In her fourth novel, The Fortune Flip, Lauren Kung Jessen (Red String Theory) concocts a smart, engaging love story brimming with Chinese traditions that asks insightful questions about fortune, superstition, and creating one's own luck.
Divorced, laid off, and struggling to pay the mortgage on her family's beloved lake house, Hazel Yen is having a run of awful luck, even for her. A (literal) collision at a fortune teller's table in Manhattan's Chinatown introduces Hazel to Logan Wells, who has always thought of himself as lucky. But after a shared reading, a joint lottery win, and a kiss that leaves their heads spinning, Hazel's luck soars up while Logan's plummets downward. Could the fortune teller--or the kiss--be to blame?
Jessen explores her protagonists' paths with warmth and sensitivity, showing the long-term impact of Hazel's dad's gambling addiction and the repercussions of a car crash Logan caused as a teen. Though they're both cautious about falling in love, Hazel and Logan find themselves drawn to each other as their swapped luck leads to a deeper connection. As opening night approaches for the Broadway show on which Logan works as head carpenter, and the tension within Hazel's family reaches a breaking point, the pair try various good-luck schemes: emphasizing auspicious numbers, hunting for four-leaf clovers, even indulging Hazel's candy addiction for extra sweetness. And as their luck seesaws wildly, they must also decide whether to take a leap toward love.
The Fortune Flip sparkles as a charming love story as sweet as the treats Hazel adores. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams