Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto comes to a bookshop near you in a couple, short days. I got an ARC as a bookseller and was curious to read Sutanto for the first time. I am also actively looking for romance authors who I can stand behind. I did not realize exactly what this title was until I started reading while on residency. What is it? The fifth in a series (each by a different author) for Disney, remaking major Princess Films into (adult) romance novels. That’s a thing? Yeah. And it’s a pretty great idea, actually, from a marketing standpoint. How many middle-aged, female, die-hard Disney fans do you know? I know at least a few. Then add to that the die-hard fans of each author. Pretty smart. Disney.

Let’s note it again: this is not for children. And move on.

The Meant to Be series so far is:

If the Shoes Fits, Julie Murphy (based on Cinderella)By the Book, Jasmine Guilloroy (based on Beauty and the Beast)Kiss the Girl, Zoraida Cordova (based on The Little Mermaid)Tangled Up in You, Christian Lauren (which I just found out is two bestie authors and I think that is really cool; based on Tangled)And really soon… Worth Fighting For, Jesse Q, Sutanto (based on Mulan)

The authors here are not being subtle about this. They’re not going to snag you and fail to deliver on the Easter eggs. In fact, my understanding is that the novels are almost beat-for-beat the original, animated movies. But at least with Worth Fighting For, they are also their own stories. Both and.

Hua Mulan has had to work really, really hard (and put up with endless finance bros) to succeed in her father’s hedge fund company. When he winds up in the hospital, Mulan must take the Wutai Gold account by the horns all on her own in order to make him happy. The thing is, Wutai Gold Whiskey won’t sell to some girl, so Mulan becomes her father, the Chinese rancher that has been emailing with the CEO, Shang. Shang turns out to be a devastatingly handsome man who invites Mulan and her cousin Mushu to the family ranch to prove she can rope and wrangle with the manliest of men. But it’s all a lie. And Mulan’s feelings about Shang are really messing with the deal.

If it sounds obvious, well, it is. Plus, it’s likely we’ve watched Mulan, so doubly obvious. Let me start with this: I was glad we didn’t go straight to a gender farce this time. Mulan pretends to be her father, but still a woman. Just a woman that can ride with the men even if she’s a city girl.

I also want to jump in with this: Sutanto’s endnotes about why she wanted to write this story are very heartfelt and compelling. Because yes, this is genre romance and yes, it is a fun play on a Disney classic, but it is also a story about immigrant children, Chinese and Chinese-American culture, and feminism. And I was slowly convinced while reading, nodding along to Sutanto’s asides at the end.

Because at first, it was a little cheesy. I actually thought, Oh no. There is so much Mulan there, so many references. And the set-up is glaringly obvious. So, double the cheese. But I plowed ahead (maybe because it was the lightest read that I took on my residency and we all know I like to read something light and addictive on residency). And darned if this story, these characters, and Sutanto didn’t win me over. By halfway, I didn’t want to put the book down. There’s such heart in it. And I was laughing. And learning. And I couldn’t help but be drawn into Mulan, Shang, and—heaven help me—Mushu (who is basically Awkwafina in Crazy Rich Asians. Okay, with a few changes). I even thought for a long time that Shang was too obvious, too perfect. But Sutanto was careful to include insight into Shang from side-characters that lets us know that Mulan’s perspective here is unreliable. She’s head over heels. He’s not actually perfect (though his body is).

And I was happy to just stay in Mulan’s perspective. I don’t want the love interest’s perspective in every book, ya’ll.

Sutanto is Indonesian and Singaporean (at least where she lived growing up and now, though her family in Chinese) and has a Masters from Oxford. She is most-well known (so far) for her Aunties (Dial A for Aunties, Four Aunties and a Wedding, and The Good, the Bad and the Aunties) series and her Vera Wong series. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers was followed up by Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) just last month. Her genres are thriller, mystery, and romance, across ages. I am hoping to get to the Vera Wong series soon.

Is this amazing writing? It’s fine writing. Are we cringing at trying to fit a story into a Disney Princess story? Depends on who we are. If you just want to have a good time and your pinky tends to stay down when you drink tea (or sip an iced latte through a giant straw, instead), then I would recommend this book for you. And if you are a Disney fan, especially a Mulan fan, and/or a Sutanto fan, who reads romance/rom-com, then absolutely. Personally, I might even go back and read a few more of the series. Or all of them. This one was good, clean fun. And if I’m looking for something to read on a vaca in Orlando sometime soon, then all the better.

(Note: there is not explicit sex in this one, and I’m betting in any of them. It’s a get there and fade to black situation. In case you were wondering.)

(Another note: I have no quotes for you since my copy is an ARC and that is not allowed.)