Great debut novel. I enjoyed how the characters endured through all the trails.

Not completely convinced by this second instalment of the Common Threads series… there was just something that didn’t click for me, probably the characters that I didn’t feel very in synch with

I really liked this book! Nanxi Wen , a debut author, set the tone for a second-chance romance that at times seems light and fun, but does delve deep while still being a romance novel first and foremost.

Tia and Andrew were childhood best friends, high school lovers and married during their college years, until miscommunication tore them apart.
Andrew is now a successful lawyer, despite his unhappy childhood memories of his father, and Tia is celebrating her engagement to Clayton, a man who is a dream come true. Except, Tia and Andrew never actually got divorced, so fate brings them together once more.
We follow Tia and Andrew’s journey, with a highly charged attraction for one another, the getting to know you again, even though they are a couple who it seems like they have never parted. There are emotional aspects to this book, see the author’s trigger warnings. This is written beautifully, with sensitivity and care and I love that the grief and despair Tia felt was not brushed aside and she can share these emotions with Andrew when they reconnect years later.

At times I wanted to growl at these two characters with their communication issues, it does become a topsy-turvy ride, and I wanted to shout at both Tia and Andrew to just talk to each other and communicate. There is also the added drama of family members from the past and again in the present, which keeps readers guessing as to what is happening! I recommend Give Love A Chai to fans of second-chance romance, it’s a wonderful debut romance and it will introduce you to Boozy Tea Parties!

I liked the trope: a couple has been married for ten years though broken up, she seeks him out to get a divorce, though they thought that they already got divorced, and so it begins. I liked the idea.
But...
- Andrew was really annoying. The character was incoherent, constantly changing from "You can have me as long as you want me" to "You deserve so much better than me", constantly not trusting and having secrets, fleeing to the airport, comining back, having secrets, fleeing, coming back and so on.
- Tia had so much drama going on with her parents and then the parents just disappeared. It was confusing.

This one was a hard one to finish because it is very well written but it deals with exceptionally difficult triggering issues and one of my pet-peeves lack of communication. Tw: miscarriage/loss of a child

This was a great second chance romance.

You could feel the connection between Ting (Tia) and Andrew from the first few pages when you see (read) them reunited for the first time in 10 years. I was immediately curious about what drove them apart. Initially, I was annoyed that they lost 10 years to miscommunication but I also understand that the combination of being young and having multiple outside influences weighing on a new marriage can really take it's toll on people.

As far as the "love triangle" aspect of this book, I appreciate how Ting's relationship with Clayton was handled. I am torn about my feelings for Clayton because he handled that whole situation in a mature and surprising manor but he also failed to protect Tia from his mother's judgement and snide remarks. Clearly, their engagement wasn't based on anything other than convenience.

Andrew was frustrating due to his lack of feeling "worthy" and his need to keep secrets to "protect" Ting from the ugliness of his father but Ting was keeping her own secrets too. I enjoyed seeing how they slowly found themselves falling back in love and tackling their issues instead of running away again.

It also didn't hurt that we get an appearance from Dan and Kat!! :)

*I received an ARC from Smartypants romance for voluntary review.

I love myself a good second chance romance. Since I read the first book in this interconnected series, I thought I would give this new-to-me author a whirl.

Wen has good writing. She had me clinging on her every word at the beginning. There's no denying that she is an author to watch for future books.

However, the story started to slide downward for me. I just lost the connection between the characters at some point. They felt like strangers trying to force a relationship. I just couldn't get on board with their attempt at making things work.

Overall, this was a good book. It just wasn't a book for me. I needed a little something more from the characters in order to fully enjoy the book.