The setting is a beautiful place. That being said, the plot contradicted the scenery. I was not expecting this to be more of a thriller. Even so, I didn’t feel attached to the story and characters. At one point I just wanted to DNF this entire book because of the slow pace in the beginning. It gets better though and the ending was satisfactory.

The writing, on the other hand, seemed very disorganized. It switches POV abruptly.. often leaving me confused. I have to remember this was translated though so sometimes I wonder if that the writing is this way because it doesn’t flow as easily.

Writing: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Ending: 3/5
Enjoyability: 2/5

Romancing on Jeju by Hyun-Joo Park is a delightful and heartwarming tale of friendship, love, and self-discovery. Romi, an illustrator and hopeless romantic, embarks on a journey to Jeju Island to find a handsome stranger she can’t forget. Joined by her two best friends, Hadam, a budding filmmaker, and Chakyung, a marketing pro, the trio hopes to find love, purpose, and personal growth on the island. Amid stunning landscapes and a few bumps in the road—misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and a mysterious stalker—they navigate the ups and downs of their dreams and relationships. This novel is a charming mix of romance, humor, and personal transformation, with rich descriptions of Jeju Island that will leave readers yearning for their own adventure.

I really wanted to visit Jeju Island when I visited South Korea, but I couldn't work it out, so I was delighted to have the chance to visit via this book. Romancing on Jeju by Hyun-Joo Park felt a bit more like a drama to me than a rom-com, but I will look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

Romancing Jeju has all the makings of a classic Korean drama! This fun, feel-good read reminds us of the joy in being spontaneous, especially when surrounded by friends. Following the journey of three women, the story starts off with a hint of romance but quickly surprises with layers of drama, taking readers through unexpected twists and turns. It’s packed with everything you’d want in a summer read—friendship, romance, mystery, hidden identities, secret agendas, betrayal, and secrets galore. Perfect for anyone who loves a mix of heartwarming moments and suspense, Romancing Jeju delivers an unforgettable escape.

Thank you for granting me early access to this book. I truly enjoyed this novel, the bond between the women and their camaraderie is beautiful to witness. I do think the title was a disservice though.

Thank you, NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for providing me with this eARC.

This book started interestingly for me, keeping me reading and guessing what would happen to the three best friends in Jeju. Descriptions of Jeju and beekeeping were also entertaining. But after 50% in, I felt bored a lot so I kept changing to read another book before returning. What looks like a sweet and light romance turned out to be a darker plot. Well, it's not a bad book tho, just not my cup of tea.

Romancing on Jeju is written like a KDrama - lots of characters, funny situations, romance, career drama, mistaken identity, a ruthless gang, a mysterious stalker, BEES! It was a little hard to read as a book at times, maybe it was the English translation, but once I started picturing it as a drama, I enjoyed it more. 3 female friends meet on Jeju island. They all have their own personal and work drama and have come to Jeju for multiple reasons. They also all keep running into the same small number of people. There is an eclectic cast of characters, and you can't help but rooting for them.

Note: I picked this book after visiting Jeju last year, and now really want to go back!

Loved this. I really enjoyed everything about this. I loved the story completely. It will stay with me for a long time. I appreciate that the author has very strong voice - one I really enjoy.

I really enjoyed this book, the chemistry between them and the story was really interesting.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my book

This book was such a rollercoaster of a read! Not only did I love reading a romance book that has so many other themes to explore throughout the story, but the sense of mystery and suspense kept me on my toes in a way that not many books within the genre have been able to. Romancing on Jeju, by Hyun-Jo Park, is a truly unique story of friendship, how we change and grow as we age, love in all its many forms, and those sinister individuals so many of us have learned to be wary of.

I’ll admit, for a while I struggled with keeping the characters straight, but that is no fault of the author, and instead is my own whitegirl lack of familiarity with a list of names that stray from John, Jane, James, etc. That’s an exaggeration, but still, it didn’t take more than a handful of chapters for each character’s storyline and personality to solidify within my mind and I was able to read without needing to remind myself of who I was reading about. Each of the three female main characters are delightfully different and have such unique voices that it was simply my own stumbling block to overcome. I’m assuming many readers won’t have the same issue.

The vibrant setting of South Korea has me itching to travel there and the author does a beautiful job at describing all the many settings the story takes place in as our characters navigate to and around Jeju Island. I kept trying to pick a favorite character, between Rome, Hadam, and Chakyung, one that I was looking forward to reading more of than the others as the book progressed, but Hyun-Joo Park weaves such an enticing story that I found myself equally invested in all of their lives. It was wonderful to read a book where two of the three main female characters don’t end up becoming supporting characters while one pulls ahead and takes the spotlight.

Overall, I highly recommend Romancing on Jeju. There were certainly scenes that left my skin crawling and goosebumps rising on the back of my neck, but it was all because these scenes were so relatable as a woman. This book is an excellent break from the plethora of cutesy romance books flooding the market that I think any reader will love.

As always, a big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Amazon Crossing, for allowing me the privilege of reading the ARC of this fascinating story.

Romancing on Jeju, by Hyun-Joo Park, was published on August 20, 2024. Enjoy!

Living on the edge for a cute stranger just might get you your perfect match…maybe.

Romancing on Jeju by Hyun Joo Park is a standalone novel and is filled with love, chaos, spontaneousness, and living on a whim. When a woman and her friends are all at a standstill in their lives, they decide to go on an adventure and help each in the process. One for love and the others for work and life in general. While things seem great as an idea, they soon realize there’s a lot more that needs to be sorted out in order for things to go their way.

I really enjoy the fact that this story is rooted in friendship. Sure it’s a love story but the deeper relationship is between the three women and their friendship. In addition to that, I really love that they are all in their thirties. A lot of the time stories have younger protagonists and when you’ve aged out of that era, it’s not relatable anymore. So having those moments with older women makes the stories more interesting.

The taking their lives back and taking control over what they do moving forward aspects pops out strongly. It’s refreshing to see women standing in their own power and not just following along with what society has presented to them. They go against the grain and follow their hearts. Whether it’s love or passion, they are on it.

The biggest issue I had was with the constant jumps through time. Every other chapter was a different time period so sometimes I didn’t realize when things were taking place. But I do like that backstory is brought in by having a dual timeline. It just could’ve been a little clearer.

If you love a group of women who thrive together as a tribe and push each other into their next levels, this is for you. Between the love, the spur of the moment decisions, and the filming, there’s something for everyone. I recommend diving into this story!

One quote I liked and that sums up the story: “This could be a documentary, a marketing campaign, and a search for a long-lost love, all in one. — Searching for Honeyman” - Hadam.

*This was an honest review for a complimentary copy of Romancing on Jeju from Hyun Joo Park via NetGalley

I liked almost everything about this book, but, it was just a little too slow for me. It had a wonderful begininng, however, after about the 40% mark, I was struggling to not lose interest. I went into this thinking it would be a romcom, but, I won't really classify it as one. It dealt with some heavy topics, and I personally really enjoyed the relationship between the main characters.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc. I am reviewing this voluntarily.

Sorry but I found this book to be to boring to finish. I also didn’t like the head hopping I found it annoying.

I read around 20% of this, but it wasn't living up to my expectations and it couldn't hold my attention, so I decided to DNF. I was especially hoping for more vivid and detailed descriptions of the setting.

I love that we are seeing more Asian books being translated into English, and this Korean story was a delight to read. Is it a romance? The title is misleading because I thought it was a romance but once you get over that it’s a fun little read.

It’s Hadam’s 36th birthday and she has quit her dead-end production job. Having dinner with her friends Romi and Chakyung they devise a plan to visit the island of Jeju to search for a beekeeper Romi had met three years earlier and film the adventure as a documentary. Thinking it will be a fun, potentially romantic adventure there is far more sinister things afoot that will unravel during their adventure.

This is not a Romance book, it’s like a contemporary fiction with romantic and mystery plots. It’s slow paced with multiple threads to unravel while following the main story line of three friends and their love life as they visit Jeju. The relationship between the three women were one of those things that I would have liked developed more. They were supposed to be there to help each other also they had different goals for their trip to the island. They each had their own plot line mostly revolving around romantic entanglements. The plot was interesting and characters were well developed but it was less about friendship and more of a mystery/suspense than I was expecting. At times the threads were difficult to follow but at the end everything was made sense of.

*2.5

At first I thought this was going to be a cute light-hearted rom-com about 3 friends travelling to Jeju and finding love but it’s actually much deeper and complex than that. There’s stalking, cheating and secret business deals involved and so many different characters. The different relationships between the characters got confusing as everyone knew each other in some way but it was just difficult to keep up with everything to the point where I stopped paying too much attention. I loved the friendship between the three FMCs and how they supported each other through everything.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC! ✨

Romancing on Jeju was not what I was expecting (me thinking it was more focused on romance-which it was not- mystery and self-discovery). This story follows 3 friends- Hadam, Romi and Chakyung as they travel to Jeju island (with their own missions). This story is more of their friendship and each character's discovery of themselves- it was great having each character have their different POVs and seeing the development of each character and their character growth throughout the book.

Overall it was not a bad book but not what I was expecting.

I thought overall this was a good book. It was hard to me to keep up with who was who to be honest. Especially with the amnesia and the lies. It's a me problem. I promise. I was so intrigued by it though. I thought it was cute.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.