{"title":"Books by Lily Chu","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781464245442","title":"Drop Dead","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne mysterious mansion. Two rival journalists. Three weeks to uncover the story – and love – of a lifetime.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eObituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn't mind being called \"Lady Death.\" It suits the ice queen persona she's cultivated to survive the fast-paced \u003ci\u003eToronto Herald\u003c\/i\u003e. So when Nadine learns that famous (and reclusive) author Dot Voline has died, she doesn't hesitate to run the obituary…only to discover that Dot is very much alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNadine's screw-up has brought Wesley Chen of the rival \u003ci\u003eSpear \u003c\/i\u003eno end of joy. She's been a thorn in his extremely ambitious side for years. But the renewed interest in Dot has also surfaced chatter about a mysterious past scandal. Intrigued, Wes goes to the source to learn more – only to discover Nadine had the exact same idea…and the infuriating woman isn't willing to respect dibs. Typical.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt first, Dot refuses to speak to either side of the squabbling pair, but then they receive an unusual request: work together, and Dot will share everything with them both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe offer seems too good to be true…and of course, it is: in a bitter twist of irony, Dot dies for real before she can finish recounting her story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot all is lost, however. The estate's executor allows Wes and Nadine access to Dot's sprawling wonderland of a mansion for three weeks to find their answer. That's three weeks of working together…three weeks of endless sweltering in tight spaces…three weeks of learning there could be something more between them than a desire to win at any cost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd maybe, just maybe, under the rubble of all those could-have-beens they'll uncover more than the secret of Dot Voline's long-ago scandal – and Lady Death will finally embrace what she's wanted from life all along.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDrop Dead\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of an endearing enemies to lovers romance, with a hearty dash of romantic comedy and a fascinating cosy mystery for readers to lose themselves in.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTropes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnemies to Lovers\u003cbr\u003eRomantic Comedy\u003cbr\u003eCosy Mystery\u003cbr\u003eContemporary Romance\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300147081589,"sku":"9781464245442","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781464245442_37b56f99-6b17-444c-9e96-9d586941037f.jpg?v=1786021142"},{"product_id":"9781728277684","title":"The Takedown","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDEE KWAN’S FIVE EASY STEPS TO WIN THE DAY AND GET THE GUY:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSTEP ONE: \u003c\/b\u003eMeet Mr. Perfect. Flirt. Daydream. Hope. \u003cb\u003eSTEP TWO:\u003c\/b\u003e Discover he’s secretly the son of your uber-problematic new fashion industry boss. \u003cb\u003eSTEP THREE:\u003c\/b\u003e Realize your uber-problematic new boss is seriously, actually a problem. \u003cb\u003eSTEP FOUR: \u003c\/b\u003eTeam up with Mr. Perfect in a dizzying corporate coup like something out of a glamorous Old Hollywood movie. (Costume changes! Impulsive Parisian jaunts! Mr. Perfect being, well, perfect!) \u003cb\u003eSTEP FIVE:\u003c\/b\u003e Win at everything and take over the whole dang world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Hilarious and relatable.\" —TALIA HIBBERT, USA Today bestselling author for The Stand-In\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Dee Kwan, every day is the perfect day. No, really. She has a house she loves, a job she adores, and a ridiculously attractive \"nemesis\" who never seems to mind when she wins their favorite online game. How can life possibly get better? (It can't, obviously. It can only get much, much worse.)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoon Dee is forced to share her adorably cozy home with her parents and prickly estranged grandmother. Then she's tossed into the deep end, tasked with cleaning up a scandal for intimidatingly chic luxury fashion firm Celeste. If that weren't enough, she discovers her hot-nemesis works there, too…and Teddy is nothing like the man she thought she knew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore she can cry foul, Teddy comes clean about his double life: he's the heir to the CEO and he needs her help to make Celeste a better place—for everyone. But that means taking down the old guard—including his father—intent on standing in their way. Now in the center of a dizzying corporate coup, Dee is forced to decide whether she's ready to stop watching the world through rose-colored glasses and instead face the truth: about herself, about her feelings for Teddy, and about what she's willing to do to truly make a difference.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMORE BOOKS BY LILY CHU:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Stand-In\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Comeback\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303635333493,"sku":"9781728277684","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781728277684_26d4c110-7e4c-4553-8243-cef4179572cf.jpg?v=1786024859"},{"product_id":"9781728264455","title":"The Stand-In","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHOW TO UPEND YOUR LIFE:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Get fired by gross, handsy boss\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Fail to do laundry (again)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Be mistaken for famous Chinese actress\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e Fall head-first into glitzy new world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGracie Reed is doing just fine. Sure, she was fired by her overly \"friendly\" boss, and yes she still hasn't gotten her mother into the nursing home of their dreams, but she's healthy, she's (somewhat) happy, and she's (mostly) holding it all together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when a mysterious SUV pulls up beside her, revealing Chinese cinema's golden couple Wei Fangli and Sam Yao, Gracie's world is turned on its head. The famous actress has a proposition: due to their uncanny resemblance, Fangli wants Gracie to be her stand-in. The catch? Gracie will have to be escorted by Sam, the most attractive-and infuriating-man Gracie's ever met.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf it means getting the money she needs for her mother, Gracie's in. Soon Gracie moves into a world of luxury she never knew existed. But resisting Sam, and playing the role of an elegant movie star, proves more difficult than she ever imagined-especially when she learns the real reason Fangli so desperately needs her help. In the end all the lists in the world won't be able to help Gracie keep up this elaborate ruse without losing herself...and her heart.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312766759285,"sku":"9781728264455","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781728264455_bb6be6dc-f884-4db6-a4a1-09fa5ab23f9e.jpg?v=1786024803"},{"product_id":"rich-girl-summer","title":"Rich Girl Summer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeloved author Lily Chu brings the charm in a clever, funny, and beautifully written contemporary romance about a fake heiress, a real secret scandal, and one sizzling summer she’ll never forget.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a viral fiasco torpedoes event planner Valerie Peng's career, her ultra-wealthy client makes a wild offer: spend the summer at his lakefront estate posing as the long-lost daughter he swears his conniving family hid from him. New wardrobe, new name, new rules—what could go wrong?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnter Nico Hever, the boss's maddeningly perfect executive assistant. He's organised to a fault, impossible to read, and absolutely the last man Valerie should be noticing—especially since he's the only one who knows she's faking it. But as they navigate sharp-eyed matriarchs, power plays, and private family feuds, the sparks they keep dodging start to look a lot like destiny.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCaught between pretending to belong and finally finding where she fits, Valerie has to decide if she's here to keep a secret…or claim a life (and love) that's all her own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMystery and romance abound in this quirky and compelling romantic comedy from Lily Chu, offering the perfect summertime read for fans of contemporary love stories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTropes\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForced Proximity\u003cbr\u003eRomantic Comedy\u003cbr\u003eFish Out of Water\u003cbr\u003eWealth Gap Romance\u003cbr\u003eContemporary Romance\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484352422261,"sku":"9781464282263","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781464282263.jpg?v=1786266416"},{"product_id":"the-vacation-shift","title":"The Vacation Shift","description":"Gilmore Girls meets a reverse Parent Trap in this swoony and hilarious YA rom-com from popular adult romance author Lily Chu, following a teen who, while on a group tour to Japan, teams up with a fellow traveler to keep their parents from falling in love with each other.   Ivy Yu is cursed. Her parents separated six months ago, and she’s fallen into a fog. To help, her mother books an impulsive trip to Japan (cool) on a bus tour (very uncool). Ivy should be grateful, but this summer is her last chance to get her situationship, Connor, to fall in love with her.   When they arrive in Tokyo, it’s even worse than she imagined. Ivy and her Mom are the youngest of a group of seniors. Make that two of the youngest: there’s brooding Matteo, with his single dad, Keith.   Then Ivy discovers her mother and Keith are getting close, and her crush back home is hooking up with someone else. Desperate for some semblance of control and a distraction from the heaviness she can’t seem to shake off, she makes a deal with Matteo to keep their parents apart. Luckily, he agrees—and their devious plans begin.   Dodging nosy old ladies on the bus ride through Japan, their strange partnership begins to blossom into something unexpected and exciting—but can their romantic spark survive the journey?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57487646458229,"sku":"9780063430624","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780063430624.jpg?v=1786354849"},{"product_id":"just-kiss-already","title":"Just Kiss Already","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEnemies. Coworkers. Accidental Icons.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDr. Ben Song likes his life orderly, predictable, and blissfully private. By day, he's a forensic anthropologist running a controversial research project. By night, he's the anonymous author of a bestselling cozy mystery series. What he absolutely doesn't need? One viral moment turning him into the internet's new favorite grumpy heartthrob.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLauren Wei has built her career in the spotlight—and paid for it. A former teen star turned serious filmmaker, she's determined to prove she's more than her past persona. With her first feature film about to premiere and a press tour that could make or break her future, she can't afford distractions. Especially not the brilliant, infuriating author whose book she adapted…and whose visibly unimpressed reaction to her movie just made him a viral meme.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen the studio forces Ben and Lauren to share the press circuit to capitalize on the moment, sparks fly. But between industry politics, public scrutiny, and a growing sense they might actually be perfectly imperfect for each other after all, their reluctant partnership soon turns into something far more complicated…\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57573193384309,"sku":"9781728291086","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781728291086.jpg?v=1790000759"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-lily-chu.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}