Suzanne Park

This is a enemies to friends romance set in the male-dominated world of video game development. Melody Joo finds herself accidentally running the development for a new mobile game when the company's CEO overhears her having a sarcastic conversations with a female work colleague. Although it was all a joke, Melody's job is on the line and she has to make good or face dire consequences. To further complicate matters, she finds herself saddled with the CEO's nephew as an intern. Although she show more despises the fact that his personal connections got him the job, she soon comes to rely on his laid back competence.

In the background, Melody is balancing a couple of deeply embarrassing parents as well as being the maid of honor for a frenemy. When information about her game that's in development gets leaked to the media, Melody also finds herself unexpectedly in the midst of a social media maelstrom. She's being doxed, trolled and having a spotlight shone on her. While her bosses are ostentatiously holding her up as a shining example of the company's diversity, they are also sabotaging her game's release.

At this time when her life is falling apart, will she find time for love?

I don't know, this book is honestly a bit obnoxious. I understand that the over-the-top racism, misogyny, and generalized bigotry of Melody's workplace is supposed to be comedic, but it just fell flat for me. When this type of behavior is played this way, it tends to make people feel comfortable in their own biases, as no one could possibly see themselves in the behavior of Melody's outrageous CEO and flagrantly offensive colleagues. Moreover, her officemate, Asher, is constantly bashed for his BO and overweight body type which hit wrong for me. There is no sort of bigotry that's acceptable. Even Melody's triumphant interview at the end of the book hits the wrong note. She wants to "set the record straight" and address the accusations of her online trolls. When asked if she's a slut, her response is not that such a label is a relic of the patriarchy, but instead tries to prove she is not a slut by stating the number of people she's slept with. Which... REALLY misses the point.

And, of course, the romance at the heart of this story really comes out of nowhere. Melody is pretty rude to her intern for a long time and then all of a sudden is just, obsessed with him in a pretty objectifying way. She just starts ogling his body at work and mentally commenting on how good he looks in his clothes. They don't have much chemistry and their attraction is not properly developed. I don't understand why they like each other, much less love each other. show less

Sometimes, in the midst of the madness of the holiday season, you just need a cute, light, feel-good read. I thought Chloe and Peter were both adorable. I liked how they had a family rivalry but something that brought them together - something to fight for (and a history to unravel).

Because both of their families own locations in a mall. And, as we're all probably noticing, malls are starting to become less and less populated, even during the holidays. If they are going to keep their show more family's locations open (and fight for the mall at the same time), they will have to work together.

I loved the cover, their secret dinner meetings to swap food, and their push to understand their family rivalry. Is this a realistic story? Probably not, but sometimes it's comforting for the good guys to win and for happy endings.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

So We Meet Again is the perfect read for anyone who wants a story that will leave you with the warm and fuzzies. Jess Kim is back in her hometown of Nashville, TN after being fired during a virtual meeting. She's unsure of what to do next, all she knows is that working as an investment banker isn't her lifelong dream. After running into her archnemesis (Daniel Choi) at the local grocery store, Jess keeps running into him and eventually has to admit that he isn't as bad as he was when they show more were in school.

After a lot of thought and planning, Jess decides her next career move is starting a YouTube channel that offers attainable hacks for the meal prep services that have become so popular. The show seems to go off without a hitch until her mom appears on a live episode and corrects the cooking technique that Jess is using. Suddenly, Jess's channel goes viral. The world cannot get enough of the Kim family.

This story was super cute and I could not put it down. I loved how Park wrote Jess and Mrs. Kim's relationship. Jess is also one of those characters you can't help but root for. Suzanne Park also managed to incorporate some very important conversations about corporate culture, whitewashing brands that are created with specific cultures in mind, and the #MeToo movement. Park also shows the importance of having a community of people that support you, regardless of your endeavors.
Overall rating: 4/5

So We Meet Again will be available for purchase on August 3rd. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf and see where it's available for purchase. Also, be sure to check out Suzanne Park's website!

I was lucky enough to be able to listen to this Advanced Reader's Copy through my partnership with NetGalley. All opinions are my own. show less

Nate and Kate. Separated by income levels and natural talents, connected by a need to be free, for Nate from the fear of financial ruin at home, for Kate, the need to escape a father who went into extreme authoritarian mode after her mom died. Both feel trapped. When Kate takes a job at the Zombie escape room where Nate is the director of the event several nights per week, they feel something beginning and the more time spent together and commiserating, the stronger the appeal, even though show more their rational selves believe nothing could come from it.
When Kate talks Nate into entering a Zombie Survival Weekend with a $50,000 prize, little do either of them know how it will unwind, but desperation does amazing things, and by the time the weekend is over, the results are pretty surprising as is what follows. I thoroughly enjoyed every page in this book, loved Kate and Nate, hated her dad, admired Nate's parents when they finally explained why their life was the way it was, and found the ending to be very satisfying. show less