Fake Dates and Mooncakes

By: Sher Lee

Narrated by: Joshua Chang

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians in this heartfelt, joyful audiobook rom-com that follows an aspiring chef who discovers the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer.

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?

©2023 Sher Lee (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“Quick and engaging dialogue, coupled with plentiful queer and Chinese cultural representation, makes for a sweet ode to family, food, and love.” —Publishers Weekly

"The perfect recipe of romance, riches, and really great food! Through family drama, will-they/won't-they vibes, and one adorable corgi, Lee shows that true happiness comes from following your heart (and delicious mooncakes help, too!)." —Jason June, New York Times bestselling author of Out of the Blue and Jay's Gay Agenda

"Smart and sweet in equal measure, Fake Dates and Mooncakes is an addictive, adorable rom-com with all the ingredients you need: unforgettable characters, a totally swoon-worthy romance, and the best, most mouthwatering food writing I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend it enough!" —Cale Dietrich, author of The Love Interest and coauthor of If This Gets Out

a moon cake 🥮 recipe

I like it especially the food parts the romance was okay but the food is the real star you can't wait to write down the snow moon cake

Insanely underrated book

I cant begin to put my finger on how heartwarming, beautiful and romantic this book is. Sher Lee really put her best effort into creating the wonderful universe that Dylan, Theo, and the entire family thrive beautifully in. I am chinese myself, so listening to all the wonderful foods and recipes of the moon cakes (月饼) and xiao long bao (小笼包) made me so hungry and let me remember all the fun times I had eating those. The relationship between Dylan and Theo is also SO DAMN CUTE!? If there ever was a sequel In the future I am betting everything that they have a very healthy and strong relationship. Everything is so well written, every detail, emotion, character and the overall story made the entire thing so enjoyable. I laughed, cried, and swooned along with the characters, and sometimes they are actually relatable with their own lives and yours, especially Dylan and his life growing up as an Asian person. You know that a book is insanely amazing when you want the characters in said book to actually exist and be real. This is not mainly a rom com anymore, it’s about keeping the important traditions of your family and finding family and love in others. If you enjoy gay romance, chinese legends and traditions, Asian food (bro who hates that), drama, and angst, PLEASE RESD THIS BOOK! I do also have to say the narrator was so freaking awesome at the voices and reading the chinese dialect? I mainly speak mandarin but I can tell the Cantonese was also really amazing! Bravo!!!

Adorable! 🥰

I listened to the last 3 hours in one go and was up past 2 am. Worth it.

What a beautiful journey!

The most uplifting heartfelt book I’ve read in a long time!

This story has it all: lovely teenage romance, evil villains, history and tradition, and family - the one were born into, the one you chose, and the one that chose you.

It’s beautifully written, filled with amazing details from Singapore-Chinese culture, delicious food, and that kind of love that travels through time and space. It’s moving, heartbreaking and heartwarming, funny and easy to lose yourself into.

Also, there’s a great dog, because all the best stories need one!

Go for it! You won’t regret! <3

Wonderful

This book is just such a wonderfully fantastic journey!! it's packed with soo much and is just so well written.

Beautiful

Two guys from different ends of the social ladder have a chance meeting. They pursue a relationship, one with a certain amount of subterfuge, lest their true feelings become known. As they learn more about each other, they also discover more about themselves, their families and their cultures. Yeh, that sounds a bit boring, right? Like sensitivity training? But the characters are so lovable you'll want to spend as much time with them as possible. You will even cheer for them as the filthy rich boy's friend, father and butler throw obstacles in their way. The other boy's family, meanwhile, conspires with the rich friend to try to keep them together. There are really no twists and turns in this plot that hurtles ahead as it thickens, just two out gay guys who know where they want to go and are discovering they would really love to go there together. The narrator is awesome voicing the Chinese phrases that are strewn throughout the book, but he has little range, which makes it difficult to tell which character is doing the speaking.

🥰

I'm so in love with this!! this is so worth it~ I don't want to end.. Waaah!

Should be adapted as a movie

It’s a really cute coming of age story!
I’m kind of curious where to get the snow skin mooncake, because I really want to try them!
As a Blink, I love all the BlackPink references! I’m definitely re reading this!!

What a great story

I love the main characters in this book I wish it had a sequel or another recommendation

Charming Rom Com

I really enjoyed this charming romantic comedy. I liked all the main characters and thought the detailed descriptions of the Chinese recipes, food preparation and legends helped bring me into their world. I do wish the narrator had a bit more variety in character voices to help distinguish who was saying what, but it didn't present too big of a challenge in following along. This is the kind of story I wish was readily available when I was growing up.