A Match Made For Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau

[Artemis Gordon]

B+

A Match Made for Thanksgiving

by Jackie Lau
October 8, 2019 · Jackie Lau Books
Contemporary RomanceNovellaRomance

Thanksgiving is a bit shorted in the romance world. I suppose this is because some people think that fighting with your family, consuming your body weight in pie, and entering a food coma are not romantic activities. To them I say…what kind of pie are we talking about here? After all, one of the most romantic lines in all of literary history refers to Thanksgiving – I refer of course to Rose saying “He ate my turkey and he didn’t get sick!” In The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler.

A Match Made For Thanksgiving offers a multi-cultural, funny and sexy Thanksgiving romance set in Canada. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October. The USA’s Thanksgiving is in November, and there are a few other differences, but eating an enormous dinner with family members is a practice common to both countries.

Lily Tseng has always been “the responsible one” in her family, but when a boyfriend breaks up with her because he thinks that she is “boring,” she decides to step out of her comfort zone and have a one-night stand. Luckily she meets Nick Wong, a well-to-do playboy who specializes in one-night stands. The sex is so amazing that both Lily and Nick keep thinking about each other.

Things become complicated when Nick shows up to his family’s house for Thanksgiving post-one-night-stand only to discover that his mother and grandparents have set Nick and his siblings up with dates – and Lily is Nick’s brother’s date.

I’d like to begin this review with an apology to Canada. I had NO IDEA about Butter Tarts and Nanaimo Bars. Canada, I salute you.

I had so much fun with this story. I enjoyed the multi-cultural elements that blended with the fun family traditions. A lot of families have some specialThanksgiving food and in this story we get “Ah Yeh’s noodles” (a childhood favorite of Nick’s that his grandfather makes), char siu (Nick’s contribution from Toronto) and, in Lily’s family, a beloved tradition of KFC and store-bought apple pie. These details made the families seem real and grounded and fun.

I also loved that, while the Chinese relatives were excited about match-making, Nick’s mom, a White woman who loves romance novels, was equally invested and had the relatives trying to find dates based on romance novel tropes like “second-chance romance” and “runaway bride” and “opposites attract,” which leads to the Thanksgiving dates being hilarious mis-matches.

I’m happy to say that the whole “she’s dating my brother” thing lasts for about an hour (of plot time, not reading time) with Greg being a good sport about the confusion. The story is quite short but gives us quite a bit of hot sexytimes, character development, food, and hilarity. It’s not especially deep and there is zero angst although there are fond memories of deceased relatives. The communication is decent and every one is reasonably mature.

Overall, this is just a really fun book, one in a series of novellas about holiday romances. It stuck in my head because it respected culture without relying on stereotypes and because I felt at home with these families. I hope you all have a lovely holiday and that your favorite food is included, whether it be a loved one’s recipe or something from a store. I guess I have to try making those Nanaimo bars now!

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