A travel romance should really be a more hyped romance trope–you hear so much about enemies to lovers, just one bed, friends to lovers, etc, but less so about the travel romance. And the truth is that getting a travel romance right can be really tricky. Where will our main characters travel, and how unique/exciting of a place will it be? How do we bring characters together who don’t live in the same place but meet while traveling? And what is the future for a travel romance beyond their travel fantasy? I think you kind of have to buy in to all of these things to make these romances really work.
Which is why it’s so illuminating to have reviewed a few of these back to back–namely YOU, WITH A VIEW, LONELY PLANET, and now ADAM AND EVIE’S MATCHMAKING TOUR. None of these are really perfect–YOU, WITH A VIEW delivers on the romance but the travel part is forgettable and not totally necessary; LONELY PLANET has an amazing Morocco setting, and the romance is sweet, but it doesn’t feel believable back in the real world; and ADAM AND EVIE’S MATCHMAKING TOUR, which features probably the best travel element of these three as it whisks you around luxury locations in Vietnam, but delivers a romance that feels very straightforward and obvious.
Which is a shame because the author really does do a good job of selling Vietnam in ADAM AND EVIE. The concept is that Evie’s beloved aunt has died and is leaving her San Francisco brownstone to Evie–on condition that Evie does a matchmaking tour in their homeland of Vietnam. She has signed Evie up for a new business called Love Yeu which caters to high end clientele and takes them all over Vietnam to the most exclusive locations and dates. Adam is the CMO of the company that his sister has launched, and this is their first tour together. He is nursing a broken heart, but is immediately taken with Evie.
The idea that the tour is catering to rich clientele aside, it’s actually really fun to go on the journey of this book and see present day Vietnam, a country I personally have never visited. You can tell the author is really passionate about this country, and it’s exciting to experience the beaches, mountains, and city life. She also does an amazing job with the food descriptions from both fine dining to street food (like Vietnamese street meatballs that sound mouthwatering). It’s not overkill, but it’s enough to really give you a taste of the country, and this is the biggest attraction of the book. There’s not much much actual matchmaking happening on the tour–it was sort of just left up to the clients to network with each other in fabulous locations. I think a little more of the matchmaking would actually have been really fun as I didn’t get a huge sense of the other characters on the tour outside of Adam, Evie, Adam’s sister, and a friend Evie meets on the trip.
This is a romance, though, and I unfortunately found the romance between Adam and Evie to be too straightforward. They are sweet together, but Adam is very hot and cold–there are parts where it is almost difficult as a reader to follow his moods, and we have the privilege of being in his head in a way that Evie is not–it must be even more difficult for her to be on the receiving end. His relationship with his sister is also problematic for this character as she similarly runs hot and cold and ultimately becomes the source of the conflict between Evie and Adam. The fact that Adam never realizes any of this reflects negatively on his character. The pace of their relationship is ok, but I felt like there were no real twists and turns to their story. It was all very straightforward, and I found myself bored with them. Evie’s kind of a hot mess until an event happens off screen that launches her career, which was great for her but also did very little in terms of her character development. By the time she was visiting a psychic to ask what she should do about Adam, I was checking out.
ADAM AND EVIE is a book I’d probably only recommend if you’re looking for a romantic escape–it does have a great setting that feels like an adventure. But I think romance lovers will be left wanting something that feels like a journey they haven’t traveled before.
3.5/5 stars
SYNOPSIS (from Amazon):
A rollicking, unforgettable romance about two strangers finding love despite their best efforts as they embark on a sweeping matchmaking tour through Việt Nam, perfect for readers of Carley Fortune and Abby Jimenez.
What’s a few weeks to a lifetime of promise?
Evie Lang’s life is in shambles. On the heels of losing her beloved aunt, she’s unceremoniously fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. Lacking income and inspiration, she’s stuck in Ohio with no idea how to move forward—until hope arrives in a surprising letter.
Auntie Hảo left Evie the deed to her San Francisco row house, a place full of Evie’s happiest memories. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Việt Nam. The last thing Evie wants is to spend time with a group of strangers looking for love. But she can’t resist the chance to finally visit her family’s native home.
A world away, Adam Quyền has a chip on his shoulder. He’s working around the clock as CMO for his sister’s elite matchmaking business, a job complicated by her insistence that he knows nothing about love. He’s desperate to prove himself, so when she challenges him to join the inaugural tour, he reluctantly agrees.
Adam thinks Evie is chaotic and unpredictable. Evie thinks Adam is grumpy and uptight. But from the bustling streets of Hồ Chí Minh City to the soaring waterfalls in Đà Lạt, they keep getting thrown together, their animosity charged with attraction…and they discover that true love may be out there, if they are willing to take a leap.
Two stubborn hearts, one whirlwind adventure, Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour is a story of how loving (and living) bravely can lead you to the most unexpected places—and the most imperfectly perfect loves.
