{"id":24094,"date":"2024-11-23T21:29:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T02:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=24094"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:21:33","slug":"bidding-for-the-bachelor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24094","title":{"rendered":"Bidding for the Bachelor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bidding for the Bachelor<\/em><\/a> (2021) Jackie Lau<\/a> (Fong Brothers #2)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cedric Fong was a success with his first book, but hasn’t been able to get further than chapter 5 on anything he’s started since.<\/p>\n

Brian Poon is a party boy whose father cut him the previous year after learning he dated men as well as women. He still has plenty of money, but he doesn’t have anything to do with himself, and it’s starting to bother him.<\/p>\n

When Cedric is strong armed by his family into participating in a bachelor auction, Brian ends up winning the bid for a date with him–despite Brian’s earlier crush on Cedric’s brother, Vince.<\/p>\n

My favorite part of this story was Cedric’s grandmother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t want to do this, Cedric,\u201d Dad says, \u201cit\u2019s fine. I won\u2019t force you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I will bribe you!\u201d Po Po holds up her hand. \u201cIf you do the auction, I will give you two hundred dumplings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re ever in any trouble,\u201d she says, \u201cyou call us and we\u2019ll pick you up, no questions asked, okay?\u201d <\/p>\n

I laugh. \u201cNo questions asked? Really?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s lying,\u201d Po Po says. \u201cI will ask questions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t normally have picked this story up–I generally don’t much care for stories with super-rich characters, although Cedric isn’t rich, he has a rich family, and Brian is rich despite being cut off by his parents.<\/p>\n

But there was this:<\/p>\n

“it isn\u2019t a demisexual Asian dude solving crimes with his roommate.\u201d He just described himself with a word I\u2019ve never heard him use before, but he doesn\u2019t seem to be aware of what he\u2019s said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll almost always give a story with a demi character a chance.<\/p>\n

And I liked Cedric’s struggle with his writing.<\/p>\n

I like cozy mysteries, so I read a couple of chapters, but even though I\u2019m enjoying it, my mind keeps straying. <\/p>\n

Mostly I read literary fiction, and I never enjoy lit fic as much as this, but I keep saying that\u2019s what I like to read and write. This book feels like a guilty pleasure.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Sometimes I feel like if I want to write about Asian people in Canada, it should be a sad immigrant saga.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I even found myself sympathetic to Brian’s struggles with what to do with his life, and his feelings of his own personal value.<\/p>\n

What didn’t work for me (of course) was the boinking, which I skimmed. And I didn’t much like Vince OR his BS protectiveness of Cedric. Especially as Brian didn’t seem to have left a trail of broken hearts and bad feelings behind him, but rather seemed to get along with everyone.<\/p>\n

All-in-all I found it ok, but it wasn’t anything I’m likely to reread.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Cedric Fong, Brian Poon, Po Po, Julian, Vince, Marissa, Sam Leung, Alvin, Carrie Lo, Spencer, Winnie, Ted, Michael, Ginny & Eli, Kris Kim, Holden Khoo<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bidding for the Bachelor (2021) Jackie Lau (Fong Brothers #2) Cedric Fong was a success with his first book, but hasn’t been able to get further than chapter 5 on anything he’s started since. Brian Poon is a party boy whose father cut him the previous year after learning he dated men as well as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[193,189,897,292,148,26,56],"tags":[197,688],"class_list":["post-24094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-10","category-ace","category-contemporary","category-ebook","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-demi","tag-jackie-lau"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6gC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23956,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23956","url_meta":{"origin":24094,"position":0},"title":"Murder on a Mystery Tour","author":"Michelle","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder on a Mystery Tour (1987) Marian Babson I had a lot of trouble getting into this story, because I could not figure out when it was set. 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It\u2019s a bit weird, us all hanging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Unmatchmakers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-Unmatchmakers-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23613,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23613","url_meta":{"origin":24094,"position":2},"title":"Where Serpents Sleep, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Where Serpents Sleep, Audiobook (2008\/2015) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr) Set in England in 1812. Oddly, on the same day, the book I was listening to and the book I read both had passages about the murder of Prime Minister Spenser Percival. I prefer the \"solution\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Where Serpents Sleep","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/Where-Serpents-Sleep-e1511012835636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13414,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13414","url_meta":{"origin":24094,"position":3},"title":"Ice Cream Lover","author":"Michelle","date":"September 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ice Cream Lover (2019) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Drew Lum has sworn off dating. His fiancee left him standing at the alter, and then wrote a book about \"your inner ice cream sandwich\" that accuses Drew (under a pseudonym) of stifling her, being a terrible boyfriend, and someone who would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ice Cream Lover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Ice-Cream-Lover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17671,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17671","url_meta":{"origin":24094,"position":4},"title":"One Bed for Christmas","author":"Michelle","date":"August 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One Bed for Christmas (2018) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Wes Chang has been in love with Caitlin Ng since she almost knocked him unconscious with a door their freshman year in college. But Caitlin is a successful CEO and Wes... Wes is now living a life that makes him happy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"One Bed for Christmas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/One-Bed-for-Christmas.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24681,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24681","url_meta":{"origin":24094,"position":5},"title":"4:50 from Paddington","author":"Michelle","date":"June 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"4:50 from Paddington (1957) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, #8) \u201cYou\u2019re getting deaf, Jane.\u201d \u201cJust a little, perhaps. People do not seem to me to enunciate their words as clearly as they used to do. But it wasn\u2019t that I did not hear you. I\u2019m afraid I wasn\u2019t paying attention.\u201d The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"4.50 from Paddington","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/4.50-from-Paddington.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}