Jackie Lau

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pies by Jackie Lau
Contemporary romance. Own voices. Fake relationship troupe.
Emily Hung is living her best life. She’s a published author and part time barista. But now that she’s the last unmarried daughter, her mother has stepped up the matchmaking. Emily has heard from Mark Chan over and over. To finally get her mother to back off, Emily agrees to a date with Mike but it doesn’t go well. A second date by manipulation has them agreeing to fake date to ease the pressure. They find each other more interesting the next time and the relationship goes from fake to possibly friends. Can their mothers be right?

First impressions, maternal pressure, and drunk texting lead both into a relationship that surprises them both. A bit of passion and time spent with extended family builds depth between the two.
Mark let’s silence tell his story so it took time to get to know him. Playing babysitter while Emily is writing is the most adorable chapter.
Entertaining and romantic.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.… (meer)

4.5 Stars

If you like the 'Fake Dating' romance, I think you are going to love this book. It has everything you would expect and then just a touch more. A couple of interesting twists had me powering through this novel even though, at first, I was skeptical. I did not like Emily Hung very much; I thought she was childish and ditzy. But the more I got to know and understand her, the more I liked and rooted for her. I also have to remember that I am older than the cast in this novel, and that may have colored my idea of her...if you know what I mean.

I also learned (and thank you for that) a lot about the writing and publishing industry that I never knew since Emily is an author.

The book's first half is written from Emily's point of view, and I expected the entire novel to be written that way. However, the author surprised me by switching to a back-and-forth point of view with Mark. I liked this very much, knowing what Mark was feeling.

So yes, you get your meet badly, then you need to keep Mom happy, so let's fake-date. Uh oh, I'm falling for this person. Oops, let's think about breaking up, and then tada!!!!

Yeah, it's a perfect light, fun romance novel just right for the summer!

ARC was supplied by the publisher Atria/Emily Bestler Books/Simon & Schuster, the author, and Edelweiss/ATTL.… (meer)

This is the third or fourth book that I've read recently about fake dating - usually because of a meddling mother. I will say that this is the best book that I've read with this basic theme with a nicely written couple, some close calls at the mother finding out the truth and a totally meddling mother who wants to get her final daughter married off.

Emily is the last single daughter in the family who is not married plus she is 33 and her mother decides that it's about time she gets married. Her mother makes sure that Mark is invited to her younger daughter's wedding so that Emily can meet him. Emily is totally unimpressed with Mark despite all of the wonderful things her mom had to say about him. Mark seems to be similarly unimpressed with Emily. When her mother continues to bring up Mark and all of his attributes, Emily finally calls Mark and suggests that they fake a relationship to end her mother's complaints. He very reluctantly agrees and they start to fake date. At first, they don't even see each other but talk about what their mother's will be told. After her mother almost catches her in a lie, Emily and Mark decide to see other as they continue their fake relationship. The more time they spend together, the more Emily realizes how wrong her initial impression of Mark really was. Maybe her mother really did know best.

This was a cute fake dating story. It showed the way that some parents feel a child should be married by a certain age and if not, it's time for a parent to get involved. The big question is whether Emily and Mark will get their 'happily ever after' or keep their original opinions of each other. This is a book about family, parental meddling and love. Emily is a writer so there are a lot of comments about the publishing industry and what's involved in getting a book into print. There are also some laughs along the way to a hopefully HEA.… (meer)