Review: Give Love a Chai by Nanxi Wen

Give Love a Chai by Nanxi Wen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you are a fan of second chance romances, this is a must read. I loved getting to know Tia and Andrew and watching them rekindle their spark. They split up 10 years ago because they didn't communicate well. What 18 year old does? Now Tia is engaged, but she has discovered that her divorce to Andrew wasn't official. She goes to see Andrew and asks him to sign the divorce papers again, but instead of easily signing this time he wants to try again. They are older, wiser, and he still has feelings for her. Tia isn't sure what to do with this information as she has a fiancé, a wedding to plan, and Andrew still won't communicate with her. When Tia's fiancé breaks up with her so she can sort out the situation with Andrew, she decides to give Andrew 2 weeks to see if their marriage is really worth saving. During this two weeks they rediscover what it is that they loved about each other, and what they needed to work on. Tia demands that Andrew tell her his secrets and in turn she tells him the secrets she's been holding on to.

I loved the letters that Tia and Andrew send and didn't send to each other as chapter openings. It gives the reader insight into the past without flashbacks or tons of backstory. The storyline can progress in the present while we get to know the characters both present and past from the notes they wrote to each other. They also give deep emotional insight into each character, as many of them weren't sent so they were able to write down their true feelings knowing the other person would never read the letter. Speaking of emotions, there is a content warning at the beginning of the book. If you find topics of pregnancy and miscarriage triggering, I'd maybe skip this one as it is a major plot point in Tia and Andrew's relationship. I feel the topic was handled with care and respect. I will say that the grief that the characters feel comes through on the page and it is raw and heartbreaking.

This story had great character and relationship development. Now that they are a bit more mature, Tia and Andrew know what they want, each other. Tia knows that communication and insecurity is what broke them up the first time and they have to work on that if they want to be together this time. Tia is willing to put in the work, but first she has to convince Andrew to stop running away and lean on each other when things get hard.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from this author.

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