A Taste for Love

Jennifer Yen's debut, A Taste for Love, is the fluffy YA romance you think it is. It reads like a season of The Great British Baking Show with Pride & Prejudice vibes and some complicated Chinese-American inter-generational dynamics.

While I would have liked a little more emphasis on the romantic arc, Liza's passion for baking was just what I needed in the cold, overwhelming landscape of January 2021. James is, as the blurb says, "annoyingly hot." That's one of the best tropes - "I don't want to be attracted to you but I am and I kind of resent you for it."

A Taste for Love is told entirely through Liza's POV and while she definitely makes some Lizzie Bennett-style assumptions, I never found her annoying or immature. (Can you tell I don't show more love P&P?) Liza's relationship with her mother is strained, but not quite for the reasons she thinks. Liza wants to pursue baking after high school, but her parents are pushing her to go to college for something "practical" and to date a nice Asian boy. A big part of Liza's arc is the reclamation of her love for baking and through it, her bond with her mother, who runs a baking contest every year. Her sister also plays a big part in the story and I'd love a follow-up book focusing on her.

Overall, this was a fun read with an unexpected baking-sabotage mystery and a sweet romance.

I regret not having any custard buns nearby, however. show less

*I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really loved this read. It was such a fun read. I loved the bakery as a setting of this read mixed with competition but also a bachalorette elements that just made me smile. I really loved how this book was about the asisan american culture. I thought this book had a nice balance between sweet but also tackling harder topics. This book had so many side characters and so many romances that just made me smile. I really loved how this book also tackled the summer after high school or but also parent expectation vs child wants. I will def read more by this author in the future.

Liza is frustrated with her mother, who spends most of her time complaining about her daughter's imperfections. To ensure Liza's future, she insists that Liza only date Asian boys and tries to fix her up with them as often as possible. She even goes as far as setting up their annual baking contest sponsored by their restaurant/bakery called Yin and Yang with only young Asian men as contestants and then makes Liza a judge and also one of the rewards, offering her up to give baking lessons to the winner. When the contest begins, things don't go as anyone has planned.

A Taste for Love is a light and cute YA romance featuring Asian food and drink at its heart, adding another layer of enjoyment to the story. The protagonists are likable and show more appealing, while making a few mistakes that lead to some over-the-top drama, but for the most part, this is balanced with the other elements included in the plot. One additional character in the story, Sarah, is a white girl that has a tendency toward saying and doing politically incorrect things that Liza is able to point out, showing the audience how easily hurtful ideas can slip into conversation, but also how they can be corrected. Overall, A Taste for Love is a fun little romance with some cultural lessons thrown in for good measure. 3 1/2 stars show less

*I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really loved this read. It was such a fun read. I loved the bakery as a setting of this read mixed with competition but also a bachalorette elements that just made me smile. I really loved how this book was about the asisan american culture. I thought this book had a nice balance between sweet but also tackling harder topics. This book had so many side characters and so many romances that just made me smile. I really loved how this book also tackled the summer after high school or but also parent expectation vs child wants. I will def read more by this author in the future.

A Taste for Love is a 2022 Lone Star novel.

Liza Yang loves to bake. Her mom owns a bakery which lies next to the restaurant her father runs. She calls her mom "tiger mom" at least once in the novel. Her Taiwanese mother holds tight reins on Liza, making Liza sneak around in order to date. Her mother insists she date Taiwanese boys--she has a hierarchy of Asian boys for Liza. Liza hates these boundaries, so she dates secretly. She's currently unattached, as she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. When a confrontation occurs with the cheating boyfriend, a young man comes out of the blue and insists the guy leave. Liza finds this guy super rude. Her best friend is Grace, and they have another friend named Sarah who serves as show more the character in the book who doesn't realize she makes racist comments while still being a good person. She has her own learning curve to follow in the novel.

It's that time of the year. It's mom's baking contest. When all the contestants are chosen and the contest begins, Liza learns that her mom selected boys only. Mrs. Yang expects Liza to date one of them. Problem is--they can't all bake. Will this ruin the competition? Interestingly, the guy she met when breaking up with her boyfriend shows up as a contestant. James supposedly plans on helping Liza so that she doesn't have to worry about him or Ben in this "pick a mother-approved boyfriend" plot. Ben and James are cousins; Grace and Ben fall for each other pretty quickly. They hope James and Liza will become a couple as well. You also meet the other contestants. As the competition unfolds, some strange incidents occur. Also, it turns out, that several characters have pasts that are meant to be secret that affect the competition.

Overall, it's a lovely reading experience. You'll enjoy Liza and the relationships she has with her mother, her sister, Grace, and Sarah. You'll enjoy the interactions between the romantic couples as well. They're cute. If you like baking, you'll find the contest fun as well. If you enjoy nice romance novels (I always think about reading on a rainy day), you'll enjoy this selection. It's not the absolute best in the library, but it is very nice and you'll enjoy it. I did. show less

This book was so funny and heartwarming! It made me laugh out loud so much, and I could relate to the main character as well

Pretty cute