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by Jennifer Chen
Love, family, and food collide in this sparkling Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance.
Julie Wu and Randall Hur used to be best friends. Now they only see each other on Saturdays at the Pasadena Farmers Market where their once close families are long-standing rivals.
When Julie and Randall are paired with ultra-rich London Kim for a community-service school project, they are forced to work together for the first time in years. It quickly becomes obvious that London has a major crush on Julie. But Julie can't stop thinking about Randall. And Randall can't stop thinking about how London is thinking about Julie. Soon, prompted by a little jealousy and years of missing each other, school project meetings turn into pseudo dates at their favorite Taiwanese breakfast shop and then secret kisses at the beach―far from the watchful eyes of their families.
Just as they're finally feeling brave enough to tell their grandmas, the two matriarchs rehash their old fight and Julie and Randall get caught in the middle and Julie's brother finds out they are dating. Their families are heartbroken.
But it's the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious time to resolve disagreements and start anew, and Randall isn't going down without fighting for what―and who―they love. Could the Lunar New Year provide not only a second chance for Randall and Julie, but for their families as well?
"A delectable treat handmade with love." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Lush prose describes both food and romance with a vibrancy that sparkles in this quintessential star-crossed-lovers, rival-family-foodchains rom-com." —Publishers Weekly
"This will appeal to romance fans, especially those looking for more transgender representation in the genre and childhood friends-to-lovers stories, and readers who are interested in Asian culture and food." —School Library Journal
"While those hungry for a new take on the enemies-to-lovers trope will be more than satisfied with Hangry Hearts main courses of witty banter and swoony romance, its heartfelt side dishes of family, identity, community, and forgiveness, will leave readers craving whatever Jennifer Chen serves up next." —Jessica Parra, author of Rubi Ramos's Recipe For Success and The Quince Project
This information about Hangry Hearts was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jennifer Chen is a freelance journalist who has written for Today, New York Times, Oprah Daily, Real Simple, and Self. Jennifer has a MFA and BFA in dramatic writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is a proud volunteer for WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV writer husband, twins, two pugs, and a cat named Gremlin. Artifacts of An Ex is her first novel.
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