Jackie Lau

Advertising executive Nick Wong enjoys living in Toronto. He loves late nights partying and taking women back to his penthouse. And so it is with great reluctance that he returns to his boring hometown of Mosquito Bay for Thanksgiving. This year, however, is even worse than usual. His interfering parents and grandparents, frustrated with the lack of weddings in the family, have invited blind dates for him and his three siblings. Nick’s brother Greg has been set up with Lily Tseng, who just so happens to be Nick’s latest one-night stand, the one he can’t get out of his mind. Although Nick has never been interested in settling down, Lily has him reconsidering. Perhaps he’s good for more than a single night of sex, dumplings, and bubble tea after all. But first, he has to get through this painful weekend with his family and convince her that she should be with him, not Greg…

Greg Wong hates when things don’t go according to plan, so he definitely doesn’t appreciate it when his mother insists he drive Tasha Edwards back to Mosquito Bay for the Christmas holidays. He likes peace and quiet when he’s in the car, and that’s the opposite of what he’ll get with Tasha, his high school sweetheart. The first woman he ever loved. Not that he has feelings for her now. Of course not. Though while he’s trying not to smile at her laughter and terrible singing, he can’t help noticing how beautiful she is. And then his plans veer further off course when a snowstorm forces them to spend the night in an unheated motel room with only one bed…

Four holiday romance novellas about the Wong siblings! Book 1: A Match Made for Thanksgiving Book 2: A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas Book 3: A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year Book 4: A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day

Amber Wong has landed her dream job at the Stratford Festival, and life is looking good. Sure, she hasn’t had sex in so long that her condoms have expired, but she’ll just pick up some new ones, along with some discounted Christmas chocolate, at the grocery store. And that’s where she runs into Dr. Sebastian Lam, the son of her parents’ close friends, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s moved back to Ontario, newly single, and… Oh my God. He’s really hot. The attraction is mutual and no-strings-attached sex is the perfect arrangement for both of them, since Amber has sworn off dating after a string of terrible boyfriends. But what if their families find out they’re spending time together and start interfering in their lives? That would be a disaster. Even worse? If they develop feelings for each other, given a relationship is the last thing Amber wants right now…

After his family’s matchmaking extravaganza at Thanksgiving, high school teacher Zach Wong is terrified of what his parents might do for Chinese New Year. Surely they’ll try to set him up yet again, especially now that his older brothers are in relationships. Zach, however, has no interest in dating, not since his fiancée left him. The solution? Find a fake girlfriend to avoid his parents’ matchmaking. Jo MacGregor, the town dentist, is the obvious choice. They both live in Mosquito Bay and have been friends for years, ever since they bonded over broken engagements. A few kisses and dates around town, and everyone will believe they’re in a relationship. No problem. Except their fake relationship is starting to feel more and more real…

If there’s one thing that might get my dad, a retired math teacher, to visit Toronto and have a real conversation with me for the first time in seventeen years, it’s a big nerdy Pi Day party. And hopefully this party—and seeing the tech company I built from nothing—will finally be enough to impress him and make him forgive me for everything I did when I was a teenager. But it’s got to be a really great party. That’s where Sarah Winters comes in. She owns Happy As Pie, a sweet and savory pie shop, and wants to get into catering. She makes an amazing lamb-rosemary pie, cherry pie, lemon-lime tart…you get the idea. She’ll provide the food and help me plan the party, nothing more. No matter how much time we spend together, I’m not going to fall in love with her. At least, that’s what I tell myself…

A bridesmaid and groomsman put their differences aside to get their friends down the aisle in this opposites-attract steamy romantic comedy. They say to never meet your heroes, but when Vivian Liao's roommate gets engaged to her favorite actor's costar, she has no choice but to come face-to-face with Melvin Lee again. He's just as funny and handsome as he is on-screen...but thinks she is a snob and a sellout. It's none of his business how she chooses to live her life, no matter how charismatic he is. Mel is used to charming audiences as an actor and stand-up comedian but can't connect to Vivian. She's a smart, talented artist--which is why he thinks she's wasting her life as a corporate finance drone. The only thing uniting them is their goal for the wedding to go off without a hitch. As they collaborate on wedding cake and karaoke parties, Mel realizes he might have seriously misjudged this bridesmaid, while Vivian discovers the best man might just be as dazzling off-screen as he is on. With the wedding underway, maybe more than one happily ever after is in the future.

From the author of DONUT FALL IN LOVE comes a perfect summer love story set in the forested paradise of Canadian cottage country that asks the question: can love beat the odds when the odds are two mothers dead-set against it? ---------------- You’d think my mother would be trying to set me up with architect Neil Choy, the unmarried son of her best friend. But you’d be wrong. My single mother has always been fiercely independent. Since I was a small child, she’s always told me not to believe in fairy tales and that I don’t need a man. So she’s failed to mention that Neil is a total hottie in glasses. When I see him for the first time in a decade, on a multi-family cottage vacation, I’m in for quite a shock. (In fact, I nearly fall in the lake, but let’s keep that a secret.) He sure can grill a mean steak and mix a killer cocktail, plus he’s pretty impressive in a kayak. Yes, he’s a little stern and grumpy, but that just makes him more fun to tease—and makes it more satisfying when he quirks his lips in my direction. Even though my mind is spinning romantic fantasies, I’m not entirely sure how he feels. And I’m afraid that if anything happens between us, it’ll screw up the friendship between our staunchly anti-relationship mothers. Especially since they’ve been acting increasingly weird since we arrived—I will never forgive them for the S’mores Incident. In fact, I think they’re trying to sabotage my love life, and I’m starting to worry that I won’t make it through this bizarre summer vacation… ---------------- Perfect for fans of Helen Hoang’s THE BRIDE TEST and THE DONUT TRAP by Julie Tieu, THE UNMATCHMAKERS is a forced-proximity, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy that explores finding the balance of meeting expectations and being true to yourself, and how even the best of intentions can sometimes backfire.

When electrical engineer and depressed plushie enthusiast Rose Pang decides to go out alone one evening, she certainly doesn’t expect to meet easygoing landscaper Cal. They spend an enjoyable night together, and the next day, romance is on her mind. Cal promises to text…but he never does. Hurt, Rose tries her best to forget about him. But several months later, in a terrible twist of fate, Rose discovers that her new roommate, Caleb Dempsey, is actually her former one-night stand. He claims he lost her number when his phone got run over. Rose isn’t buying his lies, and Cal offers to find another place to live as soon as he can. After a few weeks, however, she starts to like having Cal as a roommate—he does all his chores, plus he’s a fun and calming presence—but she swears nothing will happen between them. Except her feelings for him grow as they spend more time together. Can she risk giving him another chance, especially when her mental health is a little fragile? If it goes badly, she’ll also lose a great roommate. Maybe it would be safer to try dating someone new…

She’s got a billionaire boyfriend, but life is far from perfect… Thirty-four and divorced, Sierra Wu is a constant disappointment to her family. They approved of her former career as an engineer but were horrified when she quit to run a small greeting card store. So, the last thing she expected in her not-so-spectacular life was being swept off her feet by Colton Sanders. Yes, that Colton Sanders, the billionaire. They’ve been together for a year, and despite his reputation with women, it’s going well. There’s only one tiny problem: Jake Tong. A former friend and employee of Colton, the irritatingly handsome Jake tells Sierra to break up with Colton for her own good. She refuses, of course. Why should she trust Jake? But as she continues to bump into Jake in awkward situations, the attraction between them grows, and she starts wondering if he’s right about Colton…

Meet Cedric Fong in this m/m romance... I don’t need a date. I need to focus on finding a new apartment and finally writing another novel. But as the last single Fong brother, I’m expected to participate in a bachelor auction to benefit my family’s charity. When there’s a frenzied bidding war, Brian Poon, my younger brother’s ex-best friend, puts an end to the chaos by bidding an eyewatering amount for a Valentine’s date with me. Brian used to be a notorious partier, but his life isn’t as wild now that his father has cut him off. We have a good time eating and drinking together, and when he finds out about my apartment situation, he offers me his spare room. Once I move in, Brian surprises me by baking me cookies and making it his mission to get me writing again. Soon, I’m working on a new book and getting closer to my roommate, a man who has never had a relationship and is all about casual sex—the opposite of me. He also used to be in love with my brother. I wonder if he still is…

I’ve got a pretty great life, if I do say so myself. I made a fortune when I sold my tech start-up, and I’ve spent the years since partying, drinking, and inviting a parade of women into my bed. I should be happy, but I feel an annoying lack of fulfillment, and there’s no way I’m going back to the work I did before. At a friend’s party, I meet Marissa. We have hot sex against the door and agree to spend the weekend together. Just one weekend. I never expect to see her again. Except now she’s pregnant with my baby…and I think this is the solution to all my problems. This is what will bring meaning to my life. I’m going to be a devoted father and husband. Marissa—whose last name I still don’t know—wants me to be involved, though she rejects my marriage proposal. But before the baby arrives, I’m going to prove to her that I can be something other than a playboy. And the rare times I set my mind to something, I don’t fail…

Every Thursday after work, software developer Gerald Nakamura goes to Leslieville Craft Beer to “socialize”. In other words, he sits in a room full of people and reads a book, resenting the noise. Occasionally, he exchanges a few words with the cute bartender, Kelsey Rye. As months go by, their conversations get longer and her excited rambling makes him smile. They start texting each other, and he even meets up with her when she gets a second job at Dick’s Donuts, which sells donuts that are literally shaped like…you know. Gerald doubts she wants anything more than what they have - they’re too different. But as the year draws to a close, he wonders if he should take a chance and finally tell her how he feels…

A baker provides the sweetest escape for an actor in this charming romantic comedy. Actor Ryan Kwok is back in Toronto after the promotional tour for his latest film, a rom-com that is getting less-than-stellar reviews. After the sudden death of his mother and years of constant work, Ryan is taking some much-needed time off. But as he tries to be supportive to his family, he struggles with his loss and doesn't know how to talk to his dad—who now trolls him on Twitter instead of meeting him for dim sum. Innovative baker Lindsay McLeod meets Ryan when he knocks over two dozen specialty donuts at her bakery. Their relationship is off to a messy start, but there’s no denying their immediate attraction. When Ryan signs up for a celebrity episode of Baking Fail, he asks Lindsay to teach him how to bake and she agrees. As Lindsay and Ryan spend time together, bonding over grief and bubble tea, it starts to feel like they’re cooking up something sweeter than cupcakes in the kitchen.

I'm a pretty simple guy. When I'm not writing a science fiction novel, I'm watching a good movie or reading a book. Alone. I like my reclusive life. That is, until my only friend asks for a favor—pretend to be his baby sister's boyfriend on a couples' getaway. Her ex is going to be there and she needs me as a buffer. I should have said no, but Naomi is bubbly, energetic, and beautiful. She also means everything to her brother. But now, our fake romance is starting to feel all too real, and I find myself stuck between the promise I made to my friend and risking my heart to the one woman who might actually get me…

Let me be clear: I’ve been friends with Caitlin Ng for more than a decade, and I’ve had a crush on her for just as long. And I’ve known, all that time, that I wasn’t her type. When we met, we were both studying computer engineering at university. She was near the top of the class, and I was in danger of flunking out. Now, she’s a CEO, and I, well… I’m wearing an inflatable T-Rex costume and dancing along to Christmas carols sung by an elderly barbershop quartet. Yes, I’m being paid to do this. And that’s how Caitlin finds me when she leaves work late in the middle of a snowstorm. She asks to stay with me because her house is farther away and her power is out. Of course, I say yes. When the heat goes out in my apartment and she asks me to join her in bed to snuggle for warmth, I say yes, too. But being so close to her is dangerous for my heart…or could a weekend of Christmas fun actually lead to the romance I desire?

Natalie Chin-Williams might be a cranky professor of climatology who thinks the world is doomed, but she believes in lasting love…just not for herself. She has a long history of failed relationships, plus the men she dates inevitably want children and she doesn’t. Now thirty-six and single, Natalie expects endless comments about her love life when she attends her baby sister's wedding. Worse, weddings are always drama-filled disasters in her family. She needs emotional support to get through the weekend, so she enlists the help of her friend Connor Douglas, the dependable family doctor. The wedding reception goes south when a drunk aunt announces a family secret that sends Natalie reeling and shakes her faith in love. Luckily, she has her long-time friend to lean on—a man she somehow ends up kissing. But there’s no way this could turn into anything lasting, is there? That’s impossible for her, especially now…

Now that her cousin has tied the knot, Iris Chin—structural engineer, party girl, and queen of kitchen disasters—is the last single grandchild. Her mother and grandmother are desperate to play matchmaker, though Iris doesn’t understand why. They had miserable marriages, and she doesn’t want to be like them. She enjoys her independence, thank you very much. One-night stands are more her style. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that she’s working on a project with her latest one-night stand, Alex Kwong, a construction supervisor. She’s determined to stay professional on the construction site, but things get off to a bad start when Alex lets slip to a co-worker that they slept together. To make matters worse, Iris is now living with her grandmother, who keeps stealthily setting her up on dates and sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong, and her mother is just as bad. But more than anything, it’s her unwanted feelings for Alex that are derailing her plans to have an exciting single life…

Friendly neighbors can have their benefits… Nicole Louie-Edwards enjoys the nightlife and bringing men back to her apartment, although lately, she’s gotten tired of the chase. Her quiet new neighbor, David Cho, isn’t her type, but after they get trapped in an elevator together on her birthday, she develops a friendship with the kind geology professor. Then, blushing, he tells her that he can hear her having sex but tries not to listen. Except it’s clear he’d like to, and she’s surprisingly turned on. They embark on a friends-with-benefits arrangement hotter than any she’s had before. She didn’t expect him to be so naughty between the sheets. David becomes a bigger part of her life outside of the bedroom, too, bringing her desserts and going viral on TikTok with her grandmother, but she can’t imagine he wants to be her boyfriend, and it’s not like she wants that, either. She’s convinced she’d lose her identity in a relationship, like she did ten years ago. Yet she can’t help getting more and more attached to the professor next door…

It's been five years since Charlotte Tam had to endure a public proposal at a baseball game—literally the stuff of her nightmares—and realized her ex never really knew her. She hasn’t dated since, afraid that no man will understand her cranky, introverted, coffee-obsessed self, but she wants to try again. Her friend suggests she ask a guy to ease her into the dating game and give her some lessons. That night at the cider bar, Charlotte runs into Mike Guo, her childhood best friend who lived in the house next door twenty years ago. Surely easygoing Mike, who is now surprisingly handsome, must do well in the world of love. He’s the perfect candidate for this. But as they go on practice dates around Toronto and even have kissing lessons, Charlotte starts to fall for Mike, and that was never part of the plan. He’s too different from her, just like her ex—how could it work? And she suspects Mike has secrets of his own… Can their childhood friendship really become love?

When small-town engineer Amy Sharpe inherits a house in Toronto, she decides it’s the perfect opportunity to start over and go back to school. Away from the family that takes her for granted, away from the ex who expected so much and gave little in return. The new Amy enjoys wandering around the city and frequenting bubble tea shops, German beer halls, dim sum restaurants, and coffee bars serving Japanese pastries. She has a roommate with the same name as her favorite fictional character, and a group of friends who meet at a cider bar every couple of weeks. The new Amy is also in lust with her brooding, tattooed next-door neighbor, Victor Choi, who is far from friendly but looks really hot cutting the grass without a shirt. Too bad the grass doesn’t grow faster. As she starts telling him about her daily adventures—and as a little kissing in the garden becomes a regular activity—Amy begins to feel more than lust. But she fears she’s falling into her old patterns in relationships and refuses to let herself be underappreciated again. Is Victor really more than a hot fling? And what’s he hiding behind that grumpy exterior?

I hate ice cream. Ever since my fiancée left me at the altar and skewered me in her bestseller "Embrace Your Inner Ice Cream Sandwich: Finding the Positive You in a World of Negativity," I haven't been able to stomach the stuff. Unfortunately, my five-year-old niece is a budding foodie and her favorite place in the world is Ginger Scoops, a cutesy Asian ice cream shop. Since I've been looking after my niece a lot lately, I've spent too much time there, sipping black coffee, refusing to eat ice cream, and trying not to look at the owner, Chloe Jenkins. Chloe is obnoxiously cheerful, and I can't stand her. Naturally, I end up kissing her. But I've sworn off women after the fiasco with my ex-fiancée, and I'm convinced I'm no good at relationships. Still, with Chloe I'm tempted to do the impossible: give love and ice cream another chance...

Max Mok has four weddings to attend this year… When I meet Kim Sung at a friend’s wedding, I don’t make the first move. God, no. But she’s delightful and gorgeous, and she asks me to dance. Later, we go to her hotel room and… Okay, I admit it doesn’t go well. She might be all about one-night stands, but I’m not used to having them. That should be the end of it. I can forget about her or, more likely, obsess about it whenever I can’t sleep. But then I see her at a second wedding. Apparently, she’s a family friend of my cousins. All three of them are getting married this summer, and she’ll also be at the next two weddings, along with her parents. Kim is even more beautiful than last time, and I really want the chance to prove I’m not a complete disaster in bed. I also want to take her on an actual date, but she has no interest in dating anyone. More than anything, though, I need to avoid her because I’m too embarrassed to hold a conversation, and my brothers have found out about my unfortunate one-night stand. Oh, no. She’s coming this way. What do I do?

Helen Tsang is tired of the pitying looks. From her parents, her friends, and even the bubble tea shop guy, who recognized her from the video. Almost one year ago, some loser couldn’t mind their own damn business and filmed an unsuspecting Helen's very public break-up during what was supposed to be a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. A video of her ex-boyfriend saying, "It's not me, it's you. You're holding me back" went viral. Desperate to give everyone something else to talk about and with Valentine’s Day approaching once again, she asks her long-time friend Taylor Li to be her fake boyfriend, just to prove that she's moved on and hasn’t sworn off love. (Spoiler alert: She's totally sworn off love.) Taylor is the perfect option—single for once, and for some godforsaken reason, he loves Valentine’s Day. But Helen didn't expect was how easy it would be to get Taylor on board, fitting right into the boyfriend-shaped hole in her life. All she wanted was a couple sickeningly sweet dates to fill her social feeds, not corny text messages of silly heart-shaped cakes, and bouquets of flowers that harbor hidden meanings. Wanting to be around his sunshine attitude and delicious forearms all the time? That definitely wasn't expected. With February 14 quickly approaching, it's getting increasingly difficult to ignore her feelings, especially when she starts wishing it wasn’t all an act. Oh God. What has she done?

A charming rom-com about a young woman’s desperate attempts to fend off her meddling mother…only to find that maybe mother does know best. Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that. Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. You’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he’s just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they’re forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious he thinks he’s too good for her. But now that Emily is her family’s last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There’s only one solution, clearly : convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom’s meddling. He reluctantly agrees. Unfortunately, lying isn’t enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates—including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class—so they’ll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark’s not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn’t so ugly after all…