still be able to lead the fight as a feminist and she finds herself falling for the enemy?

Visit Michelle Quach’s website.

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen

 

“To her friends, high school senior Liza Yang is nearly perfect. Smart, kind, and pretty, she dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But to her mom, Liza is anything but. Compared to her older sister Jeannie, Liza is stubborn, rebellious, and worst of all, determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang's traditional values, especially when it comes to dating.

The one thing mother and daughter do agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston's popular Yin & Yang Bakery. With college just around the corner, Liza agrees to help out at the bakery's annual junior competition to prove to her mom that she's more than her rebellious tendencies once and for all. But when Liza arrives on the first day of the bake-off, she realizes there's a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date.

The bachelorette situation Liza has found herself in is made even worse when she happens to be grudgingly attracted to one of the contestants; the stoic, impenetrable, annoyingly hot James Wong. As she battles against her feelings for James, and for her mother's approval, Liza begins to realize there's no tried and true recipe for love.” - taken from Goodreads.com

This is a cute rom-com where The Great British Baking Show meets The Bachelorette. Liza Yang is at odds with her traditional mother over her future, including who she dates. Baking is the one thing these two share a passion for. Her mother blindsides her during the family’s annual baking contest by having aloof the contestants be eligible boyfriend material. It’s not too long before one contestant catches her eye. The family dynamics round out this solid read.

Visit Jennifer Yen’s website.

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

 

“Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?” - taken from Goodreads.com

I adored this book as much as the author's previous novel, American Panda. Chloe Wang is so desperate not to return home from college for Thanksgiving without a boyfriend that she resorts to renting one. Enter struggling artist and college dropout, Drew Chan, aka Chloe/Jing Jing’s boyfriend, Andrew. The main reason Chloe has pulled out all of the stops is to keep her uber traditional Chinese parents from marrying her off to the super-rich and super self-centered Hongbo. Soon Chloe finds that her plan has worked a little too well when she realizes that she is falling for Drew, a boy who her parents would never approve of. How will Chloe keep her web of lies from unraveling?

This seems to be an authentic look into what American born Chinese children face when their new cultures and traditional parents collide. A truly great story. 

Visit Gloria Chao’s website.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen (Loveboat, Taipei book 1)

“When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?” - taken from Goodreads.com

Well, this book is it is not exactly what I was expecting (it doesn't take place on a boat) and that was a good thing. I was deeply entrenched in Ever Wong's story of self-exploration in both herself and her culture. The only problem I had was how the love triangle played out and whose heart was broken. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story ended so I am not sure what the second book will be about. 

Book two is expected in 2021.

Visit Abigail Hing Wen’s website.