Seoulmates

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Frederick, Jen
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Frederick, Jen	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"Readers guide included"--Page 4 of cover.
"A Korean-American adoptee fights to be with the one she loves while coming to terms with her new identity in this enthralling romantic drama and sequel to Heart and Seoul by USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick. When Hara Wilson lands in Seoul to find her birth mother, she doesn't plan on falling in love with the first man she lays eyes on, but Choi Yujun is irresistible. If his broad shoulders and dimples weren't enough, Choi Yujun is the most genuine, decent, gorgeous guy to exist. Too bad he's also her stepbrother. Fate brought her to the Choi doorstep but the gift of family comes with burdens. A job in her mother's company has perks of endless company dinners and super resentful coworkers. A new country means learning a new language which twenty-five year old Hara is finding to be a Herculean task. A forbidden love means having to choose between her birth family or Choi Yujun. All Hara wanted was to find a place to belong in this world-but in order to have it all, she'll have to risk it all"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Conclusion of a Duology submitted by eileenw on June 12, 2022, 1:10pm This book is a sequel to HEART AND SEOUL and won't make sense if you read it out of order.

tl;dr version: I'm happy to have read this story, but the novel has some problems.

Hara has kind of come to terms with her adoptive parents (but the dust is still settling) and she's attempting to live as her biological mother's daughter in Seoul. This means she's living in Choi Yujun's house and has been given a job in Choi Yujun's company. We now reach the part of the book where it attempts to incorporate workplace kdrama themes into the narrative. But it doesn't really do it justice. Probably because it's struggling with the fact that Hara's romantic relationship with her stepbrother is 100% taboo. It really puts a damper on reading their love story because even though they aren't biologically related and weren't raised together, the fact that they're constantly being called disgusting by other characters makes it really awkward.

In a bit of a left turn, Hara really focuses on food in this book. At first it's finding food trucks with her friends, then it's cooking for Choi Yujun, etc. etc. Hara finding comfort from her homesickness in food and Hara finding her place in life through food.

Author also attempts to tackle LGBTQ relationships in South Korea, but since the story is only brushing up against them as a foil to the protagonist's "forbidden" relationship, they don't get deeply explored beyond a basic understanding that they exist underground and/or as open secrets. Alas.

While plausible and logical for American-raised Hara, the ending seems to not bring everything to a cohesive and satisfying conclusion.