Disclaimer: I’m Erin’s critique partner and have worked on this book with her through several drafts. This will certainly colour my view, becasue I think we did some great work together, but I still hope to give you a few great reasons to read it. Take this SPOILER-FREE journey with me.

Heart and Seoul is full of queer leads, found family, heartache, and love. I’ve never really dabbled in the romance genre because of all the stereotypes I’d heard about it, but this book surprised me at every turn. It cut away all the things I thought I knew. There were no catfights, no plot-long misunderstandings that could have been fixed with a conversation, no ‘pulsing members’. Just two fully-formed humans making human choices, caught in a marriage of convenience.


This book brought up a lot of emotions for me. I found myself yearning for a found family as protective and loving as theirs. I saw myself in Tessa as she goes through all of this while living abroad, away from her family (like me). I felt for Eun Gi as he stumbled his way through his inner turmoil over his past. And then there’s the feeling of wanting to reach into a book and strangle the ‘villain’ of the book.

I’ve seen a few people refer to this book like therapy, and that’s really the best way to explain it. Despite any conflict in it, the book is a warm hug and a cup of hot cocoa. Just what the doctor ordered to hide away from the world as it is today. Erin’s queer characters are welcomed for their queerness. The troubles that they each experience are well researched and respected. The whole book feels unique, personal and relatable. It genuinely helped connect me with my softer side, improve the writing of my own characters, and think about the ways I relate to romance inside and outside of the book. Granted, I spent a lot more time with it than you might. But in either case, you should absolutely pick it up.