This past August, I read and enjoyed Heart and Seoul. I’m back now with the sequel- Seoulmates! Our MC, Hara is still in South Korea and is navigating her new life with her birth mother.

At the end of Heart and Seoul, we learn that Hara and Yujun have a bit of a forbidden romance. It continues in this book much to her birth mother’s dismay. Hara is also working for her mother’s company, but everyone there is disgruntled because they think Hara only got her job because of nepotism. She doesn’t understand a lot of Korean still so she isn’t assigned a lot of work to do. Hara is still trying to figure out how she feels about her moms, fathers and her place in life.

Yujun is still just as dreamy in this book, maybe even more so! It’s fun to see how Hara grows during this relationship. I’ve really enjoyed this series. The author did a great job of wrapping things up.

Thank you so much to @berkeypub, @prhaudio and @netgalley for my gifted copy. Seoulmates is on sale this Tuesday, 1/25.

The sequel to Heart & Seoul does not disappoint!

Hara and Yujun's story continues as Hara tries desperately to acclimatize herself to life in South Korea, its work culture, fitting in with her coworkers, and dealing with the language barrier. Also thrown into the mix is her not-so-welcome standing in her new found family, and her homesickness for her Mom, Ellen.

This is a poignant, sensitive story of love, and what really, truly constitutes as family. It's also a look at how culture influences us, what we are willing to sacrifice for family, and for love, and how far we'll go when we KNOW what our future should look like. I love how this book dives deeper into Wansu, Hara's birth mother, and her past, her motivation, her desire for Hara to have it easier than she did (believe it or not). It is a raw and honest look at a character who could have been villainized, but thankfully, was not. The underlying story of Bomi and Julia is equally compelling. And Yujun, in his own quiet way, shows how he is proudly Korean, but won't be bullied over his love for Hara.

Love how this duology wrapped up.

This book was an excellent followup to Heart and Seoul. Hara continues to struggle to find her place in Korea, and being the daughter of the president of the IF Group doesn’t help her fit in at work. But, just like in Heart and Seoul, she manages to find people who love her. Seeing Jules, Bomi, and DJ Song again was like running into old friends. I really enjoyed this book and the ending was absolutely perfect.

I was so in love with and frustrated with the first book in this series, Heart and Seoul, that I really hoped there might be more resolution with Hara's relationship both with her mother and her not-stepbrother. Seoulmates featured many details of Korean culture, and a subplot of Hara not meshing well with the corporate culture at her mother's company, and her subsequent decision to put time and energy into a food truck she frequents as a patron.

This novel is armchair travel at it's best. Is it a romance? I still can't answer that question, except to say Hara and Yujun's steamy, sweet, and heartstring tugging relationship is prominent and aspirational with another cliffhanger.

I received an advance reader's review copy of #Seoulmates from #NetGalley.

I really tried to like this book because forced forbidden lovers is a lot of fun for me, but unfortunately I had to DNF it.

Thank you @berkleypub for the eARC of SEOULMATES!

Warning - Minor spoilers below for book 1 of the series, HEART & SEOUL.

Ever since one of my college BFFs moved to Seoul to teach English a few years ago, I’ve become more and more intrigued by Korea and Korean culture. Sadly, she’s back stateside so I don’t have an excuse to go visit her and I didn’t take advantage of her living there when she did.

In HEART & SEOUL and SEOULMATES, Jen Frederick draws on her own experience as a Korean adoptee living in the Midwest. In H&S, Hara Wilson travels to Seoul in search of her birth parents and to learn about her birth culture after the death of her adopted father. SM picks up right where H&S leaves off with Hara working for IF Group with her birth mother Choi Wansu and boyfriend/stepbrother (gasps) Choi Yujun.

Hara is still struggling with her identity as a Korean and American, a daughter to two women, a forbidden romance with Yujun and what she wants to do with her life. She’s struggling to fit in at work and get along with her coworkers. Her boss seems hesitant to give her any work since she’s the CEO’s daughter.

While I liked H&S, I loved SM. Hara in H&S felt really teen angsty and passive to me. In SM, we see Hara start to take control of her life and pursue her passions (Yujun, food, etc.). I loved Hara’s journey and really think the ending was perfection.

I loved how Jen Frederick really brought Seoul alive for the reader. I’ve only ever been to the Incheon airport on my way to Thailand, but Jen did a fantastic job of transporting me to Seoul and introducing me to Korean culture and social norms.

Also the descriptions of Korean food left my mouth watering. So much so that I proceeded to make a dinner reservation at Joule (a Korean steakhouse in Seattle) for a date night with my husband after finishing the sequel!

As always, I encourage you to seek out Own Voices reviews for this book as I am a white woman and not adopted. :)

SEOULMATES is out January 25, 2022!

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Thank you @berkleyromance for a copy of Seoulmate. This is a continuation of Heart and Seoul and can be read as a stand alone but I highly recommend reading it to get more of Hara’s background.

I loved this story so much!! It was good to see how Hara navigate her new life in Korea as she learns the culture, her relationship with Wansu and her complex relationship with Yujing. My heart broke for her as she struggles with these issues.

I love seeing Hara’s growth during this process and how supportive Yujing was and was so unwavering with his love for Hara.

BTW, this book will make you hungry!

When I received a copy of Seoulmates, I wasn't actually aware that this was book two of a series. When I found out, I promptly went and got myself a copy of the first book (Heart and Seoul) which I managed to read before this one. Though book two can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading book one to get the full backstory behind the second novel.⁣
⁣
In the first book, Hara travels to Korea in an effort to reconnect to her birth family. While there, she familiarizes herself with the Korean culture while also falling in love. In the second book, Hara finds herself living in Korea, with her birth mother who is keeping her apart from the man she loves. Can Hara have it all?⁣
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It was great to see how Hara adapted to the Korean lifestyle and I loved learning more about the culture and traditions too. There were times when I thought surely there can't be a happy ending to this one but I was thrilled at how the author ended the book and honestly can't wait to read the next book in the series. With a great cast of backup characters, I do hope one (or more!) of them gets their own story!

Seoulmates is the story of a young woman trying to figure out her life in Korea while feeling very American while also connecting with her birth mom and starting a relationship with her step-brother. It was a very charming story and incredibly relatable. As a Mexican immigrant in Southern California, I found the story so much like the story that many of us go through not feeling like we belong in either culture despite the importance of both places. I did not agree with every decision the main character made but then I remembered being her age and feeling so insecure about everything. It really hit home for me and I think it will be the same for many readers.

When I received a copy of Seoulmates, I wasn't actually aware that this was book two of a series. I promptly went and got myself a copy of the first book (Heart and Seoul) which I managed to read before this one. Though book two can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading book one to get the full backstory behind the second novel.

It was great to see how Hara adapted to the Korean lifestyle and I loved learning more about the culture and traditions too. There were times when I thought surely there can't be a happy ending to this one but I was thrilled at how the author ended the book and honestly can't wait to read the next book in the series. With a great cast of backup characters, I do hope one (or more!) of them gets their own story!

I was super excited to read Seoulmates after reading Heart & Seoul. This was a fantastic conclusion to Hara's story with a super satisfying ending. I loved following Hara's journey, and I'm sad that it's over!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

It was no secret that I was devastated at the end of Heart & Seoul, but I had faith in Frederick. I am happy to report that I loved the direction this story took and was overjoyed by the end of the book.

This was a continuation of Hara’s personal journey. She still had a great deal to come to terms with regarding her mothers, her fathers, and her identity. She recognized that these issues were keeping her from establishing meaningful relationships, and though she was making progress, there was a still a ways to go. I was really proud of Hara and the progress she made. She was taking important steps and lowering her defenses in order to build solid connections.

And I adored those connections so much. I am a fan of found family, and Hara found herself a wonderful group of people. Jules, Bomi, and Sangki were such steadfast friends, and Yujun. *fans self* That man was all sorts of perfection. He was willing to walk away from everything to be with Hara. There was this lovely little subplot where Hara made some career decisions too, and these four were her biggest supporters and champions.

There was a bigger focus on the romance in this installment as well. With the reveal at the end of Heart & Seoul, the romance between Hara and Yujun turned to one of a forbidden nature. This became a big obstacle for these two as they grappled with the decision to be together or be ostracized by their family and community. With the romance playing a larger role, I got to see how swoony and incredible Yujun was. I didn’t get enough of him in the previous book, so I ate up every morsel I was given here. He was such a heart-on-his-sleeve romantic, and I will admit, he owned my heart.

Overall: What a fantastic ending for Hara! It was a pleasure being part of her journey, and I applaud the way Frederick tied up all those loose ends. I enjoyed my time in this world and would be delighted to return should Frederick have more stories to tell.

4/5⭐️
I was so excited about this arc! I was gripped from page one. I loved her writing style and the characters were great! The only think hard for me was the Korean terms but I felt like they were explained fairly well or used often enough that I didn’t get too confused. Overall I loved this book and have already recommended it to my friends to read after release!

I read Heart & Seoul and I was left feeling devastated for Hara and anxious to read the conclusion to her story. I am happy to say that Seoulmates was everything I hoped for and more. It was perfection and the perfect conclusion the Hara's story.

Hara is trying her best to cope with her current circumstances. After coming to Korea to find her biological parents and hoping to finally stop feeling like an outsider, she soon realizes that she still doesn't feel at home and her problems are quickly adding up. Hara needs to navigate her way through her situation.

Seoulmates was a wonderful story of self-discovery, love and friendship. I highly recommend the Seoul Series by Jen Frederick.

📚 Book Review 📚

It’s tricky business in any form of media (tv, movies, books, music, etc) to release a sequel that lives up to the love and hype of the first. Well, @jen.frederick hit it out of the park, and I honestly loved Seoulmates more than Heart and Seoul which I didn’t think was possible. Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the eARC.

My favorite part of this book was how completely I was transported to Seoul. I loved how she mixed in Korean dialogue, descriptions of all the places were vibrant, and oh my gosh. THE FOOD. I was salivating the entire time I was reading (anyone know where I can get good Korean food in Des Moines?😂) As always, major brownie points to any book with multiple loving descriptions of Iowa.

Even though this story like the previous book revolves around Hara and Yujun and their obstacles to being together, the crux of the story was always about Hara and her journey to find her place and identity. This was so beautifully wrapped up and done once again.

This had everything I wanted and more. It had romance, found family, family drama, and wanderlust. Have I convinced you to read this yet? Release date is 1/25/22!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the first book in this series, but I loved the second one even more. Hara and Yujun's story was beautiful to read about, and I'm glad the author decided to explore it over the course of two books. It really gave it the space and time this story needed to grow and develop. Can't wait to read what Frederick writes next!

It was a wonderful story of love, friendship, and most importantly the self-discovery. The characters were quite interesting along with that I really love the side characters too, they were quite adorable. Also, I really love learning more about the Korean culture. Overall, it’s a 4 star read for me.

"Seoulmates": 3 ⭐

Seoulmates is the sequel for "Heart & Seoul", a romantic, steamy story with a serious note to it. The story focuses on our main characters, Hara and Yujun and how their love came to be.
In the first book, we see their relationship growing, while Hara struggles with finding her past. In this one, she acknowledges her past and discovers who she is: her heritage, her real mother and her adopted one, her father, her friendships and how complicated her love for Yujun is.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I did like the first one better but I couldn't have imagined a better ending to the duology. I loved learning more about Korea and the korean community, with all their costumes and language, too. Much like Hara, I didn't understand much of the words in Korean but there were some I did.
The parent figures in this novel were strict with traditions and a little emotionless, like, they have emotions but they struggle in showing them. Wansu, Hara's real mother, was really strict and disapproving. But in the end, she came around!
A duology I absolutely recommend for traveling and romance lovers!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: bullying (in and outside of the workplace), sexual abuse (mentioned only), adoption.

Thank you NetGalley for the free eArc in exchange for a honest review!

I absolutely love the characters and the growth in this sequel. It’s such a sweet addition to the story and made me feel happy inside. It definitely has a kdrama feel without the toxic breakups. Hara and Yujun’s relationship is so supportive and healing, I’m happy it was a HEA for them finally. I hope we get to see these characters again in the future.

I really enjoyed Heart & Seoul, so I was pretty pumped to read Seoulmates. I will leave a better review on my goodreads and youtube when it's a little closer to the time, but I really enjoyed this story. Its fun and warm to read a book with more on the romance part, it wasn't necessarily the best romance/romcom book I've ever read, but it was enjoyable.