Friday, October 20, 2023

Meet Your Matcha by Nanxi Wen [Review]


Meet Your Matcha (Common Threads #7) by Nanxi Wen
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: September 16, 2023

Common Threads
1. Mad About Ewe
2. Give Love a Chai
3. Key Change
4. Not Since Ewe
5. Lost Track
6. Ewe Complete Me
7. Meet Your Matcha - Paperback | Kindle
8. All Mixed Up

Nanxi Wen
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):
“It’s my life to ruin!”

Pippa Fleming is a woman who always has a plan… until she finally secures a coveted promotion and her dream job suddenly feels worse than getting caught under the sun as a redhead with no sunscreen. Exhausted and confused, Pippa seeks an escape by signing up for a reality dating show. Everyone is allowed one identity crisis, right? And where better to recharge than on a beach sipping cocktails with little umbrellas?

As long as she remembers she’s only here to have fun, not lose her heart…

“She was a walking red flag, so far out of my league that I couldn’t even see what league she was in.”

August Weather is laid back and content with his quiet life. But when his sister nominates him for a reality dating show, he sees it as a chance to experience the world outside of his small town. What he didn’t expect was to fall for someone like Pippa. She’s his complete opposite – prickly, vivacious, full of adventure and big dreams… and despises him on sight.

Except, he can’t stop thinking about her and finding out what lies beneath her guarded surface…

When the whirlwind of the show throws them together, Pippa and August discover how wrong first impressions can be. But, can their newfound connection survive the real world? Or will their differences sweep their love match out to sea?
Thoughts on Meet Your Matcha: Pippa is at both a personal and professional crossroads and she somehow gets talked into signing up for a reality show (thanks, Tia) and, well, she doesn't have a lot of expectations. So she goes into it with the (healthy) idea that love rarely hits as quickly and she's likely not going find her one true honey-bunny with cameras pointing in her direction every time she turns around.

No lie, she might not have intended to find love and she might have fought it (HARD), but she feels that zing the first time she lays eyes on August.

On August's end, he also doesn't expect to find love on a reality show. In fact, he'd be happy with nothing more than a few fun stories to tell once all is said and done. Except...that first time he lays eyes on Pippa he feels that zing. While his initial impression of her might have been that she's a high-maintenance lady who wouldn't fit into his small-town life, he starts to figure out that Pippa had layers that she rarely showed anyone.

And then THINGS HAPPEN. Well, eventually. Still, things start happening and the two are very bad about hiding their interest. Mostly because they're both pretending that they're not interested.

A couple of REALLY bad dates, a non-edible charcuterie board (whhhyyyyyy?), more than a few steamy kisses, small town shenanigans, family secrets, a man who loves his life, and a lady who throws herself whole-heartedly into their relationship. *thumbs up*



Excerpt
“What about you? I find it hard to believe you have trouble finding a date. So, what diversion did you need from your life?”

“Dates are easy.” I shrugged. Or rather, as much as being slumped on the floor would let my shoulders move. “Would you believe me if I said I was a hopeless romantic buried under this drunken mess?”

“Is it true?”

The gentleness with which he asked made me almost wish I could tell him the truth: I had spent too much time chasing a career and living a supposedly perfect life that along the way, I got lost. The desire to confess to August was due to tequila. Right?

With the earlier dizziness and churning stomach gone, I became more aware of the absurdity of having a conversation while I lay like a dead body. On the bathroom floor. If only my regular party crew could see how much I’d fallen, literally.

Though, did it matter if August saw me like this? It wasn’t as if I was trying to impress him.

But it wasn’t as if I wasn’t trying to impress him. That made sense.

Sort of?

I sucked in a breath to rein in any foolish confession and straightened my elbows to sit up. “Nah, I’m more of a jaded grump than romantic. My best friend, Tia, encouraged me to sign up. She’s a hopeless romantic who’s living in a world of soul mates and orgasms. I don’t believe in soul mates. However, I do have a lot of free time nowadays. I left my law firm in February and have been traveling around, trying to figure out what to do.”

“Have you found your answers?”

“No. The only thing that I feel sure about is that I haven’t found it—whatever it is. Minus not working, it hasn’t been all that different, hopping from place to place. Unlike you, I have no deep roots. I’ve never belonged anywhere.” I bit my tongue, wishing I could claw back the words. What was it about August that made me spill as if I were chugging truth serums?

“Maybe the answer is me moving to a cabin in the woods and eating pizza all day.” Playing off my previous confession as a joke, I tried to find my way back to safer ground. “I’m open to whatever comes my way. I don’t think I’ll find my happily ever after on a TV show where people signed up for social media followers. But I’ll take a fun summer.”

“Not everyone is here for social media,” August countered. “I don’t have any.”

“Yeah, you’re completely different,” I responded, with full honesty.

“In a good way,” I amended, feeling shy when his eyes lit up with surprise.


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About Nanxi Wen
Nanxi Wen thought she was going to write the greatest historical novel. Turns out, her characters decided that they want to be in the 21st century with modern plumbing, online shopping, and reality TV.

She lives in New England with her husband and two young kids. When she is not despairing over word count, she enjoys reading, snacking, drinking coffee, sitting by the fireplace, hanging out with friends, and daydreaming.

Find Nanxi Wen online
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