Heart and Seoul

By: Jen Frederick

Narrated by: Greta Jung

One woman learns that the price of belonging is often steeper than expected in this heart-wrenching yet hopeful romantic novel and first in the Seoul duology by USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick.

As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family - not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son.

At the age of 25, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots.

What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her, heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love - a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home...or destroy her chance of finding one.

©2020 Jen Frederick (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"With this charming contemporary, Frederick (Bombshell) delivers a dramatic love story while sensitively exploring the thorny issue of interracial adoption.... Fans and new readers alike will be hooked on this page-turning tale." (Publishers Weekly)

Could have used more editing

The wording is pretty repetitive and some impossible/unexplained things happen like someone losing their phone then using a translation app on the lost phone soon after. But if you are not bothered by things like this, or bothered by a lot of issues caused by rash emotion-based decisions, it’s not a bad story. There are a few nice plot twists.

IS THERE A SECOND BOOK?!

Please tell me there’s a second book of this cuz I just…. That ending dude! I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS!!!! Ughhhhh, besides that, it’s a really entertaining story and it was performed really well.

Learned as I read

I enjoyed learning the customs and a few words of Korean sprinkled throughout the book. Narration was good, the Korean pronunciation authentic, and the storyline was enjoyable. The author kept the ending open for a follow up book. I prefer books that have closure one way or another…That is why I gave the book only four stars.

Great story, not the best narration

OK, so I loved this book! The search for her birth parents, the search for herself, all wrapped in a larger setting of her exploring Korea for the first time and finding love… Five out of five stars for the story itself. The narration, however… I had to put it on 1.3 times speed just to get past it. I almost stopped when I started because the narration was so Paul T and the voice says were so bad.

Remarkable

What a wonderful trip to Korea. I loved these characters and felt like I was with them. Counting the minutes for the sequel.

great book

I loved the story, and I legit cried for 5 minutes after finishing it. Such a great story, but the ending killed me a little!

Inaccurate Des Moines, IA Demographics

The author improperly represented the city of Des Moines. While the surrounding suburbs are predominantly white, the city itself has a large immigrant population. 8-9% of the city includes Asians (which is a higher percentage than Chicago). Over 200 languages are spoken in Des Moines, and doctor offices do in fact have translators. Before saying an entire city is ignorant, please do your research.

Not for me.

Found the book & especially the narrator annoying. Melodrama with over the top narrator who ends every sentence with an explanation point instead of a pause.
The main character is annoying, story line implausible, esp the ending.
I don’t know why I didn’t return the book. Guess I kept hoping for it to get better. Don’t waste your credit.