Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month
Jen’s 2024 Diversify Your Romance Challenge
Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month
In May we take time to celebrate the important role Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have played in our shared history. Here are three books I have enjoyed by AAPI authors.
The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient Series, Book 1) by Helen Hoang, narrated by Carly Robins
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases - a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with as well as way less experience in the dating department than the average 30-year-old. It doesn't help that she has Asperger's and that French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. She decides that she needs lots of practice - with a professional - which is why she hires escort Michael Phan.
The Vietnamese-Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and he agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan - from foreplay to more-than-missionary position... Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses but also to crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges convinces Stella that love is the best kind of logic...
The Comeback by Lily Chu, narrated by Phillipa Soo
Ariadne Hui thrives on routine. So what if everything in her life is planned down to the minute: That’s the way she likes it. If she’s going to make partner in Toronto’s most prestigious law firm, she needs to stay focused at all times.
But when she comes home after yet another soul-sucking day to find an unfamiliar, gorgeous man camped out in her living room, focus is the last thing on her mind. Especially when her roommate explains this is Choi Jihoon, her cousin freshly arrived from Seoul to mend a broken heart. He just needs a few weeks to rest and heal; Ari will barely even know he’s there. (Yeah, right.)
Jihoon is kindness and chaos personified, and it isn’t long before she’s falling, hard. But when one wrong step leads to a world-shaking truth, Ari finds herself thrust onto the world stage: not as the competent, steely lawyer she’s fought so hard to become, but as the mystery woman on the arm of a man the entire world claims to know. Now with her heart, her future, and her sense of self on the line, Ari will have to cut through all the pretty lies to find the truth of her relationship...and discover the Ariadne Hui she’s finally ready to be.
Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen, narrated by Yu-Li Alice Shen, Andrew Grace
In this charming rom-com about two star-crossed lovers, a woman whose life is guided by her belief in the red-string of fate finds her perfect match—but his skepticism about true love puts a knot in their chances.
Just a date . . . or a twist of fate?
When it comes to love and art, Rooney Gao believes in signs. Most of all, she believes in the Chinese legend that everyone is tied to their one true love by the red string of fate. And that belief has inspired her career as an artist, as well as the large art installations she makes with (obviously) red string. That is until artist’s block strikes and Rooney begins to question everything. But then fate leads her to the perfect guy . . .
Jack Liu is perfect. He’s absurdly smart, successful, handsome, and after one enchanting New York night—under icy February skies and fueled by fried dumplings—all signs point to destiny. Only Jack doesn’t believe. And after their magical date, it looks like they might be lost to each other forever . . . until they’re given one more chance to reconnect. But can Rooney convince a reluctant skeptic to take a leap of fate?
What is your favorite romance by an AAPI author?
