A review by kevinscorner
A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

A Match Made for Thanksgiving is a steamy holiday romance novella by Jackie Lau. Ad exec Nick Wong is living the big city life in Toronto, and drinking, partying, and women. Lily Tseng is looking for a one night stand to prove that she isn’t the boring woman her ex-boyfriend accused her of. They spend one amazing night together, only exchange first names. But when Nick’s meddling parents (and grandparents) decide to invite blind dates for their four unmarried adult children over Thanksgiving, Lily shows up as his brother’s blind date.

This was a short, fluffy, low angst romantic comedy, and I was all for it. Although I did find the prose to be a bit clunky, it just had all the right elements and hit all the right romcom notes for me. It doesn’t break new ground and is very trope-y but just with an Asian diaspora twist. It was genuinely entertaining and funny, the spice was explicit and steamy but also sweet, and the romance was quick but also believable. Nick and Lily really connect as two big city people from a small town, handling their Asian identity in their own ways.

I really appreciated how very Asian this book is. From the descriptions of the delectable Asian food scene in Toronto to the close-knit Asian family dynamic, it truly reflects the mixing and appreciation of immigrant culture. While Nick only slightly touches his issues growing up as visibly Asian (he is half) in a nearly all white small town, it does offer us insight into why he reinvents himself into the sleek ladies man when he moves away. While told from both perspectives, this is very much Nick’s book.

A Match Made for Thanksgiving is a fluffy and steamy romcom novella with an Asian diaspora perspective.
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