Daughter of Chinese immigrants Everett (Ever) Wong is expected to be a doctor, and has even gotten into a pre-med/med program at Northwestern, but what she really wants to do is dance. Her parents screw that up by making yet another sacrifice to send her to a summer program in Tapei, known colloquially as a "love boat." Chinese hyphenate parents send their diasporic kids there to learn about their culture and maybe fall in love with the Right person. One of the first people Ever meets is Rick Woo, the Rightest person there is. She's known about his successes from an immigrant press--he's a spelling bee champ, piano whiz, and now Yale-bound football player. Her nickname for him is Boy Wonder. She also meets a straight up player named Xavier, who is from a wealthy family. Her first love boat friend is Rick's cousin, Sophie, who is also struggling with family expectations.

The story is full of tropes like fake dating, betrayal, and putting on a show. It's a fun enough read, and I appreciate how Ever struggles with repaying her family's sacrifices. She notes, echoing the Chinese last name first formation, "I'm a Wong before I'm Ever." Eventually she determines that her happiness might be as much a reward for her parents as her becoming surgeon general.