Book Review | The House on Mulberry Street, Jeannie Chin
Updated: Sep 7
The Book
Title: The House on Mulberry Street
Author: Jeannie Chin
Cover: Tom Hallman
Publishing: Hachette Book Group
Type: Fiction
Pages: 359
Series: Blue Cedar Falls (3/3)
Genre: Romance
Subgenres: Friends to Lovers, Asian American, LGBTQ, Chick-Lit
Audience: Adult
Content Advisory: Graphic Sex
My Details
Purchase Date: September 2023
Purchased At: Dollar Tree
Cost: $1.50
List Price: $8.99
Version: Paperback
Read: March-April 2026
Rating
4/5
Quick Overview
Jeannie Chin delivers a Millennial romance set in a small southern town that features a best friends-to-lovers trope with a hint of spice (though there is a graphic scene) in "The House on Mulberry Street". Though it's an easy, predictable read, Chin was able to create a plot driven story with good main character growth that has us rooting for more than just Elizabeth and Graham's love, but also Elizabeth's personal success as an artist. This is the third and final book in the Blue Cedar Falls series, but you do not need to have read the first two books to enjoy Elizabeth's story. However, I personally feel that having read them first would help a reader if they want to immerse themselves in this fictional town.
Publish Synopsis
Between helping at her family’s inn and teaching painting, Elizabeth Wu has put her dream of being an artist on the back burner. But her plan to launch an arts festival will boost the local Blue Cedar Falls arts scene and give her a showcase for her own work. If only she can get the town council on board. At least she can rely on her dependable best friend Graham to support her. Except lately, he hasn’t been acting like his old self, and she has no idea why. Graham Lewis has been secretly in love with Elizabeth forever, but it’s past time that he faces the cold, hard truth: vivacious, amazing Elizabeth will never see him as anything but a platonic pal. He’s going to help her get the festival off the ground, but after that he needs to forget his one-sided crush. Until one impulsive kiss changes everything. Can they really rebuild their entire relationship—and the festival—from the ground up? Or will it all come crashing down?
The Asian American Experience
Over the last 3 years, I've been on a quest to seek out more entertainment that focuses on Asian Americans being shown living in the present without a constant reference to their heritage or their ancestors' ancient ways. As an Asian American myself, I do not walk around in a hanbok or constantly reference Korean history. I'm writing this in 2026, where our society now has several 4th, 5th, 6th generation Asian Americans living here. The USA is our home and the backbone of our culture. Our every day lives are centered around navigating what makes up American culture and society. We're not constantly searching for a special dragon or sword. - I'm fully aware that the Asian American experience comes with its own unique issues, but we also have experiences that any person of any ethnicity will relate to and understand.
One of the most impressive examples of the truly current Asian American portrayal was the Netflix series Beef. It's not normally the type of show I would watch, but it gave viewers Asian American characters set in the now and just simply living their lives. It showed them dealing with marriage problems, kinks, family, career pressure, personal faults, and complicated relationships. The focus was on the individuals themselves rather than defining them by their heritage or by who their family was before them. -And for me, it helped fuel my search for more Asian American representation like what was being portrayed there.
I do still love movies like Shang-Chi, but Asian American representation doesn't always have to revolve around Asian mythology, ancient traditions, or reconnecting with one's ancestral past. Asian Americans have evolved so much, and our stories can reflect that.
Initially when I saw "The House on Mulberry Street" at a Dollar Tree, I overlooked it. The cover made it look like a boring romance centered around a house. I passed on it without even reading the synopsis.
When I stopped at a different Dollar Tree in another city about a week later, I saw the book again. This time, I took a better look at it. It was then that I noticed the picture of the author on the back of the book was that of an Asian woman. So, I read the synopsis this time, but I still wasn't entirely sure this book was for me. Yet, there was this nagging voice in my head telling me that this was part of the journey for me. That this book might give me the voice of an Asian American character whose story seemed to center around her small-town career and love life; something that could connect with the everyday Asian American, as well as be relateable to any American woman. -So, I bought it.
The Blue Cedar Falls Series
It wasn't until I was about a third of the way through the book that I opened it and flipped through the pages at the front and back that happened to be advertisements for the first two books in the Blue Cedar Falls series (as well as other books from the Forever line by Hachette Book Group). All of a sudden, all of the dialogue referencing Elizabeth's older sisters and their love lives, along with some of the details of Elizabeth's past to where she was currently in life made sense!
As it turns out, Elizabeth's older sisters, June and May, have their own books: The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane & Return to Cherry Blossom Way, which come before Elizabeth's story.
As of now, I still have not read these books, but I'm here to tell you that it's not necessary to have read them in order to enjoy The House on Mulberry Street. However, I do think reading them first would help to fully enjoy this fictional town and its community that Jeannie Chin has created. From the moment I started reading this book, I felt like I was missing something. I had that familiar feeling of joining my partner at the start of the last season of a TV series he's been binge watching - I don't quite know everything that has transpired before, so there are pieces and little details I'm missing that would make the series more meaningful or impactful -that's how I felt at the start of reading The House on Mulberry Street. The plot of the story and everything that transpires for Elizabeth and Graham are easy to follow, but there was history there I hadn't experienced.
Gilmore Girls and Small Towns
Blue Cedar Falls felt like Stars Hollow from the TV series, Gilmore Girls. It features the same small-town community with its many festivals and gatherings, complete with everybody knowing everybody and their business. The local cliques and politics were also quite similar. There is a scene towards the end, when the town is debating Elizabeth's festival, and it plays out like a scene from a Stars Hollow town meeting.
Jeannie Chin also nailed the small Southern town vibes. This fictional town is set in the state of North Carolina, and I used to live in a small town next door in Tennessee. The way she wrote the setting took me right back to my high school days and entry into adulthood while living there.
This book is perfect for Millenials and those of us who grew up on the late 90's and 2000's WB/CW shows like Gilmore Girls, Dawsons Creek, Everwood, and Hart of Dixie. If you are familiar with these shows, you'll pick up on the familiar vibes as you read this book.
There's a plot!
This book is more than just a trope of a love story. It's not even really about a house!
The book is fueled by Elizabeth's redemption in the eyes of the town and her family, as well as her career goals and the need to prove something to herself. Of course, we learn early on that her best friend, Graham, is in love with her. But Jeannie Chin does something much different here than most of the love stories I've read in the last two years- she doesn't make us wait or guess about the romance. She sets it all up early on and then us readers are just left to wonder if the pair will make it official. The romance is woven in throughout the actual plot, instead of it being the main part of the plot, which I found refreshing. I enjoyed seeing Elizabeth have goals, problems, and aspirations outside of her love life.
The house is also a sore spot for Elizabeth, which eventually becomes part of the happy ending. It, too, is also simply woven into the plot. It does not distract the readers or fill the pages unnecessarily. It is actually a large piece of Graham's journey in the book.
The spice level of this book is quite temperate, with just one mildly graphic scene. It's safe to say that the sex does not overpower this story. After the initial sex scene, we are just given brief mentions of the couple's sex life.
It's still a romance.
This book is still a romance. So, it comes with the repetitive narration of this genre. We are consistently reminded of Elizabeth's feelings of failure, her past as a rebellious teen (specifically, the fact that she spray painted a wall), her hatred of the house Graham buys, and her confusing feelings about settling down with Graham.
Yet, even with the typical overdone reminders, I wasn't as annoyed with them in this book as I was in other romances I've read. I think Jeannie Chin did her best at giving context to repetition in the narration, relating them to those specific moments of what the characters were experiencing at the time, making them less irritating.
My only real criticism with this book came around page 81, when Elizabeth's feelings for Graham seem to just skyrocket out of nowhere. Up until then it was all slowly unraveling, and she seemed oblivious to any romantic tendencies in their relationship. I personally appreciate authors not dragging aspects of a story out just to fill more pages, but this felt like there was something we, the readers, were not privy to knowing before this scene.
Recommended
I give this book a solid 4 out 5 stars. If you're looking for an easy read romance that is more plot driver than fueled by romance, this will be perfect. Set in the present time, this book has character diversity wrapped in southern comfort. I personally appreciated the way the Asian American and LGBTQ+ communities were written in.
I highly recommend this book for fans of Gilmore Girls or those who enjoy small-town centered stories. It is a good book to read if you're in the mood for a romance that lays it all out from the beginning, rather than giving a slow burn. It's also very mild in spice and we're not bombarded with overtly out of place sex scenes.
It would be a great book to read during the Fall when things are becoming cozier and fall festivals are upon us. Or even in the springtime, when the it is warming up and the changes around us tend to be unfolding with a sense of renewal.
This book is part of a trilogy and while it's not necessary to have read the first two books to enjoy this one, I do think it would help in terms of world-building for the fictional town of Blue Cedar Falls.
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