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Always a matchmaker, never a match…

When Olivia takes over her grandmother’s matchmaking business, her mission is to help everyone but herself find love. Both running the business and avoiding love become difficult when she learns that a new dating app has loosely borrowed her Pó Po’s traditional Chinese zodiac. What’s worse is L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app, and he’s confident that he can make Olivia fall in love.

This was such a lovely read in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Olivia and Bennett had great chemistry starting from their first interaction, and I rooted for the couple every step of the way. This is a sweet read for those who enjoy romances that focus heavily on the emotional connection between protagonists. I had so much fun learning about Chinese zodiac and other Chinese traditions, and living vicariously through these characters as they enjoy so much delicious food! A major theme that Laurn Kung Jessen includes is how it feels to be mixed race and struggle to affirm one’s identity. I appreciated that this was something for Olivia and Bennett to bond over, both being Chinese American. 

As I am an amateur in this genre, I’m still getting acquainted with what avid romance readers coined “the third-act breakup.” I think that was one of the areas in this book that I found it difficult to believe. There was a huge dependency on Lunar Love’s tradition for only matching compatible signs, but inconsistencies kept cropping up throughout the book so that, when Olivia finally pushed Bennett away, this compatibility conflict didn’t seem very realistic. Most romances I have read thus far seem to fall victim to unrealistic, over-the-top breakups though, so this one was par for the course!

Lunar Love will be a sweet read for anyone who enjoys the opposites-attract trope, themes of family and tradition, and a clean/closed door romance dynamic.