The Year of Cecily

October 31, 2022
In Lin’s middling debut, the first in the From Sunset Park, with Love series, a pair of former fiancés get a second chance at romance after they unexpectedly meet again while both flying home to Brooklyn for Lunar New Year. Attorney Cecily Chang is stuck in a rut and decides on a list of Lunar New Year’s resolutions to “spice up her life.” These resolutions certainly do not include reconciling with the ex who dropped out of med school and out of her life 10 years before the start of the book, but in their decade apart, Jeffrey Lee has figured out what he wants: to be a Hollywood screenwriter—and to get back together with Cecily. When fate reunites them, he’s determined to achieve both ambitions. The pacing of their rekindling love story is clunky, and the flimsy framework of Cecily’s New Year’s resolutions does little to bolster the plot or even push the heroine toward growth. Lin often gets lost in the atmospheric details, providing an appealing layer of cultural specificity but also occasionally resulting in a flurry of irrelevant information. Readers will hope that Lin works out the kinks in future installments. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary.

October 1, 2022

DEBUT Home alone on New Year's Eve despite being a successful lawyer in the Bay Area, Cecily Chang realizes a list of resolutions is exactly what she needs to start living her best life. Number one on her list is to avoid drama when she goes back home to Brooklyn for her family's Lunar New Year celebration. But her volition is immediately tested when she runs into her ex, Jeffrey Lee, a screenwriter with great hopes of landing a Hollywood deal and winning back Cecily. Although filled with entertaining rom-com banter, the highlight of the book is how well Jeffrey knows and understands Cecily, illustrated through his many romantic gestures, a true testament that he is her best match. Cecily's resolve to make a new friend and create a better work-life balance is also commendable, and character growth is strong throughout the story as she and Jeffrey confront the parental criticism that has weighed them down. VERDICT Giving a fresh start to former sweethearts, debut author Lin handles complicated family culture and romantic tension by writing passionate, strong-willed protagonists and triumphantly delivers a satisfying second-chance romance.--Hazel Ureta

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.