I really wanted this one to be a five-star read, and in a lot of ways it was. I greatly enjoyed the premise, the characters and, maybe most of all, the food. The writing was excellent and the characters were likable and well-developed. The romance was secondary to a compelling story. All these aspects made it a great read.

However, the plot was too “easy” even by usual suspension of disbelief standards. Somehow everything just falls into place for a business idea that just happens to go viral the second it is filmed, that just happens to get product placement, that just happens to get TV spots...you get the idea. While overall the story was great, it felt like the reality of the situation was glossed over to further the romantic development (a subplot that was great, but didnt have to be the focus for this story to work).

Five stars for writing, two stars for realistic contemporary romance.

Five star shout out to Suzanne Park's "So We Meet Again." I read it in a day and loved it so much that I've since downloaded and devoured her two earlier novels. I'm currently finishing up " Loathe at First Sight" but will review that separately on another platform.

If you are looking for something different in your contemporary romance/women's fiction or just an engaging, fun and escapist read that understands the and sees what the pressures and biases that women and Asians face working on Wall Street or for a Big Law firm, then THIS BOOK SEES YOU. I loved that Suzanne Park captured the experience and wove it into the narrative without making it front and center. It was part of our hero's experience, so it is part of the So We Meet Again.

Jess Kim (our hero) is second generation Korean American who had been working as in the senior ranks of a large and well respected investment bank. She's outperformed many of her co-workers but is regarded as a "worker bee" and not likely to bring in business/show leadership and is let go. Jess is unmoored and returns to her family in Nashville, TN. I hadn't realized that there was a sizable Korean American community in Nashville, TN but her family is part of a larger Korean group and the aunties and uncles have the usual one upmanship comparing which children went to which colleges and grad schools, landed which jobs, married and had children, etc. This stresses Jess out and running into her "childhood nemesis" Daniel makes it worse. Daniel has gone to Stanford, finished law school, does alot in the Tech & IT space, etc. But Daniel is also living at home with his parents while "on sabbatical".

Present day Daniel Choi is miles away from the short, stocky kid with the bowl haircut. I picture Daniel like the Kdrama actor Yoo Yeon-Seok or someone similarly beautifully built, tall and with the charming twinkle and charisma. Daniel is friendly and welcoming but Jess has a lot of resentment and hostility until they open up to each other. I loved Jess Kim and her toughness, humor, her ability to fight back. The scenes with her mother cooking were such a treat and easy to picture -- (hoping for a movie on #Netflix with Yoo Yeon-Seok as Daniel Choi) and the food hacks were genius.

Though I'm Filipino American, I could related to Jess Kim and Daniel Choi, their struggles for independence, their battles with their parents, the great love and respect and occasional irritation that they they feel. Suzanne Park captures what the immigrant experience is like but with humor and a light touch. Buy "So We Meet Again" - take it to the beach, read it on the airplane, hide on your couch -- it is a treat well worth savoring.

Plot: This was such an enjoyable book! The romance was so fun, and and reading about Jess finding a project she was passionate about and finding her confidence was so so great. And I love when a book makes me laugh!

Characters: I loved all of them! Jess was a fantastic main character, and I loved her family and friends. Daniel was a wonderful love interest.

The Cover: It's really cute!

Overall: I loved this book! I had never read any of Suzanne Park's books before, but after reading this, I want to read all of them! This was a fantastic book, that I so enjoyed reading. I can't recommend it enough! Overall, if you're looking for a 5 star romance read, I would highly recommend this book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This book was the cutest! I picked it up as a quick break from fantasy, and ended up staying up way too late to finish it. It was addictive

Although this is a romance, my favorite part of it was actually the entrepreneurship Jess represented. I was super invested in her business, and I was praying she'd succeed. It was super inspiring, and I loved how she wouldn't compromise her values for success. She knew what she wanted, and she was determined to find it.

I also loved how Jess was independent and strong by herself. Typically romance novels give us the weak female protagonist who needs a partner to support her. This book strayed so far from that, and I love it even more because of it! When her relationship didn't align with her plans, Jess stepped back, and worked on herself first. It was something you don't see in romances, and something I appreciated so much

Of course, as this is a romance, I can't neglect the relationship in this! As soon as David strolled onto the page, I was shipping him and Jess. Their relationship was written super well; it wasn't insta-lovery or unbelievable. They were just a fun couple to read about!

Considering I binged this in less than 4 hours, I'd definitely recommend it! It was a light and fluffy read, The perfect break from fantasy. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this authors other works!

Thanks to Suzanne Park and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 ⭐️
This book spoke to me, I really connected with Jessie as a character an a person.

You ever read a book that makes you want to eat, and eat, and eat? Yeah that's this one.
Food is love, it is a statement I have always believed in, and Jessie gets it too!

In her upper 20s (like me!) Jessie realizes she's no longer sure she knows what she want's to do with her life (like me!). In a twist of fate, she figures it out and leads (my dream life) of a successful foodie business! There is romance, but it is not the main plot in the least. Instead we follow through the ups and downs of her very new, very unexpected, life.

With her Korean heritage, and Korean food blog, the story also address issues of white-washing and blatant (although often unnoticed) racial differences in the work place.

would recommend.

Far and away, the best part of Suzanne Park's SO WE MEET AGAIN is its portrayal of Korean and Korean-American food, culture, and values. Jess's umma is particularly well-drawn, and the scenes with the two of them together were the most dynamic and interesting of the book.

Beyond that central mother-daughter relationship, SO WE MEET AGAIN never seems to find its footing. Part of the problem is genre: This book is not a romance, despite being tagged as "multicultural romance" and "romantic comedy". While Jess's changing relationship with childhood rival Daniel is a romantic component of the novel, it's not the central source of conflict; if there's a love affair driving the action forward, it's the one between Jess and her business. The false genre expectation was a fairly significant part of my disappointment with the book as a whole. Other grievances include:

- The book starts in the wrong place. Seeing Jess fired from her Wall Street job draws our attention to a moot point. Instead, the book should have started with food -- the centerpiece of the story both culturally and dramatically. Revealing the truth about Jess's employment over the course of Act I would have brought needed tension to the rising action. Portraying the inciting action first triggered a slow start that the narrative never quite overcame.

- Far from getting nuanced treatment, the tropes here are tired and predictable. The most offensive one is "liquid courage" -- not because I have a moralistic problem with drinking to excess, but because it sets up deferment of character agency. I want my characters stone-cold sober when they decide to put the moves on one another.

- While I love to see a woman reinventing herself and following her bliss, Jess's rise to fame is boring, unrealistic, and tiresome. For example, the first video Jess posts on her defunct YouTube channel (that has 12k followers but no recent activity) gets "ten thousand comments and [...] almost surpassed a million views" overnight. While there's validity to the magic of going viral, the speed and extent of Jess's success seems unlikely given her material. Reading about the minutiae of her business dealings was dull.

- Jess is difficult to connect with. We see her take, take, take, and give little. She's immature in her romance with Daniel and doesn't seem like an especially good friend, either. Overall, not a character I was cheering for.

There was so much potential here to tell a dynamic story about a young Korean-American woman trying to reinvent herself after having her life plans derailed by racism and misogyny, but the book's focus was perpetually misplaced. Like its protagonist, SO WE MEET AGAIN got derailed early -- but unlike Jess, her story never fully recovers.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The way to my glowing reviews is through my heart, and the way to my heart is through my stomach, and "So We Meet Again" delivered on all fronts. This had so many things I love: mouthwatering descriptions of food, supportive friendships, a smirking childhood rival-to-lover love interest, and cameos by cute Korean appa. It had heart, Asian rep, and humor, and is the rom-com I wanted Crazy Rich Asians to be.

I wasn't expecting much from this. I thought I'd read a chapter or two before bed (always a bad idea,) and ended up halfway through the book before I managed to put the book down and actually get some sleep. Where do I even begin?

The "rom": I'm a sucker for a good rivals-to-lovers romance, especially one featuring a sarcastic female lead and a slightly arrogant love interest. I loved the quips and the play on familiar tropes. I know I sometimes bash contemporary romance, but I can appreciate a good one when I find one. Maybe it's because I was thinking about Jane Austen recently, but I got some slight P&P vibes toward the end that made me love this even more. (I mean, who wouldn't love an Asian Darcy?) For the most part, the relationship between Jess and Daniel was believable, and the miscommunication was pulled off well. Sometimes writers get a little too crazy trying to keep their couples apart until the end up throwing in a lot of over-the-top, unnecessary obstacles for the sake of creating drama, and I'm not a fan. I liked the fact that the plot wasn't focused solely on the romance, and thought Jess and Daniel's relationship progressed at an overall good pace.

The "com": The dynamic between Jess and Daniel had me literally grinning from ear-to-ear at points. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for good banter.) Jess was such a great narrator and had the kind of wry, self-deprecating humor I love. Also, Jess' umma was hilarious.

The mom: Someone recently asked for an Asian American book rec with a strong mother-daughter relationship and I totally blanked. I'm sure there are some out there, I just couldn't think of any. Fictional families in general tend to be disproportionately dysfunctional and Asian mother-daughter relationships in particular tend to be a source of conflict rather than comfort for most protagonists, so I loved the relationship between Jess and her umma. It wasn't a braid-each-others'-hair-and tell-each-other-our-feelings kind of relationship, but it was endearing and sweet and incredibly real. Also, the random cameos by appa Kim were the best.

The bomb: (Sorry, I was desperate for a rhyme.) So We Meet Again had everything I want in a good comfort read. Yes, there was the romance, the humor, and the family moments, but it was also a bunch of other little things that came together perfectly.
🥢The food (obvi). As someone who really only watches Food Network when it's not sports' season, I loved reading about Jess' food channel. The descriptions made me wish Hanguk Hacks were real; the idea itself sounds amazing, and I would definitely be a fan of Mama Kim.
👯The friendships. Supportive female friendships are the best, and even though Jess' relationships with Flora and Celeste weren't particularly developed, I loved seeing them cheer her on. (I would also love to have a grocery delivery person who chucks sustenance up a second-story window to me, just saying.)
🇰🇷 The Asian rep. I feel like sometimes, in their effort to promote representation, authors make their stories aggressively Asian American and bombard readers references to Asian culture. I'm all for repping the Asians, but I find it a little hard to enjoy the story when it feels so forced. So We Meet Again was a celebration of Korean food and definitely included nods to that Asian American life, but it seemed more like a natural extension of Jess' life and the story rather than an attempt to fulfill a diversity requirement.
🔀The other stuff.
👉🏼I have zero entrepreneurial aspirations and absolutely no business sense but watching Jess build Seoul Sistas from the ground up almost inspired me to quit my job and pursue some ambiguous career change. Kidding, mostly.
👉🏼Park also touched on racism/sexism without coming across super preachy which is always something I appreciate.
👉🏼On a super minor note and very specific note, there were some mini-shoutouts that sparked a teeny bit of hometown pride.

There are just a few little things that are holding me back from giving this a full 5 star review. I can't even put my finger on it (that's how small it is,) but 4.5 stars from me is pretty much a glowing review. I did immediately borrow a copy of The Perfect Escape from my library and ignore my plans to make my way through my TBR after I finished this, and if that's not enough of an endorsement for Suzanne Park, I don't know what is.

This was a delightful cute read about growing up, failure, and learning to persevere with a bit of romance thrown in as well. I think a lot of young adults can relate to not feeling like you have life figured out and worrying about failure which seem to be central themes. The characters are all likeable and funny, the plot progresses a bit quickly and the quick rise to success did feel slightly unbelievable, but then again it wasn't too ridiculous to be plausible. I would have enjoyed more character interactions/dialogue but overall this was a great lighthearted, cute and fun read.

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.