This was a good read! I enjoyed reading this office romance that followed two colleagues who take a work trip together. I liked that this book was not a typical workplace romance. I thought it was cute, funny, charming, and heavy at times when discussing the heroine’s late mother. I appreciated that this book contained diverse protagonists and included customs and rituals in Chinese and Filipino cultures.

This book contains the following tropes: work-place romance, fake dating, friends to lovers, diverse main characters.

Cadence is successful in her chosen field and excels at her job. She has a crush on her colleague Matt, but never acts on her impulses because Matt is up for a promotion and could be leaving San Francisco for Los Angeles. Cadence follows Matt to LA to assist on a work trip at the request of her boss, which interferes with her vacation to visit her father and brother for her late mother’s death anniversary. Her relationship with her family is estranged but she cares deeply for them. While on this work trip, Matt and Cadence’s relationship takes a turn and Cadence finds herself in a fake relationship attending Matt’s family gathering. Their close proximity and late nights working together serve as the catalyst to both main characters professing their deep-buried feelings for another. However, competing promotions and meddling families muddle their new romance.

I liked how this book contained representation for Chinese and Filipino cultures through family dynamics, comfort foods, funeral rites, etc. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Cadence and Matt. Overall, I liked this book and would recommend!

There is nothing as cute as an office romance. It makes people believe that in a place of work, they too can find love. This book was very cute and I liked it a lot. My only issue is that I after reading their first conversation (to us, not their actual first) I didn’t feel the chemistry. I was expecting someone else to be the main character.

orkplace romance, a little fake dating, diversity. If you're interested in any of those topics, this is a perfect read! Matt and Cadence work closely together and have always been a little interested in each other. Matt was too shy to say anything and Cadence let her doubts get in the way and she tried to push him away instead. Once they finally admitted it to each other, there was no denying their attraction and everyone saw it coming anyways! They of course had their bumps in the road, but they realized that their relationship was too good to let anything get in the way.

I especially appreciated how much of Cadence's Chinese culture and Matt's Filipino culture was shown in this book. It is rare to see this type of asian representation in a romance novel! I loved reading about Matt's interactions with his family as it all felt close to home.

This was a cute, easy read and I loved both main characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader's e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE ! Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy .

Circling Back to You was such a fun and cute read. I love jumping into books that make it easy, relate to the characters and have fun. Candace and Matt have this fun , shy banter with a little grump thrown in. It's a nice change that the lead characters had real life problems, weren't assholes and I love a good HEA.

Book includes
- A work place romance
-Loss of a loved one
-Fake Dating
-Friends to lovers
-fun chemistry

Circling back to you was a 4 star read for me. Cant wait to see what Julie Tieu writes next !!!

CADENCEMATT MY BFFSSSSS


so here’s the thing. i REALLY enjoyed this. it was a fun quick read. my only problem happens a the very beginning. when the book first starts the author makes it seem like cadence has been crushing on her coworker who she is not very close to, which is fine. BUT THEN suddenly they’ve been best friends this whole time and he out of the blue has feelings for her???? anyway, that was my only problem because it felt too sudden. But aside from that I HAD A GREAT TIME. Cadence and Matt are fun characters and I love them. Goodbye.

I loved the concept of romance in the corporate world (rang very true and close to home!). In practice I didn’t connect with the writing style. Thank you for the chance to preview!

I so wanted to be into this book but 30% in and I just, couldn’t. The dynamic between Matt and Cadence is uncomfortable in a weird way instead of a cute way. Josie made a lasting impression as a cockblock and I don’t like any of the characters. Cadence acts unnecessarily hostile towards Matt which I can understand just barely, but still not a fan of. Matt is a darling and if I do come back to this book it’ll be only for him, and maybe his lola.

This was such an adorable read! Matt and Candence are coworkers who go from friends to lovers in a really realistic and sweet way. I think the characters had a lot of chemistry and Tieu did a really good job of showing the struggles of moving on from grief and the pressures that children of immigrants feel to live up to expectations of their family. The romance itself felt really well developed and I enjoyed the their banter and intimate moments.
4/5
*Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers, for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Julie Tieu’s Circling Back to You is a fun contemporary romance between Cadence Lim and Matt Escanella. They are close friends who have spent numerous years working for Prism Realty. The scene heats up when they find each other out of the office!

i tried to like this book but it was just so hard to get through. i found certain parts of it boring and the main character to be unlikeable. i’m all for a grumpy heroine but she was just miserable. i prefer to relate to MC’s of the books i read and couldn’t relate to her at all. it’s nice that matt was such a nice guy, considering most of the books i read are of brooding, grumpy men. he was sweet. but the chemistry lacked. i loved the diversity between our MCs and really wanted to love the co-workers trope in this one. it really lacked for me and felt too obvious. like it didn’t feel like the reason that they hadn’t crossed the boundary from friends to lovers lacked. i’m sure that some people will love it, but it just wasn’t for me!

I really enjoyed this book. I especially loved the family dynamics and how thoughtfully and perceptively those were portrayed by Ms. Tieu. Cadence and Matt fit each other perfectly. The workplace dynamics were also spot on. And it even included some K-drama beta references like a piggyback ride and the guy picking up pharmacy supplies. Highly recommend!

I would give this 3.5/3.75 stars.

This book is one that I can see will be very popular with readers...it has many great elements like friends to lovers, workplace romance, kind of fake dating-but if that's your favorite trope, don't expect too much, diverse characters...and those are the themes that I really enjoyed within this book. The story follows the evolving relationship of Cadence and Matt, two coworkers who find themselves on a business trip together to Matt's hometown, leading to a "fake dating" plot for the two of them. As they fall in love they're also dealing with strained familial relationships and meddling.

This book was mostly light hearted...not so much a comedy, but just a romance. I did enjoy it for the most part but I had issues with the pacing. I felt like the story started off strong (maybe a bit fast, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles) and ended strong, but the middle of the book felt sluggish. This can usually be helped if the chemistry was off the charts between Cadence and Matt, but in all honesty, it felt a little lackluster. I think I didn't get as invested in their relationship either because Cadence can be kind of mean at times, while Matt comes off as sweet and cute the whole time...I definitely still liked them together for the most part, but there were moments when I didn't.

All in all, this is a book filled with diversity and cute scenes, and while I didn't love, love, love it....I really did enjoy it most of the time.

Where to start? I really wanted to like this book and I started off really enjoying it and the banter between the characters.

Cadence Lim is very smart and a hard worker, she has worked hard for her career and to be the best at what she does. I really like her dedication to her career.

Cadence works closely with Matt and always helps him when he needs it. It helps that he's kind and requests her help instead of demanding it. She also has a crush on Matt.

So up until this point I am still very interested in this book, but than Cadence takes a turn and is kinda mean to Matt which I don’t get if she has a crush on him. It seemed a bit juvenile to me, if you like someone be mean to them.

And then she wasn’t really nice to her family, and I get that every family has issues but it seemed like she was abrupt and distance both emotionally and physically.

This turned me away from the book a little because I didn’t like how she treated people in the book and I couldn’t understand how you can like someone that’s mean to you.

Matt was a super nice guy that was friendly with everyone. He genuinely likes people and likes to talk to them. This also seemed like something Cadence didn’t like. Even going to the point of saying "not everyone can talk incessantly like you".

And it seems like nothing she said got to him, which is fine but also unreasonable, if you keep putting someone down there not going to take it that light whether they like you or not.

Matt definitely has a soft spot for Cadence and let her walk all over him. I was annoyed for him at some points in the book.

And Matt has a big rambunctious family that that is nothing like what Cadence is use to but gets along so well with them. I didn’t understand how she could be nice to some people and then flat out mean to other people that were supposed to be close to her.

This made the chemistry off for me. I couldn’t feel like connection with them because of the lack of relationship. Then the conflict seemed very forced to me, and was blown way out of proportion.

It was wrapped up super fast in the end like things just magically started to get better and relationships were healed. Up to 90% of the book Cadence was still at odds with her family.

I just could understand the characters and why they were attracted to each other. This one wasn’t for me.

When I first read the synopsis I thought SHE DID IT FOR ME and I’m very happy that I got to read an early copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager!

Let me just start off by saying that I love friends to lovers so I’m very picky when it comes to this trope, I always like when the author makes you fall in love with their friendship before making you fall in love with them as a couple and even though I did loved their friendship I didn’t connect with them as a couple, yes they’re cute but they weren’t IT for me. One of the bests aspects of this book is the family dynamics, Julie did a very good job describing these situations that would for sure happen in real life and it was really fun to read.

Not a lot to complain, I did enjoy this read but if I’m being completely honest sometimes I got bored about the workplace plot and I kinda expected more. But hey, it was nice and fun! I might stick around to see what’s next for Julie Tieu!

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing this arc !
This book was good. I enjoyed the whole book. It was well written, fun and it’s a contemporary romance.
I totally recommend! Also the Arthur has another book you should totally read. The donut trap

I got an arc from net galley. The story was good and compelling however the two main characters didnt have much in the way of chemistry. They didnt play off one another as well as i feel they could have. Their relationship seemed stilted and forced in several places. It did get better towards the end.

**Thank you for the ARC. All opinions are completely my own.** 

2-2.5 stars. Feels like it is in the preliminary draft stages and sorely needs some serious reworking and stylistic editing.

I'll be honest - this was not a good read and it just was not for me. Before you say I'm a Negative Nancy, I'll let you know that I do not give out bad reviews lightly. In fact, I try to be as generous as possible within the limits of my honesty. 

There were several issues that immediately jumped out at me as soon as I started chapter one. 

WRITING STYLE/GRAMMATICAL ISSUES: I have a problem with the grammar in this book. We all know that if used correctly, grammar can greatly enhance the "flow" of a sentence. But within the first chapter, we encounter issues where the grammar just brings the entire sentence to a screeching halt, such as mixing past and present tenses together in one sentence (i.e. "A was running, B was laughing, and C walks."). There is also the misuse of "would/could" when it should be "will/can." In sum, not a big deal, but little issues like this start to pile up and ruin the flow of the story. Every time I thought, "Okay, this sentence has a nice flow, I like where this is going," it was immediately butchered by one of the above issues.  

Personally, when I write, I literally sit down, print out a physical copy of my draft, and make edits right there on the paper. Yes, this means that I have to go through a LOT of drafts when I do this. But each time I come back to my revised draft, I find something new to fix. This type of attention to detail and repetitive editing was something that this book sorely needed - and COMPLETELY lacked. There were so many trouble areas, issues, and sentences that could have been tightened up and made snappier, if someone had just sat down and fixed the grammar and tone of the story. Of course, I know that this story must have gone through many drafts - which only makes it more disappointing. Please - someone get a new pair of eyes on this and fix it up!

CHOPPY/UNEVEN FLASHBACKS: Not only was the grammar lacking, but there were also randomly inserted flashbacks in the middle of the plot that did not add to the storyline. I completely get the use of a well-placed flashback, but here, it seemed like the author just lobbed in flashbacks at random, instead of tying memories in cohesively. 

BADLY EXECUTED HUMOR: I'll preface this by saying I enjoy a good laugh, I really do. We all know that to tell a joke, especially through writing, it's got to be a bit snappy and "release" the joke at just the right time, instead of building up and fumbling the joke. Unfortunately, a lot of the jokes in this book were really lame and dragged on for too long. There was nothing satisfying or snappy about the jokes here. Seriously, some of the jokes took like 2 paragraphs to build up, and even then, they weren't even funny. 

TLDR; Honestly, I feel like this could still use a lot of work. Can someone please "circle back" to this book and give it the serious reworking it needs?

Thank you netgalley for this arc!! Here is my VERY honest review. I just want to preface this with the warning that my feelings about this book can be summed up by saying its my fault, not the books. Wrong person right time anyone?

Let me start by saying this: I love Matt and Cadence. I really think they're great characters and I loved the energy between them. You would think this is the most important part of a romance book, right?

Wrong. Oh so very wrong.

I love friends to lovers. I love co-workers to friends to lovers. My own fiancé and I were once coworkers. It's the cutest thing in the world.

I have now discovered I do NOT care for fancy office place romances. It just wasn't fun, and honestly it detracted from the story a lot. My other big issues were with the background characters and the writing. I also felt like a lot of the situations Cadence and Matt got into were a big cringe (the dancing scene was an actual nightmare for me to read).

Did I love this? No. Am I the pickiest person I know when it comes to romance books? Yes. I've only ever really loved one romance novel and I've read a good amount of them.

I will absolutely keep my eye out for other books from Julie Tieu in the future. Again, the part I loved the most about this was the central couple. If she can keep that energy but in a different setting then I know it'll be a wonderful time.

This was a cute story with adorable characters. The romance was great and I enjoyed the trope as well! This was a well written book that was a fun read!

I knew this was going to be one of my favorite reads of this year before I was even halfway done with this book. I've never been much of a fan for the friends-to-lovers trope, but this just knocked me out of the park, I swear.

Here are some of my favorite things about Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu:

1. The writing.

Recently, I have found it SO HARD to find books that are well written. I feel like a lot of novels that people trend on social media are just poorly edited, or the writing is just very immature in nature. There's no figurative language, or it is strictly dialogue, etc. But Tieu completed blew me away with this book. I'm a sucker for Third Person Dual POV, and then adding on top of that an amazing plot and beautiful diction, I'm swooning over this.

Rather than just the way Tieu wrote this through an English majors eyes, also the realism of the scenes and actions in this book. The part where Matt carried Cadence back to the hotel and was truly struggling. He's not some macho romance novel buff who can do everything, he's real and not perfect. When after sex he was taking a shower and she declined to join, just to sit on the toilet and take her make up off, and then they proceeded to talk about some unattractive qualities each of them have. Like Matt's ugly feet and Cadence's elastic nose strip. They're normal! And imperfect! It's cute.

2. The characters.

Matt is actually the love of my life. Like move along Cadence, I need that man now. He's charming, funny, family-oriented, loving, well-driven, and so much more. He's like an IRL dream come true. I've said many of men are my dream guy. And I think a mix of Connor Cobalt from the Calloway Sisters series by KB Ritchie and Matt Escanilla would produce the man I would die to marry. And it isn't just that he's hot and has amazing personality qualities. He has wonderful character growth throughout this novel. He goes from being a ladies man who only thinks about himself, to striving to be a one-lady man for Cadence and wanting to be there for her and his family and just others in general.

Cadence is special. She is independent and smart and great with numbers and definitely beautiful, but also closed off and stuck in a pattern that she isn't enjoying anymore. Seeing her transform from the woman she became without her family after her mom died to a more family-orientated person when she went to LA was really amazing. She went through so much and came out on top, with closer family, a better job, and the dream man.

3. Asian representation!

I am white. I get a ton of representation in romance novels, and just literature in general. From my POV, I absolutely LOVE learning about different culture and customs when reading. I think my first romance novel that I read with accurate Asian representation was The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, which then became one of my favorite books of all time, and then reading this just took me back to my exact feelings with that. Seeing the way Cadence mourns her mother through their customs (I think Buddhism, but not entirely sure; it could be their Chinese customs, I don't remember if it went into detail on which it was), as well as Matt's family's Filipino foods and familial names and relationships. It is just all very interesting, and I'm sure it is amazing for Chinese or Filipino person to read this and see their culture represented unlike it usually is! Love it.

4. This monologue from Matt to Cadence:

“Let me be clear. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time. I’m done pretending that I don’t want to kiss you when you walk into the office, and I sure as hell am not going to forget this happened. But I promise you, I’m not going to kiss you again until we’re on the same page. And if we are, we’re going to do a hell of a lot more than kiss.”

I'm really hoping that maybe we will see more from this universe, hopefully in a spin off through someone's POV that we know and met through Circling Back to You. I would even be up to seeing a Hunter redemption ARC, though I literally despise him with my whole being.

Overall, Julie Tieu wrote a masterpiece of a novel that comes out July 12, 2022. I will 100% be purchasing the novel when it is released, so make sure to add this to your TBR as soon as possible.