K-drama Review: Romance is a Bonus Book

This romantic K-drama is one of my all-time favourites, for a number of reasons: it's set in the publishing world, the hero is both an author and editor, the story features an older woman / younger man trope, and I strongly relate to the heroine. Give it a try...maybe you'll love it too.

English Title: Romance is a Bonus Book

Writer: Jung Hyun-jung

Director: Lee Jeong-hyo

Length: 16 Episodes

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Second Chances, Older woman / Younger man, Love Triangle, Office Romance, Childhood Friends, Room mates, He falls first (and hardest)

My Score: 5/5

Description: Newly divorced single mom Kang Dan-i (Lee Na-young) is broke, desperate, and trying to re-enter the job market after years as a stay-at-home mom. She's also over-qualified for every job she applies for, so she fakes her qualifications to get a job at the publishing company where her childhood best friend Cha Eun-ho (Lee Jong-suk) works as an editor and founding partner. When Cha Eun-ho learns that she's homeless, he invites her to move in with him. To Kang Dan-i, he's just like a little brother, but Cha Eun-ho is hiding a big secret - that he has been in love with her for years.

If you enjoyed this show, then watch: Her Private Life, Crash Course in Romance and Because this is my first life are similar low-angst, feel-good romances about real people. Lovestruck in the City is by the same writer, and Crash Landing on You is by the same director.

This comfortable, heart-warming drama is a must-see, especially for writers of feel-good romantic fiction. There are (as always in K-dramas!) some sad moments, especially in the first episode, but this is not an angsty drama. This is a warm beverage between your hands, comfy socks, and cuddling with a loved one type of story - and as a bonus, all the characters are readers!

Perhaps the biggest reason why I enjoyed this show is that I really identified with the heroine. She's an older woman (well, in her early 30s), a newly-divorced single mother forced to re-enter both the workplace and also the dating scene. She fears that her best opportunities may be behind her and that she may not get a shot again at the kind of life she once had or dreamed of. She's a relatable, ordinary woman that I rooted for from the very first episode - and, unlike the heroines of some K-dramas, I never got annoyed with her, even when she wasn't seeing what was right under her nose.

The romance was cute, the leads had great, believable chemistry, and there's a lot of humour in the show. My favourite scenes may be the dramatic entrance by the company directors on acquisitions day, and the young couple who fell asleep on the boardroom table after pulling an all-nighter. In addition, the story is well-paced. I never got bored and I admire how (like Crash Landing on You, Her Private Life, and many other K-dramas) the writers balance the more poignant scenes with comedy to create an ever-shifting emotional experience for viewers.

As an author, I loved the glimpses into the book publishing business - editors pitching for the stories they're passionate about, the excitement of receiving a new manuscript from a favourite author, book launches, cover designs, and the highs and lows of publishing, from a book going to reprint to the trauma of pulping unsold books. Every character in the story is a reader and loves books, which is another big plus in my book. I also really resonated with the view of publishing that Kang Dan-i expresses during the book pulping scene, that publishers want to share the "precious lives" of the books with as many people as possible so that they won’t be ashamed to face the trees that gave their lives to become those books.

Like many K-dramas, Romance is a Bonus Book has a large cast of well-rounded secondary characters, each with their own stories. I love how every character is complex and multi-faceted, with their own relatable problems that they're dealing with, like disappointment and loneliness. What is especially refreshing in this show is that none of their stories feel melodramatic. Aside from the heroine, whose husband abandoned her in quite a devastating way, many of the other characters are dealing with failed relationships - but they're believable failings, like a breakdown in communication or a non-alignment of values. The characters deal with these disappointments and failures in healthy, well-adjusted ways. No-one is trying to get revenge, breaking down, or acting out, instead giving us a template for healthier ways to work through our emotions.

Among the secondary cast are a lot of familiar faces, including Jo Han-chul (Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Vincenzo, Love Next Door) and Kim Sun-young (Crash Landing on You, Her Private Life, Crash Course in Romance.) 

One of my favourite elements of any story is to see women supporting women, and we get several scenes with some lovely bonding moments between the women. I also enjoyed that older woman are the central focus of this story, rather than the 20-somethings. But the element I loved most of all is the love triangle the heroine found herself in. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for well-crafted love triangle stories, and the fantasy of an older woman pursued by not one but two younger men... well, what woman wouldn't love that fantasy?

My only criticism of this otherwise enjoyable and well-written feel-good show, is that I did get a little annoyed with the way the show treated the relationship between Kang Dan-i and her daughter. She didn't appear too perturbed after the first episode that her young child was living far away, and after a few episodes the writers seemed to forget she even had a child, so the parent/child relationship became an afterthought in the story. Either make her a single mom or not, but this half & half didn't work for me. At the very least, I'd have liked to see something in the final episode showing the new family unit and how her child responded to the new man in mom's life.

Why do I recommend this show to writers?

Watch the show for its overall pacing, and how the secondary characters are developed in ways that make them feel like real people rather than cardboard cut-outs. I especially recommend looking at how the show's "villain" is handled. Director Go Yoo-sun is an "Ice Queen" who makes Kang Dan-i's job difficult, is distant, aloof, and a generally unlikable person. But slowly we get to know her and understand her, and see her thaw. This is something that many K-dramas do well - make even the villainous characters believable and relatable, so that they stop being unlikable stereotypes and instead gain viewers' empathy. This is a level of complexity and nuance that I think all writing would benefit from.

A note for romantic fiction writers: There has been a lot of hate lately (especially on Book Tok) for the Third Act Break-up. This is the plot point that has become a staple in most western romances and Rom Com movies. It's where the romantic couple, having already come together as a couple, breaks up before the climax (usually over a misunderstanding or unresolved internal conflict) and they only reunite again at the story's end. Romance is a Bonus Book is a wonderful example of how compelling a romance can be without a Third Act Break-up. In this story, we see the leads resolve their internal conflicts and come together as a couple quite early (around episode 10-11), then navigate the obstacles of the external conflict together for the rest of the show. It's more true to life, models what healthy relationships look like, and shows us that romances can be just as engaging for viewers/readers when we colour outside the lines of traditional western story conventions.

If you've watched Romance is a Bonus Book, what did you think of it? What were your favourite moments in the show?

The official Netflix trailer doesn't do Romance is a Bonus Book justice, in my opinion, so instead I'm sharing a clip from the show where Cha Eun-ho's jealousy gets the better of him and he nearly lets slip his feelings...