A page-turning contemporary romance full of heart, tennis, and Chinese baked goods
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Chances for Serendipity by Natalie Chung
After a one-time chance encounter with celebrity tennis star, Aiden Andale, at age sixteen, Serendipity still finds herself drawn to his appearances in the media years later. She’s just trying to find balance in her young adult life when Aiden Andale walks into her parents’ bakery unannounced.
🎂 Coming of Age 📖 Couldn’t Put It Down 🍃 Easy Reading 💞 Young Love
- Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Book Review
Sweet, fun, cute, delightful, easy, light, fluffy, charming
Chances for Serendipity drew me in right from the start. This wonderfully classic contemporary romance has just the right balance of everything that I want in a romance. I found myself smiling to myself, feeling grief when Sere was feeling grief, I even found myself crushing on a certain professional tennis star too! The story has some of my favorite things: chance encounters and two characters who challenge each other to grow. It is such a fun read and I’m so delighted to have had the chance to read it!
At age sixteen, Serendipity accidentally hit a cute boy square in the back of the head with a tennis ball at the court. After embarrassed apologies and an unexpected deep chat, they part ways without exchanging contact information. Only after he leaves does Liz tell Serendipity that the boy she just met was up-and-coming tennis star, Aiden Andale! As the years pass, Sere finds herself being drawn to Aiden’s appearances in the media as his career takes off, envious of his success and happiness while she is struggling to find balance. Until one day, all these years later, Aiden Andale walks into her family’s bakery.
Chances for Serendipity is an absolute joy to read. It is paced perfectly and Chung knows how to handle romance tropes and structure so well. I was seriously impressed. I read a lot of romance books and I can honestly say this is one of the best-paced contemporary romances that I’ve read in quite some time. I know this isn’t the most exciting praise for a story but it really impressed me. Not one moment felt too fast, unnecessary, or missing. Every moment came together in the end even when I wasn’t expecting much out of any given moment, they all tied back together. What an absolute gem.
I’m always drawn to romance novels where there is a lot of character growth because I firmly believe that loving someone else is just as much about loving yourself. Sere and Aiden challenge each other and learn from each other in such a sweet way here and I just couldn’t put it down. I adored it. Both Sere and Aiden grew so much during this book, I loved how they each took each other’s advice in the form of challenges. It is such a nice thing to do the lighten up heavy life struggles. It not only was a great tool for Chung to use to help the characters grow and get to know each other, but it was also an approachable way for the reader to take in deeper life struggles that the characters go through while maintaining the light and easy to read the tone of the book.
Chances for Serendipity is an absolute hidden gem. It is the right level of cheesy, it has the right pacing, it has cute themes (tennis and baking!), and it has heart-warming character growth. I found myself smiling at certain points and feeling grief at certain points, all while maintaining an easy-to-read tone the entire time. Exactly what I’m looking for in any contemporary romance!
