Desi Lee has always been confident, driven, and in control, with a plan for achieving every goal and a long list of successful accomplishments. But Desi’s confidence plummets with boys. Her crush on artsy transfer student Luca Drakos feels different from all her others, but she’s certain she’s headed toward another “flailure” (“flirting failure”). Desi’s dad, who followed her late mom to the United States from South Korea years before—an epic love story right in Desi’s own home—loves Korean teledramas (K dramas), a fascination Desi doesn’t share. But after a weekend feeling blue and binge-watching, she emerges with the realization that every series shares a common formula for falling in requited love. Desi breaks it all down into steps and comes up with a plan to facilitate true love with Luca. Of course love—and people—can’t be scripted in real life, and in a book that is funny and uncomfortable by turns, Desi’s maneuvers to manipulate her relationship with this genuinely nice boy she likes and who clearly likes her are at the least questionable and at times ethically problematic, both of which are pointed out to her by her friends. The plot intentionally follows a predictable arc, but the characters, especially Desi, her dad, and Luca, are singular and nuanced, as are the details of their lives, from Luca’s relationship with his dad to how Desi and her dad navigate grief over her mother’s death. (Age 13 and older)

A Seventeen.com Best YA Books of 2017
A Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of 2017
A New York Public Library Notable Best Book for Teens 2017
A 2018 CCBC Choices Book

"Hilarious." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Powerful messages of inclusion and acceptance.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Desi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That's how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it's how she'll get into Stanford. But she's never had a boyfriend. In fact, she's a disaster at romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It's a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her "K Drama Steps to True Love," Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and staged car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

A Margaret Ferguson Book