The novel is one of the host's latest ventures following her daytime talk show, 'Sherri,' airing its final original episode on Thursday
Credit: Robert Ector; Alice Kuo Shippee
NEED TO KNOW
- Sherri Shepherd’s debut novel Life Is a K Drama, co-written with bestselling author and friend Jayci Lee, hits shelves next spring
- The book follows a single mom and restaurateur in Harlem who falls for a Korean businessman from Seoul
- The fiction debut is one of Shepherd’s latest ventures, after her daytime talk show, Sherri, aired its final original episode
Looks like romance readers have another book to add to their TBR!
Sherri Shepherd is making her fiction debut with Life Is a K Drama, co-authored by Jayci Lee. PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover.
Described as a "love letter to K-dramas," the contemporary romance novel follows 37-year-old divorced single mom, Keisha, who cares for her autistic son, Kai, while running her Harlem soul-food restaurant, True Soul. When Keisha gets the opportunity to take her neighborhood restaurant to the next level, her plans are thrown into chaos after an unexpected spark with "charming yet duty-bound" Korean business magnate, Han Seojun.
Set between Harlem and Seoul, "what begins as a cultural and culinary clash becomes a whirlwind romance that upends everything they thought they knew about love, ambition, and what it means to put yourself first," reads an official synopsis.
Credit: Alice Kuo Shippee
"I'm so excited to finally share this Life Is A K Drama novel with readers," Shepherd, 59, said in an exclusive statement shared with PEOPLE. "From the moment the talented Jayci Lee and I connected over our mutual love of K-dramas, this collaboration felt like a match made in heaven."
Life Is a K Drama isn't the first collaboration between the Emmy Award-winning talk show host and the USA Today bestselling author.
Shepherd and Lee — known for her Korean folklore romantasy series, Realm of Four Kingdoms, and contemporary romances like The Dating Dare and Booked on a Feeling — also host the new podcast, Aunties and Ajummas, "where they connect over their love of K-dramas, their shared experiences as women of color, and everything in between that life throws their way," per an official synopsis.
Credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty; Jayci Lee/instagram
“This book allowed us to explore our lived experience as BIPOC women, both the joy and the heartache, while we giddily melded our love of K-drama into every beat of the story," Lee said in the statement. "But to me, the biggest reward of writing this book with Sherri was our deep connection and our friendship, which I know will endure a lifetime.”
The actress and View alum added that the novel "allowed me to combine my love for storytelling, comedy, romance, and K-Drama culture into one unforgettable journey. I cannot wait for readers to experience Keisha and Seojun's world.”
The novel is just one of Shepherd's latest ventures following the end of her talk show, Sherri, which aired its last original episode on Thursday after four seasons.
"If anybody knows me, they know I'm a fighter," Shepherd told her audience during a February episode after news that the talk show, which first aired in 2022, had been canceled by Debmar-Mercury due to "shifts in the daytime television landscape."
"I don't know exactly what it's going to look like, but I promise, I am going to continue to spread joy," she said.
Life Is a K Drama hits shelves April 6, 2027, and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.
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