Seoulmates by Susan Lee

The Quick Cut: A teen girl finds her summer plans turned upside down when her childhood best friend turned K-Drama star comes to visit for the summer. Drama ensues when feelings spark.

A Real Review: Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing the ARC for an honest review. Korean culture based stories have been a hot trend in YA literature for quite some time now. Whether it be K-pop or K-Drama, the unique sense of style and emotion has captured the interest of people across the globe. In this story centered around two Korean teens, you will find yourself pulled into their lives as old feelings return between two former best friends. Hannah had her summer planned out when it got ruined by news from her mother: her best friend and family will be coming to spend the summer with them. That includes Jacob, Hannah's childhood best friend who left suddenly three years ago. Now he's a K-Drama star on the hottest show, with plenty of attention. Will her new summer visitors make her life more complicated? Or more exciting in a way she never expected? I loved reading this story because it pulls you in from the start. The characters feel so real and emotions so strong that it makes you feel like you know them. If you're a contemporary romance fan, you'll thoroughly enjoy the story and the feelings involved. Hannah is a girl who doesn't fit in with the others at school. While her classmates may enjoy Korean music and shows, they don't fully embrace the culture she was born to. She just wants to fit in, no matter how much her classmates point out how different she is. Seeing her learn to embrace who she is and not take the scraps people offer her makes you happy to see her stand up for better. Jacob is in a difficult spot at such a young age. He was thrust into a career and celebrity status he never really wanted to support his family. The toll his career has taken is nothing short than soul sucking and breaking his ankle turns out to be the life raft he needed. Seeing him stand up for himself in many ways mirrors what Hannah is going through, in a different way. It's understandable why these two feel pulled to each other. A Korean infused contemporary romance that will steal your heart. My rating: 5 out of 5