From the renowned, award-winning author Zen Cho comes a delightfully funny romance about family, class, and love in modern London.
From the outside, Renee Goh’s life looks perfect. She’s thirty and beautiful, runs a glamorous—and profitable—women’s clothing company in London, and is dating a hot Taiwanese pop star. But Renee is lonely. Estranged from her family in Singapore, she practically lives at the office, and now she’s just been dumped by her supposed boyfriend. Who she never saw anyway, so why is she ruining her Instagram-ready makeup by crying?
Before she can curl up on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Renee’s father calls. He’s retiring, and, thanks to the screw-ups of her wastrel brothers, he is considering her as the next CEO of the family business: Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia. That stamp of her father’s approval would mean everything to Renee, but can she cooperate with the brothers who drove her out of Singapore?
But fate isn’t done with her. That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university. They spend a wonderful night together, but Ket Siong is pursuing a dangerous vengeance for his family. In the light of day is there any hope for the two of them?
Zen Cho was born and raised in Malaysia and now lives in Birmingham. She was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer for her short fiction and won the Crawford Award. Her debut novel, Sorcerer to the Crown, won the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Newcomer. She is also the author of The True Queen, Black Water Sister and Spirits Abroad.
My thoughts: I was really excited to read this, Zen Cho is an excellent writer and this is her first rom com and first non-fantasy book.
It’s a really fun read, Renee is a fantastic protagonist, for all her material comforts, the luxury apartment, the wealthy background, the fashion brand she owns, she’s just like every other thirty-something trying to have it all – and love is the elusive thing.
She’s also got a very strained relationship with her family, back in Singapore. And despite her father’s new scheme to pit his children against each other to see who he should put in charge of his company, that isn’t going to change – and it’s a pretty crappy thing to do anyway.
Renee is juggling her business, Virtu, and now she’s trying to get along with her older brother (who’s a bit of a prat), her ex-boyfriend (a total piece of work) is back in her life because of the business deal she’s attempting to put together for her dad, her best friend’s busy with her own life so she doesn’t have a consistent shoulder to lean on.
Then she runs into the one that got away. And everything gets turned upside down.
Ket Siong pretty much vanished on Renee when they were students, and now they’re both in London, and maybe it’s time to see where this might go. Unless they choose to be just friends….
Funny, smart and with some sharp edges in amongst the rom com froth, this is a lot of fun to read. I recommend getting snacks as they go out to eat a lot, and Renee never seems to actually manage to eat any of the delicious dishes she orders.
I need a sequel, I need more of this witty, intelligent writing. Loved it!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 