Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with an arc and a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Circling Back To You follows Cadence and Matt, two co-workers who work for Prism Realty. The book takes you on their career journey and their budding workplace romance.

I thought this book was adorable! It’s written as a rom-com and I found Matt and Cadence’s friendship enduring and funny. They have really good flirty banter and chemistry. I genuinely feel like the author wrote this in a style that helped me envision this as a rom-com on screen. I found Matt extremely charming and real, “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.”

I really appreciate that I didn’t have to wait long for the romance in this story. The author does a good job with pacing this story and also bringing you along into the characters jobs. Their careers were a major focal point in the book and I really liked that!

While the book is described as also having a fake dating trope, I didn’t really find that to be true and that’s not negative either but it definitely meets the workplace romance, friends to lovers trope and dual POV!

As someone who loves romance stories, I really loved that this story is centered around two Asian Americans and I think the author does a great job of representing them and their culture in the story.

TW: Grief/death of a parent*

Started out really strong, I loved the office romance that was friends to lovers - so many are enemies to lovers. I liked how sweet both characters were to each other and their banter. 5 star first half that sizzled a bit and ended up at a 4. Great book and I really liked it but not a book you binge in a day.

This is just about the driest workplace romance I've read.
There was no chemistry between these characters and both of them read as if no personalities were given to them.
The only redeeming part of this was Matt's family members.
I has high hopes as I did enjoy The Donut Trap by this author but unfortunately this one didn't hit in quite the same way.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you, @netgalley, and @avonbooks, for the eARC in return for an honest review.

“When is it not complicated? You think when you find someone and get married, you live happily ever after?”

My Thoughts:
3.5 ⭐️A cute workplace rom com with friends to lovers and fake dating tropes. I love that the main characters are in their 30s. As a Filipino, I could relate to the family dynamics and expectations. There were references to Filipino cuisine, language and Asian traditions.

I do find Cadence a bit mean but she’s smart, bold, and doesn’t take crap from men. Matt is sweet. I had to look up who he was compared to an actor, Manny Jacinto.

It had a great premise but overall, it was okay. Nothing really exciting or dramatic. I think the MCs relationship was sweet but the spicy parts were pretty tamed.

Sadly this one just didn’t hit right with me. I wanted to like it so badly but I think I just didn’t love the characters very much. Matt felt immature and didn’t really seem like he knew Cadence all that well or at least as much as she knew him. Maybe I just read it at the wrong time but this one was just meh for me.

This was cute but I didn’t love the flow of the book. I felt the middle dragged some and it ended too quickly. I also wasn’t totally convinced of Matt and Cadence's chemistry. Solid 3/5 stars

This book had a lot of my favorite tropes: workplace/forbidden romance, secret pining, forced proximity, and fake dating. There was one adorable, loving family and one tense family situation, both storylines that I really enjoyed. Matt is Filipino-American and Cadence is Chinese-American, and I liked reading about each family’s traditions (and food).

There was a lot to appreciate, but overall it didn’t come together as memorably as I wanted it to. I didn’t connect to the romance as strongly as I’d like to, and a few days after reading it I didn’t feel like I remembered many of the finer points of the story.

A cute, fun contemporary romance that was a quick and easy read.

I enjoyed this book but it didn't wow me. I think this was solidly a me thing and nothing wrong with the book. Just wasn't for me at this moment. Excited to read more from Julie Tieu.

Once again, I am duped by a synopsis. Even though this a workplace romance, it's a bit light on the romance, especially the promise of fake dating. I thought Matt and Cadence's banter was cute, but that was really all they had going for them. However, I did think the discussions of family and remembrance, and how everyone handles grief differently were very interesting. Circling Back to You was a nice story, but just not quite the workplace fake-dating romance that I was looking for.

Sadly, I am DNFing this. I have nothing against the author or the contents of this book, but I was under the impression that this would be a rom-com romance story, but it sadly feels more like literary fiction to me and I am having a hard time connecting with the main character since her personality is very stoic and impersonal (there is nothing wrong with that, I just was expecting her to have more depth). If this sounds like something you’re interested in, please give it a shot!

I think at the end of the day, all I wished was that this book gave me more. More romance, more substance, more chemistry. And it didn't. Yes, I did love the Chinese rep in this book, being Chinese myself, and it was an easy read to get through, but I just wanted a lot more from it that I didn't get.

Cadence Lim and Matt Escanilla both work for Prism Realty as an analyst and realtor, respectively. Matt is Filipino, gregarious, and good with his family. Cadence is none of those things and has a thing for him. She has no idea he also has a thing for her, and so she pretends to be immune to his charm. After all, he’ll probably be transferred to LA soon, to head up the new office. Unfortunately for her, Matt has decided to launch a campaign to befriend-and-maybe-more her. An enormous potential sale in danger of falling through sees the two of them rooming together in LA, and then things get complicated.

There’s a lot that I like about this book. All at once: yay(!!!) for main characters in their 30s, disliking terms like “work husband/wife,” knowing their own worth, and standing up to microaggressions! And also for a female who isn’t thrilled at the possibility of taking on a caregiving role for someone she resents. And who doesn’t come from a tight, in-your-business family and finds it a bit off-putting and overwhelming to be thrust into the middle of someone else’s, even with warning and preparation. And she calls him on not being willing to upend his whole life for her but asking her to do that for him. This is what relationships look like for adults. As you can see, I really liked Cadence. Though I wish she’d stuck to her guns and refused to work for/with Matt in LA. It is not good work policy to work for/with partners. But I also like Matt, supportive and charming as he is, though I have less to say about him overall. I also like their relationship. Or, their dynamic at any rate. The yearning and banter is charming. And the author doesn’t make them waste a lot of time when they kiss on wondering whether the other one thought it was a mistake. In fact, there’s some very pleasant sex shortly after.

This is an ARC, so I expect the typos and missing words I noticed will be dealt with before publication, but with Chapter 15 I feel like I missed a whole lot of something. Both Matt and Cadence allude to things that simply were not in the text, like the rules Cadence made for their relationship.

Circling Back to You is a dual POV, friends to lovers, workplace romance, and fake dating! Yes that's a lot of tropes and keywords, but I immediately wanted to put it on your radar if you were interested! Being dual POV is a fantastic choice because you can see Cadence's crush developing, while also seeing the ways Matt starts to see her in a different light. Those moments of recognition are truly some of my favorite moments! Plus their chemistry and the ways in which they are sort of opposites on paper? So fun!

And throughout Circling Back to You, seeing them get to know each other as people is fabulous. The pacing is wonderful because it never feels rushed or like there aren't enough moments of them together. We can see the ways they unfold around each other, start to open up about those real insecurities and doubts. While Cadence is my favorite - because we gotta love an organized heroine - I adored Matt's commitment and flair.

A sweet and family-centric contemporary romance!

Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu is a lovely book! I love the main characters and feel their familial loyalty is very relatable, especially as a reader of Filipino descent. All the equally wonderful and frustrating parts of coming from a large, nosy, but highly loyal family are done so well in this book. You can't help but root for Cadence and Matt's struggles. While I do enjoy reading about them and how they are navigating their issues, I'm not as invested in their romance. I don't feel the chemistry in their banter as much as I hoped when starting this book. But overall, still an excellent book I'm glad I read.

Thank you, NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, for the eARC.

Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu is a fun, heartwarming read that features an office romance, as well as the fake dating trope and the friends-to-lovers trope.

Longtime friends Cadence and Matt work together at Prism Realty. Cadence is the resident number cruncher behind the scenes, while Matt works in sales. When the two of them are tasked with traveling to L.A. to close the deal with a wealthy client, their relationship starts to change.

I really liked both Cadence and Matt and couldn't wait to see how their feelings for one another evolved as they finally saw each other in a different light away from the office. It was also a lot of fun to watch Cadence and Matt, interact with Matt's large close knit family while also pretending to be a couple so that Matt's family doesn't nag him about his love life.

While I enjoyed them in this environment, it did start to feel like the visit was taking up too much of the book so I found myself eager for them to leave so we could get back to the rest of the story.

I think one of the author's biggest strengths is in how she depicts the challenges of navigating a workplace romance. It all felt very realistic and something I could easily imagine playing out for a real life couple.

Even though I did have that one issue with the parental visit feeling too long, overall I still quite enjoyed this lighthearted office romance. I think it would be a perfect read for a day at the beach.

Picked this one up because I adored Julie’s debut novel The Donut Trap!
Work-place romance with a little bit of comedy. Laughed so hard at the Office references in the novel (being my favorite show). Themes of grief/loss and dating in 30s.
I did feel like the romance was secondary to the work. I felt at times I was reading about their work rather than a romance. There were parts of the romance I just didn’t buy into or understand. If it’s a I loved you since day one vibe, I need back story I need more than just telling.
Easy & fun read but wanted more.

I looooove this book! It was tender, heartfelt, and just so endearing. Matta and Cadence are so good together first as work spouses, then fake dating to lovers. The storytelling of working hard, family expectations, grief, reconciliation, and love are prominent. And can I say I'm not sure if it was supposed to be on undertone but what working hard contextually for immigrant children look different but it stuck out to me. I also appreciated the on display in terms of cultural differences between Filipino and Chinese families.

My only critique was the pacing at the beginning. To me the story picked up once they left for San Diego which is about 28% other than that it was so good.

I enjoyed this workplace romance with mutual pining. There's some complex issues with their family relationships, pressure from them being single at 30, major competition at work, the usual life issues getting in the way of relationships.

They feel like grumpy sunshine where she is the grump just cause she's so serious and analytical. Those characters always feel like the most vulnerable and complex to me. They usually are hiding a lot from those around them.

Rating⭐⭐⭐💫

Circling Back to You is a workplace romance set in a realtor’s office following Cadence who is a marketing guru and Matt, a realtor on the way up. They get paired together to try and land a big deal as they both head back to their home city of LA which of course means they have to share a hotel right??

When reading this book it felt a bit like reading the second book in a series without having read the first book. Characters are name dropped at the very beginning and not given an explanation of their relationship to the main characters. The side characters are one sided and flat and Cadence’s relationship to her family is really sad which is not what I expected out of a romance book.

What I did enjoy was the subtle calls to the character’s heritages such as Cadence’s father’s former shop, Matt and his lola and all the delicious sounding food. While this wasn’t my culture I really liked reading about other character’s cultures!

I also would have appreciated more spice in the time of Matt and Cadence getting together. I know they have history with working with one another, but when they finally DID get together it felt rushed and all of the sudden without the build up. I wished there was more backstory or quick little insights to their history together instead of everything being assumed.

Overall it took some getting into but by the end I enjoyed reading their story but I don’t think I would reread it again.

Such a cute work place romcom featuring an Asian American love story. Enjoyed the banter between Matt and Cadence. The family fielty is front and center in Cadence’s relationship with her father and brother, as well as Matt’s relationship with his extended and immediate family