Two rival matchmakers, a bet to find the other one someone to fall in love with, and the most incompatible couple ever. Olivia Huang Christenson is going to take over her grandmother’s matchmaking business, Lunar Love. It’s all she’s ever wanted. She firmly believes that only compatible Chinese zodiac animal signs make successful couples, she is firmly FIRMLY held in her traditional beliefs. Then she has a cute meet cute with a guy at a bakery...who happens to be the owner of a new Chinese zodiac dating app and her rival in business... Bennett O’Brien, who just also happens to be L.A.’s most eligible bachelor. It doesn’t help that they are incompatible zodiac signs. Liv plans on taking down Bennett even if it means manipulating him into getting a date with him, spying on his business, and sending him a crushing review of his app.... but it turns out he knows exactly who she is and still agreed to go on a date with her because he believes in incompatible couples, her exact opposite belief. Bennett wants to give them a chance but Liv believes they can never work out. Liv has been hurt by incompatible relationships in the past and refuses to be hurt again. When they both end up on a panel and publicly challenge each other’s beliefs, they end up in a contest to see if they can find the other one the perfect match using their own dating techniques/app... except now they are falling for each other. Here’s the thing, I didn’t like Liv at all, I tried, I tried to empathize, I tried to get behind her way but honestly she was so frustrating, childish, and just not that great. Bennett was a really sweet love interest but Liv just grated at my nerves unfortunately. She so firmly behind her stance.. she’s the sign of a horse but my goodness is she as stubborn as one too. As a matchmaker you’d think she’d be a little open to other possibilities. but no apparently thats impossible. The wrap up and sudden 180 in character belief was meh by the end of the book. Honestly I think Liv needs more time to focus on herself and to really work on her perspective because we spend a majority of the book with her arguing with Bennett and denying incompatible zodiac signs and the chance that the pairing could work. So yeah, while it might have started off as a cute rom com it just fizzled out for me. I loved the idea of the book and I am always for fun concepts and showcasing different cultures and ideas, so while this didn’t work for me, definitely give it a try, maybe it’ll be the perfect book for you.

*Thanks Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Forever for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was excited to jump into this one, especially because I am Asian American and I live in the Los Angeles area. It was fun to see so familiar places and parts of my culture on the page! Lauren Kung Jessen described some of the traditions in Chinese culture beautifully, especially the parts about how we honor those who have passed.

This book was enjoyable, but there were some things I didn't love about it. I felt like that there were too many coincidences that were not very plausible. I also didn't love Olivia - she was a little annoying because she came out of the gate with this adversarial attitude for no real reason. I loved Bennett and he was a swoon-worthy book boyfriend!

If you're a fan of You've Got Mail, you'll enjoy this one!

Steam level: 🔥
⚠️: death of a loved one, mention of infidelity (not between the main characters)

I absolutely loved this book! Astrology is what drew me to it, and it didn’t disappoint. Although I don’t know a lot about Chinese astrology I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The romance was cute and sweet and there was no cheesiness - I found it believable and realistic!

Lunar Love was a delightful and sweet nemeses to lovers romance. I loved the immersion into Chinese culture and zodiac, the opposites attract tension, and the loving family dynamic. It was a pleasure to read!

I loved this story! Olivia was such a great character, she was strong, sassy, and really relatable. I really enjoyed how her and Bennett complimented each other. I also really loved reading about the various Chinese traditions that are interspersed throughout the book. My husband is half Chinese and we are trying really hard to incorporate as much of his culture into our lives and children’s lives as possible. It was so nice to learn about different traditions and the Chinese zodiac.

I highly recommend this enemies to lovers romcom! Thank you netgalley and Lauren Kung Jessen for the eARC!

Lunar Love is a sweet, gorgeous contemporary romance featuring biracial Asian characters -- we love to see that representation in romance!! This book has it all: characters you'll want to be friends (or more) with, excellent banter, an enemies-to-lovers/business rivals pairing, great date ideas, food descriptions that will make you wish with all your heart that you lived in a city with decent dim sum and Chinese bakery options.... a truly joyful read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

Out of all the ARCs that I’ve been accepted for and read so far, Lunar Love is definitely my favourite.

This book turned out to be much more than I was expecting. It was way more than the tropes of rivals-to-friends-to lovers; it also beautifully integrated cultural acceptance, finding your own path, and taking risks.

I really loved that the female and male main characters are mixed race! (Liv is Chinese-Scottish-American and Bennett is Chinese-Irish-American) and oh my God, Bennett O’Brien!! Such a sweet romantic lead. I loved how boyish yet confident he came off, and his feelings for Liv were transparent from day one. I appreciated that his character wasn’t cocky at all and that he was able to take Liv’s feedback and opinions respectfully and not be salty about it. He always encouraged and believed in her, even when she didn’t believe in herself (and sometimes his motives). He was thoughtful at every turn (the peony reference, come on!!) and he never tried to one up her.

I also loved all of the Chinese cultural references beyond the zodiac, particularly the food references. I immediately wanted to learn how to make dumplings (but also, I am incredibly impatient and would definitely just get frustrated with myself) and also wanted to eat any time food was described; had a major craving for dim sum and egg tarts when I finished reading this book!

I liked the take in which Liv’s Pó Po was very understanding and not too “old school” in her ways of thinking. Even though this is fiction, I couldn’t help but love how it was such a change to read the dialogue between Liv and her Pó Po, knowing how many people (my relatives included) from Pó Po’s generation would probably not think like that. I was shocked (I actually gasped and said “Nooo!” out loud) and heartbroken at the plot twist towards the end. The family theme is strong in this book: Liv with carrying on the legacy of Lunar Love, her family’s business, and Bennett creating ZodiaCupid in a way to stay connected to his mother and his Chinese heritage.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the chance to read this wonderful ARC.

#LunaLove comes out on January 10, 2023.

Will also post this to my Goodreads page and my bookstagram @blabsaboutbooks

*spoilers below*!

I enjoyed this one! I loved Olivia and Bennett. Olivia was a little unhinged at times and I LOVED it! Her stubbborness was frustrating towards the end, but I understood where it was coming from.

The romance was cute and sweet 🥰

I also love the conversations Olivia & Bennett had about feeling “asian-enough” because that is something so many people (asian or otherwise) can feel when they try to reconnect with their familial cultures.

I felt like the death of *spoiler* was really sudden and took me by surprise. I was shocked! They had such a large presence in the book.

The only part I didn’t love was Elmer sort of being like a scapegoat towards the end. It felt a little thrown in and random.

Overall, enjoyed this read!!

I love the concept of this book. The idea of matching based on the Chinese Zodiac is interesting. I love that this is book is also more than just making a love match but understanding tradition while in the modern times. It was interesting to see the concept of the regular traditional matchmaking ways with online dating and the contrast and similarities between them.

I found parts of this book relatable with being first generation Asian American and not knowing much about the traditions of my culture. So, it was refreshing to see how both Olivia and Bennet were trying to learn more about the history and culture being mixed races. I also related to Olivia being a Horse as well.

There were times that Olivia's stubbornness and character traits were frustrating but it just made her seem more human. I love everything about Bennet. He is seriously such a sweetie. I loved seeing their relationship develop and Bennet trying to show Olivia that they work despite being incompatible.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the story was interesting. I even did my own dive into the Chinese Zodiac and history.

This is a case of the right book, wrong time. I'm sure I'll pick this one up when it comes out, and I think I need to come back to it later. I'm definitely in love with the main character's voice and family!

This book was absolutely adorable. It's a slow-burn, enemies to lovers, opposites attraction kind of trope which I totally enjoyed.

the MFC, Olivia, inherits the family's matchmaking business and fully embraces her new role. She was a very hard-working and passionate matchmaker who made her clients' matches based on their Chinese astrology. Well. when a modern dating app threatened her family's business, she was ready to fight.

It turns out, the founder of the dating app is a guy she kept running into at her favorite bakery and the one she may or may not has a crush on, who was playing hard to get by not asking her for her number, Anyway, the two of them had a bet to try to find the most compatible match for each other, using their dating businesses.

Well, the two of them became jealous when they saw the other person enjoying time with the prospective dates. and Olivia can't shake off her feelings for Bennette.

I truly enjoyed this book so much. I love how the author talks about Chinese culture and traditions. I loved it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a devastatingly cute romcom by debut author Lauren Kung Jessen! It was so freaking cute and I loved that I learned so much about Chinese culture especially through the lens of mixed race characters living in America. Jessen did an amazing job mixing traditional romcom tropes with the exploration of Chinese traditions and Zodiac beliefs.

4 stars!

This books serves up:
- Asian American/Mixed Race representation
- Chinese Zodiac
- Rivals to lovers
- Death and grief
- Technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs

In Lunar Love, the main lead Liv inherits her family matchmaking business from her grandmother the OG matchmaking queen and founder of Lunar Love. The founding principle of Lunar Love is that compatibility in similarities and Zodiac is the guide to a perfect relationship.

Enter Bennett, a sweet and gorgeous new guy in town, making Liv's heart flutter but also threatening the very existence of her legacy business. Bennett is in the early phases of creating a dating app rooted in using Chinese Zodiac to make opposites attract matches. Not only does this go against what Liv has grown up believing but it's also a direct hit to Lunar Love.

They're almost complete opposites and rivals but Liv is finding it far to easy to fall in love with Bennett.

I absolutely adored how damn good the romance was between Liv and Bennet! You could FEEL the chemistry. The banter was so great - that's what really made it for me. Not only were they becoming friends, but they were also getting to know each other so naturally in such comedic settings. There are moments where I was on the subway reading and had to pause to control my facial expressions - thank God for masks though.

The Chinese culture and discussions on traditionalism versus modern beliefs was incorporated so well. I loved Popo's character and what she means for Liv and Bennett. Seeing the two of them navigate and have discussions on what it means to be mixed race with a focus on their Chinese identities was really well done and interesting. I felt like Jessen did a wonderful job making Liv and Bennett feel so real.

Since I'm a nerd - I also enjoyed how much the author dropped in about technology, start-up culture and apps. You could tell that this is Jessen's bread and butter and it never felt too much. The final act felt a little rushed in some parts and that did make it bit confusing in terms of the timeline.

Overall, this book was a total hit for me. I truly needed more! I didn't want to let Liv and Bennet go yet - where's that extended epilogue Ms. Jessen?

Thank you so much to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Lunar Love will be published tomorrow on January 10, 2023 so make sure to add it on Goodreads, put a library request for it and get those pre-orders in!

This was so cute!! I loved Olivia, and I loved Bennet. The author did an awesome job of introducing and incorporating Olivia’s family, their coworkers, and their clients. There are A LOT of characters in this book, but they’re all very well developed with different backgrounds and personalities.

I also loved the relationship between Liv and Bennet. I loved watching Liv work through her emotions and her reluctance towards the relationship.

I was also interested in the Chinese Zodiac and the parts of Chinese Culture that were included in the book!

This story was overall a very cute and fun read! It was easy to dive into and to get to know the characters. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance (this is not spicy so if you require spice in your books, this might not be for you).

Lunar Love is a heartwarming romcom full of amazing characters. I absolutely loved the representation. As an Asian American it was wonderful seeing myself represented in a romance novel. This book discusses many different Chinese traditions and featured matchmaking based on the lunar horoscope. It’s an amazing rival( enemies) to lovers / opposites attract romance.

They plot was a great balance between being character and plot driven. The rival business between Lunar Love and ZodiaCupid really emphasized Olivia and Bennett’s differences on being traditional vs modern. Olivia is very rigid and strong willed when it comes to Lunar Love she will do anything to protect it. She is ruthless at times and I found her character arc showed immense growth. Bennett’s character was ambitious and a bit nerdy at times. He was always sweet and hopeful, he fought for his convictions and his ideals about love. I loved their chemistry! The banter and teasing between him and Liv was heart warming and made me smile. Lunar Love doesn’t only include romantic relationships but it includes wonderful friendships and amazing family connections. There were definitely some bittersweet moments that made me cry.

The traditions and food descriptions were amazing. This book will make you hungry! I learned so much about the zodiac and loved the compatibility/ matchmaking aspects. I also really appreciated the authors inclusion of not feeling Asian enough. As mixed race Chinese American characters Bennett and Olivia often felt that they weren’t knowledgeable enough or deserving enough of their Chinese heritage. It was wonderful seeing them grow and learning about their culture. Eventually they realize that it’ll be a lifetime of experiences and learning but it’s what we choose to learn and value. We can carry our knowledge into the future and create or continue cultural traditions.

Overall this is a sweet heartwarming story about love, family, and finding yourself. I highly recommend this to feel good romcom fans and think it would be suitable for YA readers too.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing (Forever) for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ok so, Lunar Love. I wanted to love this one so much because it has everything I love: a biracial main character (!!), seamless cultural references that don’t feel forced, and it’s a rom-com! But this one was just not for me.

Before I get into it, I want to highlight that it has over 4 stars on Goodreads so please do not let this deter you from giving it a chance! Maybe pop over there to see what everyone loved about it and throw my review out the window. 🤣

Olivia is a matchmaker taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking company. The company, Lunar Love, operates by matching clients using the traditional Chinese zodiac. In a dating world dominated by dating apps, Olivia is struggling to find ways to keep the business afloat without compromising its traditional roots.

Enter Bennett, the creator of a dating app loosely based on the Chinese zodiac but modernized in both its platform and its approach to the zodiac.

You know where this is headed. It’s an enemies-to-lovers that also incorporates cultural exploration. The rom-com elements are all there and I think the book does a fine job with those. But where it left me wanting more was in the cultural/identity exploration. As a Mexican-American, I’ve spent a lot of time working through where I fit and who I am and I was excited about the prospect of seeing that on the page. But Olivia lacked the depth I would expect from a character of her age. Her vice-grip on tradition seemed shallow because we never got a chance to really understand it.

This is Lauren Kung Jessen’s debut novel so I am super hopeful for what’s to come from her!

I loved the Asian themed inspiration in this regarding the Chinese zodiac and that the two main characters both had mixed ethnic heritage. Olivia Huang Christenson, or Liv, is taking on the family matchmaker business of Lunar Love, previously managed by her grandmother and then her aunt. Steeped in tradition, Lunar Love utilizes the animal birth year and hour of birth to assess one's traits and to find a compatible match. She meets Bennett O'Brien and discovers that he is a competitive rival, working on a start-up app for online dating called ZodiaCupid. Despite ZodiaCupid coming off as superficial and gimmicky in Liv’s perspective, she isn’t blameless in making assumptions and snap judgments regarding Bennett. I liked Bennett more than Liv because he was very forthright and transparent even though he was a bit more closed off emotionally. Liv, while relatable as a person, does maneuver into some manipulation and omissions that doesn't bode well for her character and makes her seem deceptive even though she's the one who wears her heart on her sleeve. There were times when it seemed that Bennett could have been less tolerant or forgiving than he was towards Liv, but that also made him even more endearing since he gave her such wide berth. There's a lot of debate about following tradition vs modernization in the relationship world, as well as the factor of compatibility vs incompatibility. Liv is rather stubborn in her beliefs, showing very little flexibility because she's been burned in the past by an ex boyfriend and also from a match gone sour for a friend, whereas Bennett comes off adaptable and open minded to where he likes to reinterpret the rules. While Liv is not really welcoming to the idea of falling in love, and certainly not with Bennett because he is considered incompatible based on their horoscopes, she can't deny her attraction to him or how much she enjoys his company. I enjoyed their interactions and lively debates, and from an observer's perspective, Liv and Bennett are a perfect match despite what it says on paper, complementing each other in the ways that matter and also relating to one another where others can't. Liv has to decide if she's going to let her firmly held beliefs stop her from finding the right guy who is standing in front of her or relax her stance by following her heart. I really felt the heart and emotion towards the end in a particularly sentimental scene meant to give closure for deceased loved ones and the customs surrounding their departure. For romance readers, this has so many sweet and swoony moments with plenty of nostalgia and great character development, but it has virtually no steam or spice and could be considered a clean read.

VERDICT Debut author Kung Jessen does an impeccable job helping two adversarial lovers find common ground in their Chinese American heritage and creating a slow-burn romance with lots of humor, family, and food. An excellent match for fans of Jackie Lau, Jayci Lee, and Helena Hunting..

Lauren Kung Jessen absolutely hoked me with a meet cute in a bakery and Olivia and Bennett bantering over mouth-watering sweets! These two had so much chemistry right from the start, and it was impossible not to root for them. I enjoyed all the turns their relationship took along the way, and I’m such a sucker for characters setting each other up with other people in an ill-advised attempt to pretend they’re not completely into each other.

Lauren did such a great job of evoking real emotion behind Olivia's desire to help her family business succeed and to keep the traditions of matchmaking through the Chinese Zodiac alive. This added a depth to the conflict between the two main characters that made it so much more satisfying when they finally worked out their differences.

This book is an engaging, fresh, and genuinely delightful take on a contemporary romcom, and I had so much fun reading it!

I loved the meet cute in this book. I’m a sucker for baked goods and this worked. I thought the love-hate worked, but struggled with the amount of miscommunication.

This was an incredible debut! The storyline was incredible and what really made this story significantly stand out was the incorporation of the Chinese Zodiac. I've read romances before where astrology can play a significant role but just making it more culturally focused was incredible. The author allows us to explore and understand how culture plays a role in who the characters are. Heads up that this is a low steam book, closed-door for sure, in case that is something that appeals to you!