My Summer In Seoul

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a standalone new adult romance set in the competitive world of K-pop. It's not all K-dramas and happily ever afters. Intern with Korea's number one record label? Yes, please. Find out there's a huge scandal I need to help "manage"... not so much. Add in the fact that I don't recognize the "superstars" of the label and think they're interns... And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare. But I'm in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home... Except it isn't home, and the drama surrounding the biggest K-pop group in the world, SWT, is consuming my every moment. Spoiler alert. They hate me. Everything I do is wrong: wrong clothes, wrong honorifics, wrong manners. Till the leader of SWT takes pity on me. But pity is dangerous when it comes from someone as beautiful as him. Every SWT member is gorgeous, perfect, and cultivated to be an idol... lethal to a girl's heart. And sanity. But fame plus a perfect face and voice don't equal an easy life. As their comeback nears, the stakes rise higher. Suicide watch... Angry fans... Threats... All I want to do is survive. But the price for survival might mean losing my heart. And like a character in a K-drama, I'm not sure if there will be an actual happily ever after... Or simply a lesson learned.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a new story in her My Summer in Seoul series… Make it or break it... Or maybe just break them? Ah-Ri has been training under YK Management in Korea for two years without any results. She doesn’t fit the typical mold for a successful K-POP idol image, literally down to her blood type. She has six more months before college entrance exams which means she only has six months to make it as an idol before her dreams are crushed. Things take a turn when two of the most famous male idols break away from their group and decide to form their own co-ed group, a rarity. And wonder of all wonders, they need one more girl. It would be the perfect opportunity, except she hates them. They are arrogant, entitled, rich little snobs who want the world to worship the ground they walk on. To make matters worse, the only reason they came to her was because they are desperate, which means she needs to prove herself even more. Tempers and personalities collide when she’s forced to either accept the position or give up on her dream. But what happens when you suddenly go from anti-fan and enemy number one to stuck in a love triangle between two boys you were born to hate but are somehow falling in love with? And will the group survive the heartbreak that follows when she finally makes her choice? **Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.** Reviews for The Anti-Fan and the Idol: “Rachel Van Dyken takes us back to the glamorous and edgy world of kpop in The Anti-Fan and the Idol, a My Summer in Seoul novella. She dives into the emotional side of the fast paced and demanding musical industry with the ups and downs.” ~ PP’s Bookshelf “Wow! This short story packs a full novel punch. I was sucked in from the first page and didn't want it to end.” ~ Kara, Two Book Pushers “This novella had it all between an emotional pull, great chemistry and endearing romance and a group of characters who draw you in and have you invested in them and their story.” ~ Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations “Another hit for RVD fans! Rachel can write enemies to lovers romance like no other!” ~ Allthebooks

"Two entrepreneurial Korean-American teens butt heads-and fall in love-while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school"--

She's living her very own K-drama. Beside herself with excitement, best-selling author Tessa Hale flies to the vibrant city of Seoul, South Korea, where she's meeting the cast and crew of the film adaptation of her book. The thrill shifts to star-struck panic when she discovers the actor cast as the lead is the idol she's been high-key crushing on for years. The last thing he wants is more real-life drama. Baek Eun Gi is part of one of the biggest K-pop groups in the business. Music has lost its lustre, and he's hoping a shift in focus will bring back that connection he craves. Although he's estranged from his family, he has his friends, a thriving career, and a healthy respect for the dating restrictions imposed upon him. Meet cute, scandal...wedding? When their paths collide in the most unexpected--and embarrassing-- of ways, they try to put it behind them. Too bad there are photos. The music company is irate and offers them a way out of the scandal--a marriage of convenience. Their lives are about to turn upside down, but it just might be the best thing that's ever happened to them.

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania “Powerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience—and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide.”—The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • Esquire • Bustle • BBC • New York Post • InStyle Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul “room salon,” an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood. Kyuri’s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country’s biggest conglomerates. Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea’s brutal economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.

Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama? Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends. But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs. But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.

An instant New York Times bestseller Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knockout debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls’ Generation. What would you give for a chance to live your dreams? For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy, right? Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise. Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group, Girls’ Generation, takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop, where the stakes are high, but for one girl, the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to shine.

Two months in the summer of 2019 in the city of Seoul. These are the words of all that happened all the way across the world. Not quite a memoir, not quite an essay, "summer in seoul" is my way of giving you one of the most important experiences in my life.