Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

i needed something beautiful romantic and sappy but not holiday themed and this was the perfect fix. i loved everything from the predictions/clairvoyance to even the romance. roselle lim does a phenomenal job of writing a rich cast of characters with intertwining stories and also the food/location descriptions transport you into the world like no other. intensely excited for what she has in store next!

Vanessa sets off for Paris to learn the secrets of fortune-telling from her aunt Evelyn. Vanessa hates it that she has been born with this ability, but she has finally come to accept that she needs to learn from her aunt how to control it. She falls instantly in love with a man in Paris, but a sad part of her fortune-telling heritage is an inability to keep a relationship, her aunt tells her. Vanessa soon learns that it is a failed relationship that drove Evelyn from Paris long ago, and that the man Evelyn loved is still in Paris.

SOME SPOILERS BELOW:

All the loose ends and difficulties are tied up and quickly resolved by the end of the book, though often the author uses methods that really make no sense (A car accident changes Vanessa's gift from fortune-telling to matchmaking? A gambler stops gambling quickly and easily? Evelyn goes back to Paris...and why? What has changed?) But, hey, it's a romance and it's a fantasy and, most of all, it's set in Paris, and all of this gives the author leeway to do whatever she feels like.