CBR17 Book 14 : "Two Friends in Marriage" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 233 pages

Rating: 3 stars

Disclaimer! This was an ARC sent to me by the author. My opinions are my own. 

During the Covid pandemic, it becomes very obvious to both Evan Mok and his friend Jane Yin how lonely they both are and how much they wish they had someone to share their lives with. They agree that if they are both still single after Jane's thirty-third birthday, they will get married and buy a house together. By the time Jane's birthday has passed, neither of them is in a romantic relationship, and both have pretty much given up on finding long-term happiness with anyone. So sticking to their pact seems like a good idea.

They pretend that they have been dating for a while, to avoid awkward questions from Evan's family. Jane doesn't really expect any questions from her side of the family. Her mother died of cancer when she was little (by turning thirty-three, Jane has now lived longer than her mother ever did), and once her father remarried, he seemed to entirely lose interest in Jane and her life. He claims he's too busy to make it to the wedding and she doesn't have much of a connection to her stepmother or younger half-siblings. So one of the benefits to Jane in marrying Evan is that she will actually have in-laws who seem to care. 

Once they find a house they like, their quiet life together seems to be going very well. Of course, it wouldn't be a proper marriage of convenience story if the two didn't start catching feelings for one another. Evan is bisexual and Jane is one of the friends he's known the longest. He never felt any attraction towards her before they got married and moved in together, but now he keeps having to fight feelings he's sure his quiet wife can't return. Jane, for her part, is asexual and has been happily celibate for nearly a decade. So she's even more surprised when she starts having pants feelings for her husband. Both are worried that they are going to hurt/upset/freak out their significant other by confessing these feelings - oh noes!

I don't think I've read a single Jackie Lau book that I didn't at least in parts enjoy, but some of her books are absolutely less to my taste than others. This is the third book in the Weddings with the Moks series (only one sibling left to pair up, now) and it's fine, but nothing more. While I like Evan's parents (this is now the third book where they have appeared), I didn't really connect with Evan or Jane, and as a result, I didn't really care what happened to them. There was nothing really drawing me into the story, and if this hadn't been an ARC that I felt a responsibility to finish and review, I possibly would have DNF'd it. 

It probably doesn't help that a couple of weeks before reading this, I read another "marriage pact" romance that worked for me on every single level, and which I had trouble putting down. In a Rush by Kate Canterbary had characters I adored, a great supporting cast, and a storyline that engaged me and kept me wanting to spend more time with them. Evan and Jane are both very aware that they're not very exciting people, and that seems to come across in the writing. Obviously, perfectly ordinary people deserve romance and their happy endings too, I just needed something more from this book to keep me entertained. 

I'm still looking forward to the final book in the series, hopefully Mok brother number 4's romance will be more to my tastes.

CBR16 Book 56: "Three Reasons to Run" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 241 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Free Space

Disclaimer: This was an ARC from the author, it has not affected my review in any way. 

Leo Mok (younger brother of Max, from Four Weddings to Fall in Love) is late for his cousin Carl's wedding because he got a speeding ticket. He's not exactly thrilled to be going, since he's had a crush on the bride since he first saw her at a family gathering two years ago. He's about to leave his car when the bride comes running out of the church and nearly crashes into him. She implores him to help her get out of there, and Leo wouldn't hesitate to help a woman in distress, even if he wasn't infatuated with her. He takes her to buy ice cream and helps her fetch her things from her apartment before anyone comes home. 

Yvonne Siu is a people pleaser and has always tried to be the perfect daughter and later girlfriend. She could never understand why her older sister was always in conflict with her parents and eventually rebelled and cut all contact with them. She's been in a relationship with Carl for five years, and while she hasn't really felt appreciated or satisfied for a long time, she invested a lot of time and effort into the relationship. She even forgives Carl for cheating on her. However, as she is walking up the aisle, she just can't make herself marry him. She flees and is deeply grateful to Leo for helping her escape the awkward scene of her wedding. 

Even if Leo hadn't been present in the parking lot as Yvonne came storming out of the church, she would have had an escape available. Shortly before the ceremony, Yvonne spoke to Leo's mother, who could tell she was having doubts and gave Yvonne her car keys just in case. Once Yvonne clears out her things from the apartment she shares with her now ex-fiancée, Leo's parents offer to let her stay with them at their house until she can find a place of her own. So Yvonne ends up crashing temporarily in Leo's old bedroom. 

While Leo tries to keep his distance, he is completely unable to say no every time Yvonne asks for help, or to hang out, and later, because she's never really had a satisfying sexual experience, to "show her a good time". Leo knows that he shouldn't want his cousin's ex, and Yvonne has a lot of work she needs to do before she's certain she's ready for anything new. Can there ever be anything more between them than friendship and casual sex?

Jackie Lau has written quite a few novels where the couple's HEA (happily ever after) doesn't involve becoming parents. When they reconnect after she runs from her wedding, Yvonne discovers that her sister is heavily pregnant. Once her nephew is born, Yvonne is happy to spend time with the baby, but it also confirms to her that she doesn't actually want children of her own. Running away from her own wedding shakes up Yvonne's life drastically, and she's left with a lot of time to think and reconsider her wants and priorities for her future. It becomes very clear to her that being a mother is not part of that future. 

Her thoughts on motherhood are not the only things that Yvonne needs to consider. Having been a "good girl" her entire life, trying to be the perfect daughter who never caused any trouble, and later the perfect girlfriend and fiancée, it's only after leaving her Carl that she realises how unhappy she was. Seeing her sister, entirely estranged from their parents, so happy with her partner and seeing Leo's parents, many years married, also in a healthy, functioning relationship, she comes to understand how toxic the situation she grew up in was, and how controlling and demanding her father was. Her ex wasn't emotionally abusive, like her dad, but he did take her for granted and never seemed interested in or cared about what Yvonne liked, wanted or needed.

Leo is quiet and rather taciturn and doesn't think he's in any way good enough for Yvonne. He's also so smitten that despite knowing it's a bad idea, he still takes every chance to spend more time with her. He takes care of her favourite plan, he will happily hang out with her, or go for a meal with her, and he ends up going on her honeymoon with her. Agreeing to casual sex so she finally discovers what a satisfying sex life is like? He isn't going to say no to that. He has to come to terms with the fact that while his life might seem quiet and boring next to those of his siblings, he's a kind, helpful and very thoughtful person, and wanting what is best for the person you love isn't a bad quality in a partner.

While I liked this, it wasn't one of my favourite of Lau's books. She doesn't write bad books, but this one felt 'just fine' instead of 'really great' if that makes sense? Your mileage may vary. 

Judging a book by its cover: Maybe not the most exciting of covers, but the wedding bouquet is very pretty and the flowers and the pastel colours give a good indication of the book's content (a wedding will be involved, it's unlikely to be a very angsty read). 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR15 Book 54: "Four Weddings to Fall in Love" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 235 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Max Mok meets Kim Sun at a wedding and is smitten with her from the first. She clearly likes him enough to invite him to her hotel room after the reception, but Max isn't really used to one-night-stands and the encounter doesn't really go very well. Kim is left unsatisfied and Max is mortified. At least they're unlikely to ever have to meet again, to relive the awkwardness.

Except it turns out that Kim and her family are close friends with Max' cousins, three of whom are getting married later in the summer, and Max and Kim will keep being thrown together, by fate and meddling family members. Can Max persuade Kim that he deserves another chance, both in the bedroom and possibly as a longer-term partner?

It's quite refreshing to have a hero who's not super confident and a smooth and charming ladies man who always delivers in the bedroom. I suspect more people have slightly underwhelming first encounters, especially if, like in Max and Kim's situation, they had vastly different expectations to how the night was going to go and neither felt comfortable enough with the other to actually talk about what they wanted and needed. A lot of the things Kim really wants from a lover were things that Max' previous girlfriend didn't like, and Kim didn't actually speak up about the fact that Max left her unsatisfied, but rather rolled over and pretended to be asleep.

Rather than being oblivious, Max is very willing to admit his mistakes and absolutely wants to prove himself to Kim and learn what she wants and needs. Once again, a vulnerable and dedicated hero is refreshing, and the reader really roots for Max to get Kim to forgive him.

Kim wants to settle for one-night stands and casual sex because she was badly burned by previous relationships. Her previous boyfriend had a very nosy, overbearing, and critical mother, and never defended Kim in disagreements. It left Kim feeling abandoned and unappreciated, and since she seems to always end up with men who choose their family over her, she's pretty much decided to stay unattached from now on. She likes Max, but the fact that he has a large family and seems close to his parents makes her worried she's just going to end up repeating her destructive pattern.

Max, on the other hand, broke up with his last girlfriend once he realised that she didn't really love or desire him, he was just a convenient partner she could settle down with. He comes to understand Kim's misgivings, but doesn't really initially have the confidence to believe someone as great as her would ever even consider him as a long-term partner.

Jackie Lau doesn't really do insta-love romances. Her characters have flaws and insecurities and usually have to work with their love interest to find out how their happy ever after is going to look. Even when they don't knock my socks off, they are always good reads. In this one, there is clearly some setup for future novels, but Max' family are fun supporting characters and I am looking forward to seeing which other weddings the Moks will be involved in.

This was an ARC that I received from the author. It has not affected my opinions or swayed me in any way, although I will say that I also pre-ordered the book and paid for a copy with my own money, because Jackie Lau is a worthy auto-buy contender. 

Judging a book by its cover: I'm a member of a Facebook group in which Ms. Lau is also a member. There was a preview of completely different cover art for this book (I think it may have been AI generated). I don't entirely remember what it looked like, but this cover is so much better, and really simple, yet fun. I love the sparkly shoe and the discarded tie. The image is playful. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.