LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY

A teen girl has one year to break a curse that’s kept generations of her family from experiencing true love.

Vietnamese American Valentina Tran loved Valentine’s Day until freshman year, when her handcrafted cards were mocked by classmates, and her father told her she was too old to still be making annual valentines on behalf of her long-dead mother. Then, during a surprise visit, her estranged paternal grandmother revealed a devastating family secret. Suddenly, Valentina’s invisible childhood companion, a sweet cupid she’d always called Saint V, transformed into an ominous specter, Saint Valentine. Now, two years later, a jaded Valentina suffers through a disastrous date, the revelation of another family secret, and Saint Valentine’s return. The spirit demands that she give up her heart forever to avoid the pain of loss; inspired by the spark she felt with a lion dancer at the Têt new year festival, Valentina bargains for a year to fall in love. Set against the backdrop of Oakland, California’s rich Asian American community, Valentina’s quest is full of swoony moments that will satisfy romance readers, while her fearless journey of personal growth will win over everyone else. Full-color spreads effectively use a range of color schemes to shift readers between past and present, realistic and supernatural, and are most impressive when capturing the frenetic energy of the lion dances. Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean words are woven throughout the text.

A sparkling romance anchored by a poignant coming-of-age story.