Thank you so much to Headline books for letting me early-read this wonderful book. Persuasion is my favourite novel and I will happily devour any retellings of this story, full of heartache, misunderstandings, forgiveness… and ultimately, beautiful and passionate love.

In addition to loving Persuasion, I am a BIG fan of K-dramas and Korean culture (by the way, the author shares a lot of her knowledge and passion on social media, I’d encourage you to follow her.) So to say that this book was perfect for me would be an understatement.

In GIVE ME A REASON, Anne is a K-drama actress. Ten years ago, she had to leave the US to pursue a well-paid career in Korea, in order to save her family from bankruptcy. Convinced this was the best thing for him, she broke up with Frederick, leaving him broken-hearted and angry. Today Anne is back in LA and circumstances keep thrusting her into Frederick’s path. Now a firefighter, he hasn’t forgiven Anne for breaking up with him… but caring for her still seems to be his default setting. And Anne has never really let go of her feelings for him.

Reading this book was just pure joy. Heart beating, feet kicking, cheeks blushing, uncontrolled giggling. I had such a great time, I didn’t wanted to end, and felt so sad once it was finished (not because of the ending, which was perfect). I pretty much wanted to do a re-read immediately.

The retelling is very faithful to the original in terms of the characters’ personalities and motives, though obviously with some adaptations that make it believable in a modern society. I felt that having a Korean American family suited the plot very well. In fact, my favourite thing about K-dramas I’ve watched (apart from the swoon worthy romance), is that friendships and family dynamics are extensively explored - I would say that this is the case in this novel as well, and again it feels very true to Jane Austen’s style.

The American settings, I was a bit concerned about (having lived in the UK for so many years, it was hard for me to imagine this story anywhere else) but I shouldn’t have worried, it worked beautifully.

The romance, oh my goodness, the HURT! The REGRETS! The PASSION! The YEARNING! I cannot do it justice so won’t attempt to but if you like full-on romanticism, this is for you.

Little note about spice: while most of the book is full-on emotional angst and pining, there are 2 blush-worthy open-door scenes towards the end. You could easily skip them if that’s not for you though, and still very much enjoy the rest of the book.

This was the perfect summer read for me, I really hope it finds many readers! (And maybe prompts some people to discover or rediscover Persuasion…)

*Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for providing a complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review.*

2.75⭐️, rounded to 3.

“Persuasion” is my favourite Jane Austen novel and one of her most mature stories - it is a somber, reflective story about making choices in result of outside pressure and living with the deep regret for those choices. It’s about growing brave enough to disregard these expectations, and fight for your happily ever after.

Since this is marketed as a retelling, comparison is inevitable and in many ways, I feel this would have worked better if it was re-worked as an independent second-chance romance.

**The Writing:**

I have to say, the writing baffled me - it reads as very immature, to the point I thought this was a YA book (which also confused me due to the mature nature of the content). I had to go back and check to confirm it is an Adult romance, but the writing wasn’t strong enough to do the story justice. It reflected a first draft or a Wattpad-style novel. I don’t say this to be rude, but if I hadn’t gotten this as an ARC I would have DNF-ed it pretty early on.

Precisely because of this, having intimate scenes also felt very jarring and they really messed with the tension and pace.

**The Characters:**

- While we have POV for both Anne and Fredrick, they provide no more than their superficial thoughts and no further depth. Part of why “Persuasion” worked so well was that we never knew until the very end if Fredrick still loved Anne. Here, we know he does, but Anne also does - he never hides how much time he wishes to spend with her, makes her laugh - they even have sex and all. The 3rd act break ends up feeling very contrite in result. Both of them thought a lot about how much they were in love and how sad they were, but we don’t get to feel this. They also never feel like real people - we don’t see them have a life outside of this relationship either.

- The author seems to forget that the side characters in “Persuasion” were the way they were for a reason - the Musgroves, the Eliots and the Captain’s friends represented different facet of society Anne was measured against and had to navigate. The Musgroves were the family Anne could have lived in, the sisters are the future she could have had. Her family were the people she has tried to please, but who she feels detached from and learns to let them go. The side character changes in this book don’t serve a purpose other than making one big friend group, which only ruins the underlying themes of societal pressure. Anne suddenly has no reason to behave as she does - she is the one putting pressure on herself.

Overall, I feel this could have been stronger work with more story edits. If you are attached to the original “Persuasion”, this may seem lacking, but if you are not familiar with the source material, and like a male-character-obsessed, you may enjoy this.

Give Me a Reason is a sweet and touching romance by Jayci Lee. It is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, set in modern times with Korean protagonists. This means that it is a second-chance romance with oodles of pining and yearning. There are certainly moments of levity where the characters feel sad, betrayed and hopeless, but it is ultimately a hopeful story about coming back together.

I really liked the changes that Lee made to update the story. Instead of an unmarried woman and a naval captain, Anne is an actress and Frederick is a Fire Captain. This means that they have lived full and interesting lives in their time apart. I especially liked that it was Anne who go left to pursue a big career. Whilst she is still shy and reserved, she has been a celebrity for about 10 years in Korea before returning to America. This just adds to the yearning because Frederick could see her face whenever he wanted to just by turning on the tv.

If I had one complaint, it would just be that there is too much exposition at the beginning. The author seems to do a lot of telling rather than showing in the first chapter, but I can understand why this is necessary. There is a lot of history between the two leads and we need to know what happened in order to understand the tension. I just thought that the author could have dragged out the mystery of why they separated a bit longer.

If you are a fan of Jane Austen and K-Dramas (just like me!), you will probably love this novel.

I enjoyed this book. It's a cute second chance romance. It's well written and I just wanted to keep reading. I only think they should have spend more time getting to know each other again. Now it feels like they are more in love with the memory of when they were younger. Still entertaining to read though.

I received an ARC from NetGallery in Return for a honest review.

Persuasion is my fave Jane Austen book, and truthfully was the only reason I requested this, as a lot of the plot is not my thing. That said, this captures the LONGING of Anne and Frederick, but it was not quite as subtle or smart - a lot of our knowledge of the two leads is told to us, instead of letting us naturally see it through interactions. The supporting cast also don't captivate like the original do. It's a sweet story though, worth a read.

i do like to dip in to re- tellings sometimes so i thought after seeing this cover this would be my next 'dip'. and what a charmer it was.
Anne and Frederick met when they were in college. but Anne had to end it and leave him. she had to because of family. it was the only way to save them from their money issues. but this left Frederick harbouring pain and resentment. it also left Anne with the pain too, and the knowing even years later that theres never been anyone close.
then they meet again. a wedding in common bring them back into each other orbit. can they get past the past?
i felt so much for both our characters. you could totally get their feelings and the whys behind them. but those little flimmers, where you know they feel for each other still too and all whilst we get to read about it is just gorgeous.
of course the miscommunication parts drove me up the wall, ha. talk already. talk!
i liked how we got to see both sides in the POV. and all the side characters add little bits of sunshine to the book.
a good book that im glad i saw the cover of and wanted to know more.

“And if by some miracle he entrusts me with his heart again, I’m holding on to it with everything in me. I will guard it with my very life. Nothing you or anybody else says will ever make me let him go. So with all due respect, back off.”

Anne and Frederick broke up 10 years ago, she didn’t want him to abandon his dreams whilst she followed hers. She moved to Korea to be an actress and didn’t want him to leave college and follow her - worried he may come to resent that decision, and so her.

10 years later she’s back in the states and they happen to meet again. Will it be a second chance for their romance? Or does he still harbour bad feelings for how they left things and he’s moved on? What’s next for them?

“Because this time, he didn’t think he could piece himself together again. This time, if he lost her, he would be irrevocably broken.”

This was really reminiscent of the works of Austen - with plenty of angst and mutual pining. It had the atmosphere of an Austen but set in modern day - there was a real feel of source material. Almost like a historical set in modern day.

Overall I’d recommend this if you want a slower read with loads of mutual pining

ARC copy provided by Headline & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

2.75

I went into this one with such high hopes. When I saw it on Netgalley, marketed as a Retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion for K-Drama fans, I was so excited. It sounded like it would be perfect for me.

However, this book just ended up being fine for me.
While there were some cute moments, and the Persuasion reference and story beats were well done. I found myself getting a bit bored at times.
It was quite repetitive at times and the dialogue felt unnatural a lot of the time.
The pacing was also a little off, especially towards the end, and the miscommunication was just too much for me.
I understand that Persuasion is also filled with miscommunication, but it just didn't work well for me in this one. I just wanted them to have an honest conversation.

Overall it was fine. Definitely had potential to be amazing, but it just wasn't for me.

After a certain point I didn’t care. Maybe I need a little comedy in my romance reads, but this felt too serious. The pining and lack of communication became grating and annoying. The smut scenes I was either laughing or cringing. However, there were times I was giddy at the drama of it all. But a book that ends with two engagements after dating for a few weeks is ridiculous.
2.5 ⭐️ as I have read worse and better romance. This could be a case of the wrong reader and wrong book meeting.

I really wanted to love this book but sadly I just couldn't find it within myself to care about the romance between Anne and Frederick. They both were good characters, and their reason for the breakup ten year prior felt valid, but almost the entire book was filled with repetitive pining, miscommunication and lack of taking action. By the time Anne and Frederick finally confessed to each other and admitted their mistakes it was the final chapter, and we only got to see them together as a couple in the epilogue. The pacing in this book felt way too slow, and the story never really went anywhere. Nonetheless, it did have some sweet moments and some of the writing felt poetic and yearnful, however personally I just struggled to trudge through the 300+ pages of 'I want them but maybe they don't want me anymore'.

3/5 🌟

I really loved this novel! I have been introduced to so many great Asian authors as of late and I enjoy books by Maureen Goo & Jenny Hahn so I just knew this one would not disappoint at it most certainly didn’t. It had excellent characters … I loved the LA Setting and Kpop element .highly enjoyed this one!