"A Taste For Love" by Jennifer Yen

 "The Bachelorette" meets "The Great British Baking Show" in this romantic comedy about food, family, and finding what makes you happy.

Liza Yang has never been good enough for her mother. She's not a model like her beautiful, intelligent older sister, she doesn't want a sensible career like accounting, and she does NOT want to date any of the Asian American boys that her mother is constantly trying to set her up with. 

The one thing Liza has always been passionate about is baking. Liza's mother is the owner of one of the most popular bakeries in the city, and Liza's passion for creating and experimenting with new recipes is one of the few things she has in common with her mother. 

In an attempt prove her skill and passion for baking, Liza agrees to help her mother judge their annual junior baking challenge contest, which her mother's bakery puts on every year as a scholarship opportunity for young bakers.  However, on the first day of the baking challenge, Liza finds herself the star of her own personal bachelorette reality show. Instead of choosing talented, aspiring bakers, her mother has selected 10 Asian American young men that have been pre-approved to date Liza.  If that isn't embarrassing enough, her mother also provided them a detailed bio on Lisa and offered her up as a prize. Not only will the winner receive a scholarship, but this year's winner will also receive six private baking lessons with Liza. 

When Liza realizes what her mother has done, she is beyond embarrassed and her rebellious tendencies urge to her to push back against her mother's ridiculous plan. There's only one problem: James Wong. He's handsome, stoic, gruff and surprisingly kind at times, and Liza finds herself irresistibly drawn to him despite her resolve to not give in to her mother's scheming. 

As Liza battles her growing feelings for James, and fights for her mother's approval, she realizes that just like some of her recipes, life doesn't always go as planned, and the best recipes are often created when you follow your heart. 

This was a super cute romantic story that is perfect for readers who are looking of a light, feel-good read. The descriptions of all the different food that appeared in this book made me want to crawl inside it so I could taste it all for myself!

"10 Blind Dates" by Ashley Elston

  With the Christmas season fast approaching, I tend to find myself looking for reads that will get me in the mood for all the holiday festivities. So this week, I found "10 Blind Dates" by Ashley Elston.

This light, fun holiday story is a YA contemporary romance featuring Sophie, a high school senior who has big plans to spend the holidays with her long time boyfriend Griffin instead of going with her parents to visit her very pregnant older sister. However, when Sophie happens to overhear Griffin telling his friend that he wants a break from their relationship, all her plans come crashing down.

Instead of spending a romantic holiday with her boyfriend, Sophie's only option is to spend the holidays with her Grandparents, her aunts and uncles, her many cousins, and Wes, the high school senior who lives next door and was Sophie's childhood friend.

In order to pull Sophie out of her depression, her Nonna decides that the family is going to set Sophie up on a series of blind dates to help her get her dating mojo back and lift her spirits. What ensues is a series of hilarious, endearing, and embarrassing dates that have Sophie questioning what she really wants from life and who she is without Griffin.

This book was exactly what I needed. I couldn't help but be embarrassed for Sophie at some points in the book as her crazy family set her up on these wild blind dates and then proceeded to place bets on the success of the dates and cross some personal boundaries with their overzealous interest in her love life.

I found Sophie's modesty and awkwardness to be endearing and refreshing. I will admit I smacked my forehead a couple of times when Sophie first overheard Griffin's confession to his friend. I found her reaction to be very immature and I wanted her to confront him instead of running. But I have to admit, she is still a young character and the reaction did fit her personality at that point in the story.

I loved all the different blind dates that were arranged for Sophie. Each date was different and unique with very interesting male characters, some of which could have stood on their own. There were at least two guys I would love to have their own stories. I think my favorite date was the "Underground Christmas" date. So fun!

However, my absolute favorite part of this story was Sophie's family. There was a genuine feel to this family that made me gravitate to these scenes. The love and closeness of the family was obvious, but just as no family is perfect, neither is Sophie's. They all have their problems and disagreements and even family members that you just flat out don't like, but that is what made them real to me. I would love to spend Christmas with Sophie's big, loud, crazy family sometime.

The romance in the book was light, but I was fully satisfied with the way the story ended and how the romance played out. It was young and sweet and full of promise. 

So if you are looking for a lighthearted fast paced holiday read, then go pick up "10 Blind Dates" right now.