For fans of captivating art and contemporary romances like Chasing Red and A Business Proposal, this debut South Korean graphic novel is perfect for fans of workplace romance and boss romance dynamics.

After Ji-eon finds a doll that can control her celebrity boss Doyun, power dynamics shift—now it’s her turn to be in charge.

After a mix-up at a broadcasting studio she finds herself spending the day as the personal assistant for the famous actor Doyun Nam—and quickly lands herself into even more trouble at work.

Yet another miserable day of taking orders from others only to face ruthless criticism, and Ji-eon is left frustrated by her own passivity. But most of all, she blames Doyun, the stuck-up celebrity who she spent the day waiting on hand and foot.

With a dwindling bank account and loss of dignity to match, she lets out her stress on a plush toy. It isn’t long before she realizes its magical ability: the doll can control Doyun.

With the power now in her hands for the very first time, Ji-eon gets a taste of what it’s like to finally be the boss. But with power comes responsibility—and consequences.

And with a slow-burn romance developing with Doyun, Ji-eon must decide what she truly wants for her future.

This volume collects episodes 1 to 10 of the captivating WEBTOON series Act Like You Love Me!, which has more than 130 million views on the platform.

This is an adorable and funny series with a very, very sympathetic heroine. Ji-eon’s life consists of working three separate jobs and sleeping for maybe 4 hours a night, all to make end’s meet. She can barely afford to live as the expenses eat up her paychecks.

She even takes on temp jobs, and that’s how the big misunderstanding begins. She is sent to a film set but not given any instructions as to what to do, and the talented, handsome Doyun Nam mistakes her for his replacement manager. He makes her run all sorts of errands and she doesn’t realize the mistake until Doyun figures things out. Ji-eon loses out on the temp money she was supposed to make that day.

Frustrated, she takes her anger at Doyun out on a weird stuffed animal known as Mingji. Then Doyun shows up at her door, ready to apologize and lick her feet! He is aware enough to know that he’s not controlling himself, but can’t stop doing what Ji-eon says! Except…she has to say it to the Mingji doll to get the magic over Doyun to work.

The two have some hilarious run-ins, but even while all this madness is happening, Ji-eon learns that Doyun Nam can be a kind person. You definitely get the hint (in addition to the title) that they are going to somehow fall for each other.

Except there’s another character thrown into the mix that could ruffle their feathers. We don’t know his name yet–but he saves Ji-eon from a very disgruntled customer before things turn violent. He also drives off some underage girls looking for liquor…and Ji-eon has another kind person in her midst.

Things end a bit on a cliffhanger, just as we’re about to possibly start a new relationship, and I absolutely enjoyed this one. It was so much fun to read and I don’t know if I can wait for the next volume to release. I just think this is a really fun idea–handsome man essentially controlled by a fluffy voodoo doll–and I like the characters so far.

The art is really good, too. Characters are expressive–sometimes over the top (deliberately) and there are a lot of funny depictions of emotions. I think the art and the comic work extremely well together.

I had a great time. 4.5/5.

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I received a copy of Act Like You Love Me! Vol. 1 as a digital ARC directly from the publisher via NetGalley. I’m happy to leave a review of my own accord.