This is a funny and charming novel about starting over and finding your true self with the help of friends and one particular frenemy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jess is fired from her Wallstreet banker job because they were restructuring and she was not leadership material; despite her work colleagues calling her an “Asian worker-bee” (#cringe). Embarrassed and jobless, Jess heads back to her parent’s home in Nashville. There she meets her middle school rival/nemesis Daniel and now he’s hot. Jess comes up with her own business plan to sell Korean sauces that can be used with meal kits. She even films cooking videos and her Korean parents help. But as her relationship with Daniel begins to simmer, her business has a setback.

Jess overcomes sexism and racism to create her own happily-ever-after. I loved her relationship with her mother and how it grew; despite their differences. I adore how Suzanne Park uses humor in hopeless situations and creates characters that are relatable and likeable. The description of Korean foods had me drooling.

This book is the perfect recipe for Women’s Fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy. All views are my own.

Jessie Kim has been the high achievement path her entire life. Pushed by her parents and her Korean heritage to always do more, Jessie has a high powered NYC Wall Street job and is on the path to promotion. That's until she gets fired over a group Zoom call for "not being a leader." Giving the chauvinistic men at her job the proverbial middle finger as she walks out, Jessie moves back to Nashville to live with her parents and lick her wounds. She isn't allowed to wallow long, when she runs into her middle nemesis, Daniel, who's now rich and hot. This, plus her mother's loud mouth, pushes Jessie to start her own meal kit hack YouTube channel, and Daniel just might be the key to help her succeed or potentially the downfall to the entire operation.

Suzanne Park's writing makes me smile. You can feel her character's emotions jumping off the page. I adored Loathe at First Sight and So We Meet Again did not disappoint. I did feel this book was more of a woman's fiction than a romance. There's definite romantic tones with Daniel's character, but for me, the book was more about self discovery and Jessie's complicated relationship with her mom and her culture's expectations.

Let's talk about the most important character in the book - the food. OH MY GOSH! This book had me craving Korean food the entire time and I felt like the food featured was on par with Accidentally Engaged. Creating a YouTube channel to hack meal kits?!?!? What a genius idea! I found myself wanting to buy these sauces and to follow Jessie's videos.

Jessie is fighting the good fight. What she dealt with at her company happens far too often. Being Asian and a woman, Jessie has a double whammy against her in the corporate world. I loved that this issue was tackled in the book and that while it hurt Jessie and caused her a lot of self doubt, she didn't let this moment define her. With that being said, Jessie is beautifully flawed. Dealing with a lot of guilt for never quite measuring up to expectations, she works hard to find her self worth and I loved the journey she took to get there. Plus, the inspiration she gained from Sun Tzu, who totally would make a great TED talk speaker today, was hilarious.

However, Mrs. Kim is the real MVP of the book. That woman was HILARIOUS. I about died when her mom jumped into the video, telling Jessie what to do and tasting the food, along with her dad. The entire book, Jessie is fighting what she thinks her parents want for her, which in turn holds her back for a time. It takes Mrs. Kim to shake Jessie out of her complacency to get the ball rolling. I was incredibly touched by the evolution of Mrs. Kim and Jessie's relationship and how the two women ended up understanding each other in the end. Jessie putting her perfectionism aside to allow her mom to help brought tears to my eyes.

So We Meet Again is out August 3!

This was truly hilarious in some parts and I loved Mrs. Kim. However, sometimes the way Jess talked to and treated Daniel made me cringe. He also could have used more of a personality other than rich, handsome, and overwhelmingly tolerant of Jess's mood.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.