3.5 ( )

I don't read romances often unless, it is a historical romance but now I iove Lily Chu's The Comeback. I learned a lot of about K-pop, some Korean foods and customs, I love learning about different cultures, and this is a great book for that. Also, the author how to do the romantic scenes, family and parental problems, and roommates. I loved, loved the humor.

Ariadne Hui, the young Asian Canadian lawyer is trying not to be noticed by her clothes and make up. She wants to fit in. But she is really enjoying the work that she is doing, or is all to impress her father?

When, her roommate is out of town and forgets to tell her that her cousin will be staying in the apartment. So, she walks in the door and finds a total stranger sleeping on the couch. Out comes a kitchen knife to defend herself.

Ari sees how shocking great he looks but because she has so limited her life to the office work and keeping the apartment tidy, she does not realize that Jihoon is the top sar of K-Pop! Her roommate and he both tell her that he is in Toronto, escaping a a breakup in Seoul.

OK, that is just the beginning of a book that I did not want to end. This is not superficial story of a romance but a deep, complex story with so much more.

P.S. I immediately bought another of her books before finishing reading this one! ( )

This was a cute listen, though at times the plot felt comfortable and predictable (especially the email part). I would have liked to see more of Ari’s relationship growth with her father and sister. I would have also liked to see Ari stick it to her coworkers. Phillipa Soo was amazing, as always. ( )

Ariadne (Ari) Hui is a lawyer whose primary focus, right now, is making partner at her firm. She works hard, tries to do all the right things, and does her best not to stick out any more than she already does by being visibly Asian. It's not a job that makes her happy, but that doesn't really matter.

Then she comes home one evening to find some random stranger in the apartment she shares with her friend Hana. His name is Choi Jihoon, and it turns out that he's Hana's cousin. He's come from Seoul to Toronto for a few weeks in order to get over a bad breakup - Hana's on a work trip and forgot to mention him. Ari tries to simultaneously be a good hostess and not let him upset her routine and her work. However, he's ridiculously good-looking, and there's a steadily growing attraction between them. Ari finds herself drawn to him and enjoying his company even as she worries he might still be hung up on his ex. Plus, he's leaving soon and she has her career to worry about.

Then Jihoon's secrets blow up in both their faces, and Ari finds herself faced with complications and decisions she never expected. Both Jihoon and Ari have to figure out who they are when they're not doing their jobs, and what they really want enough to fight for.

The publisher had some choices to make here, and they opted to spoil something on the back cover description that isn't fully revealed in the text until about 150 pages in, although I suppose there are enough hints that it isn't too hard to guess. The back cover spoiler helped underscore one of the draws of this book but, at the same time, I think it made the pacing seem worse than it actually was. It seemed to take ages for Ari to finally learn what was really going on with Jihoon, who'd only told her that he worked in the music industry and that he was having some writer's block with his newest lyrics.

While I liked Chu's The Stand-in, I felt that the growing friendship between Gracie and Fangli was stronger than the romance between Gracie and Sam. This time, however, she got the balance right. Ari and Jihoon got plenty of time to get to know each other and become more comfortable with each other - Ari's passion was planning excursions and trips for people based on what she knew about them, and the walks she planned for Jihoon were fun and interesting. I think Ari noted this herself, but when they went out on walks together it was almost like they were going on dates without actually dating.

At the same time, Ari's relationships with her family and best friend still got enough room to breathe. Chu writes some great, complex minor characters, especially women.

Professionally and family-wise, it was pretty obvious from the outside what Ari needed to do, although it took her a while to get to a point where she could see it and then get the courage to do it. Things were more complicated when it came to Jihoon. There was a moment that was an absolute gut punch, and I was glad that Chu gave Ari (and me!) time to process it and how she felt about it before nudging her towards the HEA.

All in all, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading Chu's next release.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Audible

This was a fun diversion but maybe a little bit too long and some sections were awkward on audible - like when they were texting and emailing.

It’s a sweet romance between a famous person and a normal one with some elements of family drama woven in.

( )