Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review. I began this book with hopes. I loved the Hating Game and thought this story gave off similar vibes in the description. Honestly, less than 10% in and I did end up DNFing this story. I lost interest with the characters and plot and just needed to step away to read other things that would be enjoyable and more to my taste.
I’m sure that this book will have a amazing following for those who enjoy the romance genre.

(I’ll say more like 3.5)

This started off great. The chemistry, the pining, the banter! Matt and Cadence make you want to root for them. I personally love the “straight forward almost mean” and the “hopelessly endeared” pairing. It works well with them. So many of Matt’s lines had me laughing, he made a really good love interest. All really good buildup for nothing really. Once you hit the halfway mark the story loses a lot of steam.

I’m only giving it 3.5 because of how much I enjoyed the first half of the story. It could’ve been amazing if the entire book felt like that beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Circling Back To You is cute and fun, and exactly what you would expect based on the synopsis. It certainly isn't award winning writing, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment.

The Good: I loved the family dynamics that were explored here, and Cadence and Matt's differing family experiences. I also really enjoyed the split perspectives, and thought their inner voices balanced each other out well.

The Less Good: The middle part of this book was a bit of a slog, and I really wish it had moved at a faster pace. My only other complaint was that I felt like this 100% read like a YA novel, which is fine, but it's promoted for adults, so I expected the language to be a bit more geared toward adult readers.

If you're always down to read a rom-com, pick this up right away!

💗 E- Arc Book Review 💗

Thank you to @netgalley and @julietieuwrites for the chance to read your upcoming release! I’m such a sucker for a quick & light romcom.

I loved the MCs and their whole dynamic. They developed well throughout the story and I loved that they took their relationship to the next level earlier on the book. I enjoyed seeing them grow as characters TOGETHER.

Cadence is a hard working woman who spends all of her time focused on that instead of her family.
Matt is a very likeable co-worker who does everything in his power to make Cadence happy!
When they are set to spend time together working in California, they are forced to share a hotel suite together. Even with separate rooms, they must work closely together on an assignment and the proximity affects them, in more ways than one. Cadence and Matt must push throw work obstacles as well as family obstacles to grow stronger together.

Release Date: July 12,2022
Genre: romcom
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Mark your calendars now! You don’t want to miss this one ☺️

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Julie is VERY QUICKLY becoming one of my favorite romance writers. She's just so great at chemistry and the complexity of family. Five stars. As always.

Circling Back to You not only gave me one of the cutest couples I have read, but also one that deals with challenges that are pretty realistic in my view, and which don't usually show up as often in other rom-coms.
I'll start with the aspect of it that made me smile like a dumb person at my kindle: the romance. I truly enjoyed Matt and Cadence's dynamic, I feel like they were so supportive of each other as friends and I thought that was great! Also, I really liked how the author portrayed the dynamic of each character with their respective families and then with that of the other. Though I feel like there could have been a bit more moments that strengthened their connection as a couple, I do think that their relationship was well-developed.

Now, the aspect of the book that truly added more significance to their story was the whole concept of family. Julie Tieu provides us with two contrasting relationships between the main characters and their families and I like that they were intentional. While we were able to see Matt and some of the routines and dynamic with his cousins, parents, and grandma, we also see the distant relationship that Cadence has with her father and brother and the way in which she managed her grief on her own. I could see the growth of the characters throughout the book and the way their families contributed to this. All in all, I'd really recommend this book for anyone looking for a cute work place romance that also dives a little into the challenges that sometimes come with family and how two characters are able to improve both for themselves and for the other.

This book was a fun read. I enjoyed following Matt and Cadence's story, though it fell flat in some places. As a reader, I wanted to connect with them but found myself unable to in light of what I felt were missing details. Still, I recommend it for fans of the workplace romance.

Honestly one of the best romcoms I've read last year! The chemistry between the two characters is impeccable. The pacing in this book isn't slow but isn't also fast, it's in a normal pace which gives us readers enjoyment and satisfaction in exploring the relationship of the main leads. I gotta say, as a Filipino, I am quite happy that the author gave justice in representing us. Needless to say, I'm really happy I've got to read this before publish. Thank you so much for giving me this ARC!

Starting the year off strong with this amazing book. I’m not usually one for office romances, but I really enjoyed reading this. I really enjoyed reading this book. I really liked Cadence as a character. Matt was such a good match for her. His warmth matched her coldness so well. This book was well written and entertaining. I would definitely recommend if you are into romance novels!

What's this book about?
Cadence and Matt have worked at the same company for 5 years; they're cubicle buddies, separated by a small partition, with an established friendly and supportive rapport. Cadence is a type-A analyst; she keeps everyone at arm's length and insists on keeping her personal and professional life separate. Matt is the charismatic and gregarious guy in the office, a superstar broker gunning for a promotion. They're secretly attracted to each other but work keeps them busy so they don't pursue anything more. That is until they're dispatched on a work trip to secure a deal with a big ticket client. In LA, forced to share a hotel suite, the two navigate their newfound relationship while dealing with pressure from their colleagues, family, and personal ambitions.

My Thoughts:
I cannot get over how cute this book is! I caught myself smiling while reading more than once, mostly because of Matt's personality and sweet gestures. The writing is charming and a little quirky, and the amount of relatability in this book is awesome! I felt so seen, especially in regards to Cadence's disposition and background: from her habit of changing out of her outside clothes as soon as she gets home, to the distant relationship she has with her father and brother and her struggle with filial piety. Her family is juxtaposed with Matt's large yet tight-knit family, depictions of which were akin to the dynamics I've seen with my own Filipinx friends' relatives. I appreciate how straightforward Cadence and Matt are and I loved reading their fun and flirty dialogue. The main characters truly have each other's backs and best interest as a priority. They've known each other for years, albeit shallowly, so it makes sense that when they decide to be romantic, they don't follow the typical dating timeline. Their relationship progresses relatively quickly, going from amiable colleagues to cohabitating lovers in less than a week, but the obstacles they face are realistic and the resolution was satisfying.

This was a delightful read, teeming with heart and Asian representation. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of grump/sunshine, friends to lovers, and/or workplace romances!

Rating: 3.5, rounded up to 4, out of 5 stars.

I’m not sure what it was about this book but I couldn’t get into it which is saying something because I usually love this type of book. I don’t know if it was the writing style (which isn’t the author’s fault) Or just that this book really wasn’t for me but it was difficult for me to get through.

CIRCLING BACK TO YOU is a workplace romcom with a dual POV between analyst Cadence Lim and top broker Matt Escanilla. This fun and lighthearted story follows their coworker to friends to lovers journey while they work together to secure a deal with a high profile client that would help Matt land a promotion. When the negotiation is in jeopardy, Cadence is recruited to tag along with Matt to LA to close the deal. Going to LA brings them to their hometowns where they both have to contend with their families and varying expectations while also working together to juggle competing professional interests.

On the surface, Circling Back to You, by Julie Tieu, is a sweet and funny workplace romance with terrific banter. Like Tieu’s beautifully rendered coming of age romance, The Donut Shop, Circling Back to You features a second-generation immigrant heroine but the conflicting family dynamics are less about culture and more about what goes unsaid within a family and the repercussions of lengthy silences.

In Cadence’s case, she has left her home and become successful in her chosen field. She’s grown distant from her father and brother since her mother died and the distance seems insurmountable the more time passes. When she starts a romance with her sweet and swoony “office husband,” circumstances require that she come home and inevitably face a reckoning not just with an office romance but also with whether she is ready to be a presence again in her father’s life.

A sweet romance coupled with a bittersweet examination of what we leave unsaid as adult children, Circling Back to You will delight fans of Tieu’s first book and gain her more enthusiastic readers as her talent continues to grow.

Very mellow romance. Only 2 sex scenes that were not very explicit (I would still recommend 18+). No real overall dilemma- more of a secret/miscommunication between main characters. Both main characters worked through their own separate dilemmas (promotions, bosses, difficult coworkers, and family drama). Cadence’s character development was very touching to follow. Working through her grief and her current relationships with her dad and her brother was very relatable and meaningful. I loved the realistic piggy back ride for Cadence given by Matt. Strong Asian representation (food, culture, language, family relations).

Special thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager Publishing for this digital ARC.

This book was a delightful workplace rom-com with Asian representation! When I read the book's premise, I wanted to know more about it.

Matt and Cadence work together at a high-performing real estate company in San Francisco. Matt is a broker, and Cadence is an analyst. They work great together as colleagues. Their interactions grow over time; they try to figure out what they mean to each other.

I think this story had all the potential, but the overall execution fell flat. The beginning of the book was cute, but once I read a few more chapters, I didn't feel drawn in. I felt like I was being told instead of being able to experience what they were going through.

There were some good parts, though! I loved the familial moments and a few scenes that made me chuckle.

Overall, I would give this book 2.5/5 stars. I wanted this light romance to work, but this book just was not for me.

Huge thank you to #NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this advanced reading copy of this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️ 3.5

When reading the synopsis I knew I needed to get my hands on this book, and that it would be right up my alley. It’s a grumpy/sunshine workplace romance that follows characters Matt and Cadence and I absolutely LOVED their dynamic

Matt was absolutely hilarious, and the perfect person to complement Cadence’s realistic nature. I also loved the family aspect that was brought into the story for both character’s storylines, but especially for Cadence.

I felt like you were really able to see why Cadence was the way she was. I will say that at times I wasn’t sure what the true plot was for the story, and it would feel like a lot of mini-plots. Also endings to stories are a big deal for me, and I like stories to be wrapped up nicely and this story’s ending felt a little sub-par.

Overall I did enjoy the story and I do think it was a solid contemporary romance. I don’t think it was a top-favorite book of mine, but I did enjoy my time reading it .

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought that this was an overall easy and enjoyable read, but the characters were a bit too inconsistent for my liking. While I appreciated their general straightforwardness (is that a word?), I still felt like their actions did not match their dialogue throughout the story. As a result, many of the conversations between the two leads felt repetitive, and those moments lost their potency. However, as always, I enjoyed the nuances of Asian American representation depicted in this book, especially when it revolved around family dynamics.

Circling Back to You was a great read. I loved seeing all the Asian representation. The chemistry between Cadence and Matt was adorable and well written. I liked how both characters had issues that they had to fix before they got together. This is a great book for people who like to read friends to lovers stories.

Matt…swoon…Matt. Cadence and Matt are so sweet together! I loved their dynamic in the office, and out of it. Friends to lovers perfection! The side characters were also compelling (and some quite frankly needed a slap). Just a really great book!