Book Review : Counterfeit Love by Julie Fison

Description:

Lucy Yang is loving her first television job in Hong Kong. She works hard and plays hard, and she doesn’t have time for a relationship if she wants to become a TV news anchor by the time she’s twenty-one. Besides, what man could live up to her impossibly high standards?

Then she meets Byron, and her world is turned upside-down. Funny, clever and impossibly gorgeous, Byron might just satisfy all of Lucy’s criteria. Sure, he’s a little cagey about his job, but what businessman in Hong Kong doesn’t want to protect trade secrets?

But as Lucy desperately tries to get to the bottom of a potentially huge news story, Byron keeps popping up in the most unlikely places. Is it just a coincidence? Or is Lucy’s perfect man not so perfect after all?

Title: Counterfeit Love

Author: Julie Fison
Genre: Contemporary, YA, NA, Romance, Chick Lit, Mature YA
Pages: 234 pages
Source: Received from publisher via Smitten Romance Book Club

Cute, mysterious and happy reads!

So I recently read Julie Fison's 'Lust and Found' and a couple of days later they announced a new Smitten Romance book written by the same author and luckily I managed to snag another Smitten Romance novel for the Book Club!

This was really different from Lust and Found (in a good way) and the only similarity is that its once again sat in Asia, this time in Hong Kong. Once again the author managed to capture the setting and atmosphere of Hong Kong spot on! I love the details in the book including some of the landmarks and street names that were added in the book. Also the book is briefly set in Singapore and my home country Malaysia is mentioned several times trough out the book (I kinda got excited whenever I see the word Malaysia :P).

Lucy Yang, an Australian born Chinese, freshly graduated and recently moved to Hong Kong to peruse a career in journalism. Ambitious, hard working, career driven, Lucy is determined to be a TV news anchor by the age of Twenty One . I love her character the moment I opened the book! Sweet,fun loving, funny, ambitious, independent as well as super smart and quick thinking she is definitely my favorite character in the book!

Byron, super swoon worthy, flirty, smart, super lol funny and charming with a hint of mysteriousness that will keep you guessing more and more about him and when you do find out... keep all eyes in your sockets and your jaws off the floor as you're in for a plot twist! I enjoyed every moment guessing more and more about him and probably contributed to one of the biggest plot twist in the book! He's described to be a good looking Eurasian I'm guessing Chinese/American since he has an American accent... never really cleared on his ethnicity.

I liked how the relationship played out between them. The book talks a lot about trust in a relationship. While it took a while for Byron, since he was all secretive and mysterious about his life/job to be trusted by Lucy, I'm glad how he managed to redeemed himself in the end.

I love how the book follows the behind-the-scene of journalism/ TV reporting as well as Lucy on the job for a good chunk of the book. I also love how even though Lucy is determine to meet her goals, she does it in a fair/honest way.

Lucy's friend Charlotte was fun to read! Her job at a concierge service sounds really interesting. I wish there will be a book about Charlotte as it will be great to read more about her. Her friendship with Lucy is another thing I enjoyed!

The characters and plot were what made the book for me! They were likeable and had a great character development! Also the plot has an air of mystery that will keep you guessing as well as the plot twist, while a couple were predictable, most of them I seriously didn't see coming. Also Lucy's growth, career wise was nice and refreshing as well as something that a lot of girls/readers can take from reading the book. We need more strong and determine characters in books to give readers an example of hard work and determination pays off.

I overall enjoyed this and have a new book to place on my favorite shelve! A real page turner that I could not put down and I read it in less than a day! Also did I mentioned that this was super cute that I literally had a big smile on my face when was done with the book?!?! Good, Happy and Satisfying read!

Also its refreshing to read a casts of Asian characters as main characters that are different from stereotype 'Asian kid = super smart/nerdy sidekick etc' that are usually seen in books.

Check this out if you are up for a lighthearted, fluffy romance with a hint of mystery with strong, independent and well developed characters and an escape to Hong Kong. Also check it out if you are planning to travel to Hong Kong or even Asia in the new future as well as if you are planning to go into journalism

Speaking of which, reading this made me want to go to Hong Kong since its been years since I've been there :P 

Overall a goodreads and a new favorite smitten romance!

 What was the last romance you've read?