A Pho Love Story

Bao Nguyen is an average dependable guy.  He's not really a standout at anything; even at his parents' restaurant, he's only their fifth favorite employee.  It's his senior year, and his parents are worried about what he is going to with his life since he doesn't really have a plan for college.

Linh Mai is an artist with every ounce of her soul, but her parents want her to become an engineer.  She wants to tell them the truth, but she also can't bear the thought of her parents dashing her dreams.  Plus, she basically works full-time at the family restaurant when she's not at school.  They always just expect her to fill in when anyone else misses work.  She barely has time to do anything else.

The Nguyen and Mai families have been enemies forever as far as Bao and Linh know, and their parents both forbid any contact between the two.  This means that despite being part of a small and tight-knit Vietnamese community and working in restaurants across the street from each other, they've barely had any contact since they were toddlers.  

All that changes when Bao witnesses a moment of weakness from Linh and decides to step in and help.  It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but they can't seem to break their connection.  When they are paired on an assignment for the school paper, things change for both of them.  Bao may finally find something he's passionate about, and Linh may find a bigger outlet for her art.  Their creative work draws them together, and they can't deny their feelings for each other, but secrets from the past threaten to tear them apart.  Can they convince their families to reconcile, or is their relationship doomed from the start?

Loan Le's book is not the cute romance I was expecting.  Sure, there are cute dates and quirky characters, but family backstories delve into the traumas of their immigrant parents.  The story has a slower pace that may put off some readers, but it is full of food scenes that will leave you hungry for your local Vietnamese restaurant.  I would suggest this book for more mature readers because of profanity throughout including within the first few pages, but Bao and Linh's relationship never goes beyond kissing and holding hands.