The Year of Cecily is a great look into Asian-American families and will ring true to a lot of people that come from a strict family structure. This second chance romance is not only sweet and steamy, but it's filled with a hope that we could all use.

This book made me sit in my feels and I'm here for it. I'm pretty sure that the ideals and family structure in this book are really common in families that have immigrated to the US because I feel this deep connection with Cecily and my family is from Mexico. Cecily taking a year to better herself and her life while dealing with a "meddling" family that just wants the best for her(even if they don't show it in the best ways) is fun and filled with love. The Year of Cecily was a great reminder that sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you if you'll just open yourself up to them.

This made for a great audiobook. I loved how the characters were developed and the storyline was fun. It was a wonderful listen!

Sometimes you start reading a book and it feels like you’re in the main character’s head and experiencing the plot first hand. This was not the case for The Year of Cecily.
The writing felt stilted and definitely reads like a debut novel. You can determine what is going to happen after the first chapter, but with that being said, the premise was kinda cute, even if it has a cheesy end.

The spice in the book was… awkward. I think it has something to do with the stilted dialogue. Also the phrase “feminine folds” was unexpected and not for me 😂

The timeline and setting of the book felt a little abstract, and I couldn’t figure out how much time had supposedly passed or where they were supposed to be.

The new year resolutions Cecily makes at the beginning of the book were also cheesy, and as the book goes on and Cecily checks things off her list, it felt as if the author was doing the same thing for the book. It just felt unnatural and could have been a little more refined.

Second chance romances aren't usually my trope of choice. For someone that doesn't believe in astrology, I'm a very typical Taurus. Once I'm done with something, I'm done for life.

Cecily and Jeffrey broke up years ago, but meet up again in New York during Lunar New Year. I've been reading a lot of LNY romances. Cecily is a successful lawyer in San Francisco. Jeffrey is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Will they make this work?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I started off with The Year of Cecily* by Lisa Lin. This one alternates POV between Cecily a lawyer in her 30s who makes 8 new years resolutions, and Jeffrey, a screenwriter. The two both happen to head back to NYC from California to be with their families for Lunar New Year, and also happen to be former flames who have gone a decade trying to forget each other and what happened between them.

Unfortunately, I found this one pretty boring and predictable. I did kind of enjoy the new years resolution aspect and Cecily's desire to set goals for herself and take charge of her future, especially in terms of boundary setting and finding time for herself. I didn't find Jeffrey's sections very interesting, and kind of wished it was just told from Cecily's perspective. Not all romance novels need to be told from both perspectives, yet I find that is becoming more and more common these days... I think I might have enjoyed it more in a physical copy, but even then, I don't think it would have been a favourite of mine. Thanks to netgalley for the chance to listen to this one!

As a fellow asian, I always love to give the books written by asian authors a chance. I think that this was a great read for anyone who wants something fun and quick. It was something that you don't see too often as an asian romance. It was cute!

This was a great read - I had a great time reading it however it didn't keep me interested the entire time

Cicily Chang has decided to make a list of ways she can change her life and make it better. Jeffrey Lee is living and thriving in LA as a screenplay writer and the only y regret he has is letting Cicliy go.

Both Cicily and Jeffery both grown up in New York with overbearing parents who try to guide their lives. The shares experience gave them a connection that can't be broken apparently

I loved to see these two grow although I felt like Jeffery grew way more than cicily whose only growth was forgiving Jeffery

Anyways, this was a great second-chance romance with some seriously spicy parts

Narrator Kat Riley did a great job with both character's voice however it was a little robotic - lacking in some warmth - still great tho

Audiobook ARC provided by NetGalley. This was a cute story of second chance at love with some spice. The narrator was new to me and she did a good job at narration.

I enjoyed Cecily and Jeffery's story. She is a lawyer living in San Francisco and goes home to New York to spend the Lunar New Year with her family. She has deemed it that year of Cecily and makes resolutions to take charge and to change her life. She and Jeffery were engaged and he broke it off suddenly, quite medical school and move to LA and fell in love with writing movies. They bump into each other visiting family at the airport in New York and undeniably sparks are still there. Jeffery set out to prove that he is the man for her and tries to win her back. This is a second chance romance and a cute story that I enjoyed.

I picked this up because I was looking for a diverse and entertaining romance story. This story was a dual POV. It centers around Cecily, a lawyer in her mid 30s who is looking to find a future that feels more stable than her present circumstances.

In the beginning of the book, Cecily spends New Years Eve making an organized list of the things she wants to improve about herself and her life in the coming year. She decides to fully put these goals into practice when she goes home to NYC to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family. During the trip from JFK airport to her family's home, she reunites with a man she hoped to never see again - her ex fiancé. Cecily holds bitter feelings against him for suddenly breaking off their engagement weeks before the wedding and then disappearing the next day without talking to her about it. When these two reunite, the tension between them is rivaled with the romantic attraction that has lingered all these years. These two need to decide what to do about their growing attraction as they return from vacation in NYC back to their separate lives in separate spots of California.

This story was part women's fiction, part family focused (especially on the criticalness of some Asian parents), and part romance. Since this story was advertised as a romance, I expected that to be the primary focus of the story which left me wanting a bit. There were some scenes with more romantic development, particularly around 30%-40% of the way through the story and again at 75% of the way through the story. It wasn't as much of a romance as I was hoping for, but the author did a great job bringing a story of diverse characters to life on the page. She represented the various familial dynamics and parental expectations that can come from family life, as well as how protagonists can pursue their dreams and create the life they want for themselves and their families. This story was about family, chasing your goals and creating the life you want for yourself.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook copy of this story. The two narrators did a great job of bringing this dual POV story to life.

Content: critical parental figures, breaking off a past engagement, being ghosted by an ex, two open door scenes

#BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Year of Cecily by Lisa Lin
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 293 / Genre: Romance / Narrator: Kat Riley

Cecily Chang is determined to reboot her life with a list of New Years resolutions just as soon as her obligatory trip home to Brooklyn to celebrate the Chinese New Year with her family is over. She especially wants to avoid her ex-fiancé Jeffrey Lee, who dumped her 10 years ago right before their wedding without giving an explanation.

As you might guess, after doing the whole playing-hard-to-get dance, this quickly became an enemies-to-lovers romcom where Cecily and Jeffrey air everything out, have some hot steamy sex, and eat lots of delicious-sounding Chinese food. Overall, this was a pretty good story and Kat Riley did a great job narrating.

Thank you, @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for the advance copy of this audiobook.

This is a pretty straight forward breakup-redemption romance. Things did not work our for Cecily and Jeffrey a decade before; however, a chance Lunar New Year reunion rekindles their romance. Will it be for good this time. Just a so-so listen for me.

Cecily is ready to start the year of the pig right - she’s got resolutions to keep (that will be difficult, seeing as one is trying not to cause family drama) and she’s ready to go. That is, until she bumps into Jeffrey when she lands in Brooklyn for the Lunar New Year. It’s only a matter of time before this man from her past starts to show up more in her future.

I thought this seemed a bit rushed? I understand that Cecily and Jeffrey have history, but they fell back together really soon after Cecily couldn’t stop saying how much of a jerk he is?

Cecily was obviously very stressed about her family dynamic, and I thought this did a really good job of showing the pressure that parents can put on their children without realizing.

Overall, I thought this was okay, and I enjoyed the spicy bits, but I think it was trying to pack in too much too fast.

I enjoyed a year of Cecily overall but the reason between Jeffrey and Cecily’s first split fell a little flat for me, I wish more context / background was given being that they were childhood friends to lovers.

However I loved how it dealt with more serious topics like setting boundaries with family & healing & creating new friendships. I enjoyed that aspect of the story much more.

If you want to read a journey of a woman figuring things out for herself I’d recommend!

I was really looking forward to a cute Lunar New Year romcom but this was not necessarily for me unfortunately. I liked that it was a friends to lovers story where they break up and Jeffrey regrets it for years. I’m sure some will absolutely love this but I really couldn’t get into it and I almost quit a few times. I would try another one of this authors stories though. I liked the character and world building in this.

Can I just say that this is actually the was a childhood friends to lover that I like? Because it is.

Was I frustrated that it took Jeffrey way to long to tell Cecily why he broke up with her in the first place? Yes, but I really liked how this story. was written/narrated. The pacing was on point and I liked all the little dates and how both Jeffrey and Cecily got to know each other again.

This story I very healing when it comes to relationships with parents. A lot of inner healing too and I just loved the communication (after like 50% more or less). Loved a lot a little pieces of this book and I do highly recommend... and that means a lot cause I usually hate childhood friends to lovers.

It's also just the right amount of smut to plot I like.

4.5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the audiobook version of this arc.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish this book; I’m not sure if it’s just the way it was narrated or the writing style, but the way it read just wasn’t for me.

There was so much to love about this book. Lin painted the familial relationships and traditions so vividly it was easy to picture.

Unfortunately, I found too much of Cecily's romantic relationship confusing, the pace rushed, and the dialogue stilted.

... And yet, I also couldn't put it down.

I received an advanced listening copy of The Year of Cecily by Lisa Lin through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and, here it is!
•
☆☆☆☆
•
Unbeknownst to each other, Cecily and Jeffrey are returning home to celebrate Lunar New Year with their overbearing parents and their super-involved families. Avoiding your ex and any other drama will surely be difficult especially when they are both focused on their careers, surviving their families, and can't seem to avoid each other. After one steamy night things change.
•
I appreciate this mature story very much! I related to the adult child and parent relationship. When the main characters sometimes revert back to young children when around their parents, trying to please their parents, and feeling critiqued. I also loved the way Cecily and Jeffrey worked through their conflicts by finally being honest with each other, learning to communicate effectively, and giving each other grace.
•
Thanks to Dreamscape Media, NetGalley, and author Lisa Lin for this ALC to honestly review. This book is out now! Go get it!!!

Perfect time of year for a Lunar New Year rom-com! This is a cute story of love, second chances, ambition, and families. Cecily is poised to start the new year with a list of resolutions to better her life after a failed engagement left her broken hearted and she buried herself in her career. Jeffrey is at the early stages of trying to build his career after deciding that he couldn't be a doctor and left medical school, his family's dreams, and Cecily. What will it take for him to win another chance with her? Both characters are smart and witty, and the dynamic and banter between the two gave me some great LOL moments. The tales of the family dynamics are hilarious in any ethnicity, and easily relatable. The narrator did a great job keeping me engaged and entertained. A little funny, a little sentimental, a little spicy, this is a good one to check out for this time of year! Thanks so much to Lisa Lin, the publisher, Dreamscape Media, & NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC audiobook!