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Thursday, June 15, 2023

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen

 

"In my almost eight years of matchmaking, there's one thing I know to be true: love is like the moon. ...Both the moon and love are romantic and enchanting, can be moody and mysterious, possess dark sides, and have gravitational pulls on us that we just can't control. ...As a matchmaker at Lunar Love, my family's Chinese Zodiac matchmaking business, it's my duty to keep clients and their relationships rotating on their axes and revolving in orbit. I make thoughtful and personalized matches based on people's compatible animal sign traits."

Olivia Huang Christenson has just taken over her grandmother's matchmaking business. And she's determined to keep Lunar Love a success. But her job just got harder because Bennett O'Brien is launching ZodiaCupid, a new App that matches users based on their Chinese Zodiac animal signs, which puts his App in direct competition with Lunar Love. Olivia finds Bennett and his approach to matchmaking infuriating; she's also attracted to him. Too bad their Zodiac signs aren't compatible. Because while Bennett believes that opposites can make a good match, Olivia does not. 

My thoughts:  Melody and I chose this book for our buddy read this month because I think we were both in the mood for something light-hearted. And Lunar Love is a cute and clean, if completely predictable, romance. I thought Olivia was a little uptight and inflexible at times, but I liked when she relaxed and let herself enjoy Bennett's company. They were an appealing and fun couple. I also really liked Olivia's interactions with her grandmother. And all the parts concerning the Chinese Zodiac were fascinating. I'm glad I got to read this one with Melody. Be sure to check out her review.

Happy Reading!

My Chinese Zodiac animal: DOG. 
Some personality traits of a person born in the Year of the Dog: honest, friendly, loyal, smart, straightforward, strong sense of responsibility, kind, cautious, doesn't trust easily, stubborn, not good at social activities, outwardly calm, but worried and anxious inside, hard working, understanding, and considerate of others. 
Do I relate to any of these? Yes, I do. In fact, I relate to most of these traits. How about you? Which Chinese Zodiac animal are you? 

36 comments:

  1. It was still a fun read despite it being a bit predictable. I'm very curious of her next book about two star-crossed lovers to be released in January 2024 so hopefully it'd be a good one. Thanks for another great buddy read, Lark! :)

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    1. Her upcoming book does sound good. We might have to put that one on our buddy read list, too. :D

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  2. I am a monkey, and, yes, I do identify with my zodiac sign.

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    1. It's always interesting and a little surprising to see how well you match up sometimes. :D

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  3. I'm a snake, although it seems to be more known as 'water snake' now which is slightly better as I'm not at all keen on them. That said, some of the characteristics are quite 'me'.

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    1. I'm not keen on snakes either, but they've got a lot of good traits when it comes to the Chinese zodiac. :D

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  4. Hi Lark, I was born in the year of the dog too! Certainly the anxious and nervous part fits. Lunar Love sounds like a fun romance. I am thinking I would probably like Olivia's scenes with her grandmother and learning about the Chinese Zodiac the most. But then again if Olivia and Bennett have real chemistry together that's what turns a romance novel into something truly special but that's not easy for a writer to do.

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    1. There's a lot to like about this book. I did find Olivia frustrating at times, but all the Chinese zodiac matchmaking was interesting. It's probably a 3.5/5 star read.

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  5. I'm also year of the dog. Always anxious and nervous and probably too loyal, lol.

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    1. :D I certainly have the anxious part down myself.

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  6. I'm not sure what animal I am. Sometimes it's comforting to read a predictable story. Low key entertainment. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Lark!

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    1. Low key and comfortable are good traits in a book when I'm feeling tired and stressed.

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  7. Glad you enjoyed this one, Lark! I love light reads :)

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    1. And I was needing a light read so this one fit the bill nicely.

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  8. I googled and discovered I was born in the year of the dog. I definitely can relate to most of those traits.

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    1. It's funny how many of us book bloggers seem to have born in the year of the dog. We'll have to add bookish to the list of traits. ;D

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  9. I had to go look: I'm a tiger. I'm not really sure that the qualities that tigers are supposed to have are me... ;-)

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    1. My nephew was born in the year of the tiger, and the list of traits don't seem to fit him either.

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  10. What a fun premise! Too bad Olivia was a bit inflexible but glad you were able to warm up to her as the book went along. I'm pretty sure I'm Year of the Monkey but know nothing about it. Now I definitely need to check it out.

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    1. It's fun to see if any of the personality traits match up with your own.

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  11. Sounds fun! I'm not much for reading romance, but when I do, this is exactly what I want—clean and fun. And I find most romances to be predictable anyway :)

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    1. Most romances are predictable, just some are better written and more entertaining than others.

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  12. This sounds fun! I didn't know my Chinese zodiac sign, so I had to look it up. I'm a tiger, apparently, but I'm pretty much the exact opposite of the description, lol!

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    1. Reese (who commented up above) didn't feel like any of the tiger's traits matched her either. ;D

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  13. Sounds like a fun read! I am a Monkey and do have some of the traits. I'll only own up to the good ones though - haha... Looking forward to reading Melody's review too!

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    1. :D Never admit to the less than awesome!

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  14. After the slate of books I have ahead of me, I'm going to need some lighthearted reads very soon!

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    1. You do have to mix it up when it comes to reading. I know I always need a light 'palate cleanser' kind of book after reading several heavier or darker books in a row.

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  15. This seems like a cute story. I think I'd be fascinated by the parts about the Chinese Zodiac too.

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    1. I loved reading about the Zodiac and the traits and animals she looked to match together.

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  16. I think what I would like most about this book is the information about the Chinese Zodiac, but it does sound like fun overall.

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    1. All the stuff with the Chinese Zodiac was my favorite part of this one. Though I did like the two main characters, too.

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  17. This sounds like so much fun! I just read a book about a Jewish matchmaker, so I'd love to check this one out and see how the approaches compare!

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    1. That would be interesting to see how the two different matchmakers compare!

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  18. This sounds like a fun comfort read! I am under the Dog sign too, and I can definitely relate to pretty much all of those traits.

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    1. It's funny how many of us were born in the Year of the Dog.

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