*I was provided an advanced reader copy by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*

I confess I am pretty conflicted about how I feel about the book, and wish I could give a half stars.

Clearly, the author did a great job with character development because I have some pretty strong feelings about both the main characters, and they aren't necessarily positive.

The problem is that Maddison, the main character, has some highly unlikable personality traits. She's a slacker - doing as little in her job to get on as she can because she doesn't like it. Her main motivation for applying for an international placement in New York is so she can shop (and to appease her mother). When she is offered, instead, a placement to Seoul Korea, she should have either turned it down or sucked it up (but then we'd have no plot). Keeping in character, when she gets to her new office, she plots to move a plant in her boss's office so he can't see her screen (or that she's not working). She's outright antagonistic to her boss, which is way out of line with Korean culture (well, any culture, but particularly shocking) and he is straight up nasty back. Her insults and comments are also childish - she's pretty immature.

I think the other thing that was either really well done or annoying as all get out was her derision to trying anything new. She hasn't researched anything about the country she's moving to. She doesn't "know" Korean food, assuming she won't like it and that it's weird. And while I get that it's a shock to the system- it's a big change in every manner for anyone moving to a new country - it's her narrow-minded attitude towards it that set my teeth on edge because she does nothing to hide her disdain from her co-workers for pretty much anything.

Thankfully, Premoli did a good job of balancing her disdain for her new environment with true joy at exploring and discovering different parts of Seoul as Mark takes her sightseeing, and that gave me hope for Maddison's character becoming a little softer.

SO again, brilliant character development of a really painful character, because Maddison DOES grow, both in personal responsibility and in character, albeit we don't see much of it until the end. I'd say the first 2/3 of the book was funny in an ugly American cringeworthy way, but then it segued into something I didn't quite understand. The animosity she and her Korean-American boss have towards each other was confusing at times, and their way of handling each other seemed out of character for both of them. Again, Premoli did a great job with the tension between them - but after a while, I just wanted to shake them both and get on with the plot.

In the end, Maddison truly grows as a person (she literally matures and finds she is good as what she does) and redeems herself. This WAS a very funny book, with laughs at the expense of Maddison's adapting to her new environment. I did enjoy it - it just took a while to become invested in the main character. ( )

Received an ARC for my voluntary review for netgalley. This book was adorable. Maddison was hilarious, when she was thinking thoughts in her head, they were lol moments. Her love hate relationship with her boss Mark or Mr. Kim was funny, and frustrating. I kind of wished they would have gotten together earlier in book, but I did appreciate that they did not just jump in to bed, instead got to know each other first, even though they barely liked each other. It was also fun to read about her job, and the coworkers that she eventually not only got to appreciate but ended up liking. Mark's grandmother and brother were also good characters to add to the story. Thoroughly enjoyed, am sure you will too! ( )

I was hoping for a fun light-hearted read from this ARC but found this first person novel to be all over the place. I think the author was aiming for a character arc of self development, as ditsy worker finds her feet after an opportunity to work abroad. However,the character was inconsistently developed, the LI was oddly (and in places horribly stereotypically) described and their work environment felt unrealistic. It's a no from me. ( )