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The Ultimate Pi Day Party

(Baldwin Village #1)

Jackie Lau (Goodreads Author)

3.90 · Rating details · 360 ratings · 103 reviews

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 ...more

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Published March 5th 2019 by Jackie Lau Books

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· 360 ratings · 103 reviews

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Mar 14, 2020 Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poc-interracial, kissing-books

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I got this when the author put it up for free on Kindle during the last Pi Day. I don't normally like fluffy romances, but I really enjoyed reading GRUMPY FAKE BOYFRIEND, and that cover just screams awesome. A while ago, I watched a video on YouTube deconstructing toxic tropes in movies and TV shows, and it talked about how Asian men are often put in stereotypical roles for comic relief and are rarely portrayed as love interests (in fact ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 K.J. Charles added it

Shelves: m-f, contemporary

A very foodie Toronto-set romance that will make you crave pie. CEO meets pie shop owner. The romance is delightful, though I didn't quite feel the parental-trauma conflict purely because both MCs seem too loving, grounded and sensible. Mostly a low angst, highly likeable romance in a well developed setting and the pie descriptions will make you hungry. ...more

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Mar 14, 2019 Xan West added it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-f-rom-by-poc, 2019-releases, author-of-color

Content Warnings (view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-contemporary, romance, 2019-all, 2019-new, own-ebook

First, I really regret not having pie on hand while I was reading this. Learn from my mistake.

Second, this was really charming! I think this had the least bothersome final conflict in any of the books of Jackie Lau's that I've read and I really appreciated that. Josh is a much better son than I am daughter, because after 17 years of the silent treatment, I would probably not have kept trying in the same way. But I did get it.

Recommend checking this out! ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Emmalita rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, cbr11, romance, feminist

Around the time the Alabama Anti-Abortion bill passed, there was a conversation on twitter about romances that dealt with abortion in a positive/normalizing manner. You can find many of the tweets with #RomanceforRoe. It’s most often been treated as a moral issue instead of a healthcare issue, and that should go out the door with slut shaming. A few readers and authors chimed in with books that addressed abortion as a healthcare choice that didn’t ruin the main character’s life. Canadian author Around the time the Alabama Anti-Abortion bill passed, there was a conversation on twitter about romances that dealt with abortion in a positive/normalizing manner. You can find many of the tweets with #RomanceforRoe. It’s most often been treated as a moral issue instead of a healthcare issue, and that should go out the door with slut shaming. A few readers and authors chimed in with books that addressed abortion as a healthcare choice that didn’t ruin the main character’s life. Canadian author Jackie Lau pointed to two of her books which dealt with abortion, and luckily I was planning to read both next anyway.

This review is a little unfair to the books, because I’m really only focusing on one aspect, which could give the impression that they are Very Special Episodes. They are not. Each book has it’s own rich tapestry of issues and moments. Most importantly, though one character in each book deals with an abortion in their past, those abortions are not a hindrance to the Happily Ever After. I enjoy Lau’s writing very much. She brings depth and complexity to characters.

Josh Yu’s father hasn’t talked to him in 17 years. It makes Josh feel badly because his father is generally considered a good person and is a beloved teacher. When he was in high school, Josh and his girlfriend had sex without having been given the basics of sex ed. His girlfriend got pregnant and had an abortion. Josh’s ex-girlfriend has gone on to become an advocate for sex ed and is soon to marry someone else. Nothing Josh has achieved as an adult has pleased his father. It’s clear that the trauma wasn’t the abortion, but the ignorance that led to the unplanned pregnancy and the moral judgement of Josh’s father. His judgement traumatizes Josh and effectively separates him from his family.

Sarah has recently opened a sweet and savory pie shop. She’s wanted to open her own place for years, and has worked hard to gain experience and save money to the exclusion of all else in her life. After discovering her restaurant, Josh hits on the idea of having Sarah cater a Pi Day party, which is a math joke his father would appreciate. As they spend time together, they fall in love. While the teen pregnancy and abortion don’t come between Josh and Sarah, his father’s inability to let go of his disapproval does come between them.

Jackie Lau consistently does fantastic work with the complexity of family. She illustrates with compassion the way familial expectations and disappointments can be stumbling blocks as we try to go out in the world and be our own adults. Even loving families have the power to hurt with thoughtless words.

In both books, characters make the reproductive health choices that make the most sense for them. It in not the medical procedures they have that impact them negatively, but the stigma and judgement around those procedures. I believe very strongly in the power of pop culture to be a positive force in the world. We do need #RomanceforRoe. We do need to normalize making appropriate healthcare choices for ourselves. There is no point in my life that it would have been appropriate for me to be pregnant. I have never had to address a pregnancy, but I have sat with friends who have made the choice to terminate pregnancies for a number of reasons, I have talked with friends as they celebrated births, mourned lost pregnancies, and struggled with infertility. Every person I know who has contemplated abortion made the right choice for them at that moment in their life. No laws should strip a person of their right to appropriate healthcare, or hinder their access. ...more

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Feb 28, 2019 b.andherbooks rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, romance, arc

Ever read a book and get the hankering to eat everything the characters are? Well, The Ultimate Pi Day Party by Jackie Lau is definitely making me crave a pie (or three)! Set in her Baldwin Village series, this is a sweet and savory story of a tech geek falling for the town pie shop owner as they plan a mathematically delightful party to impress his estranged father. Out March 5th, I highly recommend!

Besides the delicious food descriptions, there were a myriad of small moments that really shone ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Maria Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: sexy-as-all-get-out, fully-reviewed-books, 4-star-reads

That was fun and now I crave pie, a not unexpected consequence! Lighthearted, low angst and sexy romance about a tech CEO and a pie shop owner whom he hires for a 'Pi Day' party as a way to reconcile with his estranged father. Lots of great Toronto multiculturalism on display! Recommended for readers who like food, diverse cultures and honest family dynamics with their HEA.

A copy of this story was provided by the author for review. ...more

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Feb 06, 2020 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it liked it

A fairly good romance read. Josh and Sarah are sweet, and, if anything, I'd say this book runs too sweet and easy for me. As much as I love fluff, I wanted a bit more depth and substance. That said, it was nice to read a diverse romance, and I enjoyed the Toronto setting as well. A quick and pleasant read, though not one likely to stick with me. ...more

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Mar 15, 2020 Taryn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-release, fiction, bipoc-author, contemporary, romance

The delightful story of Josh, founder of a tech company, who enlists Sarah, a bakery owner, to cater a Pi Day party for his employees. The guest of honor will be Josh’s father, who he’s had a strained relationship with since a high school mistake caused a rift between them. His dad is a math teacher, and Josh knows if there’s one way to break the ice and heal their relationship, it’s corny math jokes. Josh and Sarah have so much fun planning the menu for the party and tasting all the delicious s ...more

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Apr 01, 2019 Beth ~ Panda & Boodle rated it it was amazing

I regret waiting as long as I did to read this book—not that it could've really been avoided. But, guys . . . I really loved this one! Jackie Lau has become a favorite author of mine, for her smart, fun, light-hearted and diverse romance.

The Ultimate Pi Day Party is one of those books that you start and don't want to stop. The characters are charming and a little bit awkward, their love story refreshingly honest, their issues tense but not overly angsty or overwought. It is, simply put, a book ...more

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Mar 02, 2019 Lexie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Short story about Amrita & Holly - yes/yes?

More seriously, so very enjoyable. And heartfelt. Whether it was the honest communication between Sarah and Josh or how hard it was for the both of them to square the circle of what the other means in their life, this was a book about love from top to bottom.

The confession style narrative - with the point of view shifting between Josh and Sarah - works well here. Having a chance to "see" both of their sides of the story is helpful to understanding some ...more

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Mar 01, 2019 Christine rated it it was amazing

Hot Asian guy + delicious pies = a very happy carb-loving reader.

I'm always on the hunt for good pie, which is easy to find, and for romances with hot Asian heros which are not easy to find. Thanks to Jackie Lau, I now have both in one sweet story about two people who think they don't deserve love or success, and then discover they can have it all along with some amazing-sounding eats.

I loved Josh. A founder and CEO of his own company, Josh is humble and sweet to his friends and family, even a ...more

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Mar 21, 2020 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: cannonball-12

Sarah has defied her mother’s hopes and moved to the big city of Toronto (it was strange to read another book namedropping the same streets as Station Eleven so soon) and opened her own pie shop, Happy as Pie, in the Baldwin Street neighborhood. The store is doing well, and she’s hoping to expand into catering and possibly a second location down the line. Into her store walks Josh, CEO of a tech company his father sees no value in and number 19 on a list of Toronto’s 35 most eligible bachelors u ...more

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Sep 30, 2019 Bookish added it

Shelves: romance

I’ve been seeing Jackie Lau’s adorable covers everywhere for months, so when I spotted The Ultimate Pi Day Party on sale, I snatched it up and dove in. The book follows Sarah, a pie shop owner with aspirations of growing her business, and Josh, a tech CEO hoping to reconnect with his estranged father. Josh’s plan to reconnect with his dad involves hosting the titular ultimate pi day party and he knows that Sarah’s pies will win over his father. The two fall in love while party planning and sampl ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 Caro rated it really liked it

the writing got a bit repetitive towards the end, which kept me from giving it a higher rating, but this was: GREAT.

actual rating: 4.5/5

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Aug 26, 2020 Krista rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, romance, recby_twitter

Such a fun concept and well executed! A lovely solid central romance with minor highlights for me including math jokes and casual misogyny that's directly confronted *chef's kiss*. It has a satisfying ending for this couple, but I immediately glommed the rest of the trilogy (it's one of those "each friend gets her own book" deals). <3 ...more

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Mar 05, 2019 Pragati Chaudhari rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, arc, chick-lit, badass-women, family, contemporary, friendship, diverse-reads, adult, romcom

For full review - The Ultimate Pi Day Party on The Inked In Book Blog

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are entirely my own and in no way biased.*

The Ultimate Pi Day Party revolves around Josh & Sarah, who meet when Josh ends up at Sarah’s pie shop to get some dinner. Josh is going through *things* where his family is concerned and when he has the absolutely brilliant idea of throwing a Pi Day party to get his parents to visit him in Toronto, hoping that’ll help bridge For full review - The Ultimate Pi Day Party on The Inked In Book Blog

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are entirely my own and in no way biased.*

The Ultimate Pi Day Party revolves around Josh & Sarah, who meet when Josh ends up at Sarah’s pie shop to get some dinner. Josh is going through *things* where his family is concerned and when he has the absolutely brilliant idea of throwing a Pi Day party to get his parents to visit him in Toronto, hoping that’ll help bridge the gaps, he hires Sarah to cater at the event. As they spend more time together, they start to fall for each other, but with both of them having such different priorities in life, it gets a little difficult to maintain the relationship. Does it survive their individual goals and issues is the question.

I absolutely love Sarah. She’s this determined, smart, headstrong, and hardworking woman who is working really hard to achieve her dream of making her pie shop successful and well known. She keeps long hours at work and doesn’t have any friends because of this. Her coworkers are nice enough and they all share a good rapport, but they are not her friends. She has her mother, who has visited Toronto only once when he opened pie shop, and her sister who is busy in her own life – her job, her marriage, her kids. So, yes, she doesn’t really have many people in her life. And, it is not something that is brushed upon. We see it constantly. Just an errant thought in her head, a tinge of jealousy when she sees two people who are clearly close friends. She desires for that and it shows. We also see her make an effort to make friends. So, it’s not just a desire, but something she actively works on. I really liked that.

Then, there’s Josh. He is the CEO of a tech company and he has worked really hard to get where he is today. Something happened in his past which made his father angry, and now, 17 years later, his father still does not talk to him, does not acknowledge his existence in anyway. Getting his father to talk to him seems to be the most important thing in Josh’s life now that he is someone who his father could be proud of – a successful entrepreneur. That’s how the idea to throw a Pi Day party is born. His father is a mathematician, a retired professor who loves Pi Day and used to have a do with his students while he was still teaching at university. So, of course, it feels like the most logical thing that would bring his father to Toronto. And, it does.

I absolutely love the romance in this, though. It is so amazing. Soft and cute in places, passionate and hot in others. It was so much fun to see their relationship growing. They’re such a cute couple, I adore! One thing that I absolutely loved in this was how they were both equals in the relationship, emotionally speaking. We didn’t see one of them be more invested in the relationship while the other brushed them off. Both of them brought something to the relationship and they really cared about the other. It was really nice to see that because we see so often that one of the characters is always picking up the slack for the other in a relationship. I don’t like those dynamics and it was nice to see two people who were both interested in each other interact and fall in love.

I particularly love one scene where Josh mansplains and Sarah calls him out on it. It was handled really nicely and I loved how Josh realized that what he did was wrong and genuinely apologized to Sarah for doing so. Really nice to see that bit.

What I didn’t like was the climax. It felt pretty anti climactic after everything that had happened and I wanted Josh’s realization to have more power, to be a little more dramatic than it had been, given the way the things had been before it happened. Apart from this little tidbit, where I think we could have had a better climax (no puns intended, people :p), I absolutely loved the book! A really great love story and I’m definitely picking up more books by Lau! 🙂 ...more

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May 01, 2019 Megan added it

Shelves: fiction, contemporary-romance

Sweet, very food-centric, down-to-earth, and with more than a few funny moments. I laughed out loud a couple times. I loved how both characters realized early on how much they liked who they were--who they were free to be--when they were with the other person.

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Jul 20, 2019 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: written-by-aoc, 3-and-a-half-stars

Hmm... I think this is 3.5 stars, rounding up. Might move this to 4 stars but need to think about it.

I’m a big fan of Jackie’s books and despite having never been to Canada, I love her settings and I really want to visit Toronto! I’m not a big pie person but just a warning this book will make you HUNGRY so don’t read on an empty stomach like I did :)

I loved Sarah and her ambition and how vulnerable she allowed herself to be when she was opening herself up to Josh and to new friends. It’s hard ma Hmm... I think this is 3.5 stars, rounding up. Might move this to 4 stars but need to think about it.

I’m a big fan of Jackie’s books and despite having never been to Canada, I love her settings and I really want to visit Toronto! I’m not a big pie person but just a warning this book will make you HUNGRY so don’t read on an empty stomach like I did :)

I loved Sarah and her ambition and how vulnerable she allowed herself to be when she was opening herself up to Josh and to new friends. It’s hard making friends as an adult and I really identified with that part of the story. I loved that part of fulfilment for her was finding strong platonic friendships in addition to her career and her new relationship with Josh. I also loved that while initially she felt it would be a “distraction” for her that she didn’t hold on to this for too long. It was refreshing because I feel like that could’ve easily been artificially dragged out conflict in another author’s hands.

Josh was maybe the slightly less... I don’t want to say successful character, because I really liked Josh, but... I dunno. He’s so wonderful with Sarah (ugh I SWOONED when he bought her menstrual pads!!) and their relationship is so sweet and giddy but then there is this other side of his story involving his estrangement from his father. (view spoiler) At any rate I will say I liked that his character arc involved forgiving HIMSELF and not letting a toxic relationship with his father keep him from love.

The main thing stopping me from rating this higher is the part under the spoiler tag but like I said, I may raise this later because it really was a quick and enjoyable read and I just really love Jackie’s books and characters a lot.

CW: mention of teen abortion; mention of parent w/ cancer in past (now in remission) ...more

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Apr 01, 2019 Essie M rated it it was amazing

 This book is set in Toronto and it makes me appreciate the city I grew up in because Jackie does a great job of conveying the richness of all the various cultures intermingling. It’s also a great setting for an interracial couple because it’s not inconceivable or impossible. The city and Baldwin Village are places where relationships can and do blossom amongst people who aren’t necessarily of the same ethnic or racial background. As someone who’s been reading romance since I was 13ish (20+ year ...more

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Feb 13, 2019 Abi rated it really liked it

Jackie Lau books stand out in my head as a) fast reads and b) amazing character/world development. Okay, let’s throw in c) realistic romance. This book falls right in line!

Josh and Sarah have an organic love story that was so much fun to read. Josh is a CEO, but not one of those stuffy too rich alpha types, with some daddy issues. He still has a really magnetic personality that attracts small business owner, Sarah. Sarah, too, has some family issues. The way they deal with their own family/pers ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 Julia ❤︎ rated it liked it

Shelves: romeo-and-juliett-syndrome, romantically-swoon-worthy, love-of-the-contemporary-variety, meh-could-have-been-better

The Ultimate Pi Day Party was a nice low-angst read! I think it was a bit to insta-love for me but I was still pretty invested. I did think it was a bit much that his dad didn't speak to him for 17 years and that his mom didn't really push his dad for reconciliation but hey everybody's got some sort of family drama.

*also reading this made me want some pie!* ...more

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Mar 02, 2019 Lauren loves llamas rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, arc, netgalley, contemporary, yummy-food, canadian, toronto, read-in-2019, baker

I’m a pretty big fan of Jackie Lau’s contemporary rom-coms, so I jumped on this! It’s the official start of the new Baldwin Village series (though there was a prequel Christmas novella). Like the pies Sarah sells, this book is both sweet and savory, and oh so yummy. One quick warning – this book will make you SO hungry!

Josh, CEO of a tech company and one of Toronto’s hottest eligible bachelors, decides to throw a Pi Day party to entice his retired mathematician father to visit Toronto. His fathe I’m a pretty big fan of Jackie Lau’s contemporary rom-coms, so I jumped on this! It’s the official start of the new Baldwin Village series (though there was a prequel Christmas novella). Like the pies Sarah sells, this book is both sweet and savory, and oh so yummy. One quick warning – this book will make you SO hungry!

Josh, CEO of a tech company and one of Toronto’s hottest eligible bachelors, decides to throw a Pi Day party to entice his retired mathematician father to visit Toronto. His father hasn’t talked to him since a teenage mishap and he’s hoping that going all out will start to rebuild their relationship. So rather than just buying grocery store apple pies, Josh decides to order a veritable buffet of sweet and savory pies from a local business, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the proprietor, Sarah, is a very attractive woman. Through the course of planning the party, a romance ensures, naturally, and it all culminates in the big party. Will Sarah’s catering be successful? Will the party impress Josh’s dad? Or will it lead to a very un-sweet end to their relationship?

“If you have to bring a pie to Christmas dinner but don’t bake. Or if you want to propose to your girlfriend using pumpkin pie or butter tarts.”
“Seriously? Those both happened?”
“On Valentine’s Day. The butter tart guy wanted fifteen butter tarts, one letter on top of each tart to spell ‘Will you marry me?’ Then he contacted me the day of, wondering if he should have six more butter tarts to add ‘please’ to the question.”
“So polite and Canadian,” Chloe says.”

Sarah was adorably awkward. She moved to Toronto from a small town for the opportunities, and now that she finally has her own pie shop, she’s determined to make a success. She works long hours, and besides her employees, she doesn’t make the time to meet people or do much after work other than watch Netflix. Watching her make friends with her new neighbors (of which one is the MC for the next book) was sweet, and I totally felt her anxiety about screwing up with them. What was also cute was how awkward Josh got around her! As mentioned, Josh has some serious dad issues. As a teen, Josh’s mom got sick, and he rebelled, and not just in the typical Asian “get B’s on the math test” way. It caused a schism with his father, and while his mom got better and the rest of the family talks to him, no one seems willing to address the grudge his dad is still holding. Even as a successful CEO, with a giant house in a swanky Toronto neighborhood, he still feels like he’s not enough. He has this in common with Sarah, as well – her mom told her that her business was doomed to fail – so, instead, they prop each other up. I liked how Josh loved Sarah’s passion for her business, and how confident he was that, despite never having done catering before, she’d be able to cater his party. They had some pretty great chemistry together, and it was fun watching them figure out how a relationship works.

There are a few things I’d consider hallmarks of Ms. Lau’s book – the comedic elements (Josh’s family members one-upping each other to pay at the dim sum restaurant had me howling), the food (YUM!), and the family warmth. While that last part isn’t initially evident, Josh’s friends provide a good substitute, especially when they decide to regale Sarah with embarrassing stories about him. As for the rest, I thought the conflict was believable, and I liked the way the resolution wrapped up all the threads nicely.

Overall, I’m excited by the direction of this new series and impatiently awaiting the next one. Plus, personally, I’m hoping for a novella with Amrita, one of Josh’s coworkers, and her fianceé Holly!

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ...more

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Feb 21, 2019 Kristin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was lucky enough to receive an e-ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, this is my first ever Jackie Lau book and it did not disappoint. I also loved that this is set in Toronto. A city that I really want to visit. While I was reading, it felt like I was in Baldwin Village too walking along the streets and ducking into various restaurants and shops sampling everything from pho to dim sum and of course pies. All the food references in this book also made me so hungr ...more

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Feb 18, 2019 Romana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-romance, characters-of-colour, read-in-2019, arc

ARC supplied by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Ultimate Pi Day Party is such a delicious novel. The story follows Josh, the CEO of a tech start-up based in Toronto, he's determined to repair his strained relationship with his maths teacher father and has the perfect idea in mind about how to do that. A Pi Day party featuring a lot (really, it's a lot) of pie. That's where Sarah, owner of a small pie making business, comes into the picture. Josh hires her to cater his party

ARC supplied by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The lead characters, Josh and Sarah, have such great chemistry and are so delightful to read about. Lau shows us a relationship where neither of the characters have much experience with dating and are therefore very much learning as they go along about how they can be a good partner and make each other happy. Josh is a very sweet hero who is genuinely kind and understanding. While he is a CEO, he isn't the alpha hero who is controlling or in any way less than a perfect match for Sarah. Josh is vulnerable and it is his vulnerabilities that lead to much of the tension in the novel, especially between him and his parents. Sarah is a genuinely kick-ass heroine who is determined to make her mark on the world through her small business and is eager to expand. Throughout the novel we get to see as Sarah becomes more sure of herself and her relationship with others. This is not just Josh's influence, but also Sarah meeting new people outside of her romantic relationship. Additionally, the sex scenes do an excellent job of furthering the characters and the relationship between them. They feature explicit consent at every stage.

I especially enjoyed that Lau talked about how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult. Sarah openly admits that she does not have many friends. We get to see her slow progress in making friends with new small business owners. They are supportive and just as important in Sarah's character arc as her romantic relationship is. I'm looking forward to seeing this relationship grow in the rest of the series as the next book focuses on Chloe, Sarah's friend and one of the owners of the new ice cream parlour.

The Ultimate Pi Day Party is very much a story of reconciling with your family and navigating the relationship with your parents as you're growing up. We get to see both Josh and Sarah go through this process as they try to repair strained relationships and make sense of comments that their parents have made in the past about them. The two have open discussions with their parents about the issues that exist in their relations, although Sarah definitely has an easier time of it than Josh. It's a topic that Lau handles expertly and I found myself feeling for both of the characters.

Jackie Lau write a very fun novel with a loveable main couple which also manages to deal with some heavily issues. It manages to make you feel many things, laugh, and leave you craving a lot of pie. I can't wait to read the next in this pretty delicious new series. Also, have you seen that cover? Really, that alone should be reason enough to read this book.

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Mar 07, 2019 cookiemonger rated it really liked it

After a teenage indiscretion, Josh Yu has been fighting for his father’s approval, facing silence and estrangement, for nearly two decades. Then he gets the idea to throw a Pi Day party and invite his parents.

Sarah Winters has her own share of parental disapproval. Her mother was against her moving from their small town to start a pie-centred bakery in Toronto. But Sarah’s doing quite well, aside from having too little romance and not enough friends.

I have feelings about this book, which is cool ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Anne rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019, romance

The first book in Jackie Lau's Baldwin Village series introduces readers to a bakery owner named Sarah, who is determined to see her shop succeed despite her mom's lack of faith in her, and Josh, a tech CEO who's been estranged from his father since high school. I keep hearing about Jackie Lau's books from other readers and I decided to dive into this sweet tale to get a taste of her writing for myself.

Both of our leads are juggling their professional goals and their parents' expectations in v ...more

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Feb 21, 2019 Ekaterine Xia rated it really liked it

I really, really, really liked The Ultimate Pi Day Party.
There were so many little things that just made it work - I loved that savory pie was a Thing, that there were cookies made in the shape of pi, that Sarah called Josh out out on mansplaining, that Sarah was working so hard for what she wanted and finding joy in it and and and a whole lot of other things.
But really, her calling him out on mansplaining was awesome. *cough sorry *
I did feel that it was a bit hard to reconcile how fast things ...more

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Mar 03, 2020 Beth Amy rated it liked it · review of another edition

No warning & deceptive info

The actual STORY part makes up 2/3...no, closer to 1/2 , of the book.

The rest is sex...likely physioloogialy impossible sex. Pornography. The story itself, what there is ofnit, is not bad at all...in the brief, sex-free interludes.

Now, if smut's your thing, you'll adore this book.

It's not mine. Unlike some people who read romance novels, I actually have inercourse & know how to do it. I don't need an instruction manual.

Besides, if sex was so difficult, we wouldn't have ...more

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Feb 27, 2021 Elena Johansen rated it really liked it

Shelves: acquired-in-2020, read-in-2021, mount-tbr-2021

Coming to this straight from the novella that's first in the series, I had hopes for better character development with more space to let them grow, and I got it.

I also had hopes that the writing style might not be as straightforward--if there's more length to allow for it, there might be room for more subtlety--but the narrative relies heavily on both leads doing internal monologue like they're dictating a diary. If that's just a hallmark of Lau's style, I'll deal with it, but I prefer character ...more

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About Jackie Lau

Jackie Lau

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Jackie Lau decided she wanted to be a writer when she was in grade two, sometime between writing “The Heart That Got Lost” and “The Land of Shapes.” She later studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to writing romance novels.

Jackie lives in Toronto with her husband, and despite living in Canada her whole life, she hates winter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking, hi ...more