Dating Makes Perfect was beyond adorable and so much fun! With a story line that played out like I was watching a movie, characters that leaped off of the pages and moments that made my heart beat faster, this book easily became an instant favorite! If you love enemies to lovers and young adult, then you'll definitely want to add this one to your tbr!

    My breath catches. What is he doing? He wouldn’t kiss me, like he threatened. Would he? No way. But he’s so close…
    He leans even farther—and then plucks the notebook right off my lap.
    Right. That’s what he was going for. The notebook. 


Winnie's parents expected their twin daughters, Ari and Bunny, to already be engaged within their first year of college. Their no dating rule in high school completely backfired on them. In hopes of fixing their mistakes, they let Winnie know she'll be the first Tran daughter to date in high school. Yet with some rules. One....her parents get to determine when and where the dates happen. Two.....they get to decide who she dates. And her first date will be with family friend, and arch nemesis and sworn enemy for life, Mat.

    Fueled by a sudden clarity, I reach out and touch his sleeve. I want to take back my words. I want to get past our sniping. I want to be friends again.
    Before I can say anything, he rips away his arm and takes off. 


I loved Winnie! From how bold she could be to even her thoughts, I so wish she could be my bff! But my heart hurt for her anger and pain towards Mat. One day in middle school he just decided not to be her best friend anymore. And four years later she still carried that pain in her heart. Thankfully Winnie had creative outlets for it, like shooting a drawing of him with her nerf gun lol. Or getting back at him with her art project, she was so smart and creative! I was beyond grateful she had her bestie Kavya, who she could pour her heart out to, since her sisters were away at college. But ironically the one who always seemed to be around, even if she didn't want him to be, was Mat.

    Mat’s smug, annoying face comes into focus. He leans over, so close that his hot breath caresses my skin.
    “Gotcha,” he says very, very softly. 


I have a confession, I was obsessed with Mat Songsomboon. Yes he could be a complete jerk and his words stabbed Winnie's heart at times. But even while he hurt her, I loved him with my whole heart. So when he messed with Winnie? Ohhhh it made me love him even more *covers face with hands*. You see, he also teased her and it was in this playful, seductive and hilarious way. It made him impossible to hate. Especially when his words and actions mesmerized me. Mat was infuriating while also being sexy. And while I went back and forth of does he or does he not want her, it left me desperately wanting to know his every single thoughts. Especially during the moments he was thoughtful and protective of Winnie. If you love complicated males, you're going to love Mat!

    He takes a shaky breath. “I’m proving that one thing has nothing to do with the other. For example, you could kiss me right now. And I’d let you. In fact , I’d kiss you back. But that wouldn’t change my feelings toward you. I’d still loathe you just as much as I did before.”
    I narrow my eyes. Because I don’t believe him. 


The dates that Winnie went on?! I was OBSESSED! Winnie's mom tried to recreate moments from favorite movies and it was epically hilarious! From How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (my favorite movie!), to Pretty Women, to My Best Friend's Wedding and so many more, I loved how it made this story play out! And while Mat and Winnie could be so cute and playful together, when they weren't trying to knock the other one down. There were also sentimental moments that melted my heart and emotional ones that cut me to the core. Both of their pain was so palpable and while they knew each other inside out as kids, it wasn't the same now that they were in their teens. There was a lot of healing for them to do, but in the meantime neither could deny the chemistry that was there.

    “You want me to say that you’re stunning? That I wish I could take a photo, so that I can look at you all day? That the material is soft and touchable— and as skimpy as it is, it still covers way too much?” His eyes are black and furious and mesmerizing. I couldn’t look away if I tried. “Yeah, I could’ve said all that. No doubt, that’s what Taran’s going to be thinking. But I didn’t, because I have too much respect for you. Even after everything we’ve been through.”
    “You’re lying,” I croak.
    He raises an eyebrow. 


Dating Makes Perfect swept me away and will stay with me for a long time to come! Not only did I smile from beginning to end, but I couldn't help crying too. These characters reached so easily into my heart and that ending was oh so perfect! I loved Winnie's family, I loved Winnie and Mat and I loved even more watching how everyone's story played out! Pintip Dunn wrote an addictive story filled with romance, charm, humor and heart and I can't wait to devour the rest of her books!

PS I highlighted soooo many favorite moments in this book....here are a few more quotes I love with my whole heart.....

    I peek at him. The sun’s on its descent, dappling his face with shadows. I have the strangest sensation that he’s not the boy I’ve hated all these years. It’s almost as though he were someone new and yet familiar… 


    “Why?” he whispers.
    A live wire stretches between us. From his hands to my hands. From his lips to my lips. I desperately want to close the distance between us. To see what sparks we could produce if skin pressed against skin.
    But I can’t. 


    I don’t know why I’m defending him, but every minute we spend under these stars brings him closer to the boy he used to be. The boy my heart wants to protect. 


    “You’re such a dork.” I raise my hand to smack him, and he ducks out of range.
    “No touching, remember?” he says, his eyes bright.
    I shake my head, pretending to be exasperated, but I can’t quite stop my lips from curving. 


    You’re not the person I thought you were.
    Eight words. A simple sentence. One that’s not even intrinsically unkind, if you take it word by word.
    How can they hurt so damn much?

This book was my first experience with this author and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it! Pintip Dunn created a beautiful story that high school me could really connect to. I really enjoyed the characters, Mat, the twins, and of course our MC Winnie. This story was actually surprising in the way that Pintip wrote this story. This is because I have read other high school romances and they're a bit whimsical and a good dash of unrealistic but this book had a touch of real that I really felt connected to. This story really threw be back to my high school days and how I had a HUGE crush on a guy from the baseball team my senior year. Part of me was really happy to revisit that time in my life and felt great when <spoiler> Winnie and Mat finally got together</spoiler>. I must admit that I have a personal issue with <spoiler> fake dating to make someone jealous</spoiler>. This did not play that big of a part or deter my interest and like of the book that much but it is a personal preference for sure. I do have to say that as someone who is part of the BIPOC grouping, I loved that this was an #OWNVOICES book and felt that connection with the Tech family as it was a similar experience with my own family. Overall I would have to highly recommend this book to other YA romance lovers because this may play on a popular trope but Pintip's voice really showed through and is worth reading from again.

All my thoughts and review will be found on my blog @ abryjwlreads.wordpress.com . Thank you so much entangled teen, pintip dunn, and hearourvoicestour for picking me as a tour host.

I did not finish this book. I was very confused and could not get into the book. I tried my hardest and got to around page 60 before I couldn’t continue

I really really enjoyed this one!

It's always a blast readings books with characters from a different culture to myself. As they're entertaining and educational at the same time, love it!

I'm a sucker for the fake dating trope and this one definitely delivers in that sense. It was such a sweet and heartwarming story and I really enjoyed seeing the characters evolve. 

Definitely recommend it!

The premise of this book is absolutely phenomenal and engaging. The characters are delightful and a wide variety of readers will fall in love with the story. This is a refreshing take on what could be a typical YA and it rises above the rest. Highly recommended.

I received this as an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I cannot explain how much I loved this book. Winnie is a Thai girl who wants her parents to be proud of her. So when her mother tells her that she needs to practice dating with her childhood best friend turned enemy she reluctantly agrees. Winnie and Mat are so cute, they have a history together which only adds to their relationship despite them being enemies for most of this book. The tension and the budding attraction between them was great. An added bonus to this book we’re the romance movie scenes Winnies mum makes them re-enact. 

This books isn’t just great because of the romance. It’s also great because of how it handles the issue of gaining parental approval to the detriment of what you want. Winnie has two older sisters who she feels are smarter and more beautiful. She feels that she was only left with obedience as a way to gain her parents love. Winnie goes through this struggle of not knowing if her parents love her for her or because she’s so obedient. Not wanting to disappoint your parents who moved to another country to give you a better chance at life is something that a lot of people can relate too. I think I’ve was handled so well, Winnie never disrespected her mum and dad which is seen as a big thing in the culture they live in.

Another thing I loved about this book was the depiction of Thai celebrations and traditions. Having gone to Thailand during the Songkran festival I’ve been really intrigued about Thai culture. I felt like this book showed what Thai culture outside of Thailand looks like and I really enjoyed reading it. A big part of Winnies indentity is that she’s Thai, I felt like the culture was seemlessly ingrained into the story. Of course I’m not Thai so I can’t speak to the accuracy of it, but it did feel real too me.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I would definitely recommend it to everyone who love ya contemporary romance.

j'ai passé un très bon moment avec Winnie, j'ai adoré son évolution de la première à la dernière page et forcément, on a le sourire et on a envie de la voir se battre pour ce qui compte pour elle. Sa relation avec Mat va être faite de hauts et de bas, j'ai aimé les voir se rapprocher petit à petit, les voir régler leurs problèmes ou en créer de plus grands encore et on ne peut que dévorer les pages pour savoir comment les choses vont finalement se passer. La façon dont Winnie grandit est vraiment très sympathique et on ne peut que l'aimer encore plus quand elle commence à assumer ses sentiments et à sortir de son cocon. Une très chouette histoire de famille, d'amitié, d'amour et de tout plein d'autres choses ! Un très grand sourire clôt cette aventure !

Official Synopsis:
The Tech sisters don’t date in high school. Not because they’re not asked. Not because they’re not interested. Not even because no one can pronounce their long, Thai last name—hence the shortened, awkward moniker. But simply because they’re not allowed.

Until now.

In a move that other Asian American girls know all too well, six months after the older Tech twins got to college, their parents asked, “Why aren’t you engaged yet?” The sisters retaliated by vowing that they won’t marry for ten (maybe even twenty!) years, not until they’ve had lots of the dating practice that they didn’t get in high school.

In a shocking war on the status quo, her parents now insist that their youngest daughter, Orrawin (aka “Winnie”), must practice fake dating in high school. Under their watchful eyes, of course—and organized based on their favorite rom-coms. ’Cause that won’t end in disaster.

The first candidate? The son of their longtime friends, Mat Songsomboon—arrogant, infuriating, and way too good-looking. Winnie’s known him since they were toddlers throwing sticky rice balls at each other. And her parents love him.

If only he weren’t her sworn enemy.

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Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Review:
This was such a good book! It was kind of the combination of enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and maybe even friends-to-lovers, if you take into account that Winnie and Mat were friends when they were little.

I loved the addition of the art project -- it made their interactions a lot more interesting, and it was a cute visual! I also found it fun that Winnie's mom would structure Winnie's dates to mirror classic rom coms. I'll admit, I wasn't all that familiar with all of the references, but I've definitely heard of them! Even though kareoke is included within the book, I would love to see a bonus scene of Winnie and Mat at one of the kareoke nights that Winnie's parents have at their house. 

The relationship between Winnie and her older twin sisters, Ari and Bunny, was so sweet and supportive. I liked that there wasn't any anomosity or unhealthy competition between the girls, and I would love to read a book that follows say, Bunny, in her dating adventures!

Overall, this was a really good book, and I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it! If you're looking for a good fake (ish) dating young adult romance book, I'd highly recommend this one! 

*Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an early copy!

More than anything, I want to say I love this book so much. I didn’t read much about it online because I wanted to be surprised by anything that would happen. I loved so many things about this book, I hope to address them all. First, the writing style, it was easy to read it, it was flowing so good as each chapter went on. I love Winnie so much, I can relate to her when it involves her family dynamic but I do wish I had the witty responses she has to Mat.

I LOVE the tropes the book has including friends to lovers, enemies to lovers and fake dating, how amazing! Winnie starts to fake date Mat who is a family friend turned enemy. The way their relationship changes was really cute as Winnie’s mom based each one of their fake dates on a rom com such To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before to When Harry Met Sally.

“Mama was deliberately referencing To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. She never dated in this country, after all. She came to the United States in her thirties, with a medical license and a fiance. It figures that she would draw her dating knowledge from American rom-coms especially ones that didn’t even release in this century.”

Another aspect of the story I really loved is the addition of the culture. I don’t know about Thai culture, I was able to learn about the food, who doesn’t love to learn about that? “Food is not just a sliver of our culture but also a thread that connects the entire tapestry fo who we are.”

Dating Makes Perfect is one of those books that I could connect to Winnie, the culture and family dynamics. If you want to read a cute, joyful book that can help you forget about your current state then this is one of those I’d recommend. The rom com in the book made me laugh and it filled me with joy as I read every page.

Ok first thing I LOVED all the references to rom-coms in this book. It had everything from When Harry Met Sally to My Best Friends Wedding. It was adorable. I was impressed by all the recent references too like the shout out to Never Have I Ever. 
The romance was cute but the friendship between Winnie and Mat was my favorite part. The sister relationship was amazing as well. This book was a pleasant light hearted fluffy read!

I know I’ve said this before, but this time I really mean it. THIS is my favorite book by Pintip Dunn. Unless I’m allowed to have more than one favorite, in which case I choose them ALL. But seriously, this is just the right lighthearted rom-com for these complicated times. It’s full of warm, engaging characters, swoony moments that are solidly of the PG variety, and so much Thai food that my mouth watered throughout. Winnie is the youngest of three girls and has grown up in the shadow of her beautiful, identical twin sisters. And for the most part, she’s been okay with that. She loves them and they adore her. With them in college now, they’re expected to find suitable spouses, sooner rather than later, as is Thai tradition. But because the Tech girls are not allowed to date in high school, Bunny and Ari use that as an excuse for why they haven’t found anyone yet. After all, one needs to date in order to learn how to date. And they use that  lack of experience as an excuse. Lesson learned, their parents decide that Winnie will practice date, so that she knows what to do when she heads off to college next year. And she will practice date with longtime family friend and arch nemesis, Mat Songsomboon. It’s clear from the beginning these two will end up together, but how they get there is hilarious, heartfelt, and full of humility.

Plot
Winnie and Mat’s relationship drives the plot, but Winnie’s acceptance of her role in her family, the obedient daughter, drives most of the conflict. While Mat and Winnie are now mortal enemies, they share a past that included lazy afternoons, deep friendship, and lots of laughter. That is evident even in their most contentious interactions. The more time they spend together, though, the more Winnie begins to doubt that Mat hates her or that she hates him. In fact, it takes a lot of energy to hate someone, so why put so much effort into someone who doesn’t matter? What I absolutely love about this book is that the author doesn’t take the easy way out and allow unspoken thoughts and rampant misunderstandings to keep her characters apart. Instead, they both share thoughts and feelings, awkwardly, that clears the air far sooner than I expected, and instead the author finds more difficult ways to build conflict. This made the story much less predictable than I anticipated.

The Characters
As always, Dunn creates beautifully deep characters with just enough flaws to make them believable and loveable. Winnie, Mat, and the rest are no exception. Winnie’s sisters, though only secondary characters, are nearly as well-developed as Winnie. Her parents, best friend, Kavya, and the new Thai boy, Taran, round out the main cast perfectly.

Top Five Things I Loved About DATING MAKES PERFECT
1. Mat. He’s annoying at times, self-assured, bordering on arrogant, but he is loyal to the end and earns Winnie’s love the hard way.

2. Winnie. Her desire to be the good and obedient Thai daughter but also be true to herself creates a refreshing internal conflict that makes her easy to love.

3. Thai Food. So much of the story centers around Thai tradition and food is as much a part of that as anything else. From meals to treats, the detailed descriptions left me salivating for a bowl of tom yum koong.

4. Parental Love. Even though Winnie is convinced her parents’ love is conditional, they show her that nothing could be further from the truth in the best way possible.

5. Rom Coms. The subtle weaving of some of the best romantic comedies ever made was a bonus I didn’t even know I wanted.

Bottom Line
The perfect light, fun read for these extraordinary times.

It's a family dynamic of three sisters whose parents will NOT let them date in High school because they need to focus on their studies. But when the twin older sisters make a stand now that they're in college that they won't let their parents dictate their dating situations - the youngest sister who is still in High school now has the parents permission to date and she never thought she'd see this day. It changes EVERYthing!
.
 I'll never forget what dating in High school was like and it really doesn't prepare you for the adult world of dating, in my opinion.  So much drama I couldn't even handle it!
.
A great read for Rom-Com fans and those that want a Light-Hearted and family oriented novel. Bonus points because it centers on a Thai family and those unique social dynamics that are experienced in their culture.

As a teenager who has grown up with little to no dating, Dating Makes Perfect was such a refreshing and relating book. 

Winnie’s character is funny, sweet, and innocent. She’s 100% an authentic teenager. Her relationships with her sisters, parents, friends, and love interests made this book what it was. The focus on relationships was so nice to see, especially when I found it to be accurate to the teenaged experience. Throughout the book, I fell in love with the relationships between the characters.

Secondly, I found the fake dates to be so, so adorable. From shopping to restaurants, each date supplied me with a substantial amount of serotonin (especially because they were based off of romance movies?! How cute!). 

I also loved the enemies-to-lovers in this book. I haven’t read one in a contemporary yet, so I was very happy to see it represented (especially in such a realistic way). Maybe I can finally get my enemies-to-lovers moment...

Fourth, as a white person, it is my responsibility to learn about and educate myself on different cultures. I was pleasantly surprised to have learned about Thai culture in this book! Especially the food...ESPECIALLY the food. 

Overall, Dating Makes Perfect was a sweet, funny, and short book supplied with fluffy moments, real talk, mouth-watering food descriptions, and a fantastic enemies-to-lovers relationship.

My Thoughts:

Dating Makes Perfect was the first book I've read by Pintip Dunn, but it won't be my last! This story was a colorful, fun, feel-good #OwnVoices romance, that delighted me from beginning to end.

There were so many things I loved about this story! The descriptions of Taiwanese culture, as well as the customs, traditions, and cuisine were exquisite! I loved reading about the various Thai dishes, and could see how food was such an integral aspect of the culture. The cuisine sounded so delicious that I could picture everything, and wished I could hop through the pages and try the various foods.

The Tech sisters had an unnbreakable bond. I loved the twins Ari and Bunny, and of course Winnie was absolutely wonderful. These girls shared everything with each other, and always supported one another. They were more than sisters; they were best friends. Anyone who reads this story will love this trio. I enjoyed time spent with Winnie's parents as well. They brought a lot of levity and humor to the story.

The romance between Matt and Winnie was a blast! These two had so much fiery chemistry! I loved their interactions and fake dates. I was rooting for them from the start, and wanted to know what could have broken up such a strong friendship. Their journey from enemies to friends/crushes was a fun one filled with the passion and excitement of first love, humor, heartbreak, life lessons, and an abundance of feels!

In case you can't tell, I loved Dating Makes Perfect, and highly recommend it!

When I heard Pintip Dunn had a new book coming out in August, I was a nagging Nelly trying to find out if I could get a copy to review. Dunn has been one of the most reliably great writers I’ve encountered since I started blogging. (Yes, hers was one of the first books I reviewed and only about six people ever saw that review.) I was only momentarily taken aback to find that this writer of thrillers and sci-fi had taken on rom-com.

Dating Makes Perfect is another 400 page book that reads like it was a hundred pages. Once I started reading, I didn’t want to put it down. Dunn is as adept at writing rom-com as she is writing thrillers. The family dynamic is extremely heart-warming. I love the closeness of the three sisters, how they really do look out for each other and love each other. Winnie says at one point:

“. . . I will never be insulted by a compliment to my sisters. The competition among us has never amounted to a grain of rice. Their wins are mine and vice versa.”

I love that although their parents are strict, there is so much love there. And, Papa Tech has to be one of my hands down favorite characters of the year. He’s quirky and lovable and unexpected.

The romance between Winnie and Mat is sweet. The two had been best friends as children since their parents were close but experienced a falling out four years ago that they both perceived differently. While sometimes break-ups in YA fiction are given little thought, this one showed an unexpected depth that really points toward Dunn’s plotting. I never feel like anything is taken for granted in her books.

In support of #ownvoices, the reader partakes of an exploration of what it is to be Thai, from relationships to festivals to traditional dress to dancing, and most salivating of all–food. Oh, the descriptions of the food! Warning: do not read if you’re hungry!

Dating Makes Perfect is definitely one of the top YA books I’ve read of the year. If you love YA rom-coms, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

I received (begged for, literally, begged for) an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, how I wished I could’ve simply enjoyed this book. Instead there were so many obstacles between me starting the book and me finishing it, I still have sleepless nights from reasoning about how I can evaluate the book in a fitting way. 
Just a quick disclaimer: This review might sound negative but the book wasn’t bad. The problem only is that I had a lot of issues with the overall storyline which in the end soured my overall reading experience too; however I would still recommend the book for a lot of reasons (see below).

Let me start from the beginning: The book tells the story of Winnie Tech (short for Orrawin Techavachara), a high schooler whose mother surprisingly decides that Winnie has to fake-date her number one sworn-enemy, Mat, who is also Thai. The only problem? They both hate each other’s guts, even though they used to be best friends growing up. Also in case you didn’t know, dating in high school is normally an absolute taboo for Thai (and probably most Asian/immigrant) parents, so her parents’ announcement comes quite as a surprise. As an Asian girl who grew up in Europe, I think the set-up was absolutely hilarious, especially because I could definitely relate to the no-dating policy in school. However that was also the first time I felt myself stumbling over the storyline. Agreeing to fake-date? I was happy to follow along as long as there were reasonable grounds on which both parties would agree to the scheme. But…there weren’t. Instead this part of the story is brushed off because being the ever-obedient Asian daughter/the youngest sister always standing in her sisters’ shadows, and a boy trying to break free from his parents’ grasp seemed to be reason enough. This is something that I might have related to initially, but as the story moves on however, made it hard for me to fall back as a foundation.

Another part that I had many mixed feelings about were the contrasting portrayals of Winnie and Mat. While Winnie is depicted as the typically sweet, sometimes-clumsy, always-daydreaming YA contemporary heroine, Mat is the complete opposite. You know why this book is #ownvoices? Because he isn’t presented as the stereotypical, soft-spoken, sensitive Asian male character. Instead I really appreciated how he was the cocky, arrogant and overly handsome male lead that girls are fawning over. However it sometimes felt as if the author couldn’t really decide whether she wanted to make him the controlled heartbreaker or sympathetic polite son of Thai immigrants because some of the expressions we see felt very much out of place for a high school student (growling when talking to a girl? Seemed kind of cringe). In the end unfortunately, it only made Winnie as a character even smaller and bizarrely immature.

What I also found to be troubling – storywise – was that Mat is ‘put into charge’ to rate their fake dates/dating practice sessions. Because the family dynamics in Winnie’s family were something that positively stood out to me, I found it hard to believe that Winnie’s parents wouldn’t trust their daughter enough to just go ahead with the fake dates. This made the book even more caricatural — and tragically unrelatable, even with the best will in the world. 
This in return made it very hard for me to believe in the chemistry and romance between Mat and Winnie, as well as in the story in its entirety at all. There is a point in this book where their mutual hate turns into love (yup, that was another typical YA contemporary trope that I *didn’t see coming at all*) but the transition was so abrupt, I found myself flipping back the pages, fearing I might have missed out on something. I didn’t. This book also heavily relies on another readers’ favourite: the love triangle trope. It should’ve brought some spice into the story probably, but dang, did the book play the other potential love interest dirty. I wished the author would have focused on creating a solid foundation in Winnie and Mat’s relationship instead of recycling old YA contemporary stereotypes.

Now on to the biggest problem I had with this book: The main character. I needed nuances to her personality and character — something that we sadly never get. Maybe I would have understood her actions and decisions better if we had been provided with more background information on her interests, hobbies…anything that makes her her. Instead she is stuck in this endless cycle of being the forever sweet youngest daughter, always trying to please her parents. This part of the story wasn’t too bad actually; however her character growth was excruciatingly slow and a little bit too ‘static’.
I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Mat and her sisters evolve though, making her reconsider her role within in her family and her plans for the future.

That said, there were a lot of things I genuinely enjoyed about this book. Firstly, the family dynamics. As a fellow child of first generation immigrants from Asia, there were often a lot of comical scenes I recognised from my own life — living up to your parents’ expectations while also balancing life in western society. The relationship between Asian parents to their children is often very complex, and this book perfectly displayed these layers — parents’ expectations vs. following your own interests. 
I also love the importance of food in this book: While it might seem trivial to the average reader, food plays such an important role in Asian culture. To quote the main character in the book, ‘Food is not just a sliver of our culture but also a thread that connects the entire tapestry of who we are’. This gave me so many warm feelings and made me smile so often. Asian parents might suck at expressing their feelings but through food, nothing is left unsaid.

Dating Makes Perfect is unlike any other book I’ve read before, and so similar to so many books I have read before too. I was very excited to pick up a book that has a fully diverse cast, and there was definitely no shortcoming in Asian representation. I especially enjoyed the omnipresent references to Thai culture, whether it’s through the festivities and or the many dishes mentioned in the book. I will have to say though that some of the important cultural references were sometimes overshadowed by the messed up, sometimes cringe, often cheesy plot.

Would I still recommend this book? The answer is absolutely yes. However there are two types of readers I think this book is specifically targeted at: 1) a younger YA audience and 2) YA contemporary newbies. Otherwise, the plot might fall flat for YA veteran readers, with easily recognisable plot patterns, YA tropes and cheesy love scenes. Overall, an easy and sweet contemporary romance!

Omg I loved this book sooo much!! It was such a sweet and funny book and it had all the things I love in a contemporary😍.

The story is about a clumsy Thai girl Orrawin nicknamed Winnie who had two older twin sisters. She always felt that everyone loved them more than her and they are much talented than her so she always listened to her parents and tried to be the perfect Thai girl.
When her sisters blamed their parents for their lack of relationships in college and said they needed years of practice, her mother proposed the idea of fake dating to Winnie so she would have the practice for future relationships.

Winnie was really happy until she found out who the candidate her mother chose for fake dating-Mat her current enemy and former best friend. An infuriating boy who never missed a chance to mock and make fun of her.

This book was hilarious and the descriptions of Thai food in this book made my mouth water. I really liked Winnie's character, she was a clumsy cute girl and her character development was perfect.
I liked Mat's character a lot too because unlike some enemies-to-lovers stories, he wasn't perfect (looks don't count lol), he had insecurities and things hidden.
 The romance between Winnie and Mat was soooo swoon worthy and the slowburn romance and almost kisses killed me😅.

Overall the story was really great, I loved the bond between the three sisters, the humour, the romance and how Winnie stood up to her parents in the end. I would definitely recommend this to everyone who is looking for sweet romance and light read contemporary.

I am a sucker for cute romances, and this book is definitely that. For those that read fanfiction, Dating Makes Perfect made me think of an enemies to lovers kind of setup, but better. Our main character, Winnie, is cute, well behaved, and thrown into a world of dating she doesn't fully know how to navigate. As someone that didn't date until the end of high school, I connected to her character through some of her thoughts and mistakes and actions.

All of the main characters are not white, which as a white person, didn't bother me in the least. So often I find that books leave out the kind of representation that I saw here, instead having all the main characters be of Caucasian decent. Yes, there were dishes named that I had no idea what they were, but the book generally helped to describe what they were so that it didn't matter. Yes, there were sentences or words in Thai here or there, but that didn't take away from the book at all for me. I found that my inability to understand every tiny detail just added to the book, simply because it didn't feel like the world of these characters was changed to fit me. It was presented for what it was and then had little explanations for the clueless people like me. So if you're worried about being lost in the culture, don't be. 

I absolutely adored the characters. They were relatable, funny, lovable, charming, charismatic, unique, and just all around intriguing.

The plot was a bit cliched, but I didn't find that I was bothered by it at all. There were little points that made it differ from the stereotypical plot line that you find in this sort of book. More than that though, the novel felt driven by character more than anything else, which helped to give it more unique ideas and situations and overall feel. 

I want another book with these characters. I'm selfish and want to see all the cute "what comes after" scenes. I want to see what more dates look like, I want to see Winnie's sister's help her get ready for prom (even if they're just there via FaceTime). I want to see Winnie and her friends at graduation. I want to see Winnie go to college. I want more. Which is great because it means I got invested in the story and the characters, but also is frustrating for me because there isn't more. 

I give this book a 4.75/5 because it's amazing, it had me laughing, it had me on the verge of tears. The general cliched feel of the overall plot is why it's not 5/5, but since it still finds ways to be unique and genuine, it's more than a 4/5 or 4.5/5. I wholeheartedly suggest reading this book. If you like cute romances. If you like romcoms. If you like cute stories. This is for you. I read the whole thing in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I won't be surprised if some of my friends do the same when the book comes out.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @entangled_publishing for my ARC of “Dating Makes Perfect” by Pintip Dunn in exchange for an honest review!

This YA retelling of the Taming of the Shrew is pure fun. The Tech sisters are not allowed to date in HS. But Winnie’s mom changes her mind and decides to let Winnie “fake date” her childhood friend turned nemesis, Mat. 
I’m not a huge YA fan so there were parts that felt a little too angsty. BUT, I LOVED all the Thai American food descriptions. I was majorly craving some good Thai food by the time I finished. I guess food will get my attention more than an enemies to lovers trope these days 🤣 #thisisyourthirties