My Summer in Seoul by Rachel Van Dyken-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 14, 2021.

It’s not all K-dramas and happily ever afters.

Intern with Korea’s number one record label? Yes, please.
Find out there’s a huge scandal I need to help “manage”… not so much.
Add in the fact that I don’t recognize the “superstars” of the label and think they’re interns…
And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare.

But I’m in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home…
Except it isn’t home, and the drama surrounding the biggest K-pop group in the world, SWT, is consuming my every moment.
Spoiler alert. They hate me.
Everything I do is wrong: wrong clothes, wrong honorifics, wrong manners.
Till the leader of SWT takes pity on me.
But pity is dangerous when it comes from someone as beautiful as him.

Every SWT member is gorgeous, perfect, and cultivated to be an idol… lethal to a girl’s heart.
And sanity.
But fame plus a perfect face and voice don’t equal an easy life. As their comeback nears, the stakes rise higher.
Suicide watch…
Angry fans…
Threats…

All I want to do is survive.
But the price for survival might mean losing my heart.
And like a character in a K-drama, I’m not sure if there will be an actual happily ever after…
Or simply a lesson learned.

•••••••

REVIEW:MY SUMMER IN SEOUL by Rachel Van Dyken is a stand alone, contemporary, new adult, romance story line focusing on Korean/American music intern Grace Lee, and K-Pop superstar/ lead singer Lucas Baek.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise including issues of eating disorders and suicide, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person persepctives (Grace and Lucas) MY SUMMER IN SEOUL follows twenty-two year old, Korean /American Grace Lee in Seoul, South Korea, where she is hired by her ‘uncle’ to intern for the scandal ridden K-Pop group SWT (Something Worth Taking). Having graduated with a degree in music production, and no prospects for a job in America, Grace is stunned when her Korean uncle offers her a three month internship in Seoul, South Korea. Upon her arrival, Grace quickly discovers she is out of her element, naïve and ill-prepared for a country whose belief systems and business ethics are beyond anything Grace could have ever imagined. Immediately snubbed by everyone, including the members of the SWT, Grace finds herself on the outside looking in as even the language barrier feels like a personal attack. When Lucas Baek, lead singer and face of the group, takes a personal dislike and hatred towards our story line heroine, Grace must endeavor as lives are on the line, and the group’s mental health is fragile at best. What ensues is the slow building romance and relationship between Grace and Lucas, and the fall-out as South Korea’s ethics and morals are not conducive to a ‘boy band’ romance.

Lucas Baek is struggling to recover from a scandal that has disgraced our leading hero and affected all of the members of SWT. Fans have turned against Lucas Baek, and our hero is battling the will to carry on. Meeting Grace Lee throws Lucas into another spiral; a tail spin of hatred and jealousy, envy and lust when Lucas finds himself falling for our story line heroine but he may not be the only member of the group desiring a relationship with American Grace Lee.

The relationship between Grace and Lucas begins acrimoniously. Lucas despises Grace’s lack of ‘grace’; her naivety about the industry and Korean culture; and most of all, his attraction to a woman that could destroy his career. Grace had no idea she was to intern for the superstars of K-Pop but thrown head first into the proverbial lion’s den meant there were going to be a few bumps and mistakes along the way. But..Grace had no idea the furor that was about to erupt when another member of the group takes aim at our storyline heroine. The $ex scenes turn to black and are mostly implied.

We are introduced to the members of the group, all with secrets that cannot be revealed. Each member has his own quirks and foibles, likes and dislikes, a different personality that is suppressed by management, and the people in charge. Here’s hoping the author has plans to write a story for each member of the group as other love interests and attractions are slowly revealed throughout the story.

MY SUMMER IN SEOUL is an emotional and heart breaking eye-opener into the unreality of a K-Pop star, established and in the making. The competition is brutal and fierce; the strict guidelines and regimen including relationships, food, public appearance and private lives is tightly controlled by the people in charge. Anybody wavering outside of the rules is questioned about loyalty and strength, and in this, Lucas will take the fall for something out of his control. Fans turns viscous and cruel, leaving Lucas on the precipice of ending it all.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!