A Romcom for Coffee lovers

Bingsu for Two is the new undeniably charming and tugging-at-the-heartstrings book by Sujin Witherspoon. I promise you will laugh and maybe tear up.

Read my 4-star review

Out: January 14th 2025

River Langston-Lee is having the worst day of his life having broken up with his girlfriend, walked out of the SATs and quit his parents' cafe. He gets a new job at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two., but his new nemesis is there. Sarang Cho, a goth girl with green hair, and it happens to be her family's place. When River accidentally posts a video of co-worker chaos they go viral. The fans ship him & Sarang so they decide to pretend something's brewing (yes intended coffee pun here), to keep the interest and help the store. But what happens when his parents and ex find out?

Brutally honest, this presents a 'give it to you straight with great imagery' inner voice. I really like how River expresses himself. It is a wonderfully endearing POV. We feel what he is going through, the doubts, the journey to self-discovery. I immensely enjoyed the clever additions to the narrative such as the lists River makes in his head, the group chats, the script-like interpretation of the videos etc. The storytelling is friendly, comfortable and heartwarmingly relatable. I liked the humorous chapter names.

The awkward 'you can't believe they're happening' situations are a delight to read. The fake-dating is fun as they tease and make one another comfortable until they really start to see each other. The real-life drama is gripping, grounded and conveyed beautifully, making you wanna hug the characters. And the true bad guy of the situation is unbelievably diabolical.

River is a bit lost, studying to get snark down to a science to compete with Sarang, even though he's actually good-natured. The zingers they exchange are all the money. It is wonderful how you feel you know everybody at the cafe and how much you like them. Too hard to pick a favorite. But the little brother must be protected at all costs.

The meet-hate seems a little forced but when they start to work together their antagonism steadily finds its groove. Also, some of the conclusions may seem overly quick and too good to be true, but I'm a sucker for happy endings. I admit I cheered and teared up for one of them.

This book is about figuring out who you are and what you really want. Not falling into the people-pleasing rut. Trust yourself to know what is better for you. Ultimately it is your life and your happiness. It also deals with the often randomness of internet success and its pros and cons.

A genuinely funny, coffee-drenched, slow burn with delicious tension, enemies to lovers, hold your heart, found family tale. It is an invitation to not give up on dreams and to love what you do. Home is really where the heart is.