For fans of Jenny Han, Jane Austen, and The Great British Bake Off, A TASTE FOR LOVE is a delicious rom com about first love, familial expectations, and making the perfect bao.
A TASTE FOR LOVE
by Jennifer Yen
Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers, February 2021 (voir catalogue)
To her friends, high school senior Liza Yang is nearly perfect. Smart, kind, and pretty, she dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But to her mom, Liza is anything but. Compared to her older sister Jeannie, Liza is stubborn, rebellious, and worst of all, determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang’s traditional values, especially when it comes to dating. The one thing mother and daughter do agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston’s popular Yin & Yang Bakery. With college just around the corner, Liza agrees to help out at the bakery’s annual junior competition to prove to her mom that she’s more than her rebellious tendencies once and for all. But when Liza arrives on the first day of the bake-off, she realizes there’s a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date. The bachelorette situation Liza has found herself in is made even worse when she happens to be grudgingly attracted to one of the contestants; the stoic, impenetrable, annoyingly hot James Wong. As she battles against her feelings for James, and for her mother’s approval, Liza begins to realize there’s no tried and true recipe for love.
Jennifer Yen lives in Houston, Texas with her family. By day, she stays busy with her work as a doctor, splitting her time between academia and private practice, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry. By night, she is a passionate writer dedicated to working on her next book, with hopes of bringing a little magic into the world of each of her readers.
Maggie Bliss is in trouble. A forty-something, bestselling romance author, Maggie needs to finish the last novel of her current trilogy; except she has the worst case of writer’s block of her career. When her agent offers her a chance to get away to his apartment in Paris, complete with his housekeeper, how can she refuse? She can write undisturbed and pampered in the most beautiful and inspiring city in the world, and she can visit her daughter who is studying in France. Even better, on arrival she meets a charming and sexy Frenchman, Max, the housekeeper’s son, who becomes her writing inspiration. But then her ex-husband shows up in Paris to see their daughter as well, and it seems that he might be interested in rekindling a romance with Maggie. As sparks fly with both men, can Maggie finish her book and find her happily-ever-after?
To help steer her friends away from high school drama, Mary Porter-Malcolm creates the Scoundrel Survival Guide. Based on her knowledge of classic literature, Mary is confident that she and her friends will avoid unworthy suitors. But despite her best efforts, Mary finds herself falling for the same bad boy she warned all her friends against. If Mary wants a happy ending for herself, she must admit that true life (and love) is messier than fiction. BY THE BOOK is perfect for readers who enjoy their YA romances sweet, funny, and with a « classic » happy ending.
As birthdays go, this year’s birthday for radio producer Everly Dean hit an all-time low. Worse than the birthday she had a tonsillectomy. Worse than the birthday her loveably reckless parents decided to split up (the first time). But catching your boyfriend cheating on you with his assistant? Yea, even clichés sting. But no matter. This is Everly Dean’s year! The year she doesn’t let her anxiety hold her back. The year she stops being the hot potato in the overblown drama of her parent’s marriage. The year she pitches her podcast idea to her boss. There’s just one problem. Her boss, Chris, is way too cute. He’s also supremely respectful of her, to the point of being distant (which means he hates her, right? Or is that the anxiety talking)? Oh, and Stacey, best friend/ DJ, forgot to mute the mic as Everly ranted about Simon the Snake (syn: see Cheating Ex). Maybe she has three problems. Suddenly, people are lining up to date her, Bachelor-style; fans are voting for their favorite dates (Note to self: never leave house again); and meanwhile, that spark she feels for Chris might be a two-way street. It’s a lot to handle for a woman who considers avoiding people an Olympic sport. She’s going to have to fake it ‘till she makes it to get through all of this. Perhaps she’ll make a list of three (that’s barely a list)… Five (no one likes an odd number)… Ten rules for faking it. Because sometimes making the rules can find you happiness when you least expect it.