Author: Jackie Lau
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 07, 2024
Publisher: Atria Books
Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.
Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her.
But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly: convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees.
Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…
Rating
Hello Fellow Readers?
Why do I like realistic and flawed characters when you're supposed to use books to escape real life? Well, I loved the characters in Jackie Lau's Loves, Lies, and Cherry Pie. Emily is great, I wish we were BFFs, and she may now be in my top 5 female romance characters list. She just seems so real and someone I would absolutely love to go on food friend dates with. Mark Chan (you must always say his first and last name) was absolutely great. I love his logical thought process and how it was a juxtaposition to Emily's more emotionally minded one.
This was a bit of a slow burn which I really appreciate. Lau let the chemistry between Emily and Mark build and I like that it was instant attraction (although who wouldn't fall in love at first sight with a man who wears sweater vests?). I was surprised by Part Two and the change up by adding Mark as a narrator. I was not expecting it, but I liked Mark's 'voice' and reading things from his perspective. This does not mean I didn't love Emily's POV because I absolutely did but it was an added treat and sort of refreshed the book in a way. Emily's family was also great, and I absolutely adore Emily's mother. Normally meddling family grates on my nerves but I did not mind this time. Lau is officially on my must-read author list because I just loved this book so much.
Overall, an absolutely great read!
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