Last week I got to go to my first book even of 2026! Lauren Kung Jessen was at the Bay’s first romance bookstore A Novel Affair for the launch of her latest release, The Fortune Flip, and there was no way that I wasn’t going to be there!
Hazel Yen would love to be that person who doesn’t believe in bad luck. But having lost her job, her mom, her optimism, and even her dim-sum leftovers, she’s sitting in a fortune teller’s booth, desperate for a sign—any sign—that her luck might change. Which is when fate crashes into her, disguised as Logan Wells and his utterly chaotic cat.
Except after one spontaneous and mind-melting kiss, Hazel’s terrible misfortune starts taking a turn for the miraculous. Money problems vanish. A new job lands in her lap. And she’s crushing—hard—on the guy who started it all. Only there’s a problem: Logan’s luck has taken a turn for the worse. A shared lottery ticket could be just the answer they’re seeking or a disaster waiting to happen. Has Hazel’s fortune truly changed? And if so, could winning at life mean losing at love?
I’ve been a fan of Jessen’s work since her debut, Lunar Love (you can review my reviews for Lunar Love and Red String Theory), so of course I’ve had The Fortune Flip on my radar, and when I found out that Lauren was coming to the Bay I was so excited that it was on a night where I would be able to attend the event! The event was sold out, which was so wonderful to see for a multitude of reasons.
The event was moderated by Erin Carlson, and she did a wonderful job! I loved the way she and Lauren bounced off one another while speaking and discussing The Fortune Flip and Jessen’s process in general; it felt a bit like listening to a podcast between friends, which is always fun when you’re at a book event.
It was so cool to get to listen to Lauren talk about The Fortune Flip! I loved hearing about her research, and some of the things that we can expect in the book (glad that I now know one of the fortune sessions involves birds, so I at least won’t be traumatized when I read it — if you didn’t know, I absolutely hate birds), and learn a little more about the main characters, Hazel and Logan. I was especially excited to hear that Logan’s job is a Broadway Carpenter! Between that and Erin saying that Logan is basically the perfect book boyfriend, I’m already obsessed with him.
Lauren also talked about her upcoming workbook How to Write a Romance, and I thought hearing about the differences between writing a romance novel and writing a non-fiction on how to write a romance was really cool. She also shared some details about her next romance that’ll be out in October, called The Santa Claus Con and honestly it sounds like SO much fun, I’m already so excited for it!
Getting to meet Lauren was such a wonderful experience! When I went up to tell her my name she asked me if I was on Bookstagram, and when I told her my handle she said that she was so excited to finally meet me and was looking forward to it once she knew that I’d be there because I posted about it which was just the sweetest thing in the world! I told her that Logan’s job really excited me since I work in Theatre, and she asked me about my job, so I got to tell her about the show that I’m currently working on and we had a really nice conversation about it. She wrote a very sweet note in my book, and asked me to keep her updated on the show. She’s seriously such a kind soul and if you ever get to meet her, you’ll honestly feel like you’ve known her for years.
It was such a fantastic night; I’m so glad that the book tour brought her to my area and that I had the opportunity to be there. The Fortune Flip is available now, so be sure to pick up a copy for yourself! I know that once my schedule slows down a little bit at the end of this month this’ll be the first book I pick up!
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