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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour celebrating the release of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Good Fortune by Roselle Lim! Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the invitation! Stay tuned for information on how to win a copy at the bottom of this post!

About the Book:

Lush and visual, chock-full of delicious recipes, Roselle Lim’s magical debut novel is about food, heritage, and finding family in the most unexpected places.

At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant.

The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around–she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.

“Vivid and lyrical with a touch of magic.”–Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient.

My Thoughts:

Natalie Tan is a chef, though her mother never accepts the idea of that career. The two have been estranged for more than seven years when Natalie finds out her mom has passed away. 

When Natalie returns home to her beloved Chinatown in San Francisco, she finds it not as exciting and well-performing as it was in her youth. She also finds out she’s the beneficiary of her grandmother’s restaurant. 

Natalies visits the neighborhood seer who reads her tea leaves. She says that Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook in order to help her neighbors, as well as the restaurant. 

Natalie has mixed feelings about helping these people who did not help her or her mother when she was growing up. Natalie makes a friend who opens her eyes to those same neighbors and maybe gives her a change of heart about them. 

Oh my goodness, what a fun, charming read. I loved the recipes included and the sweet romance. Food and cooking almost become characters in the story, and I love that. I also enjoyed all the cultural aspects included. 

Overall, Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Good Fortune is as cute, whimsical, and charming as its cover. 

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Author:

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother’s) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as “painting with words.”

***Book Giveaway***

For a chance to win a paperback copy of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Good Fortune, please visit my instagram page!  Giveaway generously sponsored by the publisher. 

Have you read Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Good Fortune, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR