Can’t Wait Wednesday – A PHO LOVE STORY by Loan Le
/17 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is A PHO LOVE STORY by Loan Le. With the restaurant rivalry, this story just sounds like it has the potential to be hilarious.
A PHO LOVE STORY by Loan Le
Publication Date: February 9, 2021 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
From Goodreads:
When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.
If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.
If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.
For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.
But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.
Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday – Who Influences Me? 10 Books I Read Because of Blogger Recommendations
/40 Comments/by Suzanne
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Books I Read Because Someone Recommended Them to Me (tell us who recommended them, if you want!). I think posts like this are a lot of fun. I love to look back through the books I’ve read and see which great reads I probably wouldn’t have read at all if not for the recommendations of bloggers. I also love posts like this because it shows that any of us can be influencers, regardless of whether we are small bloggers, big bloggers, or somewhere in between bloggers. When the right review makes it to the right reader, magic happens. 🙂 I’m also quite sure I could have easily done a Top 50 list here too because all of you have influenced my reading since I started blogging. The 10 I picked today are just the first 10 that popped into my head.
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10 Books I Read Because a Blogger Recommended Them to Me
- SADIE by Courtney Summers (recommended by Verushka @ Editing Everything)
- HOLLOW KINGDOM by Kira Jane Buxton (recommended by Tammy @ Books, Bones, & Buffy)
- FIRST AND THEN by Emma Mills (recommended by Sam @ We Live and Breathe Books)
- IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware (recommended by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer)
- THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves (recommended by Tanya @ Girl Plus Books)
- THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET by Becky Chambers (recommended by Greg @ Book Haven)
- RED WINTER by Annette Marie (recommended by Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
- SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys (recommended by Sophie @ Beware of the Reader)
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QUESTION: HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE?
Review: THE LOST LOVE SONG
/14 Comments/by SuzannePublished by Ballantine Books on October 13, 2020
Genres: Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Minnie Darke’s new novel The Lost Love Song is one of the most unique love stories I’ve read in a long time. Rather than a character, the star of this story is actually a love song and the powerful yet subtle way it serves as a catalyst to bring people together all around the world. The unnamed love song was composed in a hotel in Singapore by a piano prodigy named Diana Clare, who wrote it for her fiancé, Arie Johnson. Diana desperately wanted Arie to feel all the love for him that she had in her heart, and while she was never very good with words, her exquisite music has always perfectly conveyed what she’s feeling.
When Diana returns home from her concert tour, she plans to share her song with Arie and tell him that she’s finally ready to get married. When she checks out of her hotel, however, she accidentally leaves the notebook behind. When tragedy strikes soon after, it appears that the beautiful song is lost. Or is it? When the notebook finds its way into the hands of another musician, he falls in love with the song as soon as he plays it and thus begins the song’s journey as it captivates everyone who hears it.
We get to see the song work its magic on several couples throughout the story and I really loved how the song felt like it was actually a character in the story with the way it spoke to people and brought them together. That was probably my favorite thing about the story honestly. I was also quite captivated by Arie and Diana’s story, which is both romantic and tragic, and by Arie’s connection to a young woman named Evie who is staying in the apartment next to his. This was a double-edged sword for me though because although I loved that I was so drawn to these three characters, I didn’t find any other characters nearly as compelling. This made for a slightly uneven read as I found myself skimming through their parts so that I could get back to Arie, Diana, and Evie where I would then devour their chapters.
Even with that issue though, I still really enjoyed The Lost Love Song overall. It’s a beautiful story that is full of grief and heartache, but also with love, hope, and second chances. If you’re a romantic at heart, I think you’ll love this one.
About Minnie Darke
Minnie Darke is the author of the bestselling novel Star-crossed, winner of the Margaret Scott People’s Choice Award, and which has now been published in over 30 countries. Her new novel, The Lost Love Song, is out now! She lives in Tasmania with her family.