Reading Group Guide

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for choosing to spend time reading Lunar Love. This book is my love letter to Chinese traditions and the ways we make customs our own. I am proud to be mixed-race Chinese American. My Chinese, Scottish, Welsh, and Danish ancestries inspire my writing, but they also inspire me to learn more about the family who came before me and their traditions, culture, language, and food. Through stories and photographs and by asking a lot of questions, I’m constantly uncovering new tidbits of information about my family. All of these nuggets of knowledge build a bigger picture about where I come from and who I am.

When my mom moved to the United States from Taiwan in the 1970s as a young girl, her family celebrations and traditions always incorporated specific types of food, such as long-life noodles for birthdays, mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) for Qingming. Beyond food, my mom passed down other Chinese traditions and superstitions to my sister and me: No shoes on in the house! Don’t wear white in your hair! Eat every grain of rice or your husband will have pockmarks!

But there are also traditions that I have both discovered and made my own later in life in my personal attempt to learn more about my heritage. As a few examples, I wore both white and red at my wedding. My husband and I had a tea ceremony before our wedding dinner in which we blended our favorite teas together to create one that guests could enjoy. I now not only happily accept hóngbāo, but I also give red envelopes to my nieces as a proud auntie.

Learning more about one’s background seems to be a desire shared by people of all ages. My dad had clothing made after discovering our Scottish clan tartan a couple of years ago.

I’ll forever be on a journey to understand where I come from while fully understanding that things change over time. I am fascinated by how myths and superstitions, ideas, beliefs, traditions, and stories evolve. What advances? What comes back around? Who has the responsibility and/or pleasure of keeping customs alive? Maybe we all do, for whatever we value in our lives, carrying these things of importance from the past, making them relevant in the present, and pushing them forward into the future.

With Lunar Love, I hope to show that there can be joy and fulfillment in bringing traditions into the present day, and that there’s nuance and complexity in being mixed. Ultimately, my greatest desire is that you see a part of yourself in these pages, however that might look.

 

With love,

 

Lauren

Discussion Questions

1. A lively debate takes place at the Matched with Love Summit about whether or not opposites attract. Do you think opposites attract? Why or why not? Do you think that being opposites is a good basis for a relationship?
2. Olivia thinks compatibility in partners is important. Does compatibility matter in relationships? If so, how? If not, why not?
3. Learning about new traditions and keeping them alive is important to Olivia. What family traditions do you keep alive? How have they changed over time?
4. One of Olivia’s challenges is to bring a traditional business into the present, while thinking about its future. How do businesses need to change with the times? Over time, how has Lunar Love changed and adapted?
5. Olivia and Bennett make a bet to prove to each other that their version of Chinese zodiac matchmaking is best. Whose method—Olivia’s in-person matchmaking or Bennett’s dating app—do you think is better? Have you met someone through online dating? Was that experience positive?
6. Olivia and Bennett sometimes felt like outsiders because they don’t see themselves as fully fitting into their Chinese heritage. When have you ever felt split between two parts of yourself or as though you weren’t “enough”?
7. Olivia puts a lot of pressure on herself to make Lunar Love successful. Why do you think this legacy is so important to her?
8. Olivia’s grandmother is the revered and beloved matriarch of her family. Did you feel the family’s grief when Pó Po died? Who is the senior member that leads your family? What are the reasons that you respect and value them?
9. What role do you think food (Swiss rolls, dumplings, mooncakes, animal-shaped cakes, cookies, etc.) plays throughout the book? Are there any special recipes or foods that have been passed down in your family?
10. Olivia and Nina have a heart-to-heart in their treehouse named The Spaceship. Where do you go when you want to escape or think or have a private moment with someone?
11. The various flowers throughout Lunar Love have significant meaning to Olivia (Bennett gives Olivia white chrysanthemums, Olivia’s favorite flower is the peony, ZodiaCupid is gamified with peonies, and they view Van Gogh’s Irises). What types of flowers have significant meaning to you and why?
12. Now that Olivia and Bennett have merged businesses, what do you think the future holds for their relationship?

Q&A with the Author

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I always wrote, but I didn’t approach writing in a formal way. I spent a good amount of my childhood at my parents’ office writing stories in empty conference rooms on my gifted, beloved typewriter (likely provided to me so I would stay out of my parents’ way during meetings). When I wasn’t making up stories for my family to read, I was reading. I consumed book series like Sweet Valley High and Nancy Drew, loving getting lost in worlds other than my own. Because that’s what stories do for us. They give us peeks into worlds and lives that are different than our own. But something else that stories should do is show us ourselves. I didn’t have books or movies that featured characters who looked like me or my family. After years of writing nonfiction, I missed creating my own worlds and characters. When I started writing fiction again, I knew I wanted to showcase people like me whose worlds aren’t often shown in the media.

How do you celebrate Lunar New Year?

When I was growing up, my family would go to different aunties’ houses for Lunar New Year, where there would be platters of dumplings, vegetables, fish, noodles, and desserts. It was always a very social event. The highlight for my sister and me was when the red envelopes were handed out. These days, I host Lunar New Year for my family. We hang lanterns, put out decorations, and make an entire feast. My dad’s responsible for cooking the whole fish, my mom makes her now-perfected recipe of bái táng gāo (white sugar sponge cake), my husband makes the side of vegetables, and I take the lead on the homemade dumplings. There’s always freshly cut fruit and store-bought candies. We also celebrate New Year’s, so Lunar New Year is a nice time to gather again to eat good food and spend more time with family.

Can you briefly explain the Chinese zodiac?

The Chinese zodiac, also known as Shengxiao (“born resembling”), is an important part of Chinese culture. The Chinese zodiac is a belief system based on the lunar calendar in which twelve animals represent a repeating twelve-year cycle. Each lunar year is represented by a different animal, in the order of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal is associated with various personality traits, which is why people use the Chinese zodiac as a way to learn more about themselves and who they may be compatible with.

One common belief of how the animals got their order was that the Jade Emperor held a race in which all of the animals in the world were invited to compete for spots in the zodiac calendar. This competition has become known as the Great Race, and the top twelve animals who placed became the official animal signs. Because the Rat came ahead of all the other animals, it is the first animal in the cycle. The Chinese zodiac is complex and fascinating, and, similarly to Western astrology, is an interesting way to learn more about yourself, friends, family, and colleagues.

Which of your Chinese zodiac animal sign traits do you most relate to?

I’m the Year of the Horse, an animal sign I very much relate to. As a Horse, I’m very independent. I can definitely be stubborn and impatient. I prefer to keep busy so I balance a lot of spinning plates at once, which is exciting, challenging, and stimulating, but I do have a hard time relaxing. I’m also adventurous in that I will try most things once and I love having a variety of experiences that will take me to new places and keep my mind active. It is said that the Horse is unbridled in love and romance, which I think holds true.

Lunar Love shows both the pros and cons of dating apps. How do you feel about online dating?

I was always wary of online dating because there was a stigma around it. I’m a by-product of romantic comedies, so I thought my meet-cute would come in the form of some serendipitous, charming moment on the New York City streets like it did in books and movies. But after third-wheeling my sister and her now-husband one too many times, I created an online dating profile. I went into it the same way that I approach most things: with a strategy and a timeline. I signed up for a service that required that users pay, and I gave myself a six-month period to see if online dating was even a good fit for me.

Five days later, I met the man who is now my husband. Our first date was five hours long, and we moved in together after three months. On paper we are not “compatible,” and we have both admitted that it wasn’t love at first sight, but by Date Two we were in it for the long haul. When it comes to online dating, I really can’t complain. It led me to the love of my life.

What inspired you to write about Chinese zodiac matchmaking and online dating?

I am inspired by how Chinese astrology can be used as a language for getting to know ourselves and others better. Your specific animal sign depends on the year in which you were born, but there are many factors beyond just the animal signs to consider, including the ascendant (determined by the time of day you were born) and five elements (water, wood, fire, earth, and metal) that align with the year you were born in. The nuances of Chinese astrology and all the elements that come into play with one another continue to fascinate me.

Matchmakers would pair people together based on the compatibility of their animal signs. Placing Chinese zodiac matchmaking in contrast with dating apps came together in my mind in an organic way having grown up learning about the Chinese zodiac, but also having met my husband through online dating. I found the concept of the highly personal compatibility matching within the Chinese zodiac interesting, especially when juxtaposed with Big Tech’s algorithms and data that are also intended to find you compatible matches. I’m curious about how beliefs and traditions evolve over time, and matchmaking is certainly an area that has progressed in a variety of ways.

Your book features many iconic locations in Los Angeles. Have you lived there?

I have! I went to college just outside of Los Angeles and frequently drove into the city to explore and intern. After living in New York City and Seattle for a while, my husband and I moved to Los Angeles for a few years before moving to Nashville. The locations in the book are some of my very favorite LA spots, from Chinatown to the Getty to Griffith Park. Los Angeles is such a vibrant city with great food, cool bookstores, fun hiking spots, excellent museums, Hollywood, and beautiful weather. We also lived in Pasadena, which is such a gem with even more great food and things to do. It’s also home to a few favorites of mine: Vroman’s Bookstore; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Los Angeles will always hold a special place in my heart.

What is your next novel about? Does it also include a Chinese tradition?

My next novel is about an artist who deeply believes in the Red Thread of Fate: a Chinese legend in which Yuè Lǎo, the god of love and marriage, connects two people by the ankles with a red thread. One night, she meets a man from out of town and tours him around New York City. After a misunderstanding, the two aren’t able to connect after their enchanted evening. But when an unexpected opportunity brings them back together, the woman can’t help but wonder if this man is the one on the other end of her red string. This book is filled with more traditions, superstitions, and myths—I can’t wait for you to read it in early 2024!

Chinese Zodiac Character Chart

Zodiac Animal	Birth Years	Character	Personality Traits
Rat	1984	Bennett O’Brien	Resourceful, entrepreneurial, intelligent, opinionated
Ox	1937 1961	Harold Christenson (Grandpa) Rupert Huang	Down-to-earth, reliable, follows head over heart
Tiger	1938 1962 1986	Etta Christenson (Grandma) Martin Christenson Alisha Lin Owen Rossi	Generous, romantic, optimistic, quick-tempered
Rabbit	1987	Elmer Han	Thorough, ruthless, self-indulgent, moody
Dragon	1976 1988	Carol Rogers Harper Chen	Confident, takes initiative, decisive, driven
Snake	1989	The Ex	Elusive, possessive, private, demanding
Horse	1930 1966 1990	June Huang (Pó Po) Lydia Huang Olivia Huang Christenson	Quick-witted, impulsive, multitasker, stubborn, high-spirited
Goat	1955 1979 1991	Mae Zhang (Mae Yí-Pó) Jonathan Chastain Colette Curtis	Gentle, compassionate, kindhearted, determined
Monkey	1956 1968	Dale Zhang (Dale Yí-Gong) Vivienne Huang	Innovative, intellectual, clever, competitive
Rooster	1981 1993	Parker T. Nina Huang Christenson Asher Green	Meticulous, opinionated, organized, responsible
Dog	1958 2018	Lisa Christenson Pinot	Honest, loyal, straightforward, capable
Pig	1971	Randall Zhu	Patient, courageous, trustworthy, overoptimistic

Mae Yí-Pó’s Swiss Rolls with
Vanilla Cream Filling

Chinese Swiss rolls are light and delicious without being overly sweet. You can find them in most Chinese bakeries as slices or entire rolls. The filling can be whatever your heart desires: vanilla cream, matcha, jam, chocolate cream, you name it. The result is a fluffy cake living its full spiral potential.

Makes 6–8 slices

Ingredients

Cake:

• ½ cup cake flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs at room temperature, separated into egg yolks and egg whites
• 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling:

• ⅔ cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 3 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9" × 13" baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper is large enough to neatly fit the pan but also has edges that you can use to lift the baked cake out of the baking pan.

Into a bowl, sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk the 3 egg yolks and light brown sugar together. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and whole milk and then whisk until completely smooth and free of any lumps.

Add the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, and mix until the batter is well blended and lump-free. Set the batter aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, add the remaining egg whites and the 3 tablespoons of white sugar and whip until you get stiff peaks. You can also mix these ingredients by hand with a whisk. Once you have stiff peaks, add the cream of tartar and mix again.

In batches, gently fold the egg white mixture into the flour-and-egg-yolk batter with a spatula. This will create an airy batter, but it is important to be delicate with this and not overmix or mix vigorously.

Pour this combined mixture into the parchment-lined baking pan and smooth the top so the batter is evenly distributed. Tap the pan against the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.

Bake for 15–18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake the cake.

While the cake is baking, make the filling by mixing heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment until you get stiff peaks. You can also mix these ingredients by hand with a whisk. Cover the filling and place it in the fridge until it’s time to fill the roll.

Remove the baking pan from the oven, and let the cake cool on a cooling rack for 10-12 minutes. You don’t want the cake to cool fully.

Carefully lift the parchment paper by its sides to remove the cake from the pan. Gently flip the cake upside down onto another large piece of parchment paper, and peel the original parchment paper off the cake.

Make 3 shallow cuts on one side of the width of the cake while it’s still warm. Careful not to cut all the way through.

Starting on the side with the cuts, gently roll the cake, keeping the new parchment paper intact. Pre-rolling the cake while it’s still warm should help make rolling the cake with filling easier. Keep the cake rolled up in parchment paper for 15–18 minutes.

Unroll the cake carefully. It doesn’t need to be flat when you add the filling. Spread the filling onto the cake evenly with a spatula.

Gently roll the cake up again. This time, pull the parchment paper away from the cake as you roll.

Once the cake is rolled, slice the ends off for a clean edge. Sift powdered sugar on top, slice (cleaning the knife between each cut), and enjoy! To firm the cake up more, wrap the roll in parchment paper and refrigerate for 3–4 hours.

Pó Po’s Pan-Fried Pork Dumplings

Dumplings (jiǎozi) are a traditional food for Lunar New Year. They are shaped to resemble an ingot, an early form of currency in China, because dumplings symbolize longevity and wealth. Dumplings can be stuffed with various fillings and can be pan-fried, boiled, or steamed. If you’re looking for something quicker, opt out of making your own dough wrappers and buy pre-made dumpling wrappers instead.

Makes 60–70 dumplings

Ingredients

Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting
• 1 cup warm water (plus 3 tablespoons, if needed)

Pork Filling:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated or finely minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Dipping Sauce:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

Method

Dumpling Wrappers:

Add the flour to a large bowl.

Slowly pour the warm water into the flour and mix with chopsticks. The dough will look a bit lumpy, and that’s okay. If the dough still feels too dry, add in the extra water.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until the water and flour are combined and smooth. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest for 30–45 minutes covered in plastic wrap.

Dumpling Filling (make while the dough rests):

In a large bowl, mix the pork, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, scallions, Shaoxing rice wine, and sesame oil until combined.

Making the Dumplings:

After the dough has rested, remove the plastic wrap. Knead the dough once more on a floured surface.

Divide the dough into pieces weighing 11–13 grams.

Flatten each piece of dough with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll them out into a circle about 3–3.5 inches in diameter. Keep a light touch here—you want the edges of the wrapper to be thinner than the middle. (This makes for easier pleating and a thicker middle to hold the filling.)

Place rolled-out wrappers on a plate covered with a damp towel to prevent the dough from drying out.

Using a spoon, scoop out no more than a tablespoon of pork filling for each wrapper. Add the scoop to the center of the wrapper.

Using your finger or a brush, add a little water along the edges of the wrapper to help the dough stick together better. Bring the edges of the wrapper together to create a half-moon shape around the filling. Pinch the edges to seal. From the center, make small folds with the dough down one side, pushing each new pleat against the previous one. Repeat this pleating on the other side.

Place the pleated dumplings on the plate or parchment-lined baking sheet with a damp towel over them so they don’t dry out.

Pan Frying the Dumplings:

Add 1–2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a nonstick pan and set over medium high heat.

Once the pan is hot and the oil is shimmery, place the dumplings in the pan (pleats facing up) without letting them touch each other. Cook for 1–2 minutes until the bottoms are golden.

Add 3–4 tablespoons of water and immediately cover the pan with a lid. Careful here: the oil sizzles and the steam rises quickly once you add water to the pan.

Steam the dumplings for another 3–5 minutes until the water has evaporated and the dumplings are fully cooked. The dough will appear softer and off-white. Cut open one of the dumplings to make sure it’s cooked through all the way. This combination of pan frying and steaming adds a tasty crunch to the dumplings with a soft, chewy top.

Transfer the dumplings to a plate and serve with soy sauce or dipping sauce.

Make the Dipping Sauce:

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine.

Add the chopped ginger and mix it around the sauce to add flavor.