LAST TANG STANDING

A woman in her 30s contends with her family's expectations as she navigates career and romance in Singapore.

Andrea Tang is 33 and single, much to her mother’s chagrin. Andrea knows her family expected her to be married with children by now, but she’s still reeling from a nasty breakup with her long-term boyfriend, Ivan, and is more concerned with making partner at her law firm than getting engaged. Readers who enjoy their heroines booze-soaked and battle-worn—especially when the battle is being waged against society’s expectations of women, unfair treatment of women in the workplace, and judgmental aunties—will fall hard for fierce yet flawed Andrea. While the diary entries sometimes rely too heavily on dialogue and not enough on Andrea's own thoughts, her inner monologue is the perfect combination of hilariously brash and undeniably honest. She navigates a disastrous one-night stand, her mother’s outspoken disapproval of her lifestyle and relationship status, and her best friend’s soap-operatic dalliance with a married man with snark levels reminiscent of Bridget Jones herself. Of course, despite clocking 15-hour days at the office and eschewing Tinder, Andrea soon finds herself in a romantic entanglement or two. She unexpectedly connects with extremely eligible bachelor Eric Deng at a lavish book club meeting (complete with outlandish cocktail attire, overflowing champagne flutes, and sashimi freshly sliced by a smiling chef) hosted at his Architectural Digest–worthy home. Eric courts Andrea with fresh bouquets, pricey handbags, and fancy dinners, but she isn’t sure whether she can truly commit to the much older, much richer businessman—especially since she still hasn’t figured out why she is so drawn to her engaged work rival, Suresh Aditparan, and his popular webcomic series.

A lush portrayal of Singapore life filled with vibrant characters and a lovable leading lady readers will root for.