Still Unwritten is an escapist romance between a K-Pop star in hiding and a wannabe actress from Italy. The scenery is probably the most enjoyable character and setting in a book and I really want to go there. The book took a long time to get into and even then I was just not sure I liked it all that much. The setting is great, some of the characters are great but the two mains just didnt connect and resonate with me as much as I had hoped. I think a lot of people will like this book, it just didnt capture me.

This was gorgeous. Lovely romance but also great world/character building. Overcoming trauma and finding where they fit into this world. It was cheesy, as all romance books are, but so beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I would recommend Caroline Khoury's new book, Still Unwritten. Wonderful story for everyone to enjoy. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy reading!

it is apparent that the target market was the swifties but being one, this book did not resonate with me. it just felt over the place and topics weren't discussed as much as i'd want to as it jumped from one to another.

This was overall a really sweet romance. I really enjoyed the aspect of two people trying to find their way in the world and they leaned on each other to do that.

There were a lot of heavy topics in this book, I think they were handled really well and I liked the way they were explored throughout the story.

The romance could have been a little bit more fiery for me, I wanted a bit more passion. It was cute and really sweet, but I just felt something was missing in the relationship. It didn’t deter me from loving the characters, but they just haven’t ended up being a favourite romance couple I’d want to read more of!

Overall, I loved the premise of the story and I really enjoyed seeing the FMC being an amazing person/friend.

✅Rockstar romance. Francesca (Italian) is a struggling actress in London. Jae-seung (South Korean) is a KPop star.
✅ forbidden relationship
✅ Lots of Taylor Swift references
🌶️: a little

This was a sweet read, but it had way too much going on. I understand that characters are human, and need their own backstories, but this was next level. It hit the point there were so many negative, hard topics that we couldn't focus and get into the story.

3/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the advance e reader copy!

48 hours to find her passion.
7 days to find his way back on stage.
1 chance to take a risk on love.

What I love about Caroline's books especially is that they're not just your typical ‘boy meets girl’ romances that have been done a million times. She writes such in- depth characters with intricate layers and flaws to create these real, heartwarming stories that tackle big issues such as grief, loss of cultural identity, family dynamics etc.

But with any good book, we all want a bit of escapism, right? So aside from the heavier topics tackled, we have jet setting all over the world, backstage passes at a K-Pop sold out show, gorgeous brooding male leads and there's a solid dose of steaminess 🔥

In a nutshell: Fran is desperate to make it as an actress to prove to herself and to her traditional Italian family that the move to London was worth it. On the flip side, Jae Seung’s story shows that all that glitters isn't gold and there's a darker side to fame and fortune, especially when you're harbouring a dark secret of your own...

I truly can't do justice to Caroline's beautifully written books so I can only urge you to pick one up and give it a try! This would be the PERFECT Summer Read this year for sure 🌞🏝️

Still Unwritten is my favourite of hers to date and I can't wait to see what she gives us next ❤️

This book hooked me in the beginning but unfortunately I didn’t feel connected to the characters. The first time they met it was so awkward, rushed and unrealistic. It just didn’t make sense to me. It was very much a “fast burn romance “ in my opinion. I enjoyed everything but the romance part of this book which ironic since it is a romance book.

This is a story about a K-pop idol and a girl who really wants to be an actress in London. However, life often gets in the way and things don't usually go as planned. That is why Francesca is working 2 jobs in between her auditions to launch her acting carreer. She hires an appartment from this Korean family who happen to have this super sexy cousin. And when that cousin visits, Francesca's best friend will make sure that Francesca gets some alone time with him. Francesca, reluctant in all of this, doesn't want to go on a date and wants to focus on getting her career started. But then it turns out that this guy will be her handyman who's coming to her aid with her broken sink. Between the awkward moments and runaway moments Francesca and Jae-Seung (the Korean guy) find out that they really love to be in each others presence. But as stated before, life gets in the way. Especially when you are a K-pop star. Besides all of that, Jae-Seung has to deal with a lot of personal matters. Not to mention the personal matters of Francesca. She's been busy dealing with her own problems. Will they be able to help each other in this as their matters kind of overlap? And will they find their way back to each other, as more than acquaintances or maybe even friends?

I loved this book a lot. It was so easily written and it read so nicely. I don't really know a lot about K-pop and all, but that didn't bother in this story at all. There were also a lot of Taylor Swift references, which I did get. So that was nice too!

This was an interesting read and goes beyond your standard romance story! Francesca is a struggling actress and meets Jae-Seung, the visiting Korean relative of her landlord. They have an instant connection but only have a few days together. They are drawn back into each other’s lives though, and Fran learns that’s he’s a super famous K-pop star! There is a sweet slow burn between the main characters and it’s heartwarming to see them help each other through some heavy stuff. It’s also a whirlwind of a novel with lots of exotic travel!

What to expect:

- celebrity romance
- slow burn
- forbidden romance
- forced proximity

This was a first time read for me by this author and I had such fun reading it. Jae-seung is a famous singer, but is currently MIA from his tour. Fran is struggling actress and has one more shot at making her dream come true. I enjoyed following their journey as they traveled together, Fran to find her estranged mother, and Jae-seung to continue with his tour rehearsals. These are two lost souls trying to find their way in life and in the process are finding their way into each other's hearts.
It was an enjoyable romance and it definitely had some depth, not as light-hearted as I originally thought. The book definitely left me with a smile on my face and a happy feeling afterwards. The characters were interesting and well-developed with realistic and relatable qualities. I enjoyed seeing the growth of the characters and I would be happy to have the opportunity to read more of this author's work.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

If I could give this book six stars I would the author, Caroline, is amazing and has made the reading of this book even more enjoyable. I enjoyed her reactions to my stories for the Tandem Readalong and appreciate how much effort she put into reaching out to us and engaging.

Now onto the book - this was such an easy read and I devoured it in two days! This book gives you family drama, romance, travel and celebrities. The multiple locations you travel to in this book helped me to escape rainy England and I found myself gravitating towards this book whenever I had the time to read - considering how big my TBR is Caroline must have sprinkled magic onto the pages!

Whilst this book is romance it is not a smutty book, and for an author to be as talented as Caroline she managed to make you not crave the physical descriptions some other authors heavily rely on. Through her writing you understand the character emotionally and become attached to their journey, some of it was not even between the two of them but Fran trying to find her long lost mother.

I will now be heading out to the shops to buy the other books published by Caroline and highly recommend everyone else joins in with me.

Thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley allowing me to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2.5 stars

I wish I could have liked this book. The premise was so good ... I was so interested at the beginning but lord it dragged on. It looked me WEEKS to get through this, where I went back and forth between enjoying some chapters and then others sending me into such a slump that I debated dnfing ... which now I look back and I should have just accepted my defeat.

The best part of this entire book was the fmc's best friend, Clara. She was fun to read about, and then I'd go back to the insta-love romance and the back and forth between the parents and the cousins and ugh. Just stop .. please write more of Clara and less of how the fmc has issues with both her parents lying to her.

The romance was okay. Kind of mediocre compared to other romances that I've read in the years. I wanted to give it a chance after reading other reviews but it seems they all hit the nail on the head. The chemistry was a little dry, drier than me reading those "spicy" scenes.

Ok, so the premise of this book is cute…you could even say great. Slow pace, but there was a lot to build out and explain especially since essentially the duration of the book goes from 3 days to 10 days and then weeks. (Doesn’t make sense now but if you read it, it will.)
A failing actress, a K-Pop star…a new trope for me. As you read more about Fran and Jae-seung, there’s more complexities about them that honestly create a pretty good story. And the building tension between them, top notch. So much so that it hit 3 peppers right at the tip 😉

Then right around 70-80% I feel like things started to feel a little rushed and cramped and Clara started to absolutely suck and I found her so intolerable. Thank goodness she was a side character or else I would have stopped reading and not finished the book.

Also, this book gives no hint at all at the trigger warnings! Oh my goodness. Please take notice if suicide, suicide attempts, encountering sucide attempts and death/loss of parents and grandparents are difficult and a trigger for you. Those parts within the book were very unexpected and heavy.

The end of the book did have a happy ending (as one would expect) and everything was wrapped up nicely, but it did fall flat for me in that, by the time the end came around, I was just happy to finish the book because it became a lot.

3 stars, 3 peppers.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one had a good premise but fell a bit flat for me. Maybe the pacing was a bit too tight for what actually happened.

{ dnf @ 40%}

Still Unwritten has a very intriguing premise but unfortunately I couldn't like the writing style and some decisions in the story reminded me, in a bad way, of some kpop fanfics that I read when I was a teenager. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I fell in love with Caroline's previous novel, Always You, last year and knew I had to get my hands on this one too.
Following actress Fran who is desperate to get her big break and land a dream role, as well as Jae-seung, all round good guy but also secret K-pop sensation, this book was an emotional roller coaster.
Alongside the romance, both have a lot of family drama to deal with, and I became really invested in Fran's in particular, as well as how everything all came together.
The descriptions of all of the different locations we visit in the book were beautiful, I felt like I was experiencing Seoul myself at one point!
I loved Fran's friendship with Carla, as well as all of the other side characters - I could definitely read more about them.
One thing I will note though, is I did find Fran and Carla's constant use of British sayings a bit cringeworthy. (Sorry!)
Overall a really enjoyable read, and definitely one for the Swifties!

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo Publishing for the ARC of this book.
All opinions are my own.

This one unfortunately just wasnt for me. I just didn't connect with the main characters. The book was just too cheesy for my taste especially reference to Taylor Swift. I'm not a swiftie to be fair but it felt silly. I think some people may like this one but it wasn't for me. Thanks for the opportunity to review

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: a couple closed-door steamy scenes
TWs: death of a parent, parental abandonment, mentions of suicide, mental health (anxiety, depression), dementia, cheating
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this book was like reading a well-done fanfiction of a KDrama and I loved it! It was very sweet and handled some triggering topics very well. Lots of Taylor Swift references for the Swifties out there and a beautiful, supportive friendship between the FMC and her best friend.

read this book if you love

🏝️ forced proximity
💌 clean romance
🤫 hidden secrets
💓 slowburn
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
🎸 musician
💞 friends-to-lovers