“When you choose the path of an artist, nothing is promised, but everything is possible.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: entrepreneurial teens, new releases, sabotage, saxophone, cute halmeonies, music school, K-beauty products, K-pop idols, Paris, marketing, competition, sales, and a ton of hi-chews.

A romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

When I started this book, I knew it would be a love story, but I had no idea what the premise was about – it turned out to be much more than a romance! I admit I was surprised by the concept and the choice of the plot, but it ended up being a fun story —a business rivalry between the main characters over who sells more K-Beauty products at school. Unique, right?
The characters were okay. I liked Valerie for being a smart and dedicated businesswoman, but she was annoying at times, especially when she pushed her business on others and even put it before her friends and family (which happens for most of the book) – but she eventually learns, it just takes her a while. Wes was nice and sweet, and an okay male lead… but he felt a little bland to me. I was also not impressed with the side characters and I didn’t care that much about them – they were not bad, just not great or memorable.
As far as tropes go, I would definitely describe their relationship as an enemies-to-lovers romance – although the hostility comes mostly from Valerie. And I guess you can look at this story as a coming-of-age kind of story since both main characters do a lot of growing throughout the book. They both deal with a lot of high expectations coming from their family, so I understand their decisions and thought processes.
One thing I liked about this book is the commentary on what it is like to come from an immigrant family. It was interesting when the main characters were talking about feeling like they don’t belong anywhere – that touched my heart!
Kudos to the author for writing a unique and creative debut. It was fun and entertaining for what it was – didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.