In search of his childhood crush, Prof. Nam Nguyen returns to America, only to discover that modern love has changed in ways he never imagined.
Nam never stopped thinking about the girl who once held his heart. For thirty years, he kept her memory alive through ancient romantic tales from the Far East. But when he returns to America to find her, his hopeful search unravels into a journey full of unexpected turns as he confronts the realities of love in modern times.
Excerpt
Stroking his patchy beard, Professor Nam Nguyen nervously paces on the Story Bridge. This is a low-maintenance beard that says, ‘I don’t give a damn about my looks.’ Why would he? Messing with your looks is for frivolous people who waste their time chasing girls: spending three hours a week waiting in line at the barbershop for a Ryan Gosling haircut, two hours a day lifting weights so that the dating muscles pop out, and chugging down daily doses of poisonous protein shakes that sooner or later will give you constipation—if not man boobs. Everybody knows this, yet everybody wastes his life with the same pointless routine. Everybody except for Nam. He didn’t have to. When your destiny is to end up with the most perfect girl in the world, who in their right mind would waste their time on random girls? And when love is as pure and platonic as what awaits Nam, the least important factor is looks.
Professional Reviews
A romance like no other
Days later, it’s still on my mind—unexpected and thought-provoking.
An unflinching look at love when someone keeps score
The old monk thought he was giving the children a rare and beautiful gift—a love that would never fail. What could possibly go wrong?
Be careful. This gripping story will pull you in and wring you out. You’ve been warned.
Not just another romance story.
Rom-Com Meets Existential Crisis
Started off thinking this was a cute romance with a bit of magic. NOPE. It turned into a deep, cynical, kinda hilarious take on love, destiny, and self-destruction. Nam and Livia’s resets are both ridiculous and painfully real.
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