This is was a sweet K-drama meets Hallmark retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. Jayci did such a great job with her characters, making them adorably awkward and placing just enough plot in their way to create the perfect amount of baggage to leap over. I found myself kicking my feeties and covering my giggles throughout the entire story. It’s a perfect low stakes story to get wrapped up in!

Give Me a Reason has an absolutely gorgeous cover and a genius set up for a Persuasion re-telling. It starts 10 years after Anne did the dreaded third act break up move and broke up with Frederick because her insecurities and family crisis made her think it was self-sacrificing to give him the freedom of a life without her. She went on to a successful K Drama acting career and he went into finance and then became a firefighter. Let me say that once we get to that part in the story, it was so incredibly cathartic to hear Frederick say “You had no right to break my heart to protect me.” And I like that this book makes the distinction between intention and impact. Learning about the real emotions and reasons behind her actions doesn’t change the fact that she hurt him deeply.

I also really enjoyed the sensory descriptions of food and wine- Jayci Lee is clearly a foody and we all benefit. Frederick and Anne’s friend group is also a highlight. In particular, Katie and Pete as his K drama loving, protective friends turned matchmaking couple were so endearing.

While this was a sweet story, it didn’t register above “fine” for me. It didn’t deliver on the promise of the setup. I really wanted some K drama “drama” or fireman danger to liven it up, but alas my hopes were dashed. Instead the angst felt purely manufactured within the characters’ heads. I can get behind the miscommunication trope when it’s done right, but when two characters spend the whole book fretting instead of getting answers by talking to each other, it’s hard to root for those characters, especially when the characterization isn’t deep enough to support their hesitation. Lee spent too long on tortured, hand wringing, repetitive interior monologuing and not enough on the backstory and character work that would have fleshed out Frederick as a character and put weight behind Anne’s pressure to be the savior for her careless family.

I’ll definitely read more Jayci Lee. For folks looking to follow the beats of Persuasion in a modern setting, this isn’t a bad bet. But it does not reach the bar set by Nikki Payne’s rich, textured Austen retellings.

ARC Review
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This is a grounded, slow-burning, and emotionally faithful reimagining of Persuasion, set in a modern context with a diverse cast of characters and cultural nuance. I think a lot of the unfavorable reviews stem from readers expecting a high-drama second-chance romance, without realizing how quiet and internal the original Persuasion actually is. This isn’t a story of fireworks or big romantic declarations. It’s about two people who were pulled apart by outside forces, never stopped loving each other, and spent years carrying that quiet ache until the chance for reconnection finally came.

What this retelling does well is lean into the emotional restraint of the source material while giving both characters fuller, modern lives. Anne is not only a working actress taking a break from the spotlight, but also the financial support for her family (a detail that fits naturally within the world of Korean entertainment, where many celebrities shoulder that exact burden). Both she and Frederick have thrived in their careers, and yet their personal story remains muted, raw, and very character-driven.

It’s not fast-paced, but it’s not meant to be. It’s contemplative and slow by design. If you go into it with that in mind, there’s a lot to appreciate.

If you are looking for a modern re-telling of Jane Austen's "Persuasion", then look no further than "Give Me a Reason" by Jayci Lee.

Anne Lee and Frederick Nam were college sweethearts at UC San Diego and gave their hearts to each other. When Anne is faced with the decision to save her father from bankruptcy, she ends up dropping out of college to pursue an acting career in South Korea. Not wanting him to ruin his future by following her across the world, she breaks up with him. Now, ten years later, she is back in LA and finds herself in the same wedding party as Frederick. However, it looks like he wants nothing to do with her. Will these two be able to reconcile or will one decision in the past forever bar her from being with the man she loves?

This book was filled with moments that made me kick my feet and cringe at the awkwardness. While I wish I could have rated it higher, there were moments that felt unresolved. Most notably are her relationships with a couple of her family members. I just would have been nice for a confrontation to happen between them that is long overdue. While not the main conflict of the story, it would have been a good B-plot to explore and really strengthen Anne's character.

The writing was really easy to fall into and I appreciated how the dialogue was written. I noticed in the past that, when it comes to a re-telling, the dialogue can seem a little to similar to the original source material. It did fall a little bit whenever it was Frederick's POV. It just felt a little bit too much like what the author might find as an ideal man.

All in all, I would recommend this to people who might be looking for a romance book that is a fast read and a little bit of mutual pining.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

really works at parts too well and then falls flat when the author over indulges the readers by driving the point too into our face with over explanation. I wish some quotes didn't exist in this book, not because they'd bad but because they just release the tension built and make the reading feel pointless because it feels like they know what's wrong we know what's wrong but we're not going to let that end because the author said so.

still, I've loved and adored the angst between anne and fredrick. It was like reading those fanfics at 2am and i don't regret it🩷

Persuasion is my second favorite Jane Austen novel (after Pride and Prejudice), so when I heard about this romance by Jayci Lee, I had to read it! I've read some of Jayci Lee's other books, and this one is a new favorite. Anne is a kdrama star who has returned to California to begin breaking into Hollywood. As luck would have it, she runs into her ex-Captain Frederick Lam, a firefighter in their hometown. Anne and Frederick are frequently thrown into each other's lives as they have mutual family/friends who are getting married. I loved seeing Frederick's emotions from anger to eventual forgiveness and falling in love again with Anne. While there was a lot of pining and yearning for one another, it was still well-paced. The side characters were lovely, although I hated Anne's father and older sister, as you should, given their contemptible behavior. I also loved the dual POV chapters to get the internal dialogue from Anne and Frederick's perspectives—a lovely summer read.

It was cute, but I won’t be rereading upon release. I do appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, though!

In Give Me a Reason, we meet Frederick and Anne 10 years after she broke his heart by moving to Korea to become an actress in order to save her family from financial ruin. In the meantime, Frederick has become a firefighter and attempted to forget about Anne...until his coworker gets engaged to her cousin. Stuck as bridesmaid and groomsman, all of their past love and current hurt come back to the surface.

This was a very simple book, so I honestly don’t have much to say about it.

The plot is just the two main characters going around in circles, both still in love with each other, but Frederick is hurt by Anne leaving him 10 years ago. Another obstacle is that Anne’s cousin (not the one getting married) is crushing on Frederick, and Anne thinks he likes her back.

Other than that, there are some other small plot points, but nothing too interesting or anything that lasts more than a few chapters. It’s not the most original plot ever (it’s actually a Persuasion retelling), but it wasn’t trying to be. It wasn’t particularly engaging to me, though. Anne and Frederick’s dynamic was quite annoying after like 3 chapters because they just kept doing the will they-won’t they thing. For an event that happened 10 years ago, Frederick is awfully dramatic about it all.

When the characters are by themselves, they’re fine, but together, they just didn’t fit for me. I didn’t feel any chemistry, and when their relationship is supposed to be the heart of the book, it makes the book feel lackluster. Frederick did feel unrealistic, though, both for being so dramatic and just the way he thinks about Anne.

Most of the side characters were fine, not particularly memorable, but nothing to complain about. Bethany was freaking annoying though, she could’ve gotten less page time and I’d be thrilled.

It was a little spicy, but it was not necessary to the plot. Everything felt a little overdramatic, but it may have been trying to emulate a K-drama kind of style, so it may have been on purpose.

It was cute, certainly not bad, just a little boring. The cover made me think it would be more vibey or atmospheric than it was, but whatever. I’d recommend just reading Persuasion instead.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen's, Persuasion is the heart of this story.

Anne is a Korean actress who is taking a break from her craft and returns back home after being away for ten years. A chance encounter with the one that got away stirs up feelings she thought she had put to rest and while her mind is made up to leave the past alone, her heart has other plans.

Frederick, the Captain of his firefighting squad, had made peace with his broken heart after the love of his life left to pursue acting overseas. When fate has them crossing paths years later, he soon realizes that he is not done loving her.
The yearning, the pining that Jayci gives us is top notch. Read this if you love second chance romance, family shenanigans, and found family.

Happy Reading!

I love Jayci Lee, especially her Realm of Four Kingdoms series. Those are more in the fantasy or romantasy space, so I figured I’d try one of her contemporary romances for a change—plus, I was pretty excited that this one had something to do with Persuasion. Even though straight-up romance isn’t usually what I reach for, the K-pop angle and the Austen connection sounded too interesting to pass up.

But honestly, this one didn’t really work for me.

The idea itself is great: Anne leaves Frederick when she’s nineteen to go after her acting career and take care of her family, then comes back ten years later as a successful star in Korea. There’s a ton of potential there for regret, longing, second chances. But instead of feeling like a slow burn or good tension, it was mostly just endless miscommunication and denial. Over and over. After a while, it got pretty tiring watching them avoid actually saying how they felt.

I also had a hard time with the pacing. The split third-person POV was meant to show both sides, but it kind of dragged things out. Anne is so reserved—even in her own head—that the emotional parts felt muted. Meanwhile, Frederick is just stuck being bitter and angry. And when they finally reconnected (in the more explicit scenes), it honestly didn’t feel earned to me.

I can definitely see how some readers might love all the drama and the angst, especially if you’re into spicy second-chance romances. It just wasn’t a good fit for what I enjoy. Big thanks to the publisher, Jayci Lee, and NetGalley for the eARC.

I give this book a solid 3.5

I thought some areas were taking too long and the time skips had me confused for awhile. I felt that there could have been more details written in between about the scene. However, I love the idea of Fredrick and Anne finding each other in a span of 10 years.

I also would’ve loved to read more about Anne’s life in Korea and how it shaped her to come back home.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I know originally I was excited to see a modern retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen, as it is the oft forgotten child compared to Austen's more famous works. There's been a few other adaptations of Persuasion, letting more people in on the secret, so I went into Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee excited but hesitant. It's hard to do a retelling right as more often than not, the interpretation of the work leaves more to be desired.

Unfortunately, Give Me a Reason had all the beats of a Jane Austen novel but none of the soul. This didn't really bother me until the lust-laden comments started to become more than a smattering here and there but like the main focus of this 'romance'. I know I'm in the minority when I see romance and lust as two different things that cross paths sometimes, but the lust soon overpowered the romance which is not the heart of an Austen novel.

This bothered me more so when I came across a passage wherein a few characters were commenting on Pride and Prejudice and calling it a romance at heart and claiming that romance is oft the butt of jokes for no reason. The main point that bothered me was the fact that Pride and Prejudice was considered a romance by these characters and NOT a social commentary or satire as it truly is. It's more romantic in the yearning aspect that is present throughout but altogether it's three things instead of a pure romance.

In Give Me a Reason there wasn't yearning, just two people going crazy sniffing the hormones of the other. To me this felt like it took Persuasion to make fun of it, and completely stripped Frederick of his original personality. Give Me a Reason's Frederick was all anger, growls, and lust, which is far from the truth of what he is in the original where he was more composed and distant. Anne on the other hand was closer to her original counterpart, but became a target of ridicule when she was picked to play Elizabeth in yet another retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy and Anne are so far apart in temperament that this just feels like an insult to Austen.

Now looking at Give Me a Reason as a contemporary romance outside the context of it being a retelling, it just falls flat. It fits the generic formula of an angry, brooding man who will tear apart his competition to achieve his prize and honestly that's just not attractive. The metaphors and similes Lee employed not only weirded me out, but they seriously took me out of the story. Following that, some of the most unflattering language was used to refer to lady parts. I don't know about you but "folds" is such an ick worthy name to refer to down there. It grossed me out.

The modern context did not work with our leads not talking for 10 years. I feel that two or three years, with five years being the maximum, would have worked so much better as society is constantly changing and no one remembers someone from ten years ago. Heck I barely remember any of my classmates from high school and that's been over a decade. Why would I remember a partner from a decade ago in that much clarity? The one that got away just doesn't work in the realm of dating apps and online presence. Double checking, in Persuasion that separation last for 8 years but they had nowhere NEAR the level of technology we did. Miscommunication doesn't work for years at a time as a trope in this day and age. It lasts maybe a couple of weeks max before it leads to irrevocable differences.

All in all, this book needed more in the planning stage and less on the lust.

Give Me a Reason? I'll give you a few.

This was such a sweet love story. I am in my Kdrama era so this really fit the mood with its absolutely classic tale of the yearning, long game love we so often see from a persuasion themed romance. We love it every time. The sentimental moments had me in a chokehold tbf. The letters, the rocks we're trading as if we're birds bringing twigs back to nest, it's lovely. The way we're waiting for a mature love leaves me with classic energy. We wouldn't be here if we weren't romantics, would we?

I have no complaints, it was cute, it was emotional, it was learning to put yourself first.

Genre 📚: Adult Contemporary, Romance
Tropes 💁‍♀️: Celebrity romance, Second chance romance, Love triangle
Rep ✔️: Korean American main characters, BIPOC side characters
CW ⚠️: Off-page death of a parent, emotionally distant family
Rating ⭐️: 3/5

Anytime a Pride and Prejudice retelling pops up, I add that sucker to my to-read list faster than you can say, “Most ardently.” The P&P formula just never gets old, no matter how many times I read (or watch) it. But I’d never really ventured to any of the other Jane Austen formulas, so I was excited to get into Jayci Lee’s Give Me a Reason. The book is a modern retelling of Austen’s Persuasion, following a Korean actress’s second chance with her first love.

At nineteen years old, FMC Anne was convinced that she had to leave MMC Frederick behind in order to pursue an acting career and take care of her family. Ten years later, after gaining success in Korea, she returns to America and reunites with Frederick… causing a mess of emotions for both parties. Anne is still very much in love, Frederick is too angry and bitter to realize he’s still in love, and they’re too scared of rejection to freaking communicate any of this.

That’s pretty much the story — denial and miscommunication, miscommunication and denial, aaaall the way through. It drove me crazy, but I liked the characters and their chemistry enough to keep going. And after a while, the frustration subsided and I was able to enjoy this for the fun, sometimes spicy, retelling that it is.

For me this book was okay 🤔....."Give Me a Reason" is a second chance romance with two former lovers reconnecting for a friend/family wedding. It's not a typical plot that I gravitate too but the cover is beautiful and the summary sounded cute. Unfortunately the pacing felt really off for me and just kinda fell flat. The book is written in 3rd person with a split POV style.... chapters flip back and forth from the FMC to MMC.....and it just felt like it made the pace drag. The FMC was a very reserved character while the MMC was very passionate. The tension just felt SOOOOO off. When the characters finally.......connected again 😏.....it felt forced to me. I don't know I just think the FMC being so reserved and tentative made everything feel off. I can understand a person being held back when they are speaking to others but even her internal thoughts were restrained. She was so apologetic about her thoughts and actions 😮‍💨 like girl come on!!!

Aside from that this the book was very cute and it was enjoyable. I think people that tend to enjoy second chance romances would probably love this book. The spicy 🔥 scenes were also MUCH more spicy than I had anticipated for a book that flowed like this one did. (Very thrown off by this part, was not expecting that at all!) 🤔 So I guess if that's your thing, I think you would enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This review was written voluntarily 💗

Title: Give Me a Reason   
Author: Jayci Lee      
Genre: Romance    
Rating: 4 out of 5   

For ten years, Anne Lee told herself that Frederick Nam was her past. In order to save her father from bankruptcy, she left Frederick for an acting career in Korea. This was the only way she could stop him from following her and ruining his future. It was the best way she could love him.

After Anne left, Frederick spent years loving her, missing her, and hating her until he decided to live his life for himself. He followed his dream and became a firefighter in Culver City. He didn’t need romance. He had his work and his friends.

When Anne returns to Los Angeles, she and Frederick are thrown together in the same wedding—she as her cousin’s bridesmaid and he as his friend’s groomsman. Even though he is angry and distant with her, Anne can no longer deny that she never got over him. Not even close.

With so much hurt and uncertainty between them, Anne and Frederick suffer their love in silence. But all it would take is a single leap of faith to bring them together...

This was such a sweet read! I loved how all the characters were just doing life together, a part of each other’s lives and just there for each other. Anne’s father and sister were the worst, so I liked that she had something of a found family to support her. I really enjoyed the second-chance aspect of this, and just found it to be a lovely read.

Jayci Lee lives in California. Give Me A Reason is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link l;ive7/28).

A Jane Austen retelling? Say less. I was really excited about this book especially since I have enjoyed Jayci Lee's books in the past. Unfortunately this book was not for me.

Anne left the love her life ten years ago and now she is back home and guess who she is running into? Frederick. I thought this would hit for me with longing and tension but it didn't. Miscommunication is a big theme here and it frustrated me. I felt that the romance and feelings between the two characters were mostly based on the past and would have enjoyed the book showing them fall in love over who they are now.

This is a fast read and easy to get through and if you are a fan of second chance romance with a miscommunication trope, this may be the book for you.

Thank you so much to the publisher, author and Netgalley for this eARC

This book had me both kicking my feet and giggling while simultaneously yelling at the characters to "use their words".
While I have never actually read Jane Austin’s
persuasion and cannot comment of whether or not this is a great retelling or not, what i can say is that this was such a cute yet frustrating read that offered up a lot of laughs. Miscommunication is one of my least liked tropes to deal with however in this situation there really wouldn't be a story without it. I adored all of the characters in this book with the exception of a few). Additionally, I loved the dual POV in this, while it isn't always necessary, i feel like the author made a great use of it because us as the reader knew so much that our characters simply did not... queue-yelling at them.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Jayci Lee, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this novel.

I've read Persuasion by Jane Austin and I don't think the comparison should be made... I did DNF this book about 80% through and just couldn't get into the characters nor the story. I didn't find the MCs enjoyable ad I just didn't care about their story.

This was a lovely homage to the original text. Add in recognizable characters, some wonderful Asian (and California!) flair and you get this lovely, meta, Jane Austen retelling. What a great way to celebrate Austen's 250th anniversary!
The right amount of heartache and pining with a little hint spice for the modern reader. I had a little background anxiety and anticipation of what plot points were going to be hit and was delighted when I got it right and when my predictions were wrong.
This was a great weekend, summertime read. And really has me wanting some baja tacos!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Originally, when I read the synopsis for this, I thought it was going to be a Wuthering Heights inspired romance, but I was a little surprised to see it was Persuasion instead. I love a good second chance romance, but ultimately, it fell pretty short for me. I liked the premise a lot - it sounded like it as going to be up my alley with Anne needing to give up the love of her life for her family and not let what she needed to do to save her father get in the way of Frederick's life - and of course Frederick still loving her after all this life no matter how hard he tried, but at a certain point, it felt like the characters didn't even really know each other. I thought Frederick would be in love, but honestly, he was just rude and I kept feeling like I needed to make all sorts of different excuses for him. And Anne and Frederick just could not get on the same page, and it felt like they weren't even truly trying? There were also times where the characterizations for both just didn't feel like they were consistent.