Book Review: Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Genre:  YA, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT
Release Date: May 16, 2023  
Description:

"Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians in this heartfelt, joyful paperback original rom-com that follows an aspiring chef who discovers the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer.

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?"

A solid YA romance with great incorporation of Chinese culture, specifically surrounding mooncakes and the Mid-Autumn festival. There's a lot to be entertained by, from the mooncake plot strung throughout the story, to the rich people's wedding drama. For the most part, it's filled with likable characters and many cheesy speeches.

Dylan Tang, a teenage boy with a passion and ambition for cooking, lives with his aunt and cousins and runs a small takeout restaurant with them. He's a pretty rational character, given how he's a teen thrown into pretty unexpected situations. With all the drama going on, he's surviving pretty well. Despite all of this, his determination to create his family's mooncake recipe for the competition is admirable. I enjoyed the competition (and the process/history of mooncakes)for the most part, except for the cheesy speeches. It wasn't bad, just not for me. 

Honestly, I found the wedding part of the story to be the most interesting. It really gives Crazy Rich Asian vibes, a statement that even gets acknowledged in the book. We're just experiencing this new atmosphere through Dylan, and honestly, I'm here for it. Who doesn't want front-row seats to the drama that might end up in the newspaper? 

The story itself was decently solid. It wasn't mind-blowing, by any means, but rather adorable, light, and heartwarming. It had great representation and interesting characters, though I found myself not really attached to any of them. The romance of the story started a bit too quickly for my liking, and the obstacles in the romance seemed petty and annoying. Although many of the conflicts in the story were frustrating to witness, I'm glad none of them get dragged on for long. We really don't need any more unnecessary drama.

Overall rating:  3.5/5