Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam: Review

Welcome to my review of Something Cheeky! This was a book I was looking forward to because of the ace spectrum rep, so keep reading to find out what I thought.

Cover of Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam

Title: Something Cheeky
Author: Thien-Kim Lam
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Avon Books
Pub Date: 03/04/25

Description

A steamy new rom-com from the popular author of Happy Endings and Full Exposure, where two friends get the opportunity to work together on their dream project—a Cinderella rock musical with an all-Asian cast—and discover that falling in love was the easy part…

Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie at her own award-winning clothing boutique, when suddenly her college best friend reenters her life. Derek Bui is offering a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago.

Derek has loved Zoe since freshman year but never had the guts to confess his true feelings. Now he’s directing the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college. The stakes are high: it’s the first production with an all-Asian cast and creative team at Washington, D.C.’s largest theatre and if they can make it work, they’ll head to Broadway. But his real goal: get Zoe back in his life.

A proud demisexual, Zoe only ever saw Derek as her best friend, but working on their dream production together brings them closer than ever. Sparks ignite under the hot spotlights. But when the theatre’s artistic director pressures Derek to make the musical “less Asian,” he and Zoe clash on whether to stay true to their vision or compromise to keep the production alive.

Will Zoe and Derek finally let love take center stage or will their creative differences close the curtains on them forever?

Review

I was excited for this book, and although I didn’t love it, there was still a lot to like about it. As a theater girlie, I really loved seeing everything that went into Derek putting on the musical. The sabotage also made for some tense moments that kept me wanting to read to see how the characters would react or adapt. I also loved how adamant Zoe was on portraying Vietnamese culture how she and Derek had always envisioned. Derek was such a people pleaser, but it created good conflict, and made for a satisfying ending.

I did wish the romance storyline had been as interesting as the theater storyline though. This book has demi rep, which is very cool, but it was different than I expected. Because the main characters were friends in the past, Zoe is reunited with Derek and experiences pretty instant attraction to him. Since we didn’t get to see that history between them or see them just being friends until the attraction grows, it didn’t feel much different from any other kind of romance. I also felt like if you haven’t seen someone in six years, there’s a lot of relearning you need to do about that person. But Zoe and Derek didn’t seem to have changed much since college, and there wasn’t much discovery between them, so the romance again felt underdeveloped. I almost wished the story had been dual timeline just so that we could actually see instead of hear about their friendship in college.

The book also took some time to sink into because some of the dialogue felt forced in the beginning, and there was an over-explanation of details. I had to put it down for a few weeks and come back to it, but I liked it better when I revisited it.

If you like ‘he falls first and he falls harder’, the importance of community being highlighted, and theater galore, you might want to pick up this book. I do like the Boss Babes, so I would probably read another book by the author if Reina ends up being a main character in her own story.

*Thank you to the publisher for the ARC and gifted finished copy. All opinions are my own.*

Author

Thien-Kim Lam writes stories about Vietnamese characters who smash stereotypes and find their happy endings. A recovering Type-Asian, she guzzles cà phê sữa đá, makes art, and bakes her feelings to stay sane. Thien-Kim is also a certified sex educator and the founder of Bawdy Bookworms, a subscription box that pairs spicy romances with erotic toys. She’s been featured on Jezebel, Bustle, Entertainment Weekly, and Oprah Daily.