âA sweet love story of self-discovery and mutual supportâ (Kirkus Reviews), this slice-of-life companion to A Pho Love Story follows two Vietnamese American students who find themselves at a crossroadsâbetween family expectations, personal identity, and relationships.
To his friends back home, Viet Ho is calm and collected and a lovable oddball who nurses an obsession with forensic science. Heâs relieved to escape to UC Davis and escape from being caught between his feuding bickering immigrant parents. But with the whirlwind of campus life and the weight of his depression pressing in, Viet begins to wonder if he can truly outrun the version of himself he left behind.
Evie Mai is the classic overachiever: a junior biology major, model eldest daughter, and girlfriend to a charming, well-connected future doctor. But while her rÃĐsumÃĐ is flawless, her relationship is frayingâand sheâs starting to question whether the future sheâs worked so hard for is one she actually wants. Hoping to reconnect, she and her boyfriend both join a student-run clinic, but the experience reveals just how out of sync theyâve become.
When an awkward accident throws Viet and Evie together, a friendship sparks over shared memories, late-night conversations, and quiet support neither of them knew they needed. As their bond deepens, so does the pull between themâchallenging everything they thought they knew about love, family, and what it means to belong.
A slow-burn romance that is tender and quietly powerful, Solving for the Unknown is about stepping off the path you were told to followâand finding something unexpectedly beautiful in the process.