I have more fantasy reviews coming up soon – but I wanted to let you know about this upcoming new book from Zen Cho, whose Sorcerer to the Crown is one of my all-time favorites.

The Friend Zone Experiment
by Zen Cho

Bramble, 2024

ISBN 978-1250330390

Review copy read via Netgalley.

Renee Goh left her family in Singapore years ago. Now living in London, she has a swanky flat and runs her own successful fashion business, far away from her bullying older brothers and family expectations about the proper place and behavior for a good Asian girl. Her glamorous but tidy world is shaken up when her father calls to ask her to consider taking over the enormous family business, Chahaya, just hours after her secret K-pop boyfriend breaks up with her on what was supposed to be an intimate vacation.

Into this chaos steps Yap Ket Siong, the man who broke her heart when they were both at uni a decade ago. She doesn’t know what he’s doing in London, but his attention is just as focused on her as he was then, and he’s even better looking. But Ket Siong’s life has changed for the worse in those past 10 years. A close family friend in Malaysia went missing – kidnapped very close to their house – when he was protesting the destruction of old-growth forest to make an oil palm plantation. Since then, he’s had to give up his career as a concert pianist to go into hiding with his mother and older brother.

Renee really has her hands full already keeping her own business going andputting together a presentation for a possible project between Chahaya another large Asian company (while keeping the owner’s nephew/ her abusive ex away from putting his hands all over her.) Between that and her recent breakup, she really shouldn’t be starting another relationship. But Ket Siong is so easy to be around – surely it couldn’t hurt if they were just friends, right?

Ket Siong, for his part, has reason to believe that both of the giant corporations Renee is working with have caused major misfortune is his family’s life. Certainly hanging out near someone as high profile as Renee isn’t keeping him off the radar of whoever it was caused their friend’s disappearance. But once again, with life so stressful, how can he stay away from someone who makes him happy?

This is a lot of frothy and moderately steamy fun, with outrageously beautiful, talented, and sometimes very rich people falling for each other. Under that, though, are some serious looks at class, misogyny, and social justice. It’s a winning combination.