Love, family, and food collide in this sparkling Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance. Jennifer Chen’s Hangry Hearts is a funny, big-hearted romance about friendship, family, and first love—and being brave enough to have it all.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Hangry Hearts by Jennifer Chen, which is out March 18th 2025.
Julie Wu and Randall Hur used to be best friends. Now they only see each other on Saturdays at the Pasadena Farmers Market where their once close families are long-standing rivals.
When Julie and Randall are paired with ultra-rich London Kim for a community-service school project, they are forced to work together for the first time in years. It quickly becomes obvious that London has a major crush on Julie. But Julie can’t stop thinking about Randall. And Randall can’t stop thinking about how London is thinking about Julie. Soon, prompted by a little jealousy and years of missing each other, school project meetings turn into pseudo dates at their favorite Taiwanese breakfast shop and then secret kisses at the beach—far from the watchful eyes of their families.
Just as they’re finally feeling brave enough to tell their grandmas, the two matriarchs rehash their old fight and Julie and Randall get caught in the middle and Julie’s brother finds out they are dating. Their families are heartbroken.
But it’s the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious time to resolve disagreements and start anew, and Randall isn’t going down without fighting for what—and who—they love. Could the Lunar New Year provide not only a second chance for Randall and Julie, but for their families as well?
Chapter Two
Julie
“Absolutely not,” I declare as Tyler bursts into my bedroom.
He shoves his phone in my face. “Look at how cute this boy is.”
The boy in question is incredibly hot, with long brown hair, brown skin, and the kind of gorgeous smile that’s hard to look at. His eyes sparkle with glittery silver eyeliner.
“Are you in love with him?” I ask. I plop on my bed.
Tyler sits next to me and sighs. “Desperately.”
I give him a look. “Have you actually spoken to him?”
Tyler grabs a teal velvet pillow off my bed and smacks me with it.
“Why must you ruin every romance I embark on?” He lays down with a theatrical sigh.
Tyler is in love with a different boy every week. I can’t even take his crushes seriously because if a boy actually expresses interest in Tyler, he immediately grows bored and moves on.
“Because you’re dramatic and complicated and you’re not in love,” I say loudly.
He squints at me. “What do you know about love? Aside from reading romance novels and watching every rom-com ever made?”
I pounce on Tyler, and he easily tosses me aside. “I’ll have you know that I was in love once,” I say.
Tyler rolls his eyes. “Crushes on celebrities hardly count as being in love, Jules.”
I hate him sometimes.
“Anyway!” I say pointedly. “I still don’t want to go to London Park’s party. You know I hate those kinds of parties.”
“You mean, parties where people have fun?”
One glare makes Tyler hop off my bed.
“Listen,” he says, “we can do a simple in and out. I just want to chat with Ricky for a few. Maybe make out. Then, we can come back here, and we can play Scrabble until our eyes bleed.”
I lean in close to him. He smells of lavender aftershave and mint gum.
“You’re just sore that I always beat you at Scrabble.”
“You’re delusional,” says Tyler. “Plus, a little birdie told me London Park thinks you’re cute.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not in sixth grade. That’s not going to work on me.”
“You owe me.”
I hate Tyler’s impeccable memory. I went out after curfew once and Tyler covered for me with Mom and now he lords it over me every chance he gets.
“Fine!” I say, “But I refuse to have any fun.”
Tyler grabs my arm and drags me to my closet. “Come on, Princess Fun, let’s get you dressed.”
* * *
An hour later, we roll up to London Park’s house. Excuse me, mind-blowing gargantuan mansion. London lives in the fancy part of Pasadena where the houses have so much space that they have their own tennis courts.
Not really the place for Tyler’s 2014 Toyota Corolla, but I could care less.
A valet takes our keys as we step out. London is so over the top.
Tyler whispers, “In and out. I promise.”
The place is packed already with almost everyone in my junior class. Tyler loops his arm in mine and leads me straight to the kitchen.
The enormous white marble kitchen island is covered in red Solo cups and a various assortment of liquors, including London’s parents’ soju brand, Moon Seoul. Tyler beelines for the pineapple soju. He pours himself a healthy gulp.
“Liquid courage,” says Tyler after he downs his shot.
“Like you need it. You could talk to a wall,” I say.
Suddenly, Tyler grabs my arm and drags me into the walk-in pantry. The floor-to-ceiling room is filled with Korean groceries, tan bags of white rice, and so much soju that it takes up one entire wall.
“He’s in the kitchen,” whispers Tyler.
“Okay. So why are we in here then?”
“What if he thinks I’m way too needy?”
“You are. What else?”
“He’s like extremely hot. Like I can’t look directly at him,” says Tyler.
“Do you want me to say that you’re hot? Because you’re my brother and that’s a step too far for me.”
Tyler actually seems nervous, his foot tapping repeatedly, his white tennis shoes squeaking on the pristine tile floor. I soften.
I put my hands on his shoulders and look him in the eye.
“Ty, if that boy doesn’t think you’re hot, then he’s losing out,” I say.
Tyler finally smiles. “Okay. I’ll be back.”
He strides out of the pantry. I wait a few minutes before I peek out. The boy is laughing and touching Tyler’s arm. He has nothing to worry about.
I step out of the pantry and run smack-dab into London.
“Oof, I’m sorry.”
“Oh Julie, I’m so happy you’re here,” says London.
London Park is attractive. Sleek cheekbones, short styled black hair, and a fantastic wardrobe, like his current floor-length black quilted coat with a white tank top that screams Los Angeles cool. But he’s always seemed arrogant, his money-all-the-time attitude making me less interested. He pours me a generous serving of mango soju. I take one tiny sip. Soju made me barf all night last week, so I have a love/hate relationship with it.
“You’re into baking, right?” asks London. He leans closer to me to talk over the noise, so that we’re only inches apart. “We just hired a French pastry chef, if you want to come over sometime.”
From Hangry Hearts, by Jennifer Chen. Copyright © 2025 by the author, and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
