A third of the way through this story and I still found myself completely apathetic towards every single character and what they were experiencing.

The premise was intriguing, with the main character signing up to a service that matches potential parental partners, but I just didn't vibe with the execution. Add to that the cheating ex who looms over the beginning of the story (and who obviously pops back up after a while), and I was just about done. I tried to stick it out because I was genuinely interested in a different culture from mine, but the apathy was just too big to overcome.

I enjoyed this book, it was a great read.
The only thing I would mention is that there is some potentially triggering content (pregnancy loss and cheating off page) that isn’t flagged and think should be.

“The game is rigged in a casino, just as it is in love. Love is a gamble, and the house always wins.”

Lucie Yi has tried love – it didn’t work. She’s decided that finding Mr. Right is a myth, and that finding Mr. Right-enough-to-have-children-with is the next best option. When she meets easy-going Collin Read on a platonic co-parenting website, it finally feels like she has found her version of happily ever after.

But things take a turn for the worse when they move back home to Singapore where her very traditional family awaits, leaving Lucie to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for a chance at happiness – and maybe, love.

Lucie Yi’s story is insanely funny and includes some self-deprecating humour as well. Even so, it carries a depth of emotion in her yearning to become a mother.

Lauren Ho’s protagonist is a smart, strong, sassy, women. Lucie knows the Ex is bad news but she gets easily swayed by his attention. And when the line between platonic and romantic begins to blur, she can’t stop herself from getting caught in a love triangle.

This is not a straight-out romance novel but a romance crossover with women’s fiction. It recognises a woman’s desire for motherhood without the need to tag society’s labels to every relationship. At the same time, it does not take anything away from the joy of experiencing love. It simply shows that the two can co-exist: side-by-side or together – whichever is suitable to the people involved.

An absolute page-turner that is witty, refreshing, and might even help you navigate your tricky thirties.

This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and HarperCollins UK.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this eARC of this book I am so grateful as I have now found a new fav.

I think that this book gives a lot of information about relationships and about children but also covers parental pressures and ethnical customs. The main relationship in this book was beautiful I was screaming at the book about the love triangle and was happy she got with the right person in the end. The main female lead and her progression arc was amazing and realistic and the main male lead was respectful, loving and realistic. the book was well paced and felt like the pick me up that I needed in my life to just make me feel happy and cozy, I read this book pretty quickly and finished it within a couple days of starting it as I felt so intrigued into what would happen next in the story. I would read more from this author and already have my eye out for the book she previously released.

This novel was cheeky, fun and sweet. The friendship trio was thoroughly enjoyable and Susie was a firm favourite. The plot was well written and smooth sailing, I enjoyed the steady pace of the novel and the build and development of each character - Collin was a perfect fit to Lucie's boss bitch vibes and I thoroughly enjoyed their contrasting views but also their sweet connection too.
However, despite the obvious rom-com trope, I really liked the deeper heavier themes which were explored and especially reading how our queen Lucie overcame them. She is such an awesome character and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - it would make for an entertaining and hit movie which I would 100% watch. 😌

This was such an interesting book. Lucie is single but wants a child so takes a very untraditional route to get pregnant. Through the pregnancy she faces a lot of pushback and disapproval from her very traditional parents. She tries to keep her relationship with the father strictly friendship and denies any attraction.
I found the relationship with Mark infuriating and thought she was being incredibly stupid, the same with the parents, they were very infuriating and small minded.

My first thought when reading this was that it's kind of a bold move to write a fiction book about a topic which a lot of women find triggering, and not make any mention of that in the title or blurb; but let's go with it for a minute.

Lucie Yi is successful, she has a secondment in New York... but a romantic relationship eludes her. She signs up with an unusual dating website, to find a partner to have a child with. She matches with Collin. As luck would have it, he's also Singaporean-Malaysian, and agrees to move back to Singapore with Lucie to raise a family.
It turned out to be a fairly cute story, the characters were reasonably likeable, and I enjoyed the pace and writing style. I enjoyed learning more about Singapore culture, and I thought the heavy subject matters were handled carefully. It was interesting to read this kind of storyline but its not something I'd have read had I known the content.
This is a book aimed at women, and I feel as though women should know the trigger warnings before picking this up. I personally wouldn't have chosen to read it if I'd known and its just not clear enough to put warnings on Goodreads.

Having said this, I have a copy of Last Tang Standing, and will still read this, and would pick up others by this author after researching content a bit more. I just wish I didn't have to!

I really enjoyed reading this book, I felt like the plot line was actually fairly unique for a romance novel, I found it funny, enjoyable and a heart warming read. There’s a lot of aspects that I wasn’t necessarily aware of before, particularly around the culture in Singapore with regards to marriage and babies. I found the book really interesting and would definitely recommend it.

I enjoyed this book - the premise was unique and I loved the dynamic between Lucie and Collin. My only gripe is I wanted it to be spicier and was a little disappointed with the lack of it.

Lucy is 37, single and wants a baby, so she ends up joining a co-parenting website and meeting Collin. Soon their baby is on its way, but will Lucy and Collin become more that friends? A great read and interesting to learn more about the different cultures discussed in the book, but I would have liked to have had something from Collins point of view.

I was lucky enough to read this gifted copy of Lucie Yi is not a Romantic by Lauren Ho. I was super excited as I loved her first book ‘Last Tang Standing’.

I really enjoyed this one as well. Lucie is a woman who knows what she wants… a baby. Unfortunately she just hasn’t found ‘the one’ and takes matters into her own hands. Her friends suggest a tinder-like website, where the end goal is not love but a parent-partner. And so the co-parenting experience begins for Lucie.

I found this book to be funny and quirky but it also touched on subjects that many women will be experiencing. Bringing it right back to choice, taking matters into your own hands. She also has to deal with a lot of judgement from family and people who simply don’t understand in a culture where having a child out of wedlock is frowned upon. Lucie’s friendships are also tested throughout this and the dynamics shift.

FYI - I’m team Colin!

*This eArc was gifted for a fair and honest review.

After reading (and loving) her debut, Last Tang Standing what feels like an age ago, I was excited to read Lauren Ho’s sophomore novel, Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic.

If you’ve been reading my dating journey posts (more coming soon, once I convince myself to actually “get back out there”), you’d think I too was not a romantic. However, despite the fact I have yet to experience my own spectacular love story, I love reading about love. Thankfully, Ho doesn’t just rehash a tale as old as time in her latest book, which made it a joy to read.

We begin this story with Lucie Yi having a very poorly timed and very public emotional breakdown in a baby clothing store. Not your usual opening but this allows the reader to begin to unpick a character that, like Andrea in Ho’s previous book, is full of depth and emotion as well as a wonderful, slightly spiky sense of humour. What follows is a series of bizarre swipes on what can only be described as Tinder for coparenting and a love story with plenty of twists and turns.

I won’t spoil too much about this one but I loved the characters in this one and how they drove the narrative on. It’s not always the easiest read, as pregnancy and raising children isn’t the easiest process for everyone, but — if you love a slow burn romance with a bit of substance — you should definitely get adding this book to your summer reads.

This is the second book I have read by Lauren Ho and it is another fun read, full of humour but with some touching moments on the often complex route to parenthood.

Lucie has a successful career as a management consultant, but her romantic life has not been so straightforward, having broken up with her last long-term boyfriend after she had a miscarriage. Realising that time is ticking and with no partner on the horizon, she signs up for a co-parenting app in order to find someone to have a child with on a platonic basis. On secondment in New York, she is due to return to Singapore and wants to find someone who is prepared to move to Singapore with her - matched with Colin, who is up for the move, they return to Singapore together to co-parent. Back home Lucie has to deal with the reactions of her very traditional family, as well as with her ex-boyfriend who re-enters her life.

Just as in Last Tang Standing, it is Ho’s humour that makes this such an engaging read and enables her to make this a fun read, whilst at the same time tackling some serious issues faced by so many modern women as Lucie struggles to figure out how to balance work and family, how to deal with expectations placed upon her and ultimately how to stand up for what she really wants, issues made all the more complex set against her cultural background. At times Lucie is a frustrating character, but I never stopped wishing for her happy ever after.

As usual an over hyped book does indeed do the opposite of its intention: It did disappoint. Although, one quote I 100% agree on: “We definitely want our freedom. Just because we’re parents doesn’t mean our world should revolve around our kids… We don’t stop being who we were before parenthood”

Lucie Yi rambles on so much. She’s the type of soon-to-be-mum that makes me want to gag, roll my eyes and scream ‘YOU’RE A STUPID IDIOT’!
As a newly mum myself, you really do not need to bother with reading baby books. I read a few and boy where they a yawn and a waste of time. Instead of glamorising your fatness; enjoy your freedom instead of being a sad girl obsessing over two guys. Why did she even get into this arrangement with a rando she only just met when they never even tried living together etc. and the ONLY THING THEY HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT HE PUT A BABY IN HER !! She’s clearly still have feelings for her cheating and disgusting ex so from the start you can see how this novel is going to go.
She claims she’s career driven. She wants the career however she didn’t choose one that suits a lifestyle, but I must say at least she has a job instead of being a lazy benefit person claiming working people’s money.
But, I will say that Collin does have some interesting points on how the foetus should be raised. And Lucie doesn’t seem to see the common sense in things. Is it a woman thing? Am I just so logical and women typically are stupid when they purposely get knocked up and then consider getting rid of it? Why would she get into this arrangement with Collin without talking about how they are raising it? Wasn’t that the purpose of this entire Co-Parenting thing from the site they met on? To talk about this stuff before she actually does go into this arrangement.
At least Lucie was considerate and aware of both her friends children situations she at least has a brain to ask her so called friends how they are doing with their new triplets. Some women do not even have such consideration once they are carrying a foetus as it’s all attention seeking. Seriously Lucie, get a grip and don’t be having a baby just because your old (late 30’s) and the others have one just to use as an attention seeking prop, she clearly values her career more when she is seeking to advance her career to be like Diana as she is hiding the whole pregnancy in the first place. By trying to help run an important business when she is pregnant does she not realise she is taking on a lot as she calls finishing at 8pm at work an early night. How does she expect to raise the baby with nannies yet at the same time doesn’t want it raised by them?

Babies are for life, and if you don’t check in on those that already have one, you’re going to be going through a very tough time as you weren’t there for others during the toughest time it’s called fairness selfish being.
This story was too predictable. Some catchy references however it was predictable and Lucie annoyed me so very much because of her silly ness. If the main character is intolerable it makes for a bad experience.

I received this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun, charming contemporary romance/women's fiction book, which I flew through. I thought the co-parenting concept was refreshing and original, and it was well-executed. I really liked Lucie as a FMC; she was strong, smart and intelligent, and I enjoyed following her journey!

I loved “Lucie Yi is not a romantic” so much! Lucie Yi meets Collin in New York for a specific purpose and that is to see whether he could be a potential co-parent for a baby with her back in Singapore. He turns out to be a great match and a beautiful partnership between them begins. Their friendship is an authentic and organic thing so it comes as no surprise when their feelings develop into something more. The return of Lucie’s ex, finances, societal and familial pressures all complicate matters but the chemistry between them jumps off the page. This an entertaining, compulsive, feel-good read that is perfect for holidays!

3.75/ 5 stars
This book was absolutely hilarious and I constantly found myself laughing and smiling while reading it. I loved that all the issues where real and gave a great insight of the not so glamourous parts of pregnancy, stigma around births out of wedlock, strained and messy relationships, grief/loss and many other topic brought up throughout the book. Lucie Yi is such a determined, funny and strong willed person and I found myself rooting for her to get her happy ending from the beginning though I will say that I didn't like the way the two love interests acted in parts of the book as they did come off as manipulative and toxic with that being said it was still a great quick read and I found myself flying through the chapters eager to find out what happens next and what Lucie will do and say next,

Lucie has everything she needs - a great career, friends that love her and a seemingly loving family. She's ready to be a mom now, but there's only one thing missing, the guy. After an emotional breakup, she's ready to find her own way of doing this and signs up to a co-parenting app, where you can match someone to raise a child together with (I'd never heard of such a thing until reading this book). Her match is the perfect dad and as their relationship grows, will it be something more? Or does her past matter more?

I really enjoyed this story, I love the way Lucie's culture is threaded through this story from the things she wants for herself (she loves her culture) and the interactions amongst her family and friends. I think a lot of people can relate to an extent to Lucie's relationship and predicament with her family.

Excited to share this one!

This was not my cup of tea. I was so intrigued by the premise - not long having a baby myself this seemed like a different way of exploring it.

The premise is an arrangement between Lucie and Collin to platonically have a baby together.

If the novel had stuck closer to this it would have been a much higher rating from me. But, this had one of the worst love triangles I have ever read. It was painful.

We didn’t get to really delve too deep into Lucie and Collin and that’s what was lacking. I didn’t get the chemistry, I didn’t get the romance. I would have preferred if at the end she’d ended up with no one and just had the platonic relationship they agreed to.

Can’t say I enjoyed this, I really just tried to get through it at the end.

TW: miscarriage, pregnancy complications

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It came, it delivered, it made me NEED more. Lauren Ho is a fantastic author and I cannot stress enough how much I love this book, the story and the characters! I have already started recommending it to friends.