Act Like You Love Me!, Vol. 1 coming November 3rd, 2026 from WEBTOON Unscrolled; 288 pages
Content Warning: Sexism, profanity
About the Author: “Xuann, pronounced ‘shu-ahn,’ is a Korean illustrator who loves thrillers and Chipotle (but no beans or cilantro). They go through life constantly sleepy and are currently working on a romance comic” (Bio from Bookshop).
Find XUANN on the following platforms:
Ji-eon has to work constantly to afford her expenses and support her mother, and she’s not always treated well at her jobs. One day, a famous actor named Doyun Nam orders Ji-eon around before filming and ends up getting her in trouble with her boss. Back home, Ji-eon lets out her anger by yelling at a cute plushie that a strange old man gave her at her convenience store job. She tells it to apologize and beg for her forgiveness. To Ji-eon’s shock, Doyun appears at her door on his knees to apologize. He doesn’t know how he got there or why. As Ji-eon realizes that the mysterious plushie can control Doyun, the two grow closer the more they cross paths. Despite their irritating first impressions, Ji-eon and Doyun might just start to care about each other.
I found Act Like You Love Me!, Vol. 1 to be a funny and interesting read. Critical for any manhwa series, the art style was great. The characters looked so beautiful sometimes and so ridiculous at other times as the author juggled the romance aspects of the story with the comedy. The inclusion of the magical plushie was a good way to move the romance between Ji-eon and Doyun forward. Many romances have trouble coming up with reasons why two people that dislike each other should keep seeing each other at all, but the plushie makes their continued acquaintance natural. I liked that Ji-eon did not become drunk with power once she figured out the potential of the plushie to control a famous, rich person—that would’ve been out of character. Since the story will continue, this makes me wonder if anything will happen to undermine her restraint. I also wonder when Doyun will find out the truth about the plushie; so far, it seems like Ji-eon has no intention of telling him. It was funny watching him decide that Ji-eon herself must be the reason he’s been acting weird. As far as further predictions for the story go, this installment makes me wonder how Ji-eon and Doyun’s romance will play out because it introduced a second love interest for Ji-eon. This second love interest was impulsive and not averse to taking action based on his emotions, which is so opposite to Ji-eon that I’m excited to see how they will interact in the future.
Act Like You Love Me!, Vol. 1 releases on November 3rd, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and WEBTOON Unscrolled for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Gwen Shetlar, Pine Reads Review Writer, Editor, and Website Manager