This book is quite the adventure. When Hara, a Korean-American, goes on a search for her birth father she encounters so much more than she planned for. Not only does she fall in love with a country that she had previously tried to ignore but she also finds friends and gives her heart to a dreamy stranger...all of whom show her what this wonderful country has to offer and help open her eyes to parts of herself she didn't understand before. And that's the true magic of this book...the self-discovery and all the things the author helps the reader learn about Korea.

I liked Hara quite a lot. She was smart and, in my opinion, quite brave. She asked the hard questions and looked both the unknown and heartache head on. She truly finds herself in a K-drama and takes the ups and downs with dignity and a sense of humor. What left me a bit cold here was the romance and the very quick resolution to it. I didn't quite feel her connection with Junjun throughout the story and, as a person who loves happily ever afters, I was a bit sad that there wasn't one here. Now, on the other hand, I fell in love with Korea through Hara's eyes. As she discovered the country, it's food, it's language and it's people, I was just as captivated as she was. Funny enough...I felt like that was the true romance in this book.

As always, Ms. Frederick's writing was fantastic and I once again enjoyed taking a trip through her imagination. Overall, this was a fun read and it's left me with an undeniable desire to go to Korea to see it for myself.

I wanted to like this one so much. And there somethings that worked. But overall the story just felt all over the place for me.

After her adoptive father dies, Hara travels to Korea to search out her birth parents and learn more about her culture.

I can understand Hara’s desires to connect with her culture and find where she fits, but the way she went about the search just felt so impulsive and wild. And the way she treated the people helping her was meh. Basically I couldn’t quite get behind her as a character.

Then the reveal of her birth mother and that part of the story felt like too much, too over the top.

The love story was also weird to me. I don’t know. I think if the overall story was different it would have worked but it didn’t quite fit here.

At the end I also wished there was a better resolution between Hara and the girls she rented the room from. They helped her so much and she just left.

Long story short, to me this story just didn’t work. There were interesting elements, but the way it weaved together did not connect well.

This book didn't work for me as well as I had hoped it would. I loved the Korean setting and learning about the country and various traditions, and I also loved that this was such an emotional and moving story, but at the same time, I struggled a bit to connect with the main character.

While Heart and Seoul was a good story and concept, I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I would have liked which turned me off a bit. I was hoping to learn more about Korean culture, but was disappointed in that aspect as well. Overall, this book was good, just not my favorite. I believe other people would love it though!

This. Was. Not. For. Me.

Not saying it was a bad book I’m just saying it wasn’t my taste. I ended up dnf.

I was really disappointed here! Maybe because I’m not a big fan of overly emotional reads or because this read like women’s fiction instead of a romance.

As soon as I saw that this was going to be based in Korea I was excited. I’m so interested in the culture and their music! I can admit that bits of this book did make me want to visit Seoul even more. However, that was the best part of the books to me.

What made me disappointed the most was that it lacks a HEA and I didn’t like the main character Hara. Between the cover and the synopsis saying ”heart-wrenching yet hopeful romance”, i’m still looking for said romance. As far as Hara goes, as a main character she was insufferable!

To keep my review short, I was expecting a different type of book from the cover and synopsis. Others will enjoy this, but I’m sad to say I didn’t.

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you are a fan of K dramas where the storylines are crazy twisted and will leave you with your mouth hanging open, definitely pick this one up. The first half of the book was slow but rich with Korean culture and scenes from Seoul. Then things got weird and twisted and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. I also don't love the female protagonist - Hara seems timid one minute where she takes racist comments from her coworker but then the next second she's clenching her fists and trying not to punch someone out.

Overall, it was a quick read and I liked Jen Frederick's writing. However, I don't think this one should have been marketed as contemporary romance as the focus of this book was more about Hara finding her identity.

Heart and Seoul is a beautiful tale that was simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking as I followed along with Hara on her soul search and struggle with her Korean American identity.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: When a life event sends you searching for something, odds are you’ll find much more than you bargained for.

💭 Overall Thoughts: This is another novel that if you read it as a romance you will be disappointed. It’s more of a contemporary fiction about self discovery after growing up in an adoptive family. There are also some mystery aspects to it as well— not in the respects of a murder mystery but there’s some figuring out to do on the reader’s part. It is somewhat predictable and soapy and at times takes some interesting turns.


What I Liked:
👍 Representation of Korean customs and culture. I definitely learned things I wasn’t aware of.
👍 Perspectives of growing up as an interracially adopted child, as the mother of an adopted child, and as someone who made the choice to give their child for adoption. I felt the emotions behind these perspectives felt very real and genuine.

What I Didn’t Like:
👎 Yujun comes off as a bit of a creep for the first half or so of the book. I wasn’t thrilled how his borderline stalkerish behavior was ok.
👎 Parts of the plot just seemed a little too outlandish and gave the story a weird turn for me.
👎 The romance. It just wasn’t there for me chemistry wise. It felt weird.

💞Read this if you liked: The Donut Trap, Ties that Tether

⚠️ Content Warnings: Grief, adoption

Thank you to Berkely Publishing Group and Net Galley for the ability to read with request for honest review.

I like Frederick's novels for being able to tug at my emotions and for the most part, the book does this. The beginning especially struck a chord with me as Hara related her relationship with her adoptive father and the difficulty of feeling a sense of belonging in a place she says likely "doubled the Asian population when her mom adopted her." This aspect of the book was particularly well done, making the impetus for Hara's trip to Korea a believable one when her search for who she is comes to the forefront. The focal point of the book is Hara's search for her identity. I wish the book had kept to this theme. Surprisingly, I could have done without the romance subplot--this is coming from someone who loves romance in everything. I could have also done without the additional drama that dominates toward the end of the novel. When the book took a turn for the dramatic and started to feel more like a Korean drama, my interest in it wavered and I enjoyed it less. Again, this is coming from someone who adores her Korean dramas as well.

It's a good book, but those expecting a full-blown romance might be disappointed as well as those who are expecting more soul searching (pun not intended this time). On the other hand, readers who like Korean dramas in their books will likely enjoy Heart & Seoul.

I was expecting a sweet romance for spring/summer but this was not one. I think this may appeal to the right reader but not one that is looking for a light, fun romance.

3.5 ⭐️

After her adoptive father passed away, growing tired of all the Asian remarks she would hear from friends, her father’s friends, Hara wanted more than anything to learn more about her bio parents, her Korean roots. When she gets an email from a Korean DNA matching service with her bio father’s name, she takes a two week trip to Korea to find him. What Hara discovers is not only that her bio father has passed, too, she uncovers other secrets along the way. And, possibly love?

Okay, the cover totally deceived me! While the romantic element was quite apparent, the story focused on Hara’s determination in wanting to fit in, wanting to belong. I get that being adopted and not knowing about an entirely different culture, your culture, is difficult, but the story took quite the turn. It was full-on K-drama to the core, and I didn’t exactly know how things were going to end for her. While I felt sad for her practically the entire time, I thought she’d find some sort of solace, closure. But instead, she unwrapped a big secret that probably created more of a negative impact in her life than a positive one.

Easily devourable though incredibly frustrating, HEART & SEOUL will take you on a wild vacation to Korea with a side of soul searching, family drama, and forbidden romance.

This book is so moving. I absolutely loved the ownvoices narrative about transracial adoption and fully related to Hara’s search for identity. The writing was vivid and made for an emotional, touching read!

If you’re going to label something as a hopeful romance, then please actually make it a romance. And the first rule of a romance is HEA or GTFO. This....is not a romance. You’re marketing this to people who are going to pick this up expecting one and thing and get something else entirely. It’s fine to have a book that’s about searching for your identity and figuring out who you are. But then, please don’t go saying it’s a romance.

I love the cover of this book so much, but I do not think it qualifies as a romance novel. Rather, it is about identity, finding one's true course, and have strong romantic elements. Hara, a Korean woman adopted as a child by white parents, doesn't know much about the story of her birth and heritage, just that she was abandoned. She didn't fit into white culture growing up and avoided many things Korean to fit in. When she learns that her birth father has recently passed away, she decides to go to her homeland to pay her respects... and maybe to try to track down her mother with the help of a good friend who seems to desperately want to help Hara avoid being taken advantage of. A meet-cute at the airport comes with a whiff of romance, but It's Complicated.

Hara is a strong character who takes risks and experiences real growth, as well as betrayal that she has to come to terms with. The writing is strong and details vivid, I really enjoyed the cultural elements of the novel and details of Seoul, and the attraction between Hara and Boyoung. I haven't read anything else by the author so I had no expectations for content except the cover illustration, and without a HEA or HFN ending, it's just not a romance... unless there will be a sequel?

#Heart&Seoul #NetGalley

Jen Frederick is a favorite author of mine. Have been reading her for quite some time. In this book she takes on a serious concept of identity and who are we really.

Not the uplifting heartfelt romance I was counting on. It made me a little angry and sad, to be honest. It's not at all what I have come to expect from this author.

THis one just missed the mark for me. I am not here for all of the inner dialogue, especially in such a chatty tone. Thanks for letting me give this book a shot!

Oooof this is tough, I'm such a fan of Jen's and wanted to fall madly in love with this book and I just didn't, in fact I had to try really hard, harder than I wanted to and if it were any other author I probably wouldn't have forced myself to try so much.

Lets start with what I loved, the Korean culture and being in that setting was amazing, learning so much and living through the eyes of Hara. I also loved the friendship between Hara and Boyoung. I also loved Hara's journey of finding herself.

Yea.....that's pretty much it.

I dunno, there seemed to be a certain something missing, I'm not one of those people that need a HEA/HFN so that's not where the complaint is coming from, I just wish we would have delved more into the actual "romance" of this story.

I LOVE Jen Frederick. So when I saw that she'd release a new book soon after this long hiatus I was so excited. But: I was expecting romance. That's not what this is. There is a big issue with marketing books as something when it is something completely different. I may have liked this if I had been warned about the lack of HEA. I'm very particular when it comes to genre.

As for the story itself, the main character Hara fell a little flat for me, the whole plot seemed a little forced and too soapy for my taste. I'll wait for the day when Jen Frederick releases a new sports romance.(or at least real romance). Until then I'm sorry to say that she's lost me.