Poignant, heartfelt, and beautifully bittersweet

Give Me a Reason is a modern love letter to Jane Austen’s Persuasion, reimagined through the lens of a Korean-American K-drama actress and a firefighter with a broken heart. Anne and Frederick’s second-chance romance is tender, slow-burning, and full of quiet ache, the kind that lingers even after the last page.

Anne’s sacrifices, though frustrating at times, felt grounded in love and duty, making her a sympathetic lead. Frederick is emotionally guarded, but the glimpses of his lingering affection and protectiveness are deeply affecting. Their reunion is layered with tension and regret, making every small moment of connection feel earned.

The K-drama influence is subtle but effective, and I loved how the story honored its roots while still standing strong on its own. The supporting cast brought warmth and dimension, especially during the wedding scenes.

Why not five stars? I would’ve loved just a bit more time with Anne and Frederick truly rebuilding their relationship—some emotional beats felt rushed near the end. Still, this was a gorgeous, romantic read with enough yearning to melt any Austen fan’s heart.

Highly recommended for fans of modern retellings, emotional slow burns, and love stories where the past never quite lets go.

Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee is a contemporary romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, but infused with a distinct K-drama feel. At its heart, it’s a story of lost love, lingering regrets, and the quiet ache of missed opportunities.

Years ago, Anne Lee left college in America to pursue a career as a Korean actress, sacrificing her own happiness to save her father from bankruptcy. In doing so, she shattered both her heart and that of Frederick Nam, the man she loved. Now, she has returned, and fate has placed them both at her cousin’s wedding. But time hasn’t erased the wounds of the past, and their reunion is steeped in longing, unspoken words, and the weight of everything left unsaid.

The novel unfolds slowly with a delicate emotional dance between Anne and Frederick. The dual POV adds richness, allowing us to truly understand Frederick’s feelings, though I found myself wishing for more time spent on their rekindling connection. Open communication remains elusive between them, yet this restraint aligns perfectly with the story’s K-drama atmosphere.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This book was so sweet! I loved the characters and the writing style! It was so cute and fun! Highly recommend!

The book was great and I love this turn of a classic. I wasn't sure at the time if I was gonna like it or not but her story made me forget it and love the story even more.

Before I begin, I would like to thank Jasyci Lee for allowing me to read a NetGalley copy of her upcoming book, Give Me a Reason, which will be available on July 29th, 2025.

Ten years ago, Anne Lee broke up with Frederick Nam to become an actress in Korea and save her father from bankruptcy. She has tried to forget about him, convinced that it was the only way to love him and prevent him from sacrificing his dreams. During that time, Frederick’s feelings transitioned from love and pining into hatred as he became a firefighter in Culver City. When Anne returns to Los Angeles, she and Frederick unexpectedly reunite as members of their loved one’s wedding party, and Frederick is curt and distant with her. As they spend more time together, Anne can’t deny that her feelings ever stopped, but the hurt and uncertainty they share makes it hard to close the gap between them. Can Anne and Frederick find the courage to reconcile and give their relationship a second chance, or is their love story doomed to remain in the past?

This was a great story. You have Anne Lee, a kind, talented, thoughtful, quiet, shy, and beautiful young woman that is used to putting others before herself and does her best to support her loved ones. You have Frederick Nam, a loyal, considerate, brave, strong, and handsome young man that is still hurting from his breakup a decade ago and does his best to look after his friends and crew. I haven’t seen many persuasion retellings personally, but enjoyed this one a lot. The interactions between Anne and Frederick were tense, honest, wistful, and sweet. This retelling had the same raw emotions that the main characters had in Jane Austen’s classic, but also featured conversations that I presume probably would have happened that weren’t mentioned in the original story. The main characters’ friends were fantastic, and I appreciated having Frederick’s POV to explain his side of the story to add more depth to his character. I felt for Anne as an elder/ acting as elder daughter who feels obligated to protect and provide for her family, especially in an Asian household. Overall, if you like Jane Austen retellings, great found family dynamics, Korean representation, and sweet second-chance romance with spice, then I would highly recommend this book.

I adored this Persuasion retelling! I finished reading this then immediately watched the newest Persuasion movie because I cannot get enough, I didn't want it to end. The stories aren't the same of course but I enjoyed this book way more. It read exactly like a kdrama and was a refreshing modern spin on the classic.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, this did not disappoint. Some of the miscommunication was a reflection on their own self doubts and self worth, so it felt believable even when it was getting unbearable. If you dislike that trope, I'd say this story isn't for you - but also, you should already know that because Persuasion is all miscommunication lol.

The main characters!! These two fools were absolute fools for each other. All their yearning killed me in the best way, felt like reading a classic. I got so attached to them, I'm experiencing a little book hangover, idk what to do with myself now. I LOVED this. Thanks so much Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy!

I enjoyed the book. I liked Anne and Frederick’s character and relationship development as well as the development that was developed amongst the other side characters. I also love how Jayci showed the nuances of being in an Asian-American family. The issues I had was that it was established pretty early in the book that these two wanted the each other so it felt very one step forward, one step back up until the last chapter and it got both repetitive and tiring. The prose was also beautiful in some parts so it was a shame that there was a lot of telling in the book as well, which also felt repetitive. I did like the dual pov but it also felt like they shared the same voice/thoughts of wanting the person but not knowing where they stood. That’s really the main critique that I have so it would have been nice for a gradual of realization of feelings and zeroing in on this initial I-hope-you-don’t-hate-me in the beginning and then it grows to realizing how the feelings haven’t left instead of being told they haven’t left right off the bat. Thank you again for letting me read this arc!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I wish I could say i enjoyed it, but it was a DNF for me. I just couldn't make myself keep going. Everything is told to us, and it's just so weirdly written in my opinion. Both characters seem to have the same voice, and I just didnt have any sort of feelings about it at all besides being bored. There were also some weird lines that I couldn't look past, like, "She kept singing even when powdered sugar puffed out of her mouth and rained down on her nose." Unless her nose is on her chin, I am unsure how someone manages to have powdered sugar rain down on a body part that's set above the mouth. It was just a no from me. Could have been a great second chance, but it just didnt hit the way I would have liked.

This was a fun, sweet, steamy read. I love second Chance romances and this one was a doozy. I liked Anne and Frederick a lot. I wish Anne’s family was better but I like seeing her growth. Both of theirs actually. This was a good book.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t my favorite. I think I usually have a hard time reading on third person as it can take away from the impact of the story. It feels more like I’m being told how the characters feel and act versus being able to feel or see it. I love second chance and it was fine but I think I had a hard time being invested. I love being able to see myself in books (as a Korean-American) so that was a huge plus. Thank you for the ARC!

Lee really is faithful to the inspiration for this book, Jane Austen's masterpiece, "Persuasion". In this adaptation, she places the main characters in current day Los Angeles.

Frederick and Anne met in college when her aunt recommended she break up with him to star in some K-Dramas in Korea. She moves to Korea for 10 years and becomes a bit of a K-Drama star. When she comes back to L.A. she runs into Frederick again when her cousin is engaged to one of his coworkers. Frederick is now a Captain in the local fire department.

Pretty much everything in the original Persuasion is translated into current Los Angeles. I was a bit bored by the endless longing and first person perspective by both main characters as to how they weren't sure the other was still in love, and it was very slow burn, but ultimately I enjoyed this version of a classic second chance romance. As a Californian I also appreciated her faithful rendition of the beach town of Cambria and its famous olallieberry pie.

I received an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.

SO CUTE!!! Among other feelings, of course.

The cover is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen and definitely made the reading experience 10x better.

The characters were all so complex and some relatable. I loved the authors writing style and the development of the plot and characters. The pacing slayed and I definitely want to read more from this author.

Content Warning: death on a job

+ I didn’t know this was a Jane Austen Persuasion retelling until after I’ve read it so that was my fault but after I found out – it made lots of sense! And I love Persuasion so after reading this I can appreciate it a bit better. If you know Persuasion, there is a lot that both characters don’t get to express until way later, so there is miscommunication and in Give Me a Reason, it was that miscommunication that kind of gave me issues but now that I know it’s a retelling, I can see why it’s there.

+ Anne is a K-drama, who is back from South Korea, and planning to try out Hollywood and be near her family in California. She runs into her ex-boyfriend Frederick, the boy she’s always loved, but was encouraged to leave behind because of her aunt. But now that she’s back she realized all of the feelings she had for him never went away. Anne comes off very graceful, nice and polished.

+ Frederick has always been in love with Anne even though she broke his heart, left him, and was left to pick up the pieces. And once he sees her again and is forced to be around her because of his friend’s wedding that he is a part of, he is struggling to leave his feelings for her in the past. But he doesn’t want his heart broken again. He’s a hot captain for the fire department so I thought that was fun.

+ This story is basically about the yearning and longing between them. We are in their thoughts a lot and the moments they are in are super-charged because of all their feelings from the past coming to surface. The spice was just enough because this story really is about love.

~ Before knowing this was a Persuasion retelling, I didn’t like that his friends were trying to set Frederick up with Anne’s cousin. She is really close to her family, so I just didn’t like that she had to see them push her cousin and her ex-boyfriend together. Thing is no one knew they had a past except for her aunt and Frederick’s best friends. So I could see why they were trying to make a match with him and Bethanny (Anne’s cousin).

~ I did wish they confronted one another about the past much earlier so that maybe more of the book could have been them learning about who they are now, because 10 years have passed.

Final Thoughts:

I love this book cover and I love a Jane Austen retelling. I can say that really followed Persuasion pretty good and really captured the longing and yearning that was in that story. Frederick, I think really was the character who was coming undone by Anne’s presence and I felt for him. I’m just glad they worked it out in the end but I did find myself impatient with Anne’s reluctance to just tell him what happened until near the end.

I enjoyed the story of Anne and Frederick. I loved the basis for the story and the cast of characters was fun. I do love a second chance romance, but I found the miscommunications between the two main characters to be a bit annoying at times. But again that’s just me with that trope being one I don’t care for. This book was fast paced and had the perfect HEA. This will be the perfect read for anyone looking for their next lighthearted romance.

I requested this because the cover is gorgeous and reminds me of charmingly romantic webtoons, but after finishing this, I did feel the cover was the best part.

A modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s persuasion with a k-drama twist, this dual POV book follows Anne who has just returned to California after 10 years in Korea working as an actress. She’s reunited with Frederick, the ex she had to leave behind in order to help her family financially. Frederick resents her for leaving, believing her family didn’t approve of him. But sparks still fly, even as the two are lost on how to navigate each other after 10 years.

I went into this not knowing much about Persuasion, but I can’t think this retelling lived up to it. I could kind of get who Anne and Frederick were and a glimpse of their personality, but not much beyond that. It just seemed like they didn’t have a lot going on in their lives outside of the relationship, which might be fine if the characters were really standout. As a result, the plot was kind of flat, lacking tension, and felt very repetitive. It felt like they were thinking in circles with their insecurities, and their problems really would have been solved if they sat down and talked like adults. Very much the miscommunication trope, but I don’t think it was successful. I feel like there were other plotlines possible to spice up the plot, like maybe dive deeper into Anne’s dysfunctional family or into the intricacies of the k-drama industry where relationships might be harder to navigate, but there was none of that.

There were some small complications thrown in with other romantic rivals, but they all became such non-issues (and started that way too) that they felt pointless. A lot of the secondary characters were rather flat, and the writing wasn’t particularly interesting. From the second chapter you can tell the characters were into each other, so there wasn’t any tension from “will they won’t they” because the answer was too obvious. And this is a second chance romance, but it was never clear what drew Anne and Frederick together the first time, and the changes between them in their ten years apart that newly draw them together. I wasn’t convinced by the romance, so I wasn’t ever really drawn into this story.

The foods sounded delicious, but I’m not convinced that most of the relationships here would last.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was a good read. I liked Anne and Fredrick’s reunion/love story, though I did find it frustrating at times, especially with Joe being wingman for Fredrick and Bethany when he wasn’t needed!! And the overthinking from both Anne and Fredrick, it was too much!! Especially after sleeping together again. And it was insane how blind everyone was to how Anne and Fredrick reacted around one another. How could they not see they had some sort of history together (though Bethany might have caught on)! I also want more justice for Anne and her sacrifice, maybe an apology from her dad since he doesn’t seem to appreciate what she did to save the family? I loved Fredrick’s friends, Pete and Katie. They were amazing supports for both Fredrick and Anne, and I want their little family to be as happy and healthy as can be 🤭.

4.25⭐️ Second chance romance between Anne, a Korean American movie star, and Frederick, a firefighter. They dated in college, but Anne went to work in Korea to support her family. Now she’s back in California, but Frederick isn’t ready to forgive. They are in a wedding together and there’s family drama to keep things unsettled.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader's copy of Give Me A Reason.

This was sold to me as Persuasion from Jane Austen, and since that is my favorite novel of all time I decided to give this a try. And honestly, I had to DNF because this did NOT Give me a reason to want to keep reading. I think I'm too old and also second-chance romance is hard to get right.

3.75 ⭐️

I enjoyed this book a ton! Give Me A Reason is a modernized retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion with K-drama elements. Anne and Frederick's dynamic was delicious and ensnaring. Much like they were drawn to each other, I was drawn to them. I adored the tension, the pining, the push-and-pull, and the banter, as well as the little nods to Jane Austen's Persuasion. While the build up to and the actual reconciliation were done better, I do understand that modernizing the original plot is a challenge. Overall this is perfect for Persuasion, K-Drama, and Second-chance fans.

Thank you so much net galley !
This was freaking adorable ! The letter was a bit too copy paste for my taste but omg Anne and Frederick were the best . I LOVE seeing a mmc in agony as much as the fmc if not more .