Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau

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I have finally picked up Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau! This is her fist traditionally published book and the first in her new series. I read this during the Romance Takeover Readathon - Light v. Dark to cover the prompt celebrity. I also used this for the 2nd board of Summer of Swoon to cover the diverse hero prompt and the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo to cover the food on the cover prompt.

Ryan is an actor and is struggling with the performance as his first main male lead romcom. It's not doing too well with critics and he's nervous the implications it could have for Asian male leads moving forward. Since he mother passed away a few months ago, he's taking a small break to be there more for his family (his sister is about to give birth). He runs into Lindsay, the co-owner of a local donut shop. He thinks about how pretty she is but doesn't really have an excuse to see her again until he gets offered a role in a celebrity edition of failed baking competition show. He doesn't want to suck too horribly and decides to approach Lindsay for baking lessons.

Oh my gosh, for her first traditionally published book, Jackie really pulled out all the stops. It has the same coziness I expect from this type of traditionally published romcom, but we get the Jackie Lau twist! I feel like we get the tension a little tighter and we went full bore earlier than usual. On top of the fact that we always get good foodie things in her books, but it's even magnified because Lindsay is a baker. I absolutely loved the relationship between Ryan and Lindsay, especially once they started the private lessons. It just felt so natural how they felt more and more comfortable with each other and it slowly progressed from just baking partners to more. They really swept me away and I loved seeing them fall in love and really come to terms with what their relationship would be.

There is a lot of discussion in here as well about Asian representation in particular to Hollywood and film/TV medias. I thought it was really well discussed and covered. The way that Jackie writes never seems preachy to me and is just something that her characters have to come to terms with. There is also a lot of discussion about grief with both Ryan and Lindsay having lost a parent. Ryan's mother passed several months ago while Lindsay's father passed 7-ish years ago. I thought the way that they connected and were able to really open up about their grief with each other was so special. That is something that really can make or break a book for me when it deals with grief, but I think Jackie handles various types of issues so well. I also love how real her characters feel and nothing seems overlay dramatized in their reactions or dialogue. I can see her characters in my mind and can picture hanging out with them. Now, the only detraction I really had was the focus on Ryan's friend. I understand that he is showing a different perspective and pov as an Asian that's Bisexual, but I wish that we didn't get too much into what was going on with him. He's in town to do a comedy show and we get a very long monologue. While it's important to discuss those things, it felt a little off since it was taking away the focus on Lindsay and Ryan. I just wish that it more summarized that part of his monologue and fleshed out more of the jokes he made about Ryan. And since I picked this up so late after release, I already know that he's going to be the MMC in the follow-up, The Stand-Up Groomsman.

Overall this was such a great foray for Jackie and I adored this book so much. I really found myself able to connect to both Lindsay and Ryan and cannot wait for more. If you haven't picked up Jackie Lau yet, please, please do. She's one of my favorite contemporary authors and I cannot wait for whatever books she decides to write next. The only thing I have to warn you about, don't go into her books hungry otherwise you'll find yourself really wanting to snack and read!

Have you read Donut Fall in Love?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Donut Fall in Love, Jackie Lau, 4.5 stars, Paperback, 0 days, 358 pages, published in 2021, traditionally published