Fans of the Young Adult genre have seen more than their fair share of romantic comedy novels with all their overused tropes and are always hungry for a book that offers a refreshing take on the genre. Enter Fake Dates and Moon Cakes – a book that honors the common tropes with a fresh perspective and takes readers on an uplifting journey.
| Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians in this heartfelt, joyful paperback original rom-com! It follows an aspiring chef who discovers that the recipe for love is more complicated than it seems when he starts fake-dating a handsome new customer. Dylan Tang, who is Singaporean-Chinese, wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, half-Chinese, half-Caucasian with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips AKA a distraction! Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo for real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich people problems. Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both? |
Not long after the release of the book, we were able to get the author’s insights on the lovely and diverse themes in the book, how they tie into her own experiences, and many of the special qualities of the book that lead to its international triumphs. Read on to see Sher Lee’s candid and witty answers to my questions for The Read Carpet!
Your book is marketed as Heartstopper meets Crazy Rich Asians. Can you tell us how FDAM is similar to these series? How is it different?
FDAM has the same premise as Heartstopper -- two boys falling in love, lots of sweet moments, and some light angst -- and there’s the Crazy Rich Asians vibe because Dylan and Theo are from different socioeconomic backgrounds. There are other parallels between FDAM and Crazy Rich Asians that will become apparent as the reader delves deeper into the story.
Dylan joins a baking competition to honor his mother and remembrance is a recurring theme in this book. What is the importance of family and memory to you and why is it such a large part of the book?
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, and it’s a cherished part of my childhood. I have fond memories of walking around with lanterns under the full moon as a kid and, when I was older, making snow-skin mooncakes with my favorite aunt. This beloved tradition is the heart of the story—Dylan participates in a mooncake contest in honor of his late mother, who wanted them to join together, and he’s motivated to win the prize to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates love and families, and the full moon is a symbol of reunion. These are all major themes in the book, along with coping with loss and finding love in unexpected places and against the odds. Opposites attract, and even though the boys’ worlds are sun-and-moon apart, eclipses happen every now and then! I’m also incredibly proud of the diverse cast. Dylan and his family are Asian, and Theo is biracial Asian-American. Dylan and Theo are surrounded with a strong cast of smart, funny female characters, and the boys could not have succeeded without their love and unwavering support.
Theo has a large family that causes a lot of drama. What was your process in giving each character their own personality, history, and problems? What about Dylan’s family?
Crazy Rich Asians has a colorful tapestry of characters with their own quirks and backstories, and I wanted Dylan’s and Theo’s families to be fully realized as individual characters, each of whom has some effect on either of the boys. This reinforces the theme of found family: both Dylan and Theo lost their moms and have absent dads, but they each found their own support networks in their extended families.
Theo comes from a mixed family and isn’t very familiar with his Chinese heritage. Why did you portray him in this way?
As a biracial character who lost his Asian mom at a young age, Theo would’ve experienced an early disconnect from his maternal heritage. When he meets Dylan, he realizes that he’s lost out on absorbing many valuable aspects of his mom’s culture. Aside from his attraction to Dylan, this is a major personal motivation for wanting to spend time with Dylan and his aunt and cousins. He’s reclaiming a part of himself that he didn’t know he was missing, as it were.
Fake dating is a popular book trope, and even has a place of honor in your book title! Why did you choose to develop Dylan and Theo’s romance in this way?
Fake-dating is one of my favorite tropes, and I also gleefully embraced “there’s only one bed” (and only one rain shower!)
I wanted to infuse the story with queer joy rather than pain.
Author Sher Lee
What does this book mean to you?
Back in August 2020, during the pandemic lockdown, I found myself gravitating toward light-hearted, funny stories that provided an escape from the stifling isolation. After months of not writing anything, this idea came to me during the changing of seasons from summer to fall, inspired by the arrival of my favorite celebration: the Mid-Autumn Festival. Also, the theme of persistence in the novel—fighting for what is close to your heart despite setbacks and disappointments—reflects my own journey to achieving my dream of being a published author. The path to finally seeing my debut on shelves wasn’t easy—but I’m glad I never gave up. In retrospect, the detours and heartaches taught me to be a better writer.
Dylan and Theo have a whirlwind romance, and something that stuck out to me was how unopposed their relationship was. What does it mean to you to normalize queer romance, especially given the state of the world today?
I wanted this story to be like Heartstopper, which was so heartwarming in its queer positivity. There are many other [young adult] books that delve into homophobia, but especially since this is a rom-com, I wanted to infuse the story with queer joy rather than pain. Many readers specifically mentioned in their reviews how much they appreciated being able to immerse themselves in a story where the characters being queer wasn’t the central conflict.
How did you incorporate Chinese culture into your book? Is there any part of your own history in here?
As my author bio confesses, I have an abiding love for local street food, including an incredible weakness for xiao long bao. Dylan’s aunt’s takeout, Wok Warriors, sells all the local dishes I love: chye tow kway (fried radish and egg pancake), satay, fried Hokkien prawn mee, stir-fried egg fried rice, and more! One recurring comment from readers has been: don’t read this when you’re hungry! “Clearly the universal love language is food,” Theo’s aunt remarks in the novel, and food is a big part of this story. All the major events invariably take place around food—from the first time Theo and Dylan meet when Dylan delivers a wrong order to Theo’s friend’s apartment, to Dylan’s determination to re-create his grandma’s lost mooncake recipe that has been passed down for generations.
Can you share something not well known about your book to the public?
My partner and I have two adorable corgis, Spade and Clover (yes, I always wanted to name my pet corgi Clover, which is why Dylan’s trusted corgi confidant is also named Clover!)
KPOP also shows up a lot in your book! How did you go about choosing what groups to include?
I’m a fan of Blackpink so it was natural to pick them!
Now that your book has been released, how do you feel? How has the reception been?
The response has been phenomenal and overwhelmingly positive. The book has more than 3,000 ratings and over a thousand reviews on Goodreads, with an average of 4 stars. It has also been published in Polish, with incredible support from my Polish book influencers organized by my Polish publisher.
Can you share what your writing journey has been like? What have been some memorable moments you’ve had?
I wrote this book in August 2020 with the kind of lightning-bolt, once-in-a-blue-moon(cake!) inspiration that fueled a first complete draft in a feverish three-week sprint. I am usually a slow drafter, so this is highly unusual for me. I spent a few months revising and queried in early 2021. I received over thirty full requests that led to five offers of representation, and I eventually signed with Jess Regel from Helm Literary. It was the best decision in my career, as Jess continues to be a wonderful advocate. We went on submission during the summer of 2021, and in October that same year, we sold Dylan and Theo’s romance to Delacorte at Penguin Random House. We sold UK and Commonwealth rights to Macmillan UK, and translation rights to Poland, Italy, Spain, and Brazil. It’s thrilling to know that my book will be available worldwide, as well as in different languages! I love writing YA fiction because it’s about firsts and discoveries, be it first love, first heartbreak, or first attempt to save the world. And I gravitate toward stories with a strong romantic plot. I am also a huge fan of YA fantasies, which is why my next two books are fantasy novels! The first, Legend of the White Snake, is coming out in 2024 from Quill Tree, an imprint of HarperCollins. It’s a gender-flipped reimagining of one of China’s four famous folktales, in which a teen boy must hide his true identity as a white snake spirit when he falls in love with a prince hunting for a white snake for the antidote to cure his dying mother. It has the xianxia [a Chinese fantasy genre] vibes of A Magic Steeped in Poison and the queer romance of Dark Rise.
Fake Dates and Mooncakes is easy to recommend, and even more so after author Sher Lee shared all the enriching details that make the elements of the story so much more meaningful. To say that I adored this book is an understatement; it made me laugh, it made me cry, but most importantly it made me feel the love between the characters featured in the book and think about my own family and history. For those who want LGBT+ representation without negative aspects surrounding queerness, high drama with “rich people problems,” or just a story about food and family, this would be the ultimate cozy book to settle down with.
Sher has also announced that her next book, Legend of the White Snake, will be published in 2024. We look forward to reading it! In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of Fake Dates and Mooncakes at your indie bookstore, your local library, or wherever books are sold. You can also order the book online here.
This article was written by Gemma, host of KPOP-TV’s book program The Read Carpet. Check out Gemma’s other recommendations and author interviews through The Read Carpet.
