love and live, bravely

Embark on a descriptively lush tour through Vietnam. In your hardest moments, find strength in the future, friendship, love, and above all: Yourself.

| contemporary romance | love abroad | matchmaking tour | slow burn | vacation romance | gumpy x sunshine | enemies to lovers | Vietnam | loss of a loved one | dealing with grief | forgiveness | visceral | poetry | academics | familial pressure | dual POV | friendship | HEA |

Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen is a great read full of lush descriptions, exciting imagery, and a slow-burn romance. This story depicts the feelings of grief and loss so clearly. There is no on-page death, however, the feelings that someone is left with after the death of a loved one are ever-present.

Another theme that is represented and executed with finesse is that of diaspora and a need for the child of first-generation immigrants to understand, witness, and explore their ancestral homeland. I am a native Hawaiian and often feel the pull of my own homeland calling me. There is a feeling, a sensation of rightness when I am in my ancestral home that I can hardly explain to someone who doesn't understand it.

This book resonated on numerous levels with me as someone who is American but is not ethnically or culturally American. I mean, that is kind of what America is. It is a country affectionately called the melting pot. It has been a refuge and home for many cultures, ethnicities, and dispersed peoples through time since its establishment. It was lovely to see myself in the main female character and to feel the wonder and rightness she felt being among her people, even if she was "Americanized" in their eyes.

The love story was not the best part of this book for me. It was nice, but truly it was the journey of the female main character that made this story worth reading. To see her ancestral home through her own eyes and to see the character development that occurred at a time when she was lost and adrift in her own life. This book had amazing world-building in terms of seeing Vietnam through a visitor's eyes who has this inexplicable love for it because of what it means to her, and the historical context it provides to her father and her aunt concerning her current state of being. There was so much development and growth in this book for both of the main characters.

This is truly a beautiful read.

Happy Reading, Friends xx

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

After losing her beloved aunt and getting fired from her job, Evie Lang is at a crossroads. Bequeathed to her is her aunt’s San Francisco row home, a treasured place where Evie spent many memorable summers with her Aunt and her eclectic group of friends. In order to get the deed to the house, Evie must go on a matchmaking tour through Vietnam. She’s always dreamed of going and reconnecting with her father’s ancestry, and this seems like the perfect excuse.

Adam Quyên is living a stifled life. Under the immense pressure of his wealthy parents, he feels he’s living life according to their terms and not fully living. He’s unsure of what he wants, and when his sister ropes him into taking the matchmaking tour of their company he agrees. It’s there he meets maddening, adventurous, and beautiful Evie. She knocks down all of his walls and it terrifies him. But can this bundle of chaos fit into his rigid world?

It was lovely to see Vietnam through Evie’s eyes. You feel the same wonder at the vivid detail in which Ms. Nguyen describes the places she visits along the way. This novel is a real celebration of the Vietnamese culture and I appreciate Ms. Nguyen’s earnestness in capturing the culture.

There was a lot to like about this book. I really liked Evie as a character, and I admired that she embraced the adventure set before her. Even when she was afraid, she took the plunge anyway. The banter between her and Adam was fun. There was a lot of push and pull on Adam’s part, and I think that made their getting to know each other more challenging. While I found both characters to be likable there was something missing for me. There were opportunities to take the relationship deeper, and I feel like in some ways the mark was missed. I wanted more heart to heart conversations between the characters.

There were some things in the novel I found curious. I didn’t understand why Evie maintained communication with her ex. He fired her and lied to her about the state of her position at the college. I think that that plot line was unnecessary. It didn’t really add much.

I also didn’t understand why she wouldn’t have a conversation with Adam and just left. He told her he loved her and she loves him. It didn’t make any sense that these two grown adults wouldn’t have a conversation about their future together.

I hate when authors add third act break ups in stories that really don’t need one. Also to be apart without communication for two months seemed a bit extreme and again just didn’t make any sense if you’re in love with someone who loves you back. It just didn’t ring true to me.

Overall, I think this was a good debut, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

I loved everything about the backdrop of this love story! The idea of the matchmaking tour itself, the motley crew of side characters, then all the beautiful descriptions of these iconic locations in Vietnam - love love love! However the love story itself was a little lacklustre to me. I liked both Adam and Evie, and I bought them together to some extent, but something was missing to make me buy that they were in deep, life-changing, throw your plans away for this person love. Still an enjoyable read!

I felt swept away in the incredible setting of Vietnam which made this book really stand out from other contemporary romances. However, I didn't buy into this "enemies to lovers" connection, and Evie seemed like she made uncharacteristic decisions while changing many times throughout the book.

*books ticket to Vietnam*

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books and Harper Collins Publishers for the ARC of this book. I had a lot of fun reading it!

I loved the premise of this book. It felt like part romance, part travel guide which really set it apart from other romances for me. I loved the characters and the story (that meet-cute!) and was constantly Googling images of the places the characters were visiting on their match-making tour and learning things about Vietnam. This would be a great book to read while you're travelling.

My only reason for the 4 star rating is that I found myself getting very impatient waiting for that happy ending but overall, I really enjoyed it!

Evie is a bit of a hot mess and has no idea where her life is going. Her aunt, who just passed away left Evie her house, but with on caveat: before getting the house she has to go on a matchmaking tour in Vietnam. Evie has no desire to go, but she does anyway. There she meets Adam, the CMO for the matchmaking business. They could not be more opposite, but as they travel together they realize there might be something there.
This book made me want to travel to Vietnam! The descriptions of the places and the culture were the highlight of this book and reading it felt like a beautiful love letter to Vietnam. Also the food descriptions sounded incredible. To me the romance wasn’t the highlight of this story, it was the culture and the journey of each of the characters in their personal growth and finding their identity. Each of them had evolved beautifully throughout the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the advance copy.

After the death of Evie’s beloved aunt, Evie learns that she must go on a matchmaking tour in Vietnam in order to inherit her aunt’s San Francisco house, which could keep her afloat financially for a long time. As a struggling poet who just lost her job (and her boyfriend), Evie needs the money, so she goes on the tour. There she meets Adam, the grumpy CMO of the tour company. The two have very little in common on paper other than their shared heritage, but they find shared joy in the experiences on the tour.

Adam and Evie’s Matchmaking Tour is a fun take on a road-trip romance. While it was an enjoyable read, I didn’t find myself gripped as I often do with rom-coms, though I did really enjoy the travel aspect of the book. I loved some of the side characters, namely Fen, and I liked Adam, but I had a hard time connecting with Evie and understanding her moves throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this book.

I was so intrigued by this book based on the synopsis, title and cover. I’ve never read a romance novel with two Vietnamese main characters and the setting taking place in Vietnam. I enjoyed the tour itself a lot. I loved reading about all the places they went and the food they ate. Fen was such a great minor character. She was fun and interesting. The bestie we never knew we needed!

I felt like Adam spoke very American. For someone who seems to only have spent a year in America in which he went to school exclusively and didn’t have many or any American experiences, I found it to be a bit strange. Adam and Ruby needed wayyyyyyyy more conflict resolution than they did. Ruby was straight foul for her nonsense. It seemed to have been brushed under the rug.

The beginning and end were a bit shaky for me. The middle when they’re on the tour and Adam and Evie make their way together was so good. They had great banter. I wish we got more of it. There was a lot of chapters when they would have an amazing time and it’d cool off until another chapter or two.

I will also say this was written in third person. I’ve read a lot of first person books lately that it took me a little while to get used to at first. It’s an open door romance novel with a few spicy scenes. Overall a 2/5 on the spice meter for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for a digital copy of this book!

After having just traveled to Vietnam last month, I loved reading a book set there and really enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the places and food.

In this book, Adam and Evie meet on a matchmaking tour in Vietnam—Adam is the CMO of his sister’s matchmaking company and struggling with the high expectations from his wealthy family and Evie is still grieving the loss of her aunt, who stipulated that Evie had to go on the tour in order to inherit her San Francisco row house.

Ultimately, I wasn’t completely sold on the central romance, and it was a bit too hot and cold for me. I wish we had more insight into Evie as a character because their initial attraction didn’t really make sense based on the brief introduction to Evie we received.

While there were some tender moments throughout, the ending made it seem like having wealthy relatives is the only way to be able to do what you really want! Overall, I really enjoyed the setting and descriptions of Vietnam but didn’t fully buy into the romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Listen, there were some good things about this book, but there were also a few big misses for me.

To start on a positive note, I liked Evie. She was happy in a circumstance where the author really could have made her a boring mope. I also really liked the setting and learning more about Vietnam. It kind of made me want to pick up a nonfiction book about Vietnam or book a trip there.

Unfortunately for me, the relationship between Adam and Evie fell very flat. I didn't really find myself rooting for them. It went from nothing to something at a really awkward pace and then suddenly I was supposed to believe that it was love, not infatuation. I didn't really care if they ended up together or not (don't hate me) and that to me is really telling of a love story that is missing roots.

I enjoyed this one but it definitely felt more Western catered than the author's previous novel. For a book about traveling there was a surprising lack of descriptions of these destinations.

In the best way possible, this book took me by surprise. Although it initially appeared to be just another romantic comedy, it is much more than that. The author deftly explores deeper themes of cultural identity, familial expectations, and personal development through the romance genre. I enjoyed reading about some well-known sites, and I valued how heritage, legacy, and cultural differences were included, along with a variety of in-depth viewpoints on grief.

I read this book once it was published, and it fell a little flat for me. The things that I look forward to in a book based on travel weren’t there, and I didn’t find the romance to be compulsively readable. It took me a few days to slug through the book.

I've been in a ginormous reading slump lately so I really just couldn't get into this one. Nothing against the book, it just didn't have that spark that made me want to continue reading.

I loved this story! The writing style was sophisticated, and their tension was palpable. Traveling through Vietnam with descriptive details of the food, culture and scenery makes me want to jump on a plane right now for my own epic adventure. The book was entertaining with deeper themes of cultural identity, family expectations, and personal growth.

Thank you to and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I loved this book! It was so sweet and scratched the rom com itch. One of the few I have recommended to my friends this year.

👉🏻For my friends who want an armchair luxury tour of Việt Nam mixed with a grumpy-sunshine romance.

Thanks, Avon and Harper Voyager, for the advanced review copy via NetGalley. (Available now)

This was as much a love story about Việt Nam as it was for Adam and Evie, and that completely worked. I could have read this faster if I hadn’t kept Googling the food and locations described.

To inherit her Aunt’s San Francisco row house, Evie must participate in an elite matchmaking tour of her father’s homeland. Adam is on the same tour, serving as CMO for his sister. Both are there under duress, think they have nothing in common, and begin sparing the moment they meet. “Two stubborn hearts, one whirlwind adventure, [this] is a story of how loving (and living) bravely can lead you to the most unexpected places—and the most imperfectly perfect loves.”

FYI, the author writes as Thao Thai (BANYON MOON), but this is her first foray into romance. Hopefully, it will not be her last because the luscious settings, fascinating side characters, and goal-worthy personal growth balance nicely with the romance, banter, and slightly spicy scenes.

I was so excited to work with Avon on this book, and couldn’t believe I was approved for it after the pub date—that’s how excited I was to read this. And it was totally warranted. I’d never read or heard of this author before, but the prose is stunning, and the idea is so Inventive! This book was everything I hoped it’d be.

4.25/5.0

I loved the travel aspect of this book so much. It was wonderful to follow Adam and Evie through Vietnam, and the writing was exceptional. The descriptions were so lush and evocative, I really felt like I was there with the characters. That said, the romance didn't work for me as well as the setting, and since this is a rom-com, the romance is a pretty crucial part of the story. It was hard to get behind some of Adam's actions in the story, and I have a hard time rooting for a romance when it feels like one of the characters doesn't respect that other. Still, I will definitely read whatever Nora Nguyen comes out with next.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Read if you like:
• women’s fiction
• epic travel romance
• forced proximity
• grumpy x sunshine
• he falls first
• Vietnam setting

Though I did not feel connected to the love story didn’t but I enjoyed how this book took me to travel around Vietnam.