Contemporary Asian American

Lakshmi, called Lucky, is an unemployed millennial programmer. She likes to dance and have a drink or two, and she makes art on commission. Fifty bucks gets you high-resolution digital images of anything you want (orcs, mermaids, cos-playing couples in sexy boudoir scenes) and a nice frameable print. Lucky's husband, Krishna, is an editor for a greeting card company. Both are secretly gay.

Emma Yoon dreams of opening her very own culinary school in Los Angeles. She’s saving up for it by teaching young ladies the art of Korean royal court cuisine, a prerequisite to marrying into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. Thanks to her godmother, a renowned Korean matchmaker, business is booming, and Emma doesn’t have the time, nor the desire, to settle down herself. But when rival matchmakers come after her godmother by taking issue with Emma’s single status, her godmother’s reputation and Emma’s dreams face potential ruin.

Regina Gottlieb had been warned about Professor Nicholas Brodeur long before arriving as a graduate student at his prestigious university high on a pastoral hill. He’s said to lie in the dark in his office while undergraduate women read couplets to him. He’s condemned on the walls of the women’s restroom and enjoys films by Roman Polanski. But no one warned Regina about his exceptional physical beauty - or his charismatic, volatile wife.

He's never gotten over his first love. She's coming out of an abusive relationship with a life-changing secret. Will their newly formed bond be strong enough to weather the coming storm? Indo is a headstrong romantic who never really overcame his separation from his childhood sweetheart, Mahi. When he gets involved with Jasleen, life takes an unexpected turn, one that he doesn't see coming.

Melody Joo is thrilled to land her dream job as a video game producer, but her new position comes with challenges: an insufferable CEO, sexist male coworkers, and an infuriating yet handsome intern, Nolan MacKenzie, a.k.a. “the guy who got hired because his uncle is the boss.” Just when Melody thinks she’s made the worst career move of her life, her luck changes. While joking with a friend, she creates a mobile game that has male strippers fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Suddenly Melody’s “joke” is her studio’s most high-profile project.

Beauty expert and influencer Jia Ahmed has her eye on the prize: conquering the internet today, the entire makeup industry tomorrow, and finally, finally proving herself to her big, opinionated family. She has little time for love, and even less time for the men in her private messages — until the day a certain international superstar slides into her DMs, and she falls hard and fast.

Serene dreams of making couture dresses even more stunning than her mom’s, but for now she’s an intern at her mom’s fashion label. When her mom receives a sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, all that changes. Serene has to take over her mother’s business overnight while trying to figure out what happened with her dad in Beijing. He left before she was born, and Serene wants to find him, even if it means going against her mom’s one request—never look back.

Korean immigrant Mina Pak Johnson is clearing out the last of her husband’s things when she finds a picnic basket in his closet—a long-forgotten wedding present from her mother. With it comes decades of memories—of her mother’s wishes for her to be happy and her own shattered hopes for her first child—and regret at never having used it. Pushing her husband’s ashes and a bottle of wine in a rusty old stroller, Mina is determined to re-create the picnic they never had. But with it comes something Mina never expected, illuminating a loving gesture her husband made years ago.

The Lo family sticks together. That’s what Honor has been told her whole life while growing up in the glare of the public eye on Lo and Behold, the reality show about her, her four siblings, and their parents. Their show may be off the air, but the Lo family members still live in the spotlight as influencers churning out podcasts, bestselling books, and brand partnerships. So when Honor’s father announces that he’s moving out of their northern California home to rent an apartment in Brooklyn, Honor’s personal upset becomes the internet’s trending B-list celebrity trainwreck.

Seventeen-year-old, high-achieving Kavya Joshi has always been told she’s a little too ambitious, a little too mouthy, and overall just a little too much. In one word: besharam.

Anna Tang doesn't date Asian guys. Her own Chinese family is bad enough, and she's not looking to double the trouble. Besides, she's busy chasing her dream of becoming a music journalist, and she's going to march towards it single-mindedly—and single, if need be.

Alicia Wu hates her hymen. She's not in a rush to break it, but she wishes everybody would quit making such a fuss about it. Her parents. Her pre-fiancé's parents. Him, though he claims it's not a dealbreaker. That small piece of thin skin is not important to her. It's not like she even believes in love. She is ready for marriage, though her accountant nerd pre-fiancé underwhelms her.

As a helicopter medic, Daniel Bliant saves other people’s lives. He’s cool under pressure, a calm presence for trauma victims on the worst day of their lives. So why can’t he heal himself? When he answers an emergency call at Phil’s Bar, he can’t believe who the bartender is: the beautiful woman he saw in his ER months ago and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about. But even though Annika is intelligent, lively, and gorgeous, he knows he should forget her.

Niro is a photographer who’s lost the joy of taking photos. Burned by a bad break-up, she’s in desperate need of inspiration. Vimal is determined to win back his ex-girlfriend. When he hears she’s bringing her new boyfriend on a group holiday, he impulsively declares that he’s bringing a plus one too. Their mutual friends have the perfect solution: Niro can pretend to be Vimal’s new girlfriend and join the holiday. Imagine the incredible photographs she could take in the Swiss alps.

May, one of the new generations of Chinese super-rich kids, has outgrown Beijing and has come to California for an exciting life. She meets two American men: a Jewish American Harvard-educated professor named Leaf, and Mentor, a Silicon Valley self-made billionaire. As her relationships with Leaf and Mentor progress, May's past traumas in patriarchal China are revealed, while her cultural naivete leads to divergent interpretations of trust, personal boundaries, respect, fetishism, and sexual deviancy. May's life descends into a mad triangle of deception.

“I have no use for a baby girl. Get rid of her tonight!” He towered over her as she cringed in fear. But Hansa, a 13-year-old child bride in rural India, refuses to remain a victim of the oppressive society where a female child is an unwanted burden. Instead of drowning her baby, Hansa escapes from her village with three-month-old Tara. Hansa soon discovers that life as a teenage mother is fraught with danger. But a single lie opens the door to a promising opportunity far from home.

The Kite Runner meets Monsoon Wedding during revolution in the Middle East. The story of an Indian woman adopting her son as she brings her estranged family back together in fictionalized Sudan and Calcutta. In 2045, Naina Ranjeeva writes a letter to recount the journey that led to the adoption of her son Nikhil. Decades earlier, she stumbles upon a lead on the location of her aunt, who had disappeared when Naina was just a child.

On a rainy, winter night, a mysterious woman in a red dress seeking shelter comes inside the restaurant Kabir was busy working in —primarily the bar. Night after night, drink after drink, she comes back to the same spot. That is where he sees her for the first time. Hundreds of patrons around her try to speak with her daily, but she dismisses them. It appears she wants to remain in a blissful peace alone with her booze and books.

Jong may be clever, but he was so awkward when it comes to dealing with women. After his girlfriend broke up with him, Jong got into all sorts of troubles. A chance encounter put him under the radar of Shirley Li, the daughter of Li Kun, one of the richest men in China. Shirley quickly became obsessed with him and hinted at the possibility of a long-term relationship. She whisked him away to America on a whirlwind honeymoon tour, but little did he know that there was a hidden agenda behind her apparent affection.

Raised in the United States, Tom learns of his Japanese mother only at age 20. He is troubled and goes to Japan to search for his Japanese soul. He finds love in Kyoto's Gion, but the ruthless industrialist who claims the young maiko as his protégé feels dishonored and declares that only their deaths will satisfy him.