A Pho Love Story

By: Loan Le

Narrated by: Ryan Do, Vyvy Nguyen

“Will leave readers swooning.” —PopSugar
“Utterly delicious.” —BuzzFeed

Two Vietnamese American teens fall in love amid their families’ age-old feud around their competing neighboring restaurants in this funny, smart “star-crossed-lovers rom-com” (Kirkus Reviews) perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Ann Liang.

Bao Nguyen sees himself as a rock—steady and strong but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.

Linh Mai is a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams of pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.

For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.

But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity—despite their best efforts—and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.

Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

Critic reviews

"Narrators Ryan Do and Vyvy Nguyen charm listeners with a story featuring star-crossed lovers and mouthwatering foods, told in fast-paced alternating first-person chapters. Bao Nguyen waits on tables in his family's Vietnamese restaurant. Do conveys his anxieties about his lack of drive. His family has a long-running rivalry with the restaurant owners across the street, but when he and their daughter, Linh Mai, have a chance encounter, sparks fly. Linh's artistic ambitions and family expectations already cause conflict, and Nguyen's compelling narration ensures that listeners hear the joys and fears of her secret relationship with Bao. Vietnamese phrases and tones are narrated smoothly throughout the novel, adding to the richness of the listening experience. Both narrators convey the thrills of first love, and the teens' loyalty to their families and community."

Love meets Pho and history

Easy read with a good story line it kept me intrigued throughout! I would deff recommend to friends.

Beautiful story

This is a wonderful quick read about the lives of two teens who balance their respective cultures and traditions and their American dreams.

High school romcom

A sweet high school star crossed lovers story about two Vietnamese restaurants, owned by two families who knew each other before they escaped to America. The history is long and complicated, and their children have no idea how deep it runs or why it is so volatile.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, Bao and Lihn understand each other in a way no one else can. They find themselves falling despite all the animosity between their families, with the pressure of senior year pushing them to succeed while balancing it all.

I thought this was a sweet romcom with good representation and handling of all the layers of the life first generation Vietnamese children, their experiences, and their family dynamics.

Fluffy Read

That was a cute, fluffy read that sometimes you need it when you just got out of a really heavy book and you need something with no real substance to make you continue reading
In this book we will see some kind of Romeo and Juliette scenario where there are two Vietnamese families who owns rivaling restaurants across the streets from each other, but one day the son of one family Bao and the daughter of the other family Lihn meet when they were young but they get separated until they are in high school, Bao offers his help with their restaurant service one crowded night although its pretty much forbidden for him to do it, then they are paired in an assignment where they have to go on "dates" to review some things, and their love blossoms in between
I liked the relationship progression between both characters since it's not hate to love per se, but it was a really fluffy read and the ending was tightly knit and everything ended so smoothly as a typical romantic YA book, I want more of these books because they give a real good feeling from beginning to end .. no hard issue just a love story in a delicious setting :)
The narrators weren't amazing but they were good enough and I liked how they pronounced Vietnamese sentences accurately

Should Be Labeled YA

Sometimes I wonder if Romeo and Juliet was the only romantic plot (especially between teen agers) that was ever written and all the others were simply variants.

Not to be too harsh, but the vocabulary, short sentences, and dialogue let me down. After establishing a conflict, the longstanding family problems are solved in a flash and everything is right in the world without angst.

I got bored several times, I’m afraid.

P.S. Asian families don’t have a monopoly on star-crossed lovers or inter-family troubles.