Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother.
So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it.
With her late father’s copy of The Five Love Languages and all his annotated notes, Catie becomes the perfect dating coach. Or so she thinks. As she gets dangerously close to Toby and to finding out what really happened to her biological mom, she realizes that learning the language of love might be tougher than she thought.
Stefany Valentine’s debut novel is both a fresh, fun romance as well as a profound, luminous story about grief, family, transracial adoption, and what it means to truly follow your heart.
After reading a dark dystopian and a horror, this story is exactly what I needed in my life.
This light, sweet ya romance was much more than just a romance. We followed Catie as she went on a journey to find out more about her true self. With Caitie looking for her biological family, learning a language to connect with her culture, working at the salon and teaching Toby about the 5 love languages so he can ask his crush out, theres just enough going on throughout the story to keep you continuously hanging on for more. I loved her super supportive family, and I loved the lgbtq+ representation.
If you are looking for a sweet light read with minimal drama and conflict but a plethora of life lessons and cute, slightly awkward moments, this one is for you.
What a beautiful cover!! Those colors are gorgeous.
Pub date is January 14th, 2025.
Is this one on your TBR?
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