"Her love turned me brave enough to ask the question, and the answer all along has been her."

River Lee and Sarang Cho have my heart, and I’ll forever scream that!

The story starts with River having the worst day of his life—walking out of his SATs, breaking up with his girlfriend, and quitting his job at Café Gong. Fortunately, he gets another job courtesy of his best friend. There’s one catch: his co-worker, Sarang, is the girl he encountered at the café when he quit his job. To make things more interesting, the café belongs to Sarang’s family.

Sarang. This woman is literally the definition of a huge softie on the inside, but I’ll never understand why she was so rude to River during their first interaction. As time goes by, it becomes clear how much she truly cares for the people around her and her family’s business. Hands down to her for being so willing to sacrifice her dreams just so her sister could pursue hers.

River. It’s heartbreaking how misunderstood his character is. He doesn’t know what to do with his life, and the pressure from his parents just makes everything harder for him. Give him a break—he’s only 17! He’s not supposed to have everything figured out.

I truly enjoyed how this story focused on River’s journey to find himself rather than solely on their romance. I believe many teenagers and even adults can relate to River’s struggles. Living a life trying not to be a disappointment is hard because you’re sacrificing yourself for others’ validation. What also made it so good was the found family and the relationship between River and Sarang.

Overall, this book was such a good read, and I definitely would’ve finished it quicker if I didn’t have school responsibilities. The main characters were so cute, and I love them so much, including all their friends. The found family in this book made everything feel so special.

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co. for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED this book so much! I instantly felt so immersed into this story and it played out like the teen rom-com of my dreams. Add in all the kpop references and all of the food and it was pure perfection. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Please give this one a go if you also love:
•Fake dating
•Grumpy FMCs
•Scavenger hunts
•AO3
•Evil exes
•Seattle😍

Thank you so much to Union Square and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Union Square & Co. for this ARC!

TO be completely honest, the first 15-20% of this book was a bit difficult to get through. It felt really chaotic and all over the place. When the story finally sorted itself out, it was so sweet. A great enemies to lovers, new-age young romance centered around bingsu/coffee, social media, friendship, and family. I rarely ever read books from the MMC's pov that is not duel perspective, but this was a nice change.

I would've eaten this book up back in middle/high school days. Now as an adult, this was a sweet story.

This book was so chaotic, with so many problems that River knowingly gets into, and with a colourful cast of characters that adds so much zest to the book. Bingsu for Two was genuinely a fun read. From the witty and amusing first person narration (the titles of the chapters were literally gold), to the unconventional characters and their misunderstandings (don't worry, they get cleared up as soon as they arise)— Bingsu for Two was like a whole package of punchy YA fun.

Manse March #2

Frankly, I would've loved this in my youth. And before you tell bitter, jaded old me to stop reading YA, every now and again, one surprises me. That's not to say I didn't like this. I liked the idea of it. The title? The art? How Seattle coded it is?

I hate how often enemies-to-lovers is used to sell a book. River and Sarang (kind of a cringe name imo) aren't enemies. They're just kids that semi-dislike each other. River is an annoying little hybrid. Maybe not little. He's actually quite tall. And Sarang is quite small. I love a height difference. And an Asian American goth girl. Speaking as a former one. Sort of. Or was I more of an emo kid?

Anyway. River's parents own a chain of so-so coffee shops. He starts the story off co-managing one with his ex-girlfriend, who he has broken up with offscreen. Not sure why this is offscreen, as so much of the plot revolves around setting the scene, play-style, and AO3-style fanfic. No, really. This is also very fanfic coded.

River and Sarang meet when she and a friend pop into one of River's parents' coffee shops, the one he manages. Shit goes down. It's filmed, because why not? And then blasted all over social media, because Gen Z has no chill. Not that millennials have chill. Actually, no one has chill. Is chill. I can't English.

So people start shipping River/Sarang. Sarang happens to be part of the family that owns Bingsu for Two, a small Korean American coffee shop in slight competition with River's parents'. After the shipping fiasco, and other things, River ends up working there. They fake date for social media, to drive business to this small shop. It works, because the youth are sluts for social media. Actually, I'm not a youth, but I'm also a slut for social media.

Where was I going with this? Ah, yes. So while jaded old me didn't have the best time, she still had a good time. There will definitely be a market for this. Asian American? Gen Z? Been to Seattle? Like coffee? And drama? This may be for you. This probably is for you. Go read it.

Book pairing: FRANKLY IN LOVE

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon!

This was a fun, fresh YA romance about two teens trying to save a cafe—and using their viral romance to do so! Delightful voice, page-turning pacing, and satisfying character arcs.

Chaotic. "Bingsu for Two" was chaotic. This book definitely has some genuine laugh out loud moments. There are also parts that are pretty cute. At the 75% mark is where it just went downhill for me. Drama. Pure drama. I feel like this will be a hit with the kids. Gosh, it's making me feel so old. I'm just trying to remember if I was this messy as a teen. Maybe I am just out of touch with the young adult genre. YA is such an interesting category. Sometimes you'll find a great book that would be decent enough for any age to enjoy. Other times (most of the time for me) you feel like, "What am I even doing here?". Maybe it's just me. Haha

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

✨ Bingsu For Two by Sujin Witherspoon✨

Shut the front door - Bingsu for Two is so espresso-ly cute!! I was immediately drawn into this adorable cover (can we talk about how good it is?!?) and stayed for the coming of age + coffee fueled + enemies to lovers romance! We follow River & Sarang as they brew up delicious beverages, navigate their impending adulthood, find their own way, manage their newfound social media fame, form friendships and discover something beautiful.

✨ Enemies to Lovers
☕️ Korean Cafe
✨ Social Media Vlogging
☕️ Coming of Age
✨ Family & Friendship
☕️ Coffee, Coffee & More Coffee
✨ Finding Yourself

Bingsu for Two was such a fun read and a fantastic debut by Sujin Witherspoon! I’m so excited to see what they have up their sleeve for their next book!

Thank you so much TBR & Beyond Tours & Union Sq for sending a copy my way!

What makes this book sooo good was just the dynamic between all the characters. It honestly shows a very realistic coffee shop setting which I was impressed by, and all the things that can go right and wrong working with a bunch of friends. Cause you know when you’re young, you don’t take things too seriously and don’t necessarily have to work (that) hard. But when their shop goes viral and they have customers lining up all the way down the street, it’s time to move to ass!!!

I loved Sarang’s strong personality, she’s cold and protective of her family. She’s sceptical of River and doesn’t trust him. I wish we got to see move of how she gradually came out of her shell. River on other hand, seems fun and bubbly on the outside but he’s really having a hard time. He felt like an outcast in his own family, but eventually found a place where he belonged.

The social media side of the story was a lot of fun too! When their video goes viral, they jumped on the trends quickly and continued to gain such a big following by turning their cafe into a personality.

I was really impressed with this one, as I was smiling and giggling the whole time. Also I LOVE books from the male’s POV (he fell first and HARD hehehe) 🫣 there were a lot of heartfelt and tender moments too, especially when it comes to reconciling with family.

This is a delightful read for fans of witty banter, found family, and enemies-to-lovers romance, who will adore the charming and humorous exploration of identity, community, and the power of love and acceptance in the vibrant world of a quirky Korean cafe.

this was such a cute read. loved the banters, fake dating, and found family. even though the characters were still in high school, their personality and mindset are mature for their age, i really like the character growth and development in this book.

Since I am a confessed lover of all things Korean, I jumped at the chance to review this. And Bingsu is one of my favorite desserts from my favorite Korean BBQ place Yummy’s! (The mango is the best!)

The book begins with River having an extremely bad day that gets worse and worse. He has his “life planned out” and I love that he decided he’d had enough and wanted to go his own way. River’s journey was my favorite! There are so many tropes I adore in this book. Enemies/rivals to lovers is a big one and workplace fake dating.

Sarang (사랑, yes I did those characters myself!) and River have some great banter. I highlighted line after line. Mix in some really funny moments and you’ve got a great YA romcom. (And I love the shoutout to BTS, Felix and some other Kpop groups.) The chapter headings were fun too.

I appreciate the Korean throughout the book. (I am learning, so this was fun for me.) It’s a book full of quirky, enduring characters, and I enjoyed the one POV of River. I enjoyed the way the videos are written into the book and how they brought them together as a group. River is flawed and has a lot he’s taking on. I felt the ending fit the story well.

I received a NetGalley link and a paperback from the publisher. All views are my own. There is a lot of language I didn’t think was necessary.

River and Sarang had a not-so-cute-meet on the day he quit his parents cafe. Their dislike grew tenfold when River joined Bingsu for Two (cafe) where she was the co-manager.

River liked his new job though. It was a family run business that hadn’t become a corporate chain unlike his parents cafe, Cafe Gong.

Bingsu for Two took off after River accidentally posted a video of him being trained by Sarang on his fandom account. It made them famous overnight and also boosted their business, which was previously doing bad thanks to Cafe Gong.

River capitalised on the situation and started catering to the cafe’s online audience. Sadly for him and Sarang, the netizens ate up their interactions more than what the cafe had to offer. They started fake dating to help out the cafe. They still couldn’t stand each other, but pretending to be in love started to blur the line between hate and love.

Although I’m not a fan of reading about social media in fiction, it suited this story well. Sometimes, like Sarang’s cafe, the algorithm could be a boon to small business on the internet. But it could also be their bane as people were quick to jump to conclusions.

Altogether, Bingsu For Two lived up to my expectations. It’s been a while since I laughed reading a romance novel but this one had me giggling and kicking up my feet in the air. It was very k-drama coded in the climax but it also brought out the slow-burn, dislike-to-love trope in a cute way. Definitely recommend it. It’s going straight up my list of favourite reads of the year.


Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and TBR and Beyond Tours for the DRC of the book!

Sometimes you need a book that will make you laugh and squeal and kick your pillow in excitement and Bingsu for Two does exactly that. So full of charm and joy, it is truly a delightful read. The book will make you feel a range of emotions - you will laugh out loud, you will get a little teary-eyed and oh you will so want to wrap every single character in a warm hug. Having followed this book from the moment it was announced, I knew it would just climb its way into my heart.

I was obsessed with the writing style and how comforting it felt; this book felt like my warm hug. I also loved how we got glimpses of the actual videos that were being filmed and how they were written in a script format. I absolutely love it when books do that. Also, special shoutout to that one page that was just like an AO3 description of a fic (and the tags?? a-maze-ing!!). Seriously, I adore the writing of this book soooo much *insert a million heart emojis here*

I really enjoyed River's POV, it felt super relatable and lowkey his fandom account was reminding me of my own lowkey fandom account (that is now deleted, thank god). I loved how River thought in fandom terms because, as someone who is in way too deep in too many fandoms, that stuff does bleed through to your real life. I also loved the sense of humor he has - it felt very identical to mine. I honestly would love to be friends with him and bond with him over our love of fandom related stuff. Also his dynamic with Sarang? Just amazing. Give me just another book of them bickering and flirting all the time. In fandom terms, I ship them so hard, right from the beginning. But also I felt how special their dynamic was - how slowly over the course of the story, they opened up to each other and became friends while fake-dating, while their feelings grew.

The dynamic between River and Sarang, and the rest of the characters was wonderful and I enjoyed seeing their shenanigans at the cafe. In my head, the youtube channel is something that I know I would be subscribed to and have the notifications on.

Bingsu for Two was such a fun, delightful and charming read. Can't wait to reread it soon!

River has just ditched his girlfriend, quite his job at his family's cafe, dump coffee over the cutest girl he's ever met, and get a new job at a rival cafe where coincidentally said cute girl works... and become internet famous while lying through his teeth.... life is going to be hard when his lies get out but maybe it'll finally give him the chance to follow his heart. River ran out of his SATs, dumped his girlfriend because he's not in love with her, and left his job as manager at his family's cafe. River is tired of feeling so lost, of feeling like his parents don't believe in him and that every decision has been made for him. As he is leaving his job he gets into an argument with the prettiest bratty girl he's ever met and he dumps coffee beans down her shirt... only then apply for a new job at another cafe.... that she happens to work at. River knows he shouldn't trying to be working for Bingsu for Two cafe,they're the rivals of his parents... but he wants a fresh start and getting a job with his friend is perfect until he finds out that Sarang, the girl he fought with, also works there and its her family's cafe. When River accidentally uploads a video of is new coworkers online and they become famous, sky rocketing the cafe's business, his life only gets harder as he continues to lie to his family, and with his ex threatening him, he'll have to decide just how far he'll go to maintain his new happiness and how much he'll sacrifice for them. River finds new friendship, a new sense of purpose, and even new feelings for Sarang as he spends his days working for the cafe... but his lies keep growing and he can't make everyone happy.... and when the truth gets out he'll likely lose it all... can he chase his own happiness? This was such a warm and heartwarming coming of age story. It so perfectly captures the experience of feeling a bit lost in life and trying to find your path while also trying to please others. River was such a relatable character and I adored the rest of the crew at Bingsu for Two. The story is as much of a coming of age story as it is a romance, and I just really had such a good time reading this.

Release Date: January 14,2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Union Square & Co. - A subsidiary of Sterling Publishing | Union Square & Co. for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This is an adorable YA enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance involving high school students River & Sarang. River is lost & doesn’t know why. In one day he dumps his GF, walks out of the SATs, quits his job at the family-owned coffee shop, & takes a job at a rival coffee shop, where is new enemy Sarang works. He knows he must do these things but can’t figure out the real reason why.

It was refreshing reading a book from the boy’s perspective & the author did a great job with the pacing of the book. The chapters are short & compel you to keep reading because you just have to know what happens next. The found family aspect with his new co-workers was so sweet. The author did a great job incorporating social media in the story in an authentic way. I also love it when text exchanges are included in books & these cracked me up.

One of my favorite tropes is fake dating & it was fun to see River and Sarang develop feelings for each other against their will, & the banter was awesome. River’s journey & growth throughout the book was wonderful to read. I was pleasantly surprised by this book & will definitely read more books by this author.

I was provided a complimentary physical book from TBR Beyond Tours and a complimentary e-copy from NetGalley and Union Square & Co. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars, round up to 5

A good and interesting enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine book! I laugh, shock, surprised, feel happy and sad. There is one part that I want to see it resolved, but that is okay. Overall, I enjoy Bingsu for Two! Check it out if you like a book that sets in a cafe and sweet romance! Are you learning Korean and its culture? Check it out!

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours, Sujin Witherspoon, and Union Square & Co. for a gifted copy of the book! All opinions are my own.

after dumping his girlfriend, walking out of his SAT, and making a scene at—then quitting—his job at his parents’ café, river is a bit…lost. in need of a job, he applies at the café his best friend works at, a failing korean café called bingsu for two. when he realizes his new coworker is sarang, the girl who embarrassed him at his parents’ café, he’s unsure if he’ll be able to continue working there without losing his mind. when river accidentally uploads a video of his coworkers that becomes viral overnight, business at bingsu for two skyrockets. river makes it his mission to continue makign videos to promote bingsu for two. the problem? everyone seems to think he and sarang are dating.

i saw this on instagram a LOT, so i finally requested it from netgalley, and luckily got an advanced copy! i was expecting to like it, but i honestly didn’t expect to LOVE it as much as i did! this book had just about everything, from dislike to lovers, to fake dating, to found family, to heavier topics, and so on. i frequently found myself laughing at the humor in this book, and this is rare for me, as not many authors share my sense of humor. however, there were also more serious moments, such as a side character having to provide for herself and her younger sister, sarang and her older sister coping with the loss of their mother and their father’s sickness, etc. all of these aspects were well-handled and balanced.

overall, this was a wonderful YA rom-com. i can’t wait to read whatever’s next from sujin witherspoon!

Oh i really liked this!!!

I have to say, standing ovation for the chapter titles. They were so so funny!! I was creasing with laughter.

Generally the entire book was funny. So much banter and it wasn't forced! I was cackling so much.

Loved the plot - a good old save the restaurant but also with a little found family and social media added!