Page count: 188 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Disclaimer! I got an ARC of this from the author. That has in no way influenced my review.
Cedric Fong is pressured by his family to take part in a bachelor auction to benefit the Fong family's charity work. He's not at all interested in dating, he just needs to find himself a new place to live and actually manage to start writing his second novel, but once his grandmother promises to make him two hundred of her special dumplings, Cedric can no longer refuse.
At the auction, Cedric is surprised when Brian Poon, his brother's former best friend, ends up paying a ridiculous amount of money and wins the bid. He doesn't seem interested in anything but some good company for a Valentine's date, and Cedric and Brian have a good time when out together. Once Brian finds out that Cedric is looking for a place to live, he offers him his spare bedroom, thinking some company might be nice. Besides, while Brian Poon used to have a huge trust fund to draw from, his father got sick of his playboy ways, and cut him off. He's not exactly poor, but some extra income would come in handy.
Once Cedric moves into Brian's spare bedroom, he starts forcing himself to think about his follow-up novel. His first book was a moderate success, but writing another one is proving much harder than Cedric was expecting. Brian seems surprisingly domestic, baking muffins, cookies, and other treats and pretty much making sure Cedric eats a tasty and healthy breakfast every day. It seems rather innocent at first, but as the two men keep living together and learning more about one another, they undeniably grow closer. One complicating factor is that Cedric is very aware that the reason his brother and Brian are no longer friends is that Brian confessed to being in love with him (the brother, now married with a child - not Cedric). Could his changing feelings for Cedric be some sort of rebound thing? Is the former playboy ready for something different, and likely to want to settle down in a committed relationship?
As far as I'm aware, this is Jackie Lau's first m/m romance, while she frequently has bisexual characters in her other stories, all the primary romantic relationships she's written have been heteronormative. This is a cozy romance, without any major drama. Brian takes a while to realise that he's bored of his former party boy playing the field lifestyle and really wants to settle down with someone. Cedric needs reassurance that he's not some sort of replacement for his older brother in Brian's affections. The question of how Cedric is going to get over his writer's block and what exactly he should write his next novel about seems to take up more page time than the actual romantic drama.
Once again, we have a grandmother with a forceful personality stealing every scene she's in. Cedric's grandmother initially distrusts Brian and believes he may have offered Cedric his spare room mainly so he can steal her legendary dumplings. She also keeps pitching far-fetched ideas for Cedric's next book, primarily involving feisty elderly ladies, and possible drug dealing shenanigans.
I liked this, but compared to Lau's recent Cider Bar Sisters books, this didn't connect with me on as many levels. The standard warning about not reading when hungry applies here, as always. Seriously, that woman makes me drool with her descriptions of food.
Judging a book by its cover: Based on the way he looks, and the descriptions of Brian in the book, I'm guessing this slightly pouty male model is supposed to be Brian. He certainly looks nothing like how Cedric is described. Not one of my favourite Lau covers, but I suppose it's not that easy to find stock images of handsome Asian dudes all the time.
Crossposted on Cannonball Read.
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