Circling Back to You was the perfect read at the perfect time. I laughed. I cringed. I swooned. I couldn't stop smiling after I finished it. I am positive this will turn into a comfort read for me. Tieu is funny and her humor is always perfectly timed. Much of this can be attributed to Matt and his personality, but it's also the banter between Matt and Cadence that is entertaining. He's a cinnamon roll lead whose emotions lead the way while Cadence is a little more closed off, employing strict divisions between work and play. It was refreshing to see Cadence as the more rational half whereas Matt is largely dominated by feelings.

The struggles Matt and Cadence deal with in the workplace and at home are largely universal ones, but I couldn't help that it was the little details that made me so happy. Rice porridge is the meal for someone who is sick. Fish sauce and soy sauce are staple pantry items. Salonpas is a go-to for pain relief. My kitchen and my medicine cabinet felt seen. I felt seen. It reflected my life without feeling like they were on display as a learning tool--they're norms.

If you're a fan of workplace romances or the friends-to-lovers trope, I recommend picking this one up. I cannot emphasize how much I adored them together as work colleagues/friends and continued to root for them as their relationship status changed.

Julie Tieu has blessed us with another heartwarming romance novel -- but this time in the form of a workplace rom-com with a career-focused and independent woman at the center. Circling Back to You features Cadence Lim, a Chinese-American analyst, and Matt Escanilla, a Filipino-American broker. Compared to the fictional couples in the other romance novels I've read, Cadence and Matt do get together rather early on in the novel -- quite like the couple in The Donut Trap, the author's debut novel -- this was a plus for me as I felt it gave a lot of leeway for the author to explore the development of a healthy, functional relationship between Cadence and Matt, particularly how Cadence and Matt balance their relationship with their career aspirations.

If you're looking for a more mature romance novel to read, i.e., setting and respecting boundaries is your love language, this book is for you. My favorite line from Candace -- "Don't put me in the position to adjust my whole life around you if you wouldn't do it for me.

What you can expect:
💙 grumpy (Candace) / sunshine (Matt)
🌁 Karl the Fog references
💻 toxic corporate culture vibes

**Note to publisher: This review will be posted on bookstagram @movedbyprose closer to publication day**

I absolutely loved this book! I'm a big fan of Julie's first book and I was excited to discover I loved this one even more than the first! I think what really worked for me in this one was watching Matt and Cadence's relationship evolve in a way that felt totally realistic and relatable. There weren't any off the wall meet cutes (though I love those too) or over the top conflicts, this was just a beautiful story of two friends falling in love. I felt like these characters could be my friends and people I knew and it was just really sweet to see them discover their feelings for each other. This is a low-angst romance and I loved every second of it!

This had a lot of potential. Some of it was met but it also fell flat in a lot of ways for me. Cadence was too walled off to really be that relatable. I didn’t want to root for her when she was such a jerk to Matt all the time. He was pretty stereotypical as well. It held my interest for a while but I ended up DNFing this one just over halfway through.

4.5/5 stars!

some tropes/aspects to convince you to read this lovely book: dual POV, friends-to-lovers, Asian MCs, flirty dance battle, forced proximity, strong woman lead, will-they-won't-they, familial healing from grief, and more!

This story was so cute and funny, Cadence and Matt made me sick from the feels at some points <3. Cadence is such a strong and confident character. She's excellent at her job and knows her worth. It was enjoyable to read her internal monologue about external decisions that were going to negatively impact her. She didn't take crap from anyone, we love to see it. Matt is so cute and flirty, he's hard-working and really supports Cadence, it was lovely to see! I appreciated reading about Cadence's grief and the journey and effort it took to properly reunite with her family and heal as a family.

I LOVED the romance build up and tension. The middle ground before the I love yous came in felt a little flat to me, but it was still such an enjoyable and entertaining workplace rom-com!


This ARC was provided by Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC! I was so excited when I saw this book, having the cute cover design and then seeing two POC main characters. The representation in this book was refreshing, I love reading every aspect of it. Being Filipino American I adored seeing Matt’s family dynamic/ values and seeing the descriptions of all the food. Also, the author does an excellent job of incorporating bits of San Francisco into the story, and if you grew up in the city this adds another extra element to this book. The plot itself was very light and easy to follow along. The chemistry between the two main characters was adorable, it was a bit of a grumpyxsunshine with the female lead being the grumpy. Overall, I loved this book and the representation it included, the story was amazing! I can’t wait to see more from this author!

Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu was a playful rom com which featured two Asian characters giving it a nice diverse culture change. This office-set romance tended to focus more on the office then the actual romance. It was cute but I found myself struggling to read it once it became a little bit more about their jobs. Overall a good read.

4 stars

Circling Back to You follows the story of Matt and Cadence . They have been platonic friends/colleagues until they were assigned to go on a work trip to la. They hook up and Cadence end up meeting his really huge Filipino family as his (fake) girlfriend. Would their job promotions create havocs in their budding relationship?? Cadence is Chinese-American and Matt is Filipino-American. I really like the Asian representation .

It is a dual pov, which I love. I loved Matt but Cadence was a bit icy. but at about 30% I started losing interest and took a few efforts to overcome that . I loved the writing . I would definitely give the other Julie Tieu books a shot . I loved their friendship throughout the book.

It was an overall nice and cute read . I would recommend it if you like fake dating, friends to lovers, workplace romance.
OUT JULY 12TH

Thanks to Netgalley and Harpercollins for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a new to me author. Reading the summary, I got very excited. But I will say, at the end of reading it I realize how very hard it must be to write summaries that get people excited about the book, but also encapsulate what the book is actually about. Because what I read, I definitely feel was way different then what the summary led me to believe was coming. That took a bit of the enjoyment out of the book for me.


So the basics, without going into too deep spoiler area are Cadence and Matt work for a realty company in San Francisco, and both have family back in LA. They are good friends who develop feelings. Matt is striving for a promotion to move back to LA to be closer to his family, while Cadence is searching for a better job, but does not want to go back to LA because she is estranged from her father. This is the basic conflict of the romance.

I fully acknowledge that I might not be the audience for this book, as I am not Asian American or from a culture who value multigenerational households, so this aspect of things didn't really make sense to me.

So the book moves on and one thing that started to kill it for me is, I didn't like the two leads. I dunno, but they both had moments where they seemed very shallow and annoying. Like moments where Matt gives Cadence a hard time for wearing comfortable clothes in a hotel she is staying at. Or thinks that he will 'fix' Cadence's underwear issue (because she wear skin toned panties) by making her go to the lingerie store. I dunno, that just came off as blegh to me, especially from someone we are supposed to root for.

Cadence was kind of mean through the book, but a large portion was justified, in professional settings and setting boundaries etc. But at other times, it just seemed weird.

Overall, because of my dislike for the characters, I wasn't really rooting for them as a couple, so the big resolution at the end was not in the least bit exciting for me, because I just didnt care.


What I did like, was a bunch of the supporting characters. Despite Cadence not liking him, I actually enjoyed her Dad. At least what we got of him on the page. Description wise, I can see why there would be issues of him as a father, but as a character, his scenes were enjoyable and seeing his choices and such and how they affected the plot kept me going. Also her brother Tristan made me laugh a bunch too, just because he was the epitome of 'Whatever' 95% of the time.

Matt's family was enjoyable. I will say, the author did well writing believable family scenes, like how the cousins rag on each other and just interact. How the elders sit and throw in their two cents occasionally.


Another thing I liked. While the main characters didn't do it for me as people, the writing itself wasnt terrible. The dialogue and the pacing and all that fun moved at an okay speed for me. When things skipped around a bit, it wasn't abrupt and confusing, always easy to track.

I think I would have rated this book much much higher if I just wasn't so personally annoyed by the main characters.

TW/CW: parental death, grief

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Two workplace friends, Cadence and Matt, turned best friends end up falling in love when they go to LA to close an important deal. I love a good workplace romance and the friends to lovers trope. It was good to see diverse representation and inclusion of culture in the book.

Circling back to you was enjoyable romance, but felt more like an adult coming of age story. I wish there was more romance and comedy. I loved Matt and his Lola, but there still wasn't very much character development and I found Cadence to be an annoying character. The friendship and especially the romance felt forced at points and the grief storyline could've been handled better.

Overall, it was a cute quick read if you can push past the slow beginning. I will definitely look out for other books from Julie Tieu as I loved her writing style.

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was okay. It was exactly how I would expect an office romance story to go in real life, so it was a little awkward at some parts and pretty slow. Unfortunately, I wasn't looking for realistic; I was looking for fiction. I think it was supposed to be a friends to lovers romance but there was very little development of their friendship prior to the characters getting together romantically. It was also supposed to be a grumpy-sunshine romance but again this was not well developed. Overall I think that the character development lacked even for a romance, and there was way too much detail in other parts of the book such as their actual jobs. I do feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how corporate real estate works if these aspects of the book are accurate, however that wasn't why I picked up this book.

A charming workplace romance, Tieu's talent lies in imbuing simple, everyday moments with romantic magic. Relatable, down-to-earth, with a strong family side plot and grumpy-sunshine vibes, Circling Back to You is feels like the perfect escape from the work-from home doldrums of last two years.

Great romance featuring office best friends. Good banter, family twists and hot moments. I would read more books by the author.

Circling Back to You is one of my most anticipated romances of the year, especially after I read The Donut Trap and loved it last year. Julie Tieu is a wonderful writer of light, fun, and sweet contemporaries, and Circling Back to You is just as delightful as her debut. Circling Back to You hits the nail on the head with this office romance. It tackles challenges that workplace friendships and romances are bound to have, maintains the so many comforting romance tropes, and adds in a wonderful family dynamic for both characters which gives everyone so much depth. I found myself not only rooting for the romance, which happens quite a bit in romances but also for each character individually. An absolute delight of a book!

**Quick Summary**: Cadence and Matt are best friends in the office. When work sends them on a business trip to their hometown, Matt asks Cadence to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family gathering. Given the opportunity to see each other in a new setting, they both start to change their perspectives on what their friendship really is. But just as they finally start to see their relationship for what it really is, promotions and new opportunities begin to arise that would tear them apart. Matt and Cadence must work together to get through these challenges... or not.

Circling Back to You does a wonderful job of connecting the characters' families into the romance. Too many romances are too isolated from the rest of the world but Tieu makes Cadence and Matt’s world so relatable and well-rounded. The way that the family dynamics affect the characters and their relationships ties so perfectly into the characters’ personalities, it gives the reader a perfect opportunity to get to know the characters. No family is perfect but our families help shape who we become, so it is a joy to read about Cadence and Matt’s families.

My favorite part of Circling Back to You is how both Matt and Cadence are both working to improve their lives from the beginning. They are both looking to further their careers, which eventually presents challenges to their friendship and romance, but it made the characters so much more relatable. Both of them are at the start of their careers and they are still working on climbing but Tieu is able to illustrate beautifully how much climbing the ladder can affect our personal lives. It is relatable, difficult, and important to read characters growing through this. So many people go through this stage in their life, or maybe they are still in it, and they might feel less alone by reading characters who also struggle with how much they are willing to let work affect their personal lives.

What a cute read! Circling Back to You by @Julietieu is great for any rom-com lovers that can't get enough of forced proximity and office place romance.  🥰

The book follows Cadence and Matt, workplace best friends that get sent from their home office down to LA to work on closing a deal with an important client. But what happens when the jokes about office spouses suddenly get real...? I devoured the book to find out. 😂

This book was charming from end to end. I thoroughly enjoyed Tieu's The Donut Trap, but somehow I loved this one even more!

Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the advanced copy!

This was a cute read. It was bit slow getting into the storyline, but I liked the workplace romance, the emphasis on family (even families that aren’t necessarily close), and that the main characters were a bit older, in their 30s. I’d give this a solid 3.5 stars! I felt like something with the chemistry wasn’t quite right between Matt and Cadence. It almost felt overly cheesy and forced at times. Also, other than Maddie (Cadence’s best friend), there was no mention of other friendships, especially for Matt. He only spoke to family members and work colleagues. That was a bit odd to me as well. Overall a cute read, but I probably wouldn’t reread or buy a copy myself.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

3.5 stars--CIRCLING BACK TO YOU was an enjoyable and lighthearted office rom-com, but I still wish both the 'rom' and 'com' elements were dialed up a notch.

I liked the main pair enough, and found Matt to be a charming male lead (and a Filo one at that). The workplace environment and politics were also believable; the diversity was delightfully refreshing; the family dynamics were realistic, relatable, and had surprising depth. I also appreciated how Tieu subtly tackled microaggressions and sexism.

My main issue, however, is probably the pacing. The book dragged at times and was a little slow especially up until the halfway mark; some parts could definitely be cut or tightened up more. I also would've liked some mention of Matt's life outside his work and family--currently it's like he didn't talk to anyone else but them. Where was his support system? Did he have any friends? Nothing related to this was mentioned. And while the book was certainly funny at times, it could have been more, including the 'romance' part towards the end. Currently there were also many typos and grammatical errors that I think would be sorted out through more proofreading and copyediting prior to the actual publication.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a fast, lighthearted read, though certain aspects could be dialed up a notch.

Circling Back to you is an easy read romance about coworkers and friends finding love during a work trip. I loved the connection the characters shared and the family dynamics. It’s a very sweet story

I’ll start off by saying it was kinda slow for me to get interested in it. I think like halfway through is when I started to like it. Over all I liked it didn’t love it. It’s a busy read if that makes sense.

Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book!
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Cadence and Matt are coworkers who, while on a work trip, finally realize that they’re both feeling more than just friendship chemistry. I usually love a good work place romance and I have a soft spot for the friends to lovers trope, but I couldn’t really connect with the story. This was a reverse grumpy/sunshine but Cadence was rude to almost everyone, even Matt, for 99% of the book. She wasn’t a character I could root for. Matt was sweet and sometimes funny but he felt very one dimensional. The book moves pretty quickly at the beginning and really doesn’t build the foundation of them being friends. All of a sudden they’re calling each other best friends and we’re just supposed to believe it even though their interactions are pretty awkward. The friendship felt very forced in some spots.
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I did really enjoy the diversity of the book and the inclusion of the characters culture. It also tackled loss of a loved one really beautifully. Dual POV is always my favorite. Julie’s writing style was descriptive and clever. While I did find humor in some lines, I wouldn’t call this a romantic comedy.
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Pick this up when it releases on July 12th
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