Having only read Lunar Love, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Lauren Kung Jessen’s third romance novel, Yin Yang Love Song. I have to say, the premise of a romance between a member of a popular string duo and a Chinese herbalist is something I haven’t seen before. I liked how both Vin and Chrysanthemum, aka “Chryssy,” revealed layers beyond their public personas. It serves as a valuable reminder not to judge people solely on first impressions or what you hear from others. I also appreciated how prevalent traditional Chinese culture was in Yin Yang Love Song since both Vin and Chryssy are biracial Chinese Americans. As someone who enjoys tea, I loved learning about the various flowers and herbs and their healing properties in addition to other elements of traditional Chinese medicine, like acupuncture, herbal medicine, and mindfulness. I also admired how this book approached the family "curse," striking a perfect balance between its "magical" origins and a realistic portrayal of its impact through several generations. Unfortunately, I felt that the romance between Vin and Chryssy was anything but magical as their relationship lacked any real chemistry and development. Their love story felt like it was missing the essential “swoon” factor that I’ve come to expect from a good love story; there was no witty banter, no tension, and no real sense of stakes involved. Kung Jessen's writing has improved a great deal since her debut, as the writing for Yin Yang Love Song is more fluid. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make for a less tedious read in the end. If you have the option, I’d recommend the audiobook for this book, as I found the story just moved along better in that format.

This was such a sweet read! I learned so much about Chinese Traditions and traditional medicine and flower teas! Who knew heartbreak could come in so many forms and have so many effects on your body! I enjoyed the connection between Vin and Chryssy and how it grew throughout the book. They had good chemistry and I loved how supportive Vin was of his brother on his healing journey and Chryssey figuring out her business and family curse problems.

I really loved the narration! Eunice Wong and Erik Yang were perfect and I love dual narration! I also appreciate keeping the voices authentic to their race.

There is a belief in the Hua family that the women are cursed to never find love. Chryssy was never one to believe in the curse until her very last break up. The one she thought was "the one". Now, she's decided to work with her Aunties in their traditional Chinese medicine shop which focuses on healing broken hearts. Chryssy's world is thrown into a tailspin when she meets renowned cellist Vin and his brother, professionally known as The Heartbreakers.

Both Chryssy and Vin see each other as the perfect opportunity. Vin has a new album and tour to promote so if the public sees him date someone and then live up to the Heartbreaker moniker, it seems to always be a recipe for success. Chryssy is looking to grow her family's business and what better way to do it then by dating someone famous. They agree it'll only be for a short amount of time, but what happens when they really start falling for one another?

I don't know why I've been sitting on this review for so long. Yin Yang Love Song is one of my favorite reads of the year so far.

I thought the narration was done really well here. I love when we get dual narration and dual perspectives. I do wish, like in other recent audiobooks I've listened to, that Vin's narrator spoke all of his parts and Chryssy's narrator spoke all of her parts even when we're at a chapter not told from their perspective. Regardless, each narrator did wonderful bringing these characters to life.

For me this story is two-fold. It speaks a lot to letting outside forces dictate how you live your life (ie a family curse or a record label) and then there's this idea of self-care. They both are intrinsically linked because if we cannot live our lives the way we want are we really taking care of our selves? But in the story they're handled almost separately as Chryssy deals with the outside forces seemingly keeping her from finding love, and Vin is bordering on burn out with the schedule he keeps and finds himself questioning his love of music.

I like how Chryssy and Vin help the other with each of these issues. Vin shows Chryssy that she doesn't need to put so much stock into this supposed curse and in turn she shows Vin that he needs to stop and take better care of himself, not just for his health, but for the health of his music.

I loved seeing Chryssy and Vin together how they slowly let their guards down when they're together. I guess when you start out thinking something has no stakes involved it allows you to be more open. I also love when we get family in a story especially the typically eccentric Aunties. The older generation passing along knowledge (or fear of curses) to the younger generation.

I think this book is about trying to live without expectation. Don't try to emulate what you see in others and instead just live for yourself. I also loved learning more about Traditional Chinese Medicine especially the use of different flowers and their properties.

Also, I think this book slightly nudged the also great Red String Theory out of being my favorite by Lauren Kung Jessen. Either way Lauren Kung Jessen has become an author I anticipate with each new release.

Have you ever had a book find you at the perfect time? Yin Yang Love Song did that for me. This traveling ARC arrived to my door at a moment where I truly needed to hear the message behind this story. Full disclosure, I’ve had some scary physical health symptoms arise due to stress, so when I say I needed this book, I truly did. Yes this is a beautiful love story, but at its heart it has a message about slowing down, taking care of yourself and giving yourself the time and space to heal, and about being okay with life going in unexpected directions. Lauren Kung Jessen has an incredibly beautiful way of writing and this story spoke to me on so many levels. I always love traveling ARCs and seeing what my friends reacted to and what resonated with others, and this book has so many magical nuggets of wisdom swoon worthy moments for us to annotate. I can’t say enough good things about this one.

This is a book that will stick with me for a while and I actually did a reread via audio less than 3 months after my initial read. Eunice Wong & Eric Yang did a phenomenal job bringing this special story to life through their narration. I loved it just as much listening as I did reading a physical copy.

Really loved to listen to this book as an audiobook. It was just perfect. The romance, the characters, the plot... Well, I enjoyed everything with this book. Definitely 5⭐

Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen was really cute!! If you love family curse, fake dating, friends to lovers, dual POV, bad boy musician, and a Chinese medicine chef then you will love this book!!

Lauren did a great job with this book. The story line and plot were done so well. The main and side characters were written so well, they were fun and added to the story making it even more enjoyable. I love when I get to learn about a culture and their traditions. It was amazing to learn about Chinese culture, traditions and traditional Chinese Medicine. Chryssy and Vin meet at a party over a plug. Chryssy is a Chinese medicine chef and Vin is a musician. They make the decision to fake date after a picture of them taken at the party goes viral on the internet. The audiobook was done so well with Eunice Wong as Chyrssy and Eric Yang as Vin. They did these characters justice and brought these characters to life. Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for letting me listen to this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Audiobook review: I loved the narrators for both Chrissy and Vin! Pacing, voicing, and clarity were all excellent.

LOVED:
- The Hua women all named after flowers :)
- The Aunties
- Traditional Chinese Medicine!
- Learning how to break generational "curses"

LIKED:
- Getting into the head of a child prodigy as an adult
- Pet bunny (I wouldʻve loved more of her though)
- Chrissy and Vin supporting each other through their anxieties

MEH:
- A big disconnect with these characters. For some reason, I never fully grasped their personalities.
- The chemistry felt forced from the start

This is an adorable twist on the fake relationship trope. As Vin and Chrissy navigate the good, bad, and ugly of the hand of life each other has been dealt. They navigate together and find what they are looking for in life and love.

I read Lauren Kung Jessen’s The Red String Theory last year and absolutely loved it so I was very excited for this new book, Yin Yang Love Song.

This one was also another great romance and it gave me similar romance vibes to Julie Soto and Jaycee Lee’s writing. Featuring an MFC that has given up on love due to what she believes is a family curse, she now focusses on her Chinese herbalist skills and her family run heartbreak recuperation business… until an unexpected run-in with a celebrity cellist makes her start believing and hoping for something to break the curse and allow her to finally have her happily ever after!

I listened to the audiobook narration by dual narrators, Eunice Wong; Eric Yang and absolutely loved this pairing. Eunice and Eric complemented each other perfectly and provided the perfect voicing in characterization for both their characters, Chryssy, and Vin. The flow between the chapters narrations went smoothly, and each narrator provided great voicing and characterization to the associated side characters.

Chryssy is a Chinese herbalist that never believed the family curse, but when she and her female family members keep racking up heartbreak after heartbreak, she starts to consider the possibility. As an herbalist at a healing retreat with her aunties, Chryssy sees all of the heartbreak and help them with her special tea blends. After a run in with the notorious heartbreaker cellist, Vin, rumors start to circulate that there might be more to their meet cute.

Vin has a bad boy reputation that practically sells all the concert tickets. After he and Chryssy make headlines, Vin offers her a deal that she cannot refuse. They fake date up until his tour & break up (for the ticket sales) and in return he promotes her business. Win-win, right? All it takes is one ‘staged’ kiss and a mess of unexpected chemistry to leave them in quite the predicament.

This novel was so cute and the audio was great! It was very intriguing reading about how TCM is used and even more so in the authors’ note.

Some of the flower & music references were a little too on the nose for me, but I really enjoyed the plot, relationship, and tension!

It was OK. I didn't love it and was ready to get through it. The premise of the story sounded promising but I got bored. I found it was kind of repetitive and I was having trouble keeping everything straight with all the flower names. I enjoyed the alternative medicine methods as well as the tea stuff and the music references but overall it just didn't do it for me.

Fun little fake dating to lovers! I appreciated the diverse cast of characters and fun flower references! Quick & glorious listen. Also loved the dual narrators - incredibly emotive.

This book didn't do for me what I was hoping it would do. I was looking for Practical Magic vibes, and definitely didn't get them. The set-up suggests some modern fantasy or at least a little magical realism, but really all the curse seems to be is a family of women who tank their relationships and blame it on a curse. Her mom leaves her dad crying, and blames it on the curse. She completely changes her entire life goals and drops out of med school, and then blames her break up on the curse. You completely changed as a person, why would the med school fiancé stay with you when you are not the person he dated? And then the 35 year anniversary weekend nonsense... don't get me started. This whole book felt like it was written by someone who doesn't like relationships and doesn't believe in happily ever afters. It was a drag to read.

A very cute book. A little adventure, family lore, and love of course. Love when the author does her research and translates it into the book. Filled with so much fun! I love listening to this authors audiobooks but the books come off as a little slow. Still a fan of this one though!

Chryssy, a Chinese herbalist, meets Vin, a violinist, when Vin's brother needs to recuperate and does so at her family's retreat. Their close proximity lent itself to the two spending a lot of time together, sparking attraction along the way. When fake dating will give both their careers a boost, they're all for it. Little did they think fake would turn real. This story really pulls you in, especially while listening to narrators Eunice Wong and Eric Yang. The characters talk about generational expectations and the lengths they have to go through to please their families. Asian families typically have ultra high expectations for their children, which is measured by their success. The narrators brought out every nuance and emotion of each character and helped to craft a beautiful story of love and individuality.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

✨ Review ✨ Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen, Narrated by Eunice Wong & Eric Yang

Thanks to Forever, Hachette Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Chryssy, a Chinese herbalist, specializes in healing heartbreak. Vin, one half of the Chao Brothers, a violin/strings/rock duo, brings his heartbroken brother to Chryssey and her aunts for healing. While he's skeptical of what they have to offer, he stays to support his brother, moving into Chryssy's two-room cabin with her. Quickly, they start spending time with each other, and realize they could benefit from a fake dating arrangement. Chryssy and her matrilineal line have been cursed in love -- she’s forced to confront her fears while Vin explores what he really wants from his life and his career.

The book celebrates Traditional Chinese Medicine, tea-making, herbalism, and so many amazing sounding foods. It blends lots of my favorite tropes including forced proximity, fake dating, grumpy sunshine, and more!

The book dragged a little bit for me, moving slower than some of her other books (the middle one in the series I think was my favorite), but overall, I enjoyed the ride!

🎧 I loved the audio - it was the perfect amount of immersive character development and great narration.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: contemporary f/m romance
Setting: rural Washington state
Length: 11 hours 3 minutes
Pub Date: Jan 28 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ holistic healing from heartbreak
⭕️ learning from about Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbalism
⭕️ fake dating romances
⭕️ classical + rock music mashup

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Lauren Kung Jesson for providing me with this copy.


Lauren Kung Jessen’s Yin Yang Love Song is a heartwarming and emotional exploration of love, identity, and self-discovery. Set against a backdrop of cultural expectations, personal growth, and familial obligations, the novel intricately weaves the lives of its characters together as they navigate the complexities of relationships and finding themselves along the way.

The story primarily follows Leo, Vin, and Chryssy. Leo and Vin are two characters who are bound by the weight of their reputations, constantly trying to uphold an image that doesn’t necessarily reflect who they truly are. Their internal conflict of living up to expectations versus following their authentic selves is poignant and relatable, making them incredibly sympathetic characters.

Chryssy, on the other hand, is the epitome of selflessness. She consistently puts the needs of others before her own, making her one of the most likeable characters in the novel. Her kindness, however, isn’t without its own complications, and her journey of finding balance between caring for others and caring for herself is a central theme that resonates deeply throughout the book.

The dynamic between the Chaobreakers and the Hua family adds another layer of richness to the narrative. Both families are at odds initially, but as the story progresses, they begin to help one another navigate their challenges. This interplay of cooperation and mutual support forms the foundation for the novel’s underlying message about the power of love, community, and understanding.

Jessen masterfully captures the idea that love is not always smooth sailing—it’s often messy, complicated, and requires growth. The way the characters learn to trust each other and themselves is both beautiful and inspiring. The novel's charm lies in its ability to depict real love: it’s not perfect, but it’s worth fighting for.

Ultimately, Yin Yang Love Song is a celebration of love in all its forms—romantic, familial, and self-love. The characters' personal growth and their ability to reconcile their identities with the expectations of those around them creates a compelling narrative that will stick with readers long after they finish the book.

If you’re looking for a sweet, emotionally driven love story that touches on themes of growth, identity, and overcoming obstacles, Yin Yang Love Song is a must-read. Lauren Kung Jessen has crafted a beautifully heartfelt story that will leave you believing that, with the right support and understanding, love really can find a way.

Overall, I would give this book 3.5 stars, will round up for this one due to the nostalgia. There were certain parts of the book that I really enjoyed, character introspections, relationship conflicts, traditional Chinese medicine, and other parts that I really didn’t care for, fake dating and the family curse. While I liked Chryssy and Vin, I had a hard time really connecting with their characters. I liked Chryssy as a character, her change from med school to TMC, her work ethic, and her compassion for others. One part that I really enjoyed was how Vin and Leo had to hit pause on their lives and really slow down to take inventory of their lives, to reassess, and decide how they want to move forward. Sometimes we get so lost in our dreams/goals that we lose sight of the bigger picture. The whole family curse was essentially a big self-fulfilling prophecy, whether it was for the lack of trying or just having something to blame for a failed relationship. I enjoyed the holistic approach to mend heart break, among other things like Vin's wrist. Certain things reminded me of how I grew up and the things that my parents told me growing up, so it was pretty nostalgic at times.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced audiobook!

Format: audiobook - Eunice Wong and Eric Yang did an excellent job.

The narrators did a great job at bringing this unique, cultural story to life! I was full invested in each character through their voices. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style as poetic with musical and nature metaphors and references throughout. The focus on heartbreak as a symptom that affects the entire body and the immersion into herbal medicine and healing practices was interesting and unique.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

A fake dating trope with a dash of magic, that weaves in Chinese traditions.

This was truly a fun book. Two non believers in love come together with a spark that ignites a plan for helping them both out of a funk.

A beautiful reminder that magic is all around us. Additionally a great play to remember to not be afraid to question family beliefs in a respectful way.

The Audio was nicely done Eunice Wong is a star. It took mw a while to align with Eric Yangs vocals with the character, but by the end it was good.