Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Match Made for Thanksgiving | 2019 | Jackie Lau | Buy |
| 2 | Holidays with the Wongs | 2020 | Jackie Lau | N/A |
| 3 | A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas | 2019 | Jackie Lau | N/A |
| 4 | A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year | 2020 | Jackie Lau | Buy |
| 5 | A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day | 2020 | Jackie Lau | Buy |
Holidays with the Wongs by Jackie Lau is a five-book contemporary romance series that follows the Wong family through a year’s worth of holidays. Starting with A Match Made for Thanksgiving (2019), each book pairs a different Wong sibling or family member with a love interest during a holiday celebration.
The series moves through the calendar with A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas, A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year, and A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day. The titles give away the tropes: second chances, fake relationships, and surprise revelations all play out against the backdrop of family gatherings. There is also a collected edition, Holidays with the Wongs, that bundles the stories together.
What makes the series stand out is how Lau blends Western holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day with Chinese New Year celebrations. The Wong family’s holiday traditions reflect their Chinese Canadian identity, and the romance plots grow naturally out of the kinds of situations that family holidays tend to create, like bringing someone home to meet the relatives or running into an ex at a party.