Readers are reintroduced to the K-pop world courtesy of the young and talented artists of the My Summer In Seoul series. From the very first page, the relationship between the youngest member of SWT, and the older woman who works for the band, makes for a complicated journey to HEA full of emotional ups and downs. Keep reading to get a tempting taste of Lost In Seoul by Rachel Van Dyken and Colet Abedi, along with my impressions of it, then add this second installment in the K-pop fueled series to your bookshelf too!
Lost in Seoul is a standalone new adult romance set in the competitive world of K-pop from bestselling authors Rachel Van Dyken and Colet Abedi.
A meet cute is supposed to be cute. Ours was sexy. Chaotic. Not normal.Less than 10 minutes after we met, I realized we could never be. She was forbidden to me.
She held my hand behind his back.
I gripped hers, knowing it was wrong.
I was on the cusp of superstardom—and still I held her fingertips because it felt right.
Knowing that when it all went wrong, we would be done—the media would destroy us.
After all, not only was she four years older than me, she was the leader of SWT's sister—my best friend—and someone who could wreck everything we'd worked for.
But I still held on.
I'm lost. So lost.
I'm the youngest in the group, the one everyone sees as the most innocent. But they don't know the stolen moments with her.
The kisses.
The touching.
They don't know any of that.
So I keep acting as if I’m pure as the driven snow when really all it took was one chance meeting. To make.
Me.
Sin.
Hi, I'm Sookie, Maknae of SWT, the most famous K-pop group in the world. And I'm pretty sure I'm not just lost...nah, I'm about to fall.
MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:
A previous taste of the forbidden continues to be a part of what binds K-pop artist Sookie to Ari, his band's business lawyer and sibling to his bandmate too. Though these two know they shouldn't be together, for both personal and business reasons, they can't give up on the feelings engendered by being together. The power of love can be potent in battles of the heart though and it's what had me rooting for them from the first page to the last.
With K-pop music gaining in popularity, this is a timely story that took a deep dive into this world and showed every aspect...warts and all. Readers are given a look behind the curtain and can see that it's not all glitz and glamour. It's a demanding world where you're treated like a commodity, where every aspect of the artist's life is controlled in order to make money. You're nothing more than an image who is to look, act, and dress according to what the label wants and it's a way of living that keeps you constantly on edge and under pressure that starts to feel like an anchor. With this world as a sad and painful backdrop, readers get to see the joy of the connection between Sookie and Ari, a relationship that brought meaning to Sookie's life along with acceptance. To keep those feelings would require a battle as the record company has put a label of innocence and purity around Sookie's neck and his having an older lover isn't part of the image created for him. This dichotomy leads to lots of ups and downs for this couple, investing me completely in their burgeoning HEA, in a journey that took me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
This was a multi-layered story that dealt with business along with personal. It showed harsh truths about the music world, showed the mental and physical toll of being a famous musician, and how easy it was to lose the real you in the K-pop world. These truths made for moments of sadness, disappointment, and even anger over the treatment of the musicians who could easily become interchangeable if they didn't toe the line. Watching the sweet and subtly sensual romance between Sookie and Ari brought a smile to my face. It was one of the few things in this world that was real and it provided moments of empowerment that I cheered over. I enjoyed seeing the other members of SWT, as well as their younger tour mates TestME, and their bonding over the demands of their record label was an immensely satisfying sight to see. One last aspect of this story that I thoroughly enjoyed was super fan, Dueri. She's not blinded by the images and can see each of the band members quite clearly. She shows them the importance of their music to the people, and after everything is stripped down, she also shows them what's most important in life. This was a story packed with a lot of stuff, issues and baggage that made for a bumpy road to HEA. On a whole, I enjoyed the characters and hope to see more of them again soon!
My rating for this is B+
*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.
AUTHOR INFO:
Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 100 books ranging from new adult romance to mafia romance to paranormal & fantasy romance. With over four million copies sold, she's been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable sons, naked cat, and two dogs.
Colet Abedi is an Iranian American, best-selling author, television and film producer. She was born in Virginia and currently lives in Los Angeles. When she's not writing she's either off/on an adventure in a far off land or planning her next getaway. She writes contemporary romance, women's fiction, and young adult.
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