Friends to lovers with a fake dating trope? You got me! This read I really enjoyed! There’s something about a work place romance that has a hold on my heart. Where this book fell a bit short for me was the quick intro. I feel like the characters and everything was moving too fast for me to be able to wrap my head around. I also didn’t connect well with Cadence. She just turned me off a bit with her attitude towards the end. Overall, could have used some more character development in terms of both main characters.

Well this one was just okay. It has a typical friends to lovers troupe which I usually love, but it didn’t move me as other have. It was a bit predictable and the characters didn’t were too serious. Sorry, it just was okay.

I really enjoyed Julie Tieu’s Donut Trap but this one was just— meh. I didn’t really feel anything for the main characters and kept waiting for those butterflies in my gut. While I usually enjoy workplace romance and the banter and longing that come with it, this was just a bit flat for me.

3/5 stars

Workplace Romance with a bit of cute banter. Our main characters are Matt and Cadence who work at the same reality office. Everything was just ok. I started getting a little bored, and the romance just wasn't my favorite. I would say this is a great book for those who don't read a lot of romance or for someone who needs an in-between book. Overall, everything was very average but still a decent romance

This book was a super cute take on the office romance/return to hometown/fake dating/semi-forced proximity trope. Now, I know that sounds like a lot, but Jukie Tieu totally makes it work! With these two co-workers, returning to their hometown and pretending to date while competing for the same promotion, the plot is truly adorable to watch play out! I love the multi cultural sub plot and the diversity written into this book! And as always, any book that even mentions San Francisco or California owns my heart. This author already had me reeled in before with the Donut Trap, so I already knew the writing style I was in for. I do feel like this book started full steam ahead, and then quickly plateaus and hits the breaks. Before the halfway mark I feel readers are already losing interest. It drags from there and takes its time to conclude. Overall, it is a cute book, but did need a little push in the back to keep moving!

Julie Tieu has become one of my favorites to read and I was really thankful to be accepted and allowed to read this book early! I always seem to learn so much, culturally, from her books and really enjoy how she writes her characters and setting. The banter and dialogue simultaneously come from the heart but remain witty and never become stale. I will read anything she publishes!

A nice diverse and sweet read! Matt and Cadence work at a Real Estate company and are the main characters. They are working together and create a sweet friendship that morphs into a fake dating situation when they are sent to Matt's hometown for business!

There are many forks in their path, family problems, a looming promotion, pick out of a hat and its there.
The plot was predictable, but cute still nonetheless.

I wouldn't say you are missing out too much if you don't read this one, but I do recommend it since it is pretty sweet! 3.5/5

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC

As someone that grew up in San Francisco this just made my heart happy. There is something about the fake dating trope that has me convinced all I need to do is get someone to pretend to date me... but I also know that isnt how it works in real life lol. Overall this was a really sweet fun read with a lot of extra substance.

Friends to lovers is my favorite trope but I think that here it felt flat. The writing was nice and I think the characters had a lot of potential but it wasn't anything special for me, unfortunately.

I devoured THE DONUT TRAP by Julie Tieu some weeks ago and then I saw she had a new book coming out and immediately requested it (thx @netgalley & @avonbooks for the advanced e-read). I lovedddddd every page of THE DONUT TRAP but I didn’t feel the same about CIRCLING BACK TO YOU. In CBTY, Cadence and Matt are coworkers at a real estate firm— Cadence is a smart and sassy analyst and Matt is a charismatic & high-performing broker. It seemed pretty obvious from the get-go their animosity/teasing would turn into something more steamy.
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I feel like TDT is more of a family drama/coming-of-age kind of book and isn’t actually a true romance romance book (kind of like Helen Hoang’s books) bc there are so other interpersonal conflicts and fraught family/generational dynamics that are instrumental to the plot. On the other hand, CBTY is a true coworkers-to-lovers romance romance book. I felt like I didn’t truly get a sense of what the supporting characters’ personalities were like — e.g. the brother seems like he would be instrumental to the aging parent conflict but I feel like he was kind of written off the pages and super subdued.
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Anyway I’m all for Asian rep in romance lit and that was a major plus! If you haven’t picked up Julie Tieu’s THE DONUT TRAP, here’s my gentle nudge. And happy publication week to CIRCLING BACK TO YOU (out 7/12)!

This friends to lovers via fake dating trope was not as engaging as I was hoping. I really appreciated the banter between characters and there were snippets of hilarious dialogue. However the overall plot fell a bit flat for me.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & Avon for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second book by Julie Tieu! I really enjoy her writing style but the plot and setting of this one did not grip me. There was a lot of office/work talk and while I enjoy an office setting I don't care that much about the work they're doing. I wanted more ROMANCE!

The beginning of the book moves so quickly that it was hard to get into and get a feel for the characters. I ended up DNFing because of a lack of chemistry.

Super cute romance. Love a good office romance Thank you Harper and Avon for the ARC for my honest review.

“Circling Back To You” by Julie Tieu was a cute read! I felt as though the story took a while to pick up and fully capture my attention. However, about halfway through the story the momentum picked up a bit. I went into this book thinking that I would absolutely love it but was a bit disappointed in the end. This story is a workplace friends to lovers romance that definitely had its cute moments. Nevertheless, this read was still a good read overall and had a super cute ending.

“Circling Back To You” follows Cadence and Matt, two coworkers who also happen to be good friends. When they both get sent on a business trip to LA, feelings start to rise to the surface. Will these two be able to make it work even with Cadence’s work-focused mentality and Matt’s past of being a player?

I appreciate Julie Tieu and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book.

Matt and cadence works for the same company. They are best friends in the office (well maybe not since she keeps him at arms length. And poor Matt because he really wants to be her friend). When work sends them on a business trip, Matt asks Cadence to preteens to be his girlfriend for a family gathering, because the trip just do happen to be in their hometown. New settings and seeing each other in a new and different light, they start to question what that means for their friendship.

While this book was adorable and fun to read I just couldn’t get pass giving it a three stars. I didn’t love it and I didn’t dislike it. I thought Cadence would be just this shy girl in the beginning but she was unnecessarily mean a lot of the times. Another problem I had with this book was the lack of passion between Matt and Cadence. I like seeing sparks with the characters but did not get to see that in here.

Overall, was not a bad of a book that I couldn’t get through just find myself putting it down multi times and forgetting I was reading it. However, it was just a normal read. Could have given me Hallmark if I am being honest about this.

I am an absolute sucker for a workplace romance … add in a touch of fake dating when you KNOW they want to be real dating. I love it. Highly recommend. Really well done even when working with potentially “overdone” tropes.

Julie Tieu's Circling Back to You is a delightful rom-com with well-rounded characters. It was such a pleasure to read this!

I loved getting to read this story. I loved these characters and this world. It was just soooo good.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I highly recommend this! It was absolutely adorable!