Lunar Love

POV: 1st person
keywords/phrases: Chinese zodiac, family, friendship, identity
tropes: happy ending, rivals to lovers, given up on love, the misunderstanding
spice: 0🔥
language: 0🤬

read this if… you like romances with unexpected depth, a rival-to friends dynamic, and interesting themes.

the good

• the focus on Chinese culture, traditionalism versus modernism
• the focus on mixed race and cultural identity
• family dynamics
• mouth-watering food descriptions (recipes included!)

the bad

• slow start
• conflict felt a little contrived at times

I love books that delve into culture, and Lunar Love does exactly that, centered on the Chinese tradition of matchmaking. Lunar Love has been in business for decades, using the Chinese zodiac to match people based on their animal signs’ compatibility. Olivia has just taken the helm of the business, which is fading somewhat in the modern world. She’s desperate to revive it, wanting to hold fast to traditional matchmaking ways. But she finds her family legacy threatened, in the form of a new app, ZodiaCupid by her now-rival Bennett, which brings the Chinese zodiac to the digital era in ways she finds distasteful to tradition.

The premise is so interesting, but Olivia… she’s a stubborn person who was, at times, hard to like, even as you felt for her in the mantle of responsibility on her shoulders. Even if she herself put most of it there. There were times when her arrogance and close-mindedness was downright mean, which made it hard to root for her. It seemed as if she often created conflict for no reason other than for conflict’s sake, although later in the book, the reader really starts to know her hidden depths. That makes it much easier to understand why her character was the way it was.

Bennett, on the other hand, was extremely likeable from the moment he’s introduced. He’s intelligent and kind, and not afraid to stand up to Olivia, who seems determined to think the worst of him. He rose above it all in ways that were charming yet fully supportive, and for me, he made the story.

Yes, there was a slow start, what with Olivia’s obstinance, but when it picked up… it was wonderful. The story of Olivia’s growth, the way she blossomed, that was almost more significant than the romantic elements. It was more than finding herself open to love, but the way her perspective changed on many aspects of her life as she opened herself up to not only Bennett but to friends and family, too. And there were some moments toward the end that had me fully in the feels!