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Happy Endings

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With her debut novel, Thien-Kim Lam serves up a sexy second-chance romance about exes with unfinished business. When working together reignites their passion, will these former flames sizzle or get burned all over again? 

Trixie Nguyen is determined to make her sex toy business a success, proving to her traditional Vietnamese parents that she can succeed in a nontraditional career. She's made a fresh start in Washington DC, and her first pop-up event is going well—until she runs into the ex who dumped her. With a Post-it note.

The last person Andre Walker expected to see in his soul food restaurant was the woman he left behind in New Orleans. Their chemistry is still scorching, but he's desperately trying to save his family restaurant from gentrifying developers. The solution? Partnering with his ex to turn Mama Hazel’s into a vibrator pop-up shop for hungry and horny clients.

Thanks to their steamy truce, both businesses start to sizzle and their red-hot desire soon reignites deeper feelings. But when Trixie receives an incredible career opportunity, will pride ruin their second chance at happiness?

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2021

125 people are currently reading
9429 people want to read

About the author

Thien-Kim Lam

5 books370 followers
Thien-Kim writes stories about Vietnamese characters who smash stereotypes and find their happy endings. A recovering Type-Asian, she guzzles cà phê sữa đá, makes art, and bakes her feelings to stay sane. Thien-Kim is also the founder of Bawdy Bookworms, a subscription box that pairs sexy romances with erotic toys. She’s been featured on NPR, BBC America, and NBC. Thien-Kim’s debut romance, Happy Endings, will be released with Avon Books in May 2021. Connect with her at www.thienkimlam.com

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5 stars
233 (9%)
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678 (26%)
3 stars
1,054 (41%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 624 reviews
Profile Image for Nilufer Ozmekik.
3,115 reviews60.6k followers
August 15, 2021
Hurray! The heroine of the story is selling sex toys and she is so confident to talk about sex, self pleasure and the attendants of her lectures are not only consisted of the women on her 20’s or 30’s, the women in 50’s and 70’s are there to discover more about themselves, too. Hell yeah! This thought provoking, inspirational theme of the novel truly picked my interest and I start to hear 5 stars alert!

Trixie is definitely one of the best heroines you may be introduced in romance literature world . Now she is ready to make a fresh start in D.C. till and she’s so enthusiastic about her first pop-up event but unfortunately she also bumps into a ghost from her past: the ex who dumped her with a post it! Ouch! And the worst part about her meeting is she realizes she is still harboring feelings for this asshole.

Andre Walker only wants to save her parents’ soul food restaurant Mama Hazel from gentrifying developers which means he has to bury the hatchets and team up with his ex who has brilliant marketing ideas like turning into their restaurant into vibrator pop-up shop for needy clients! And surprisingly that plan works amazingly!

I loved the ownvoices kind of free, independent, powerful messages of the book inspire the women can achieve anything they dream of! I also loved Trixie, her toughness, her smartness and confidence even though she’s still resentful to her Vietnamese family who want her make more traditional career choices.

But the romance part of the book was the weakest element! After that painful breakup, Trixie just jumps to Andre without thinking any further. Okay, sex might be too steamy but they act like immature brats and fail so bad in the relationship part.

They cannot form a healthy dialogue between each other and those misunderstandings between them are way too much irritating and I’m from the beginning till the end I thought Andre was ass! His final big gesture which is classic move for the romcoms didn’t save him. I still want to punch him so bad!

If I grade this book as a romance I would give it three stars! But I enjoyed the sex positivity premise, powerful heroine, multicultural representation so I’m adding extra half star and rounding this up to 4 stars!

I’d love to see braver, strong, though, powerful women characters who can rock the world, take no shit and stand for themselves that truly inspire me!

I’m looking forward to read more works of the author sooner.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Profile Image for Grace✨.
207 reviews95 followers
March 28, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an EArc in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 89%

I feel slightly bad DNFing an arc, but as you can see I REALLY tried to finish this book, but I was genuinely so bored I had to put it down to move to greener pastures. I thought it would be beneficial to show my pros and cons for this book.
Pros:
-Great sex scenes. Trixie sells sex toys, and they made the sex scenes really different from what I've read before and I loved them! They were better than many other romances I've read but obviously, a book needs more going for it than that.
-Delicious food. I was so hungry reading this book! It was a mixture of Vietnamese food and soul food, and it all sounded amazing, it may have even inspired me to try a few recipes myself!
Cons:
-The writing was so flawed. So much dialogue felt very robotic and a means to an end (advancing the plot). Obviously dialogue should be relevant to the plot but it was SO robotic and awkward I didn't enjoy it. It also felt like things were overly explained to us, like their breakup (they are exes at the beginning) was brought up and explained sooo many times and it made this book very repetitive and boring.
-The characters and their motivations were boring. I feel like this goes hand in hand with poor writing, because I feel like they could have been made interesting if the plot and writing was improved, but I'm reviewing this book and this book was hard to pick up because I did not care what happened to the characters and their relationship.
-This is nitpicky, but the main character has a friend group that calls THEMSELVES the Boss Babes. Not only are they giving themsleves a TITLE for their friend group, but it's Boss Babes??? I cringed every time I read it.

Overall, I was really underwhelemed and bored by this book. I ended up reading it for the sex scenes and sloughing through everything inbetween them. It's honestly a shame because the premise of this book was very exciting and different, but it was poorly executed. I personally feel like there are much better romance STORIES that also have great sex scenes that are more worth people's time, but give this a go if you really like the premise!
Profile Image for Hannah B..
1,176 reviews2,160 followers
January 2, 2022
✨Unhappy beginnings, middles, and endings✨

Hey hun ;) I LOVE your page and I noticed you liking my posts as well. Are you on a sexual (re)discovery journey like me? — what Trixie would most certainly DM her followers on Instagram because she was totally in a sex toy MLM. Seriously, her company was offering a car for the most sales and she had to buy all the product and it was totally a shady situation. Did she win the car? I literally have no clue my soul left my body and floated back after I returned this book so it’s all a blur but I really hope she did and drove the hell away from Andre.

If anyone would invite me to be a boss babe I would run for the hills. Oh yeah didn’t I mention that she has a group of girlfriends who call themselves The Boss Babes? UNIRONICALLY. Gag me with a spoon. Somebody get the iodine!

Andre, dear sweet mess of a character Andre. What a dick on a stick. Nope on a rope. Nob on a cob. Andre has what I like to call the “redeeming dick” character arc. He can do all wrong and still be forgiven because his penis is magical and shoots sparkles and can be bought in five different colors—at least the heroine seems to think so. THE PEEN REDEEMS. He messes up? She needs to climb him like a tree. He has a temper both drunk and sober? Make like a train and rail her. He’s so controlling and manipulative and hypocritical with all of the women in his life including the elders in his community by thinking he has the right to control whether or not they get vibrators because he can’t fathom them as sexual beings because they’re old and already had “enough sex?” *Paris Hilton voice* ᵀʰᵃᵗ’ˢ ʰᵒᵗ

Seriously his character was so flawed I am not sure how he got past editorial. Maybe he’s that Night Fox dude from Ocean’s Twelve and very good at parkour. I seriously could not handle his tantrum about Trixie wanting to rent that space. No, that lovely woman-owned co-op was not the culprit behind Mama Hazel’s lack of success. Maybe your unwillingness to change and intense pigheadedness were to blame. Curiosity killed the cat? Well hubris killed the fucking VIBES of this book. His pride was unmanageable and intolerable.

Also maybe instead of hating gluten free and vegan restaurants, try to offer some alternative options at your restaurant to counter them? Also tell your damn sister about the restaurant troubles and don’t make her go to college if she doesn’t want to. Or maybe just move to Antarctica and go bother some penguins. Andrearctica has a lovely ring to it. Further, maybe get a community grant or something because giving out free meals from a restaurant that has no money makes no sense. It’s a lovely tradition but there will be no meals if you go out of business.

He needed to stop trying to be fucking Fix-it Felix and just keep to his damn self. He had an opinion and overreaction for EVERY little situation and person he thought he was “helping” when he just wasn’t listening to what they wanted. He left Trixie in New Orleans because he thought he knew better than her. I absolutely hate it when someone makes decisions for the other because they “know what’s best.” Patronizing to the max. Also him leaving was literally so pointless and solved nothing and was RUDE.

Bonus: Xaviers poem 💀💀💀😭😭😭💀💀💀 I’m sorry but my god that was painful.

The sex was hot yeah but there was so much wasted potential. Plus it would have been severely hotter if I’d have actually liked Andre and wanted him to thrive. Trixie wanted to be the one in control but it wasn’t all that hard-hitting or explored to the lengths it could have been. Plus with the amount of sex toys mentioned the fact that they only used one was criminal. Well one and some weird lube that seemed terrible idk idk.

The writing—especially the dialogue—was stiff, repetitive and very unnatural at many moments. Don’t get the audiobook. So many of these issues were exacerbated by hearing them out loud. I ended the audiobook at 3.0x speed and I could comprehend it all—do with that what you will. I had more issues with Andre than the overall written book but coupled together this was kind of a disaster. I didn’t care about much of anything or anyone and wanted it to be over.

Overall, this book did not spark joy.

⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶.25*/5

*.25🌶s deducted because fuck Andre, man, I don’t want him getting lucky.
Profile Image for Larry H.
3,069 reviews29.6k followers
August 28, 2021
Happy Endings , the debut novel from Thien-Kim Lam, is a second-chance romance that will leave you hungry. (For what, I won’t say.)

It’s amazing, this is the second rom-com I’ve read in the last few months which has selling sex toys as part of the plot. And the steam in this one? Woo, boy. 🔥

Trixie Nguyen is determined to prove to her parents and herself that she can make it in the sex toy business, not quite the traditional career path for a Vietnamese woman. She’s ready for a fresh start in Washington, DC—and then she encounters her ex, Andre Walker, who dumped her when they lived in New Orleans. With a Post-it.

The last thing Andre is expecting is to see Trixie again. He’s trying to save his family’s soul food restaurant, but he can’t stop thinking about her. Both are in desperate need of a win, so they put the past behind them and team up, creating a pop-up sex toy shop in the restaurant. And business umm, grows, for both.

But when Trixie gets a great opportunity, what will taking it mean for her relationship with Andre? Do they even have a relationship or do they want one? Will they be able to be honest with one another and rid themselves of their past baggage once and for all?

This was a steamy and fun rom-com. I enjoy second-chance love stories and love non-traditional couples. Thanks to Avon Books for the complimentary copy of Happy Endings in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Profile Image for Lacey (laceybooklovers).
2,144 reviews12k followers
July 16, 2021
2.5-3 stars. I wanted to love this one sooo bad. It has everything I usually love: second chance romance, lovers to enemies to lovers, a foodie romance. Unfortunately, I struggled with the hero's character. He is too closed off and takes on the weight of everything and everyone in his life. He never thinks to ask for help or even say yes to help when it's offered. It's so very clear he needs it, trying to save his family's soul food restaurant.

Thankfully the heroine's character is more enjoyable. I loved that she sells sex toys! The sex positivity here was great. But other than that... the romance is underwhelming. They fall back into bed with one another and Andre barely tries at all to make amends for hurting Trixie (he broke up with her with a post-it after being with her for 2 years???). It felt like Andre wasn't putting that much effort into the romance, which was a huge let down. I'm pretty disappointed I couldn't love this one more.
Profile Image for JenReadsRomance.
304 reviews1,602 followers
June 17, 2021
This is a terrific read and I think so many people are going to love it. It's super hot! I liked all the characters and that push-pull between family of origin and the future we want to have. Trixie is a great character and her determination to do what is best for her is admirable and well-handled.

I did knock it down to 4 stars because some of the basic stuff--timeline and setting, mostly--was slightly confusing. Trixie has a bunch of great friends in DC, but she and Andre met in New Orleans, but now they are both in DC, and I'll be honest, some of that just felt muddled to me. This was in no way a deal breaker, but I just had to let a lot of that go. Also, the post-it note break-up was frankly unforgivable given their history. It felt like a great hook to get the reader into the story, but then author's have to deal with these big splashy beginnings they created, and it just felt out of character for Andre once I got to know him.

I read an ARC of this book from the publisher.
Profile Image for Syndi.
3,710 reviews1,038 followers
November 4, 2021
Happy Endings is good. Surprisingly good. I can not believe this is a debut novel. Like many others readers, I am taken with the heroine who is minority and choose a career as sex toy sales woman.

Miss Lam puts voice for woman of color in odd job and stay true to herself. The sex is hot. Andre also a swoony hero. I like thr chemistry.

I am looking forward for the next book by Miss Lam.

4 stars
Profile Image for Ms. Woc Reader.
783 reviews899 followers
February 22, 2021
Trixie Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American sex toy therapist who hails from New Orleans. After a messy breakup she moved to DC for a fresh start. Determined to prove her parents wrong she has a 5 yr plan which includes becoming a top seller. She's found a group of close friends, does volunteer work she enjoys, and is overall a more confident woman.

Andre Walker took over his momma's soul food restaurant after she died but it hasn't been doing well. 2 years ago he left his girlfriend by breaking up via a note and moved out of New Orleans. So of course he's surprised when she shows up at his restaurant and he discovers she's friends with his sister. The last thing he wants is to defile the image of his mother's restaurant with pop up sex toy events especially with his ex as the host. But what other options do they have to easily bring in business right now?

I really appreciated the sex positivity in this story. Trixie tries to educate both young and older women about sex and help them be comfortable in their own bodies.

The sex scenes were hot and there was even some inclusion of toys which I've never read in a contemporary romance. Trixie and Andre had no problems in that regard.

This book also touches upon gentrification as the neighborhood surrounding Mama Hazel's restaurant has had significant rent increases over the years and an influx of hipsters. The restaurant is one of the few neighborhood staples left.

While I understood Andre was still dealing with his grief he was a hard character to root for at times. He harbors the weight of everything on his shoulders despite friends and family constantly begging him to let them help. He need to dal with his control issues when it came to both his sister and Trixie.

I think there was a lot of family drama to get over and that was too quickly resolved without much effort. I think more time needed to be spent on resolving those issues since the book was already in women's fiction territory. And those larger issues made it hard to enjoy Trixie and Andre as a couple outside of the bedroom. Overall this is a fast paced read worth checking out at least to get a little variation from your usual contemporary.

I received an arc from Avon Romance in exchange for honest review
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
Profile Image for Stacee.
3,031 reviews758 followers
May 9, 2021
I was really excited about this synopsis and I’m here wondering if it should be two stars instead of three.

I really liked Trixie. She’s passionate and loyal and dedicated to teaching. Her friends are supportive and fantastic. I loved the scenes of all of them together (excluding the fact that they legit referred to themselves and “Boss Babes.) Andre is just okay. He’s sort of alpha and hears, but doesn’t listen and thinks he can do it all himself.

Plot wise, it was okay. I loved Trixie’s determination and her side of the story is what kept me reading. The second chance romance part was all sex and no real communication. Andre was an ass at every turn and I wanted a lot more for his redemption.

Overall, the food descriptions were spot on and the sex positivity was so great to see. Sadly, there was definitely something missing for me.

**Huge thanks to Avon for providing the arc free of charge**
Profile Image for Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins.
720 reviews173 followers
June 6, 2022
Happy Endings is a delight to read. The blurb maybe overstates the stakes a little (they’re comfortingly low), and there’s a cast of supportive, empowering characters that keep the mood up. All told, it’s a fun second-chance romance with a sweet message and (as the title suggests) a happy ending for all involved.

My full review of Happy Endings is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
Profile Image for Amanda at Bookish Brews.
338 reviews259 followers
July 17, 2021
Wow I really loved this book, it's the perfect steamy light summer read! But with a Viet main character!!! Read my full review here!!! :)

Here's a preview:
Steamy, heartwarming, sweet, fun, sex-positive, delicious, and witty

Happy Endings was truly a delight. This book was so easy to read and so fun I was in love with it from the start. The writing makes it so easy to breeze through, the characters are hilarious and provide such fun depth, and the sex-positivity was so refreshing to read. I really loved this book, it’s a perfect combination of steamy and sweet!

Quick Summary: Trixie is determined to make her sex toy business a success to prove to her parents that she can be successful in a nontraditional career. Andre is struggling to keep his family’s soul food restaurant afloat, and the last person he expects to see in his restaurant is the girl he left behind in New Orleans without a word, Trixie.

I really loved Trixie’s friend group, the Boss Babes. I’m not sure how much I love the name, but I love the friend group. They are a group of women entrepreneurs, and they have weekly meetings to keep each other accountable for their goals and to cheer each other on. I love a good found family, but a business family? of women entrepreneurs? Incredible. Every woman needs a group of friends like this. Especially women entrepreneurs! Keep reading...

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Profile Image for Amber.
970 reviews94 followers
July 16, 2021
2.5 stars

Happy Endings brought creative sex scenes but never delivered the romantic connection.

Trixie and Andre were in a fairly serious relationship until Andre up and left her without any notice. Two years later, the two formed an unexpected partnership that would bring Andre’s restaurant more business and allow Trixie to host her sex toy pop-ups to a larger audience. By working in close proximity, sexual tension brewed and they had to decide if their relationship was worth persuing again.

Happy Endings sounded amazing on paper but it never quite delivered. Trixie was a strong, independent character and her unconventional occupation made her a fun read; however, like all of the other characters in Happy Endings, she lacked depth. It was hard to connect with the characters which may have been in part because of the writing. At times, the writing and dialogue were clunky, but the ideas were good. Some of the interactions felt forced and it was difficult to imagine Andre and Trixie in some all-consuming relationship, even with Trixie and Andre repeatedly talking about how the other was The One. Despite my hiccups with this book, I enjoyed Lam’s inclusion of sex toys in intimate scenes and the creative mix of soul food with Vietnamese food.

Happy Endings was a clunky introduction to Lam’s world and characters, but there is room for growth if the series continues.
Profile Image for Katy O..
2,976 reviews705 followers
June 13, 2021
(Free review copy) I loved all of the elements of this story ~ the cast of characters, the setting, the food, the sex toy business and all of the other sex positive content. The actual story and writing was a little too “and then it happened - poof!” for me, if that makes any sense. It’s hard to put my finger on it but I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking, “of COURSE xyz would happen all of a sudden” and so on. It has a ton of potential and if you are in less of an eye-rolling mood than I was and are eager for one of the rare sex positive trade fiction books, give this a try!
Profile Image for Ruth.
713 reviews297 followers
abgebrochen
June 27, 2021
Bei 20% abgebrochen. Ich mag nicht, wenn Expaare, die sich wiederfinden sollen, beim ersten Aufeinandertreffen nach einer fiesen Trennung als erstes denken, uuuuh, die Person ist immer noch voll heiß...
Profile Image for Darci.
683 reviews156 followers
May 3, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ star

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Trixie Nguyen, a first generation Vietnamese-American, tries to find a balance between her sex-positive job and traditional, highbrow parents when she comes face-to-face with her ex-boyfriend of two years, Andre Walker, and must learn to work with him to further both their careers.

💭 Overall Thoughts: While the premise had me very excited, several aspects left me feeling disappointed. The start was enjoyable to read, but the ending was more difficult to get through.

What I Liked:
👍 Sex Positivity: I couldn't get enough of Trixie's passion for spreading sexual knowledge and positivity! Her in-depth and hilarious descriptions of sex toys and demonstrations with Andre using several of the accessories were a highlight for me. The clash between her job and what her parents wanted her to do as a career resonated heavily with me, and I was so happy to see Trixie continue doing what she wanted with her own life. I also loved how drawn to Trixie Andre was upon seeing her so openly talking about sex and how happy she looked doing it. This was such a sweet aspect. I loved to see the carry over of sex toys in Trixie and Andre's own sex life--we never see enough of this in romance novels!
👍 The Mix/Meeting of Cultures: I loved the rich descriptions of each characters cultures from the multiple POVs we were given. One of my favorite moments was when Andre found a creative way to mix both of their backgrounds in food. It was so creative and such a sweet and vulnerable moment between the two of them!

What I Didn’t Like:
👎 The Dialogue: I didn't feel the dialogue flowed very well in general. It was stiff and awkward to read most of the time, which made getting through the book quite difficult. A lot of the conversations simply felt awkward and unnatural.
👎 General Romance Plot: Truthfully, I couldn't get into the love story. Andre's motivations made little sense to me, and it was hard to move forward when what he did (breaking up with her via a post-it note) felt so purposeless. You just... don't do that to someone you're with for 2 years if you respect them. This initial element had a domino effect on how I felt about the rest of their relationship, and in the end I didn't feel invested in them much at all.

💞 Read this if you liked: Smut by Karina Halle and A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

⚠️ Content Warnings: Nothing sensitive I could think of.
Profile Image for Weekend Reader_.
1,085 reviews95 followers
May 24, 2021
I am confused. Everything about this book I should have loved but...

The plot a sex toy salesperson (sex educator/health advocate) and a bartender having second chance romance. Cool. But Trixie is wishy washy I hate you, let's have sex, why didn't you tell your friends about me. Girl Andre does not sound good on paper (emotionally unavailable) and broke up with you on a freaking post it. Y'all can't be friends with benefits if the smell of fried chicken reminds you of him (wtf). Between the robotic writing/dialogue and what felt like microagressions I'm having a hard time understanding the hype. Y'all if I skipped over the sex scenes you know it was bad.

I will say the diverse cast and an interracial relationship that highlights interpersonal miscommunication was interesting. I really wanted like this book more and maybe that's why I'm so frustrated.

CW: parental manipulation/guilt, sick parent, parental death (cancer), self-esteem issues (body), breakup/ghosting, financial insecurity

Steam level: Medium

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an ARC via libro.fm credit in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Elyse (ElyseReadsandSpeaks).
1,061 reviews50 followers
June 6, 2021
Sigh. I was thoroughly bored during this one. Honestly, the one thing they would keep pulling me back in a little was Trixie's sex toy discussions - especially when she hosted a pop up for 60-70 year olds. But other than that, this was just blah.

I'm not crazy about the break up post-it just because it feels like it was directly lifted from Sex and the City. She even mentions the show somewhere in this book so it definitely felt intentional.

The relationship between Trixie and Andre didn't do anything for me. It felt cheesy quite often and it kind of bugged me that Andre was immediately head over heels for a girl he broke up with on a post-it and never tried to see again or make amends with. And suddenly she's there and he's in love and is talking to his friend about asking her to be his girlfriend. Yeah. There were honestly things in here that felt very 6th grade. It alternated between feeling like middle school and then lots of sex so it was just jarring.

Not a hit for me. I liked the sex toy education stuff, but the relationship and the plot itself did nothing for me.
Profile Image for Felicia Grossman.
Author 9 books198 followers
June 8, 2021
This book was super adorable. It's a second chance romance, which is often super hard, especially in cases like this, where our main characters, Trixie and Andre dated as adults, basically lived together and broke-up. Basically, Andre was a jerk. He had good intentions but, like one of his bigger issues he needed to get over in the book, he had to TALK TO THE PERSON HE CARED ABOUT, work with them as a TEAM, instead of just trying to "help" them by secretly sacrificing bits of himself. With a less skilled writer, Trixie would have never entertained getting by with him in the first places, but this was done so well that you understood and believed it and even rooted for it (even though you knew he was going to screw up again). It just worked so, so, well. I mean the sex was hot, the friend groups and family were fun and well done, the career arcs for both of them worked, but really what made this special was how well the relationship work and how they grew into it and themselves. It was just done so, so, so, well, and the ending was perfect. I highly recommend.
Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].
2,041 reviews754 followers
March 24, 2021
I really enjoyed this! It was heartwarming, fun, and had so much emotion (and great food)! Yes, the ending was a little too easily well-wrapped up, but I didn't care—I wanted Trixie and Andre and everyone else to end up happy and whole and financially stable, with their dreams coming true for themselves, each other, and their community.

Full RTC.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review
Profile Image for Shealea.
506 reviews1,255 followers
Read
May 24, 2021
The TL;DR is read for the sex scenes (and maybe the sex positivity), not for anything else.
Profile Image for Amber Medley.
190 reviews64 followers
Read
May 18, 2022
I'm going to be honest... I could have put this up and completely forgotten to finish it. And I would have missed nothing.
Profile Image for Farhana JC.
359 reviews24 followers
October 30, 2021
*3.75 stars
The issues going on between the hero and heroine feel a little repetitive at times but I did LOVE the Vietnamese representation and the focus on family, friendships and foood! Also this book was 🥵
Profile Image for Chelé-----4 The Love of Books .
1,025 reviews56 followers
January 30, 2021
3.5!


I think this is the QUICKEST I have ever clicked to request a book and my fingers were crossed that the publishing Gods would bless me and they did! My book loving heart just knew that this diverse mix is what I needed! A bad ass Vietnamese heroine and a strong black hero? Own voice author, Count me in!!!

I was in heaven with all the culture and representation  in this story and the constant mention of Phở and soul food? Yum! Yes please!

Trixie was dumped a la "post-it-note" Yep. A note! Just like Berger did Carrie on Sex and the City ...smh. That immediately put Andre on my shit list, like who does that to someone!? That was 2 years ago when he up and disappeared from the life they shared in New Orleans. Now Trixie has pulled herself together and has a new life in D.C. She does private pop up shows where she empowers women by selling sex toys and paraphernalia in hopes of having her own sex toy boutique one day.

Trixie is preparing for a pop up show at a local restaurant when she looks up and sees Andre. Awkwardddddd!! He's just as shocked to see her in HIS restaurant that he co owns with his sister. From there we follow these two through their journey of getting to know each other again.


My favorite part about this book besides the look into Trixie's thoughts and experiences as being a daughter of immigrants and of being raised in and by a Vietnamese community and family...... and the dynamics and expectations of that is Trixie's girlfriends! There's 3 of them and with Trixie they call themselves the Boss Babes. These 4 are goals!!  Brilliant, vibrant, smart, supportive and protective of each other. There's Josie, she's black and runs a boudoir photography business, Zoe her roommate who is also Vietnamese and runs a plus-size lingerie shop, and Reina, my favorite fiery redhead runs a male burlesque club.

Their bond saved this book for me. I was WAY more invested in their frienship and hilarious conversations and in-depth talks then Andre and Trixie. Even with their sometimes hot sex, I just didn't feel it which saddens me to say but the misunderstandings, his reasoning for ghosting her, and Trixie's flip flopping decisions from literally page to page drove me crazy and kept me rolling my eyes at them often.

Read this for the own voice experience. The food. The sex toy education. The fierce and fun Boss Babes!
Profile Image for Ashton Reads.
1,258 reviews300 followers
June 9, 2021
As someone with a degree in sexuality therapy and education, I LOVED the sex positivity in this! The different toys and their uses, and the way they applied to a wide range of genders and sexual orientations, was so refreshing to see. Trixie in general was a wonderful character, and I enjoyed her and her friends' discussions and antics. I also loved the inclusion of Vietnamese culture/expectations, the delicious recipes cooked by Andre, and how things played out with Trixie and her parents.

What I struggled with, and what knocked this down a star for me, was Andre. I'm not usually a fan of second chance romances as it is, so I was already nervous about that aspect going in. And in this case, I didn't buy Andre's reason for ghosting her in the past. The whole "I'm going to make a decision about our relationship without even talking to you, but trust me it's for your own good" crap is just that. Crap. And even with having a second chance, there were too many times where he was judging Trixie for her professional choices and trying to bulldoze her into doing what he wanted her to do without stopping to LISTEN. I was side eyeing him the entire time, and never felt like he fully redeemed himself enough for me to believe he wouldn't potentially screw her over again in the future. However, for a debut book, this was fabulous, and I'm excited to see what this author writes next!

***Thank you to Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review***
Profile Image for Jennifer.
850 reviews30 followers
July 2, 2021
Nope. Read this really quickly because very early on I realized I wasn’t going to be into it. Just dull, despite the ‘spicy’ premise. Points for diversity but not well written so mostly just zzzzz. I need to stop trusting ‘Best Romances of the Month’ lists. Must not have been many released that month.
Profile Image for Sana.
1,356 reviews1,146 followers
to-read-so-bad-it-hurts
January 23, 2021
Ooh, this features an #ownvoices Vietnamese heroine and her Black love interest. Plus soul food and sex toys \O/
Profile Image for Julie Tieu.
Author 7 books503 followers
May 7, 2021
I love how HAPPY ENDINGS is sex-positive for women of all ages. Trixie's and Andre's second chance romance was realistic, sweet, and steamy!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!
Profile Image for Jen (mrs-machino).
634 reviews52 followers
August 24, 2021
3.5 stars - I loved Trixie and her sex-positive mission, and Andre’s passion for fulfilling his mom’s legacy was touching. The writing needed polish and the 80% breakup was predictable, but overall this was a fun read.
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