SINGAPORE FLING
Carpe Diem Chronicles, #2
MAIDA MALBY
Contemporary Romance / Multicultural
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One alluring French-Filipina beauty. One sexy US Air Force officer. One torrid weekend affair. Maddie Duvall should be living it up at her challenging new job in glamorous Singapore. But two months after her wild weekend with Aidan Ryan, she’s still yearning for him. She craves the passion only he can ignite in her.
Aidan’s job takes him around the world, yet he can’t get Maddie out of his mind. When he returns to his assignment in Singapore, he seeks her out with a proposition she can’t turn down.
Intensely enamored with one another, their relationship takes off. But when Aidan’s mission exposes treachery by someone close to Maddie, lines blur and wires get crossed. Can their growing love survive the intrigue?
Singapore Fling is Book 2 of Carpe Diem Chronicles, a series of multicultural contemporary romance novels. The stories celebrate the rich cultures of exotic Southeast Asian islands through languages, food, and festivals.
“This second full-length volume in her Carpe Diem Chronicles is sexy, quick to read, and full of well-rounded, interesting characters. Family ties and female friendship add to the depth of the world and make you want more books.” ~ Catherine Stein, Award-winning Author of How to Seduce a Spy
“This book was great. Everything from the well-rounded characters to the interesting foods and exciting locale drew me in as a reader. I could clearly picture, hear, and smell/taste the story. The plot was perfect and the romance had just the right amount of intrigue and crisis. ~ Danielle Bellwood, Author of Daring (The Candomble Book 1)
“This book is a great deal of fun and the hero and heroine are both likable and realistic people. As usual, Malby’s writing shines best when writing about Singapore, particularly the culture and the FOOD!! ~ Gena Gilliam, Amazon Reviewer
I always feel a tingle when I read something written by a fellow Filipina, but Singapore Fling gave me all kinds of feels because the main character is a mestiza who is very proud of her roots. Up until this point, I have only read one other book where the main character is Filipino. To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure what Madeleine’s ethnic makeup was until several chapters into the book because I refused to read the synopsis. (That’s been my habit lately since I sometimes find that the person writing the blurbs seems to not have even read the book at all.)
I have yet to meet someone who is half French and half Filipino in person, but I can assure you that the combination is probably gorgeous beyond belief. Since Madeleine was raised in the Philippines but could speak French pretty fluently, I found myself wondering if she had a Filipino accent or some interesting combination of the two. Either way, Malby paints a strong woman that I would love to be friends with in real life. I enjoyed all of the characters in this book, but Madeleine was easily my favorite. I loved the things that came out of her mouth almost as much as her inner thoughts. The dialogue in this book is gold.
I like the vocabulary lesson that precedes each chapter. The reader gets to learn Filipino, Hokkien, Singlish, and some other dialects that escape me at the moment. Malby sometimes translates the dialogue spoken in other languages but she often paraphrases or uses context clues to convey their meaning. This works for the most part, but I could point out a few instances where I would have been lost if I had not understood the Filipino language and culture. Readers might need to look up some phrases to get the full meaning at times.
Much like Crazy Rich Asians, the food is its own character in this story and I can’t tell you how much I love it. When I wasn’t reading, I was looking up places in Houston where I might find authentic Singaporean food. Unlike Crazy Rich Asians, this book doesn’t drown you in affluence and gossip. Oh no, you will be completely submerged in molten, hot pools of lust and, if you’re like me, maybe a little concerned that someone might read over your shoulder and be a bit shocked. I’m a super visual reader, so this book had me blushing all sorts of shades. If I had to rate the spiciness of this love story on a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 15.
If you’re into a more chaste romance, you might need to skim over some of the love scenes in this one. But if you don’t mind getting a bit flustered, the carnal beginnings make way to a very lovely romance. I found the central conflict to be unexpected but very exciting. It’s not your typical boy loses girl and must win girl back. I really enjoyed the intrigue and redemption.
I am curious to read the previous books in this series and definitely look forward to the next installment since it focuses on a chef character. I hope that Malby includes some recipes.
Maida Malby writes, reads, reviews, and lives Romance. Through her multicultural contemporary romance stories, she takes readers on trips to her favorite places in the world and shares her experiences of their rich cultural heritage.She is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), San Antonio Romance Authors (SARA), Cultural, Interracial, Multicultural Special Interest Chapter of the Romance Writers of America (CIMRWA), and several romance book clubs. Her To-Be-Read Mountain and reviews of romance novels are featured on her website.
When not writing, reading, or reviewing books, Maida consults her husband on word selection, debates with her ten-year-old son regarding the Oxford comma, cooks the dishes she features in her stories, procrastibakes using Baileys as her secret yummy ingredient, and watches golf and food shows on TV.
FOUR WINNERS!
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I can’t believe I made you blush, Lorilei! Thanks for the fabulous review. For future books, I’ll take extra care with my foreign languages and make sure the direct translation is apparent. I’m excited for you to read Boracay Vows because that’s set in the Philippines. I do have bonus recipes there and in New York Engagement – adobo and longganisa coddle. My chicken rice recipe is included in the blog tour, so watch out for that.