307: Lauren Kung Jessen's LUNAR LOVE - February 2026 Book Club
- unabridgedpod
- 22 minutes ago
- 27 min read
Do you believe love is written in the stars, or is it something we shape for ourselves? We’re discussing our February Book Club pick, Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Before we dive in, we start with a quick bookish check-in: Jen shares about What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a speculative literary mystery about art, archives, and the future of the humanities, and Ashley talks about Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a dark, fairy-tale-inspired story that’s already raising big questions.
Then we get into Lunar Love, where we talk about the tension between tradition and modern dating apps, what it means to inherit a family legacy, and whether compatibility should be rigidly focused on matchmaking. There’s a lot to unpack here about identity, growth, and opening yourself up to love—even when it doesn’t look the way you expected.
We also share a couple of pairings, including Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and we close with our latest Unabridged Favorites.
Bookish Check-in
Our February Book Club Pick
Our Pairings
Ashley - Chloe Liese’s Two Wrongs Make a Right (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Our Book Club episode discussing this one: https://www.unabridgedpod.com/post/288-chloe-liese-s-two-wrongs-make-a-right-february-2025-book-club
Unabridged Favorites
Ashley - Tiimo app
Jen - Heated Rivalry
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Full Transcript for Episode
[00:00:35] Ashley: Hi, and welcome to Unabridged. This is episode 307. Today, we're discussing Lauren Kung Jessen's Lunar Love.
[00:00:43] This is our February book Club pick. Before we get started today, we're gonna do our bookish check-in. Jen, what are you reading?
[00:00:50] Jen: So mine is a book that is on the tournament of book shortlist. It is Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know, and I've really enjoyed Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know work in the past. Atonement is one of my favorites, so I was really excited that this appeared on the shortlist. This is his book from 2025. I'm loving it. It is quite different from his other books that I've read.
[00:01:13] So this one has a speculative element. It has two main settings. So one is in 2014, where there is this literary group led by a poet named Francis Blundy, who is a famous poet. He is married to Vivian, who is a scholar and an academic herself, and his brother-in-law and sister. His brother-in-law is also his editor, and several other friends, and there is this sort of legendary dinner that was held in his home in 2014 to celebrate Vivian's birthday, and he had written a corona of sonnets in honor of Vivian's birthday.
[00:01:59] And what that means is that you write a sonnet series that is all on the same topic, and the last line of one sonnet becomes the first line of the next. It's notoriously challenging. So he did this, he read it aloud. There was a single copy, and no one has seen it since. The other setting is in 2119, and this is in the United Kingdom, and there is a man named Tom Metcalf, who is a scholar, who is obsessed with this meeting, with this dinner, and with this poem series, whatever you wanna call it.
[00:02:34] And so basically his entire life. He's teaching his classes. He has a marriage, but really his entire life and being and thought revolve around trying to find this poem that, as far as he knows, no one has read since the night of 2014. There are all kinds of great world-building in the 2119 world, which is the predominant setting
[00:03:00] of the first part of the text. So you do get flashbacks, and you hear the story of what was happening in 2014, but the present of the first half of the book is in 2119. There was some sort of nuclear event that reshaped the geography of much of Europe and of the United States. There are technologies that would be very helpful to him that have disappeared, but there is still some commitment.
[00:03:28] to literature and to the humanities. It is less than the commitment to the sciences and technologies because a lot of people are trying to recapture some things. AI makes an appearance, but there is still some acknowledgement that the humanities are important. And Tom just has this feeling that if he could discover this poem, it could really change things.
[00:03:53] So it's sort of a mystery. You see Tom going to these archives and reading through the journals of the people who were at this dinner. You see him traveling to different locations to try to locate this poem, and then, through it, we also see how he envisions each of these people who attended the dinner.
[00:04:15] His scholarship has become this mix of really, you know, challenging scholarly research. And his imagination and what he thinks people were thinking and what he thinks people were cooking for dinner. Vivian cooked her dinner, he says, and she probably cooked it because she liked to cook it, and his wife, who is also an academic, is like, you can't make that stuff up if you don't know what she made for dinner.
[00:04:39] You can't just say, well, she made this a lot, and that's probably what she made. So there's sort of a debate there. So there's that mystery, and then there's the mystery of what was actually going on? What were these people's lives like? And you see them experiencing some of the things that we know have happened that really changed the world.
[00:04:57] And then of course, things after our current day. So it does go well past 2025, 2026, obviously. So yeah, it's just this really intriguing speculative book that has a lot to do with the place of art and literature in our lives. The characters are deeply flawed. There are affairs, and there are unkindness that shaped the course of what happened.
[00:05:22] Before, during, and after the dinner. And then we see Tom's own sort of cuss. But all of the characters are really fascinating, and I think McEwan has a great touch with creating an empathetic but flawed character. So I'm really loving it. I cannot wait to see how things resolve. So that is Ian McEwan, what we can know.
[00:05:41] Ashley: Oh, oh, I hadn't heard much about what the plot was of that one, and that does sound really interesting. I think this is such a great time for that exploration of what the role of art and literature is and what it looks like in the face of AI, and yeah. That's really interesting.
[00:05:56] Jen: Yeah, I think you would really like it.
[00:05:59] Ashley: That's what one, I haven't read Atonement, so I was jotting that down again to be like, oh, I need to get to that.
[00:06:03] Jen: That's my favorite. I've read a bunch of his books, but that one is the one that, when I think of him, is the key text that I think of. It's beautiful, and it's very short, so, yeah.
[00:06:13] Ashley: Okay. All
[00:06:14] Jen: All right. What are you reading, Ashley?
[00:06:16] Ashley: One of the things I'm reading is Elana K. Arnold's Damsel. We read What Girls Are Made Of.
[00:06:23] For one of our buddy reads, and that actually was the first of Arnold's that I had read, and I found it really powerful, and I appreciated the way she took on issues and the way that she crafted her story.
[00:06:36] And so I knew Jen had read Damsel at some point, and I just saw it on Libby that it was available. And so. I grabbed it. I really haven't read much yet. I didn't know anything about it beforehand. And so this one is very much set like, so right away you are with a prince, and he's trying to hikeup this very difficult to scale wall to get up into this like dragon kingdom. And so What Girls Are Made Of is very much in the real world and very realistic fiction. And this was obviously setting a world-building, fantasy setting right at the beginning. So you have this prince, and it becomes clear right away that.
[00:07:18] In order for him to become king, he must slay a dragon and rescue a damsel. And that is the tradition of the kingdom. So this has happened for long periods of time, and it is a rite of passage essentially. Well, we see him trying to take on the dragon, and we get some insight into what the dragon realm is like.
[00:07:36] And then the next thing we see is he has the damsel, and she doesn't know anything about herself. Initially, she is unconscious, and when she regains consciousness, she cannot remember anything. It's as if she has complete amnesia about it, and she keeps trying to figure out why she can't remember anything about her family or her history or her name.
[00:08:03] And so he calls her Alma, and she's appreciating him because he's taking good care of her in the sense of like he's providing what she needs. But the whole situation is very bizarre, and I imagine there is a pretty dark underbelly of how she wound up in that situation, but that is not yet apparent to the reader.
[00:08:22] So we're learning more about her and the fact that the world is quite complex and that things are perhaps not as they seem is what I'm expecting. So far, there's a bit of this mysterious undertone that I think is really compelling. And there's also. It's calling into question right away why the rituals are the way that they are, and how the damsel gets in there?
[00:08:51] And I assume that there are some shady things that led to her being she's naked, he has to cover her, she doesn't remember anything. I'm assuming thatthere weres some bad things that went down that led to that moment. And so I'm really interested in what comes to pass to explain how all of those circumstances unfold the way that they do.
[00:09:11] Again, that is Elana K. Arnold's Damsel, and I am not very far along, but I am really enjoying it.
[00:09:16] Jen: I cannot wait for you to continue down that narrative path. 'Cause it, that book blew me away. It was my first by Arnold. I was reading it on an airplane when we were flying back from somewhere, a conference maybe, I can't remember. But I remember sitting in the airplane and just having this moment of, oh my goodness, I did not like just this great moment.
[00:09:40] So, yeah, I think you have a fun journey ahead of you.
[00:09:43] Ashley: Nice. I'm excited. And yeah, it's just, I didn't know anything about it, and so it was fun to start it and be like, oh, this is fantasy, and oh, there's a lot ofworld-buildingg. And all of that was really cool because the only other one I've read that what girls are made of is such a powerful read, but it is very serious.
[00:09:57] It was very realistic fiction. And so I just didn't expect this at all. And so, yeah, we talked recently about. Backlist for authors and how some authors can really do a lot of different genres. And so it's been really cool to see her write in such a different genre than the one that I had read.
[00:10:12] Today, we'll be discussing Lauren Kung Jessen's Lunar Love. Before we get started, I am going to read the publisher's synopsis. Always a matchmaker, never a match.
[00:10:22] Olivia Huang Christenson is excited, slash terrified, to be taking over her grandmother's matchmaking business, but when she learns that a new dating app has made her PO's traditional Chinese Zodiac approach all about animal attraction. Her emotions skew more toward furious, outraged, especially when LA's most eligible bachelor, Bennett O'Brie,n is behind the app that could destroy her family's legacy.
[00:10:47] Liv knows better than to fall for any guy, let alone an infuriatingly handsome one who believes that traditions are meant to be broken. As the two businesses go head to head, Bennett and Liv make a deal: they'll find a match for each other, and whoever falls in love loses. But Liv is dealing with someone who's already adapted, stealing business ideas.
[00:11:04] So what's stopping him from stealing her heart, too? Let's talk about overall impressions first. Jen, what was your overall impression of this one?
[00:11:12] Jen: I had some mixed feelings about this one, so I thought that the matchmaking based on the Zodiac itself, that was very interesting. I liked that consideration of tradition and the way that Olivia was navigating taking over this business that her grandmother built. That means so much to her family, centered on the Chinese Zodiac.
[00:11:36] Thought all of that was really beautiful, the development of the romance. I found myself frustrated at times because Olivia perpetrates all of these fictions, all of these lies, and I just get frustrated with those intentional misunderstandings when she is deceiving Bennett because she's trying to find out information about the app.
[00:11:59] I found myself to be really frustrated with her, and I just felt as if she blew everything outta proportion and overreacted so frequently, making really poor decisions that just felt more. Like a manipulation to carry the narrative forward rather than something a real person would do. And so I was frustrated by those parts, by her overreactions to Bennett, who, throughout the text, acted in a very reasonable way, and she just was off the rails at times in a way I did not enjoy.
[00:12:35] So yeah, there were those things I liked. There were, but there were also points where I was quite frustrated. How about you?
[00:12:43] Ashley: I think I really liked the exploration of the tension between. More traditional ways of finding love or creating partnerships, and then. All of the apps in the modern world. I thought that was really interesting. I do agree, Jen, with what you said about Olivia's character specifically. I think I had more, maybe I had more empathy toward her, in the sense that I did believe that not only does she definitely have a sort of black and white approach to things.
[00:13:13] So that factor was very much shaping her ability to bend. She really struggled to bend in a lot of ways, as she had struggled with. Seeing the app as not something that's gonna destroy. And then also seeing the fact that with the compatibility and incompatibility, we really see that she's holding so tightly to this one way of thinking.
[00:13:34] So I think I had some, and then also that she had this really unfortunate past, not only for her own relationship, but also with her friend, where she felt all this guilt and thought that she'd really ruin things for her friend Colette. So I think I felt like there was some backstory to help shape her, which made it a little more convincing.
[00:13:55] However, I absolutely agree that there were parts where I felt that it was amanipulatione of the narrative, just like you said, instead of it necessarily being ingrained as part of her character, it was more about how we couldn't have things resolved yet, even though they seemed resolved. And so there was a piece of that.
[00:14:12] But overall, I think the part that really was interesting to me is connecting the Chinese Zodiac with these other pieces and other ways of making relationships, and like thinking about how we help people find each other in the modern world. That piece, I think, is really interesting.
[00:14:33] Jen: Yeah, I agree with that. I thought that was all very interesting and just seeing, well, I'll talk about this more in a minute, but seeing how what a novel thinker her grandmother was, I thought it was really interesting as well.
[00:14:46] Ashley: Yeah, I think that looking at her grandmother is really interesting and that her grandmother was so complex. And so I think we see that unpacking some in the story in a way that, again, I thought gave us more to work with as far as the backstory, in a way that I really liked, and so that piece I think is interesting.
[00:15:04] What is something that worked for you specifically, Jen?
[00:15:07] Jen: I really liked Olivia's relationship with Poh Poh. Her grandmother. I thought that I, she had such a great understanding of Olivia and of her complexities and knew how much the business meant to her, but also how much pressure she was putting on herself to make it a success and really empathized with the fact that she wasn't giving herself any space to change or build it in a different way than both her aunt and her grandmother had done.
[00:15:43] And so I just thought that was the part where I appreciated Olivia more because I felt like she was able to articulate to these older women in her family what she was thinking and feeling, instead of just reacting in these increasingly complex ways, she could reflect and get to the heart of why she was acting as she was.
[00:16:04] And I just thought her Poh Poh was such a great advisor for her. And such a great mentor. Again, not just in the business, but in her life and the way that she was reflecting on mistakes she had made and perhaps incompatible matches that she had made or been a part of. And thinking through all of that was really interesting.
[00:16:25] So yeah, I really liked that relationship in the book.
[00:16:29] Ashley: Yeah, I loved the, for sure, the, one of the strongest pieces of the book is Poh Poh, as a character, and the dynamic between them. So I absolutely agree that was a strength of the book, and I think. Even all of the things honoring po. Po after she died. I did. I was surprised and also felt that it was a plot point that the grandmother passed so unexpectedly.
[00:16:58] and so I was like, oh gosh, here we are. But also, I thought that opened the door too. I loved seeing Olivia and Bennett learn ways that they didn't know to connect to their ancestors and to participate in these traditions that were new to them. And I think that it complemented what we had already seen with the Zodiac and with using, With using the Chinese Zodiac in order to help people find compatible matches, we get to see this other piece that I thought was really richly explored of connecting with ancestors. And I thought that brought a lot of healing for Bennett, also with his mom. And so all of those things I thought were really sweet and well done enriched what we saw about the role of tradition in our lives and how it can be really meaningful.
[00:17:48] So like, I really liked that part.
[00:17:51] Jen: What was something that worked for you?
[00:17:52] Ashley: I think another thing that really worked for me was the way that Justin weaves in social media and apps and, in general, sort of marketing, like how all of that is such a big part of the world. The way that we now find relationships. And so I think I liked that piece because I thought that while there were times that I did feel exactly the frustration you felt, Jen, in some ways I wanted Bennett to be more flawed.
[00:18:24] I think maybe that was part of it was that he seemed so not flawed at all. So ideal that then I got frustrated with Olivia, whereas the reality is all people are kind of complicated and none of us are perfect and like we are gonna make mistakes and do the wrong thing and be stubborn, even though the answer seems obvious.
[00:18:43] Like I, so there were times where I felt frustrated with that because I thought it was so clear that Zodiac Cupid was not trying to destroy Lunar Love, whereas Olivia was holding onto that. So. There were pieces of that I found frustrating. However, overall, again, I think I loved the relationship probably the best.
[00:19:01] But another thing that I really liked was this idea of how we can honor some of the traditional ways of matchmaking that have been very effective over long periods of time, while also moving into the present day and figuring out how those fit together. And I think that part I found really interesting because I think.
[00:19:20] All of these ways of helping people find relationships are tools, and any of them can help people. And so I think it is interesting to think about what has been around forever and what has worked, and what is brand new, and how those things all fit together. Yes. If people invest in really getting to know someone and thinking about how that person's traits, desires, and goals fit with someone else, no matter what, doing that hard work is going to be fruitful.
[00:19:56] And so I think while Olivia was clinging to. Thinking it has to be really rigid this one way. And so, I mean, a big part of why she's rejecting Bennett, which again, I think was hard maybe for readers to always agree with. But she could not let go of the fact that they were incompatible according to their signs, and she just could not let go of that.
[00:20:14] And I think that we see her rigidity, but at the same time, she has seen this system work very effectively for so many couples that it does make sense that she would feel some tension. And we see that with her sister Nina and their wedding, and how, you know, Olivia is really working on accepting that, accepting the fact that they're incompatible, and then trying to make space for that.
[00:20:38] And so I think we see her working on growing and recognizing those different ways of being. And I think all of that really worked for me.
[00:20:45] Jen: Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was interesting in that way. That her grandmother reflects on the fact that when she lived in China, she had to consider class as well, right? that was a very important part of it, that you couldn't match someone out of their class and then the way she had to when she moved to United States, acknowledge that that was no longer a key part of it, and the way you weigh certain characteristics more heavily depending on your circumstances. I thought that was really good. Fascinating.
[00:21:18] Ashley: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I did think I learned some things about the matchmaking that were really interesting, and I appreciated that piece as well. Well, what was a quote that stood out for you?
[00:21:29] Jen: This one's going to go right along with what I've been talking about, so. This is Poh Poh saying, "It's not easy to keep traditions alive when you're far from family, but over time, traditions and the way they're celebrated are adapted. Isn't it great knowing about it and enjoying it in our own way? She asked.
[00:21:45] I don't know. I say they aren't traditions. Traditions, because they stay the same. Life is not all or nothing, and traditions are better alive in one form or another than non-existent." And I thought that was such a beautiful way because she knew her granddaughter, and she knew that she had to counter what you were talking about earlier, Ashley, that black and white thinking that had resulted from some tragedies and from some traumas. But that really limited the way she could approach her life. I also thought this connected with the fact that both Olivia and Bennett are mixed race, and so they are looking for ways both to understand their traditions, but also to be open to acknowledging both sides of their heritage and to not feeling like people would dismiss them as potential matchmakers because they weren't fully Chinese, that they had this other part of their heritage.
[00:22:36] So that was a nice complexity throughout the text as well.
[00:22:39] Ashley: Yes. I really liked that discussion of what makes you enough, and so I thought that was a way that they really related, but also it was just like richly explored in the story. And I really liked that too. But yeah, for your quote, I really loved how we could see that her grandmother can see the nuances in the way that Olivia cannot yet.
[00:23:02] And I think that was really beautiful because while I felt it was odd that they felt so much pressure to keep the fact that she and her grandfather were incompatible, technically a secret. I thought that both seemed, I don't know, like maybe they didn't have to keep it a secret. And also like if your business is built on this thing that you do believe in, then perhaps there is this really strong pressure to do that.
[00:23:26] And yet also I think that it helped us know that her grandmother could be more flexible with it because she had seen both things be true, whereas Olivia really had not. Been able to recognize that both things could be true, that compatibility could be a great way to help people find good matches, but it does not mean that every single match that is not set up that way is doomed. And I think that was the piece that was really missing for her.
[00:23:53] Jen: Yeah. What's a quote you wanna discuss, Ashley?
[00:23:56] Ashley: I think this really goes along with that same thematic vein, but this is right toward the end, where Olivia thinks. "Maybe there is beauty in opening yourself up to the love you don't expect, and the traits that keep you guessing because compatible or incompatible, we're all just trying to open ourselves up to love and be loved, however that might look."
[00:24:16] And I think very much that is the journey that Olivia's on in the book is she is so preoccupied with wanting the business to be successful with putting other people first, with making sure that she does what she thinks is the quote unquote right thing to do at all times in order to ensure her family's legacy and keep their business successful, that she can't see the nuances that she needs to embrace in order to both open up to her love with Bennett, which she can't help but have, but seems to be, you know, obviously like very much fighting herself over and recognizing that.
[00:24:58] It's worth pursuing. And then also for her clients that she can recognize that she can help them, and that, yet if they find other ways or you know, if there are other avenues that are also working for them, then that's great too. And so I think like, I like that because I felt like that really was very much the journey that she was on in the book, and I think so often.
[00:25:22] It's a relatable journey of you want to do the right thing, but that rigid preoccupation with that. There was like a perfectionist piece of her that I just really related to, and thought was understandable. And again, I think we as the reader feel really frustrated with her, and yet when I think about it.
[00:25:40] What she knows and her worldview, why is she holding onto that? I think there's some evidence there for why that would be and how hard it's for her to let go. But then by doing that, she really has opened herself up to a much happier and richer experience, which I think is great for her. And you know, it helps what is clearly a lovely relationship to continue to blossom.
[00:26:01] Jen: Yeah. Yeah. That acknowledgement that. What works for other people doesn't work for everyone. Or, I thought of that when Bennett is considering gamifying Zodiac Cupid, and she's so appalled because she just sees it as diminishing. Everything that it stands for, and yet he does it anyway because he knows that for some people, that will work and that will help them to have a better experience in the app, and she just can't understand that.
[00:26:30] So I think eventually opening up to seeing that it's okay if it only works sometimes,s I think both of those are working toward that same place.
[00:26:38] Ashley: Yeah, exactly. We are going to share some of our pairings. These are books that, if you enjoyed this one, we think would also work well for you. Jen, what did you choose?
[00:26:49] Jen: So I chose Roselle Lim's, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop, and this is a book that also looks at traditions. This one does have more of a magical component. So there are elements that aren't just, you know, for in this one, the Chinese Zodiac is very much something that is researched and based on her knowledge, and Vanessa Yu does have magic as the title suggests, but in this one, Vanessa is a character who can see people's fortunes by looking in their teacups, and she.
[00:27:26] Very much does not want to be a part of that. It has led her to have some very unfortunate experiences, and so she stops drinking tea, she switches to coffee, but inevitably, the fortunes sort of find their way to her consciousness. And her other problematic part is that she is the oldest, unmarried person.
[00:27:48] Daughter in her family, and so her parents hire a matchmaking expert from Shanghai, which definitely is a connection to this text, and she is very resistant to this. She does not believe in that. She does not want to embrace this matchmaking point of view.
[00:28:05] And in addition, she has accidentally seen her own fortune, and it is promising that she will die in a traffic accident. And so this whole matchmaking possibility. Is so conflicting with this thing that she's seen about herself, even though she tries desperately not to see people's fortunes, that she just is not sure what to do.
[00:28:29] So she has an aunt named Evelyn who offers to take Vanessa on to take her in Paris, and Vanessa will help her to start her tea shop, and then Vanessa eventually gets tied up in some matchmaking of her own, like she becomes a matchmaker as well. So there are all of these. I really liked this book. I liked the way the magic was woven in. I dunno that it's exactly magical realism, but it has that sense of there are a lot of things that are just gritty reality, and yet she's constantly dealing with these fortunes that are intruding on her knowledge, even though she's trying to escape them. And so I thought that of her.
[00:29:08] wrestling with. The way to view the world around her and to, you know, she's constantly trying to escape this, but she's confronted with it over and over. Reminded me just a little bit of Olivia's attempts to understand the world in very defined ways. So both are in some ways trying to control. What they see and what they understand, and then there are things that don't let them have that much control.
[00:29:35] So I thought that was interesting. They both have romance elements. They both have the matchmaking component and those components of tradition that are a part of their family, but they're really struggling with how to make those work in their own lives. So that is Roselle Lim's, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop.
[00:29:52] Ashley: Oh, that sounds great. Yeah. That, I mean, I'm compelled by the, like, trying to avoid the fortunes, but it's coming to you anyway. Like, yeah, there's a lot of pieces there. I think I would really like.
[00:30:02] Jen: Yeah. What did you pick, Ashley? What's your pairing?
[00:30:04] Ashley: So I am circling back to our book club pick from last year, which was Chloe Liese's Two Wrongs Make a Right. And there are ways that this is very different, but I thought of it several times because we have Jamie and Bea, the main characters, who have a meet-disaster kind of thing, which is very much what happens in Lunar Love as well, where we didn't really talk about that.
[00:30:28] But there are multiple times that they. Run into each other when he steals the last thing. And they have that whole exchange at the bakery that's both cute and also kind of terrible. You know, it's showing these very combative parts of their personalities. And then they have that standoff about where she hears him from the other side of the room.
[00:30:47] And when they're in that conference, and they have different viewpoints about fate and about how couples are formed. And so we have similar circumstances with Jamie and Bee, where when they meet, it's kind of the worst versions of themselves, and so things really go awry.
[00:31:02] And there's also this element where. People around them have these like machinations to try to get them together, and there is some deceit, there's some purposeful things happening, and then also some just misunderstandings. And I think we see that in both books as well, where there are times when Olivia is very purposefully doing things to try to find out more about the competition that is on purpose.
[00:31:27] She's deceiving Bennett, she's trying to find out stuff, but then there are other things happening where both of them are learning more about each other, but it's not always on purpose, and there's some lack of telling the whole truth happening. And we see that with Jamie and Bea as well, where other people are dabbling in their relationship.
[00:31:42] They are discovering lots of great things about each other, but not realizing it's each other. And so there's some of that happening in both books, I think, where the characters feel that they do not want this to move forward with the other person, and yet, despite what they think they know to be true, this romance is unfurling.
[00:32:03] And I think we see that in both books where there's a lot of resistance too. Getting together, getting to know each other better, and yet here we are. So I think there's some of that in this one. There's a lot of fake dating that's going on, and it plays a more of an important role. But I think that similarly to how Olivia and Bennett get paired in that app, and then they start going on some dates together, and then they're like, matchmaking for each other.
[00:32:28] We see that with Jamie and Bea, where they're pretending to date so that they can kind of get back at the people who are trying to get too involved in their lives. And yet unbeknownst to them at the beginning, all of these things are unfurling between them that are really sweet and lovely and help them get past some of their own mental blocks.
[00:32:48] So I think they are very different in some ways. In both of them, we see personal growth, and we see the characters getting to know all parts of each other, whether they want to or not, sometimes, like whether they wanna reveal it or not.
[00:33:02] And then that makes for a more meaningful relationship, which I think is lovely. So again, that's Chloe Liese's two wrongs make a right.
[00:33:08] Jen: I love that pairing. Yes. I think those would be great compliments to each other.
[00:33:13] Ashley: I loved that book last year, and I wanna get back to that series, so I'll have to report back. We wanna end with our bookish hearts. How many bookish hearts, Jen?
[00:33:22] Jen: I think four for me on this one. How about you?
[00:33:25] Ashley: Yep. Four from me as well.
[00:33:27] I don't think I have anything else to say. Do you, can we move on to our favorites?
[00:33:30] Jen: Yes.
[00:33:31] Ashley: Well,
[00:33:31] We hope you enjoyed Lauren Kung Jessen's Lunar Love. We'd love to hear what you thought about it. And today, to end our episode, we wanna share our Unabridged favorites. Jen, what's your pick?
[00:33:42] Jen: My pick is something that probably all of our listeners know about anyway, but I cannot help but highlight Heated Rivalry, which I have now watched twice through, and absolutely love. I have the books on hold, so this is a case where I did watch the adaptation before reading the source material. But I just think it is such a beautiful series and such a beautiful exploration of the way that relationships can transform and the way that they can transform who we are.
[00:34:12] And yes, it is incredibly steamy. So definitely don't watch with your small children around or at work, but it is amazing. So Heated Rivalry. For anyone out there who has not yet heard raves of this show,
[00:34:25] Ashley: And I haven't watched it yet, Jen, so I saw that in our newsletter. And it was funny because it was serendipitous, like. You were talking about it, and then right after that, I was on a call where somebody was asking me about it,t and then it came up in another call the next day, and I was like, clearly I need to get on this train because it has been so highly recommended by so many different sources.
[00:34:43] So I would be excited to watch, but I have not yet.
[00:34:45] Jen: Yes, you will love it. All right. What's your favorite, Ashley?
[00:34:49] Ashley: So I wanted to share the Time O app. I have been looking for a better way to keep up with to-dos, to-dos that are very much like I'm looking for something that is. Helping me navigate my own list, which I find I have a lot of stuff for work. And then I have like my personal things and I have tried lots of different systems and none of them have been working great, but I kind of want something where like I am just whatever the thing is, whether it is a mom task, a personal task, a I need to remember to do it for work task, like I can just capture it.
[00:35:21] And this app won an award last year is how I came across it. And. I have been using it for a couple of months now, and I just like it. So I wanted to share it if anyone else is having that struggle, because I've tried a lot of different tools, and it's not perfect. Like I use something different for my team, and that is also in flux, I'm always looking for better systems, but I think for myself, what I have found is I just like the way it looks and works. That is really important to me, and it kind of keeps up with how many tasks you have for the day. It does these little confetti celebrations whenever you check off an item, which I think is both ridiculous and very effective for me, and it also makes it very easy to reschedule. So I really like that feature as well.
[00:36:10] So if I didn't get to a task, it's super easy for me to just push it to the next day or whatever I need to do. I like the way the. Repeated tasks are working. I feel like I have tried that in a lot of places, and I have stuff on my calendar as well, but again, I have found I need something on my phone that is separate from my calendar.
[00:36:28] My calendar's so loud that I can't always keep up with what all is going on there. And so far, I've really liked this. I do think it's only for iOS. So if you are not using an Apple phone, I'm not sure if they have anything yet, but I'm using the free version so far, and I have absolutely loved it.
[00:36:43] So, we'll see. I can report back after more time has passed, but so far, very rarely do I find an app that I'm wowed by. But so far, Time O is the one. I have really liked it. So we'll see.
[00:36:54] Jen: Yay. I'll have to check that out.
[00:36:56] Ashley: I like it. Well, we hope you enjoyed our discussion today. We are excited to hear your thoughts about Lunar Love or any other romances that you're reading this month.
[00:37:06] Be sure and let us know on Instagram @unabridgedpod, and thanks so much for listening.
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