Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
I adore Kevin Kwan’s books! They are intricate, complex, hilarious, emotional, and full of stories from the other side. Lies and Weddings is a wonderful addition to his catalog.

This is my 21st book for #24for24

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Is this a new favorite? No, but I like a Kevin Kwan book.

If you've never picked up anything by Kwan you need to know a few things. 1) There will be footnotes and while you may think the footnotes are expendable if you are not reading them you are only getting half the story 2) if you cannot stomach the idea of hearing names of brands you have heard of and those you will never be able to afford let alone know exist you probably shouldn't pick it up 3) in addition to those brands you'll get various pop culture and historical references and 4) the school history of every named character is likely to be included and while you may not know these schools it's definitely an important facet of the character and how others in the narrative are going to view them. These books aren't so much about plot as they are about character. Though this might actually be Kwan's best attempt at writing a straightforward romance while also including all of the Kwan-isms.

I had an A+ time reading this book even though I definitely didn't care for the core romantic story being told.

Lies and Wedddings features plenty of lies and three destination weddings. The story is tied together by Rufus' extended family and the girl that has captured his heart, Eden. They aren't necessarily a match that Rufus' family would approve of and the book isn't so much them trying to prove that they can be together as it is them separated by various circumstances until they are able to finally be on the same page at the same time. I would expect nothing less than the twists and turns that Kwan takes the reader on, though I can say that some where objectively more foolish than other; particularly as the narrative starts to get close to the end and some of the things that were happening just felt almost eye roll worthy.

Lastly I'll just say that I was team Arabella the whole book. Yeah her children, and even her bestie, were right that she had some internalized anti Asian hate she had been harboring as being an Asian woman in the world of British aristocracy and wealth for as long as she had; but them kids were not cut out to be regular degular people. Let alone Rufus, so sure she was a meddler, but I was riding for her.

nother fun one by KevinKwan. He has an incredible talent for writing books that capture your attention and drag you into the story. The characters and their interactions were entertaining , frustrating and wonderful. There was drama, there was love, there was over the top wealth. I enjoyed the surprises to the story line and the way that the characters handled different situations. Honestly, I felt like I was watching a tv show and became very invested in the lives of the characters. You will laugh, you will cry and you will scream at the book. An overall fun and enjoyable read!

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

We get all the family drama from different POVs and timelines. Very entertaining and fun to read. Beautifully written book that made me forget I was reading.

I tried reading Mr. Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and was just not able to connect with the story. Fast forward to his new book, Lies and Weddings, and I found myself in a different headspace. I thought this was funny and often found myself shaking my head over the antics of the ultra rich. I’ll admit to not recognizing 99.9% of the brand names dropped throughout the story, but that’s okay with me.

At its heart, this is a love story. I liked the two main characters and that alone made the story enjoyable. I think this is a perfect summer read.

Lies and Weddings is DAMN DELIGHTFUL. Kevin Kwan is in a category of his own. There’s not one author that makes me crack up while reading as much as he does. And Lies and Weddings is no exception—the variety of characters, the drama, the fashion and little side notes sprinkled throughout. I’m always so impressed with how he touches on class, race, and privilege and the complexities of family and what it means to belong. With a large cast of characters, I love how each one intertwines. It amazes me how he always crafts these wildly entertaining plots yet conveys such meaning to every person’s story throughout. Lies and Weddings was also extra fun with the tropical setting combined with Kwan’s signature writing style.

Although I received an e-galley courtesy of @doubledaybooks , I also paired this with a complimentary audiobook thanks to @prhaudio –the narrator is VERY talented! She, alone, narrates each character so uniquely and with flair! She really brought these people to life and made my reading experience that much better.

I’m so thankful for my gifted egalley and ALC in exchange for an honest review!

4 Stars!
Rufus Gresham is the Viscount St. Ives, and an international playboy photographer living in Hawaii. He's a gorgeous bachelor that loves to surf and doesn't care about the lavish lifestyle he grew up with. Unfortunately he has a lot of pressure on him to deliver and live up to the family name. He comes from a noble family that embody modern day aristocrats. As the prodigal heir, his former supermodel mother has high expectations. Since one of his sister's is getting married soon to a prince, and made a magnificent match, he's next to step up and marry and have children. When he finds out his family isn't wealthy anymore, but actually drowning in debt, will he be the one to save them from ruin? In their world reputation is everything, and Rufus's scheming mother has big plans for him to meet and seduce a woman with money. Will he let others decide his future, or will he follow his heart that's always belonged to his childhood best friend, Eden Tong?

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan is a friends to lovers romance full of twists and turns, drama, humor, secrets and lies. It's about family, friendship and forbidden love. I really enjoyed this story and love this authors writing! <333

Thank you to Kevin Kwan and Doubleday Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For all of you who like a steaming hot cup of British tea, but wish it wasn’t so bland, here is your next read.

Honestly, this was everything Crazy Rich Asians wasn’t, in all the good ways. The scandals were one after another bring great comical relief. As well, Kevin Kwan has this wild imagination for creating the most elaborate, outrageous, romantic weddings that seem to grande to even be possible but you can’t help be dream could be.

If Pride and Prejudice and Crazy Rich Asians had a perfect little half British half Asian baby, this would be it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was another win for Kevin Kwan - his writing style was wonderful and created a story that I couldn’t put down!

QUICK THOUGHTS 💭
💰This book was so funny! I was cracking up in every chapter. The endnotes provided in each chapter were enlightening and hilarious.
💰I love seeing a “normal” person thrust into uber-wealthy situations. Brand names, jewels, over-the-top wealth… Watching Eden experience this was relatable.
💰 This story is about the whole family, so we get multiple POVs (which I loved!).

You don’t want to miss this book!

Thanks so much to Kevin Kwan, Double Day Books, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Complex, Entertaining and Beautiful!!

Wow. My first read from this author, though I am a fan of the movie Crazy Rich Asians (I’m sure the book is even better). I love the writing style. It is detailed without being flowery. There are brilliant footnotes, which are well worth the read. It is a story of titles, wealth and heritage. From private jets, designer clothes, to surf shacks in Hawaii.

A dichotomy of haves, have nots, and have enough. And each category is not always who you think they are. Pele makes an appearance with lava fissures, and it seems not much goes as planned.

Entertaining, romantic, well-traveled, and a pure delight. I definitely recommend this story.

I absolutely adored this book. I loved Crazy Rich Asians(the movie) and knew I wanted to read this as soon as I saw it available. I was hooked from the very beginning. The first chapter is complete chaos and I was so here for it. The rest of the book lived up to what I was expecting and now I need more! I fell in love with the wide cast of characters. You have the docile Eden and Rufus who are so easy to love and you go all the way up to Arabella who is completely insane but you love to hate her. It was such a quirky, funny, and often at times infuriating story that I really wish I could read again. Also can we talk about how gorgeous the cover is??

Thank you @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for the Arc.

I wanted to love this book.
If i'm honest it was hard for me to even like?

Its Classic Kevin Kwan with the lives of the rich and famous, but i had such a hard time getting into the book. I wanted to care, but i just couldn't. It was frothy and over the top just like i feel like one of his novels should be. But in the end, the only interesting thing WAS the rich lifestyle. Not the characters or the actual story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC all opinions are my own.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 432 / Genre: Romcom

Rufus Gresham has always known that he would someday be the Earl of Greshambury, something he absolutely dreads. He’d rather live a simple life in Hawaii as an artist. But his mother, a former Hong Kong supermodel, who came from nothing and faced racism growing up Chinese in England, is hellbent on marrying off all her children to the wealthy elite. And when tragedy strikes and Rufus is pressured to marry for money as soon as possible, he’s torn between doing what’s right for his family and his legacy, or go after the only girl he’s ever loved.

Bridgerton is back and all the rage right now, and whether you’re all about it or, if you’re like me, and just not into it, this book will give you all that aristocratic drama and decadence but in modern times with an Asian twist. Those snooty British mothers have nothing on Chinese tiger moms!

Like all of his books, I loved this new one by Kevin Kwan. This new cast of characters has some over-the-top crazies but also ones with huge hearts that you just fall in love with.

Thank you, @NetGalley, @DoubleDayBooks, and KevinKwanBooks for my gifted copy. I loved it!

Lies and Weddings was on my most anticipated new romance books of 2024 list AND my most anticipated books for summer 2024 on She Reads Romance Books because I thought the set up and setting of this book was magnificent. This was my first Kevin Kwan romance and I was eager to dive in but I am putting it down after getting 30% through it. By this point I should be invested in the main characters and have an idea of where the love story is going but unfortunately I don't feel either. The only character that I feel like I've come to know is the mother and she's awful. Meant to be I understand but I don't care about either main character. Rufus has been mostly absent and there is no connection between him and Eden at all at this point. To me the whole point of the story is the sister's wedding. I would probably continue on if I didn't find the writing very hard to follow. While I think the setting is unique and a huge part of the story, the description is just too much at times and drowns out the storyline. Plus all the "extra" bits of info are distracting and not entertaining.

I realize this may just want makes Kevin Kwan's writing tick but I realize it's not for me. I appreciate the opportunity to see if it was.

Once again, Kevin Kwan comes up with a hilarious story about the ridiculously filthy rich. Featuring, of course, judgy Chinese moms, beautiful people and champagne problems. Throw a few over-the-top weddings in there, and you have quite the story.
The Gresham family is old money. However, the Earldom is insolvent and they are in danger of losing both home and legacy. Plans are made for Rufus, Viscount St. Ives, to marry money to solve this problem. But Rufus is in love with the girl next door, Dr. Eden Tong. Hijinks ensue. Get ready for another beach-worthy, fun read that only Kevin Kwan can bring.

* Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this e-arc.*

I feel like if you are a fan of Crazy Rich Asians, you are going to enjoy this one as well. It has the same trope of wealthy people behaving badly but in an entertaining way. Recommend this one if you are a fan of Kevin Kwan.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

The Greshams of Greshambury live a life of excess dictated by their conniving matriarch, a former Hong Kong supermodel and frontrunner for worst mother in a romance. It looks like things are on an upswing when the eldest daughter is set to marry a prince in the family's brand-new Hawaiian resort, except a volcano erupts right on the land where the resort is. This is the straw that breaks the figurative camel's back because the house of cards that is their finances falls apart and the family must face a future of absolute penury or marry off the son to the highest bidder. Never mind that he's been in love with a family friend since he was a kid because the hateful mom thinks her completely unacceptable due to her not being an insanely rich aristocrat and Chinese.

It's a globetrotting story full of incredible events and unbelievable characters that somehow manages to be full of emotion. My one complaint is that the awful mother's actions get forgiven and even slightly rewarded in the end. I love the happy endings for those that deserve them, but the mom just getting to keep on living her extravagant life when she obviously didn't learn anything from the ordeals she put her family through really irks me.

That nitpick aside, I loved this book even when it was making me angry to think of the ridiculous excess and waste of money. It's fun and twisty in the way great gossip is, while also being, ultimately, sweetly romantic.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the most excellent read!

4 -⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lies and Weddings follows the lives of Greshambury family (and various others) as they struggle with financial ruin and upheaval thanks to some lavish and somewhat questionable spending. In order to save his family's estate, Rufus Leung Gresham, future Duke of Greshambury finds himself faced with his mother pressing him to marry a french hotel heiress while his aunt pushes him towards a tattooed venture capital genius. Yet he cannot help but think about the girl next door who has been with him since the beginning. Throw in a volcanic wedding, a alcoholic bad boy, and secrets around the globe and you know you are in for quite the adventure!

If you enjoyed Kevin's previous books like Crazy Rich Asians you will find yourself in for a treat.

Rufus and Eden are the two characters that stole the show for me. Their normalcy despite the utter chaos of their families made them endearing to me. I appreciated Rufus' adorable pining and his honestly. Even with his mother and aunt pushing him to pursue women for their fortunes he doesn't let it change him and his honestly actually helps endear him. Meanwhile Eden is a doctor who maintain such composure even when faced with being the scape goat to some rather irritating characters. She had such empathy but when she stood her ground I cheered for her.

There are also a lot more additional voices in the novel from Arabella (Rufus' mother) with her irritating power focused mindset to Thomas (Eden's father and a good friend of Rufus' father), and Luis (the rich bad boy and alcoholic). I felt they helped emphasized the eccentrics of these wealthy families and complimented the focus of Rufus and Eden.

The story itself is a soap opera with family secrets, lost fortune, unfaithful partners, and more. I found the pacing was up and down for me but when it hit it's stride I was smiling and engrossed with unravelling the next bit of drama. I felt the balance of rational characters and outrageous is what really gave this story depth. I also felt the realism behind some of the character's consequences to add meaning. I definitely had a blast diving into this book! That said, it had a lot of similar algorithmic structure to his previous books.

Overall, Lies and Weddings offers another humourous perusal into the lives of rich and famous filled with banter, plots, secrets, and fun. I will definitely keep an eye out for his next book!

Thank you Doubleday Books for this arc!

Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians, does it again with another whirlwind family driven drama of who’s who and weddings spanning the globe. Will the girl next door prevail in this status rules all world? Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this ARC for an unbiased review.

Another fun, over the top read from Kevin Kwan with the wonderfully snarky footnotes! His books are always so much fun and provide the escape perfect for a summer day (or really anytime).