Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop

Lim follows Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune with another picturesque fabulist rom-com, though readers may be frustrated that the romantic story line overpowers the magic. Vanessa Yu—accountant, aspiring artist, and reluctant clairvoyant—is a much-loved member of a sprawling Chinese American family. She is also the oldest cousin of her generation who’s yet to be married. Unlike her elegant Aunt Evelyn, the other clairvoyant in the family, Vanessa sees her ability to predict the future as a curse; particularly objectionable is the supernatural rule barring clairvoyants from finding true love. After a lifetime of rejecting her gift, a series of tragic predictions sends Vanessa to Paris with Evelyn for lessons in controlling her ability. Lim flexes her descriptive powers in her evocative (if perhaps excessively detailed) portrait of Paris and its many artistic and culinary attractions. The eccentric and lovably meddlesome Yu family are a constant delight, but Vanessa’s single-minded focus on her love life overpowers the other story threads—especially after she meets handsome artist Marc Santos. Still, the characters sparkle, the magic successfully enchants, and Lim skewers the anti-Asian racism the Yus face in France with pointed and timely commentary. This feast for the senses will especially appeal to hopeless romantics. Agent: Jenny Bent, the Bent Agency (Aug.)