Lilacs and Fated Names

Cassia Park, director of operations at One & Only Matchmaking, starts her day in a Beverly Hills office filled with the scent of lilacs and the bustle of her multigenerational Korean American family. The Park women have run their matchmaking business for decades, blending ancient Korean face-reading with a secret magical gift: the ability to see clients' past lives and identify their fated loves. Cassia, approaching her fortieth birthday, is haunted by her own fate—her grandmother's reading revealed her destined partner, Daniel Nam, a man she's never been able to find. As she guides clients like celebrity Gemma Flores toward their soulmates, Cassia's own longing for love, family, and legacy simmers beneath her meticulous routines, setting the stage for a journey where fate and free will collide.

The Red Thread Revealed

Cassia's gift is more than intuition—it's a literal vision of past lives, where she witnesses the red thread of fate connecting lovers across centuries. Each reading is a ritual: a jade talisman, a trance, and a name revealed in red thread on enchanted paper. The Park women keep these names in a sacred apothecary cupboard, tracking each match until the thread turns white, signifying a completed destiny. But Cassia's own drawer, holding Daniel Nam's name, remains stubbornly unchanged. The family's 100% success rate is both a point of pride and a source of pressure, especially as Cassia feels the weight of being the last woman in her line with the gift. Her search for Daniel is both a personal quest and a race against time, as she contemplates her legacy and the possibility of the gift ending with her.

Birthday Falls and First Encounters

On the eve of her fortieth birthday, Cassia's life takes a literal tumble—she crashes her bike during a group ride, only to be rescued by Ellis, a charming, much-younger landscape architect. Their banter is immediate and electric, but Cassia's self-deprecating humor masks deeper anxieties about aging, fate, and the future. The accident becomes a catalyst, shaking loose her carefully controlled life and introducing Ellis as a wild card. Despite the age gap and her fixation on finding Daniel, Cassia can't ignore the chemistry with Ellis, whose kindness and perceptiveness unsettle her expectations. The encounter is both a comic mishap and a fateful meeting, hinting at the unpredictable ways love can enter a life.

Family, Fate, and Longing

Cassia's family is both her anchor and her source of stress. The Park women—her formidable grandmother Halmoni, pragmatic aunt Sunny, and irrepressible great-aunt Emoni—are united by tradition, love, and the business of fate. Yet Cassia's mother's early death and her father's abandonment have left scars, shaping Cassia's yearning for a love that is both magical and secure. Family dinners are a mix of warmth, humor, and subtle pressure, as everyone hopes Cassia will find Daniel and continue the family legacy. The tension between honoring tradition and forging her own path intensifies as Cassia navigates her roles as caretaker, matchmaker, and woman on the cusp of a new decade.

Coffee, Chemistry, and Age Gaps

Ellis reappears at Cassia's office, checking on her after the accident. Their coffee date is filled with flirtation, vulnerability, and the undeniable pull of attraction. Cassia is both charmed and wary—Ellis is twelve years her junior, and she's convinced her fate lies elsewhere. Yet his genuine curiosity, chivalry, and easy confidence challenge her assumptions about what she wants and deserves. The age gap becomes both a barrier and a source of excitement, as Cassia grapples with the possibility of happiness outside the boundaries of fate. Their connection is a reminder that sometimes, the heart's logic defies even the most ancient magic.

Birthday Dinners and Family Ties

Cassia's pre-birthday family dinner is a microcosm of her life: laughter, food, and the ever-present shadow of her mother's absence. Surrounded by cousins, aunts, and her best friend Marcella's family, Cassia feels both loved and scrutinized. The family's hopes for her happiness are palpable, and the conversation inevitably turns to Daniel—the elusive fated match. Cassia's own desires for love and family are complicated by grief, expectation, and the ticking clock of her fertility. The dinner is both a celebration and a reckoning, as Cassia confronts the gap between the life she has and the one she yearns for.

DMs, Desire, and Decisions

Late-night Instagram DMs with Ellis lead to an impulsive, exhilarating decision: Cassia invites him over, and their chemistry explodes into a night of passion. The encounter is both a release and a revelation—Cassia feels alive, desired, and unburdened by fate for the first time in years. Yet the morning after brings complications: the boundaries between fling and feeling blur, and Cassia is forced to confront the reality that her heart may not be as tethered to Daniel as she thought. The digital age collides with ancient magic, and Cassia's choices become more reckless, more real.

A Weekend of Recklessness

What was meant to be a one-night stand with Ellis turns into a weekend of intimacy, laughter, and unexpected depth. Cassia is drawn to Ellis's warmth, his tactile joy in the world, and the way he fits seamlessly into her life—even her prickly bird Betty approves. They plant geraniums, share tacos, and talk about family, grief, and dreams. The age gap fades in the face of genuine connection, but Cassia's internal conflict grows. She wants the magic of fated love, but Ellis offers something equally powerful: the magic of being seen, chosen, and cherished in the present.

The Wind Takes Us

Ellis's philosophy—"I go where the wind takes me"—becomes a mantra for Cassia as she allows herself to be swept up in the unpredictability of their connection. Their weekend together is a series of small adventures, each one deepening their bond and challenging Cassia's belief in destiny as a fixed point. Yet the specter of Daniel looms, and Cassia's sense of responsibility to her family, her legacy, and her own future keeps her from fully surrendering. The wind, it seems, can only take her so far before reality intervenes.

Milestone Birthdays and Missed Connections

Cassia's fortieth birthday arrives with both celebration and melancholy. She clings to her tradition of solo road trips, seeking solace and clarity in the desert. But fate intervenes in the most literal way: she finally meets Daniel Nam—Ellis's boss—by chance, and the name in her drawer is suddenly a living, breathing man. The collision of fate and free will becomes unavoidable, as Cassia is forced to choose between the man she's been searching for and the one who found her when she least expected it. The milestone birthday becomes a crossroads, where every choice carries the weight of destiny.

Fate Found: Daniel Appears

Meeting Daniel is both a relief and a shock. He is everything Cassia imagined: handsome, accomplished, and connected to her through a web of past lives and present circumstances. Yet the timing is fraught—she has just spent a transformative weekend with Ellis, and the revelation that Daniel is Ellis's boss adds layers of guilt and confusion. The Park women are overjoyed, seeing Daniel as the answer to generations of hope and tradition. But for Cassia, the reality of fate is messier than the myth, and the heart's desires are no longer so easily mapped.

Desert Revelations and Shrooms

A work retreat in Joshua Tree brings Cassia, Daniel, and Ellis together in a surreal, emotionally charged setting. Under the influence of mushrooms, Cassia's boundaries dissolve, and she finds herself confessing her deepest griefs and desires to Ellis. The desert becomes a crucible for truth, as Cassia confronts the pain of her mother's death, her fears about love and family, and the possibility that fate is not as absolute as she believed. The red thread of destiny is tangled with the messy, beautiful chaos of real life, and Cassia is left raw, vulnerable, and more uncertain than ever.

Grief, Confessions, and Letting Go

Cassia's journey through grief is mirrored in her relationships with both Ellis and Daniel. She shares her childhood trauma with Ellis, finding comfort and understanding in his arms. Yet the knowledge that her mother rejected her own fated match—and the consequences that followed—haunt Cassia's choices. The desert retreat becomes a turning point, as Cassia realizes that love is not just about destiny, but about the courage to choose, to forgive, and to move forward. Letting go of the past becomes the only way to claim the future.

Parallel Paths and Past Lives

A group sound bath triggers a powerful vision for Cassia—a past life with Daniel, filled with intimacy, safety, and the promise of family. The experience is both affirming and destabilizing, as Cassia grapples with the reality that her connection to Daniel is ancient and profound. Yet the vision also raises questions about agency, choice, and the possibility of happiness outside the boundaries of fate. The parallel paths of her relationships with Daniel and Ellis become more pronounced, and Cassia is forced to confront the possibility that love is both predestined and created anew in every lifetime.

Sound Baths and Shifting Realities

The aftermath of the sound bath is a reckoning. Cassia breaks things off with Ellis, believing that her destiny with Daniel is inevitable. The pain of the breakup is acute, but Cassia is determined to honor her family's legacy and the promise of fated love. Yet the cost of honesty is high—Ellis is hurt, and Cassia is left questioning whether she has made the right choice. The boundaries between fate and freedom blur, and Cassia's heart is caught between the comfort of certainty and the thrill of the unknown.

Breaking Up and Breaking Down

As Cassia prepares for her first date with Daniel, the Park women's expectations reach a fever pitch. Yet beneath the surface, secrets simmer. A family dinner reveals cracks in the foundation—Daniel is uncertain about having children, and Cassia's own desires are thrown into sharp relief. The pressure to fulfill her destiny becomes suffocating, and Cassia begins to question whether the path laid out for her is truly her own. The unraveling of certainty is both terrifying and liberating, as Cassia confronts the possibility that happiness may require breaking the rules.

Truths, Traditions, and Second Thoughts

A series of revelations shatter Cassia's understanding of her family and herself. She learns that her mother's fated match was, in fact, her father—a man who left despite the promise of destiny. The Park women's carefully constructed narrative is exposed as both a comfort and a cage, and Cassia is forced to reckon with the limits of tradition. The meaning of love, fate, and family is upended, and Cassia must decide whether to honor the past or forge a new future. The choice is no longer between two men, but between two ways of living.

The Grown-Up Love Triangle

A wedding brings Cassia, Daniel, and Ellis together in a charged, emotional showdown. The love triangle plays out in public—awkward dances, drunken confessions, and a climactic fight that lays bare the pain and longing beneath the surface. Cassia's heart is torn between the steady, sensible love of Daniel and the wild, unpredictable passion of Ellis. The fallout is messy, humiliating, and necessary, as Cassia is forced to confront the consequences of her choices and the reality that love is never as simple as a red thread.

Invitations, Intersections, and Instincts

In the aftermath of the wedding, Cassia's life is a series of intersections—chance encounters with Ellis, invitations to family dinners, and the ever-present pull of instinct. The Park women's hopes for Cassia's future are both a comfort and a burden, and Cassia's own desires become clearer as she navigates the complexities of love, loss, and legacy. The courage to choose—to risk heartbreak, to claim happiness, to defy fate—becomes the central challenge of Cassia's journey.

The Choice: Fate or Freedom

A fire at the One & Only office becomes a metaphor for the burning away of old certainties. As Cassia sifts through the ashes of her family's legacy, she realizes that the true magic is not in the red thread, but in the freedom to choose her own path. Breaking up with Daniel is both a heartbreak and a liberation, and Cassia's confession of love to Ellis is an act of faith in the future. The choice is no longer between fate and freedom, but between fear and courage, regret and hope.

Fire, Forgiveness, and New Beginnings

The aftermath of the fire is a time of reckoning and renewal. Cassia and her family confront their secrets, forgive each other, and begin the work of rebuilding—both the business and their relationships. Cassia's journey to meet her estranged father Matthew brings closure and understanding, and her reconciliation with the Park women is a testament to the enduring power of love. The reopening of the office is a symbol of new beginnings, and Cassia's decision to pursue a future with Ellis is both a risk and a reward.

Love, Legacy, and Lifetimes

Cassia and Ellis's love story is both an ending and a beginning. They build a life together—messy, joyful, and full of possibility. The Park women pass the torch, and Cassia steps into her role as the new leader of One & Only, honoring the past while embracing the future. The legacy of fated love endures, but it is no longer a cage—it is a gift, to be claimed or refused, remade in every lifetime. Cassia's journey is a testament to the power of choice, the beauty of imperfection, and the magic that lives in every act of love.

Characters

Cassia Park

Cassia is the heart of the story—a meticulous, driven, and deeply caring woman on the cusp of forty, burdened by the weight of family tradition and the ache of personal longing. Raised by her Korean American grandparents after her mother's early death and her father's abandonment, Cassia is both fiercely independent and deeply loyal. Her gift—the ability to see past lives and fated loves—shapes her identity and her sense of purpose, but also traps her in a narrative not entirely her own. Cassia's journey is one of self-discovery, as she learns to balance duty and desire, fate and freedom, grief and hope. Her relationships—with her family, her best friend Marcella, and her two great loves, Daniel and Ellis—reveal her complexity, vulnerability, and capacity for growth. Ultimately, Cassia's greatest act of courage is choosing her own happiness, even when it means rewriting the rules of destiny.

Ellis Yang-Cohen

Ellis is Cassia's unexpected match—a landscape architect in his late twenties, full of warmth, humor, and a tactile joy in living. Mixed-race, with a loving family and a history of going where the wind takes him, Ellis is both grounded and adventurous. His perceptiveness, kindness, and emotional intelligence set him apart from Cassia's previous partners, and his willingness to be vulnerable challenges her to do the same. The age gap between them is both a source of tension and a catalyst for growth, as Ellis's openness to love and change inspires Cassia to question her own certainties. His journey from supportive friend to passionate lover is marked by heartbreak, patience, and ultimately, the courage to claim a love that defies fate.

Daniel Nam-Watson

Daniel is the man Cassia has been searching for—a successful, handsome, and thoughtful landscape architect, and Ellis's boss. Adopted, British-Korean, and deeply rooted in his own sense of purpose, Daniel embodies the promise of fated love: stability, shared values, and a connection that feels both ancient and immediate. Yet Daniel's uncertainty about fatherhood and his own emotional guardedness reveal the limits of destiny. His relationship with Cassia is marked by mutual respect, intellectual compatibility, and a sense of inevitability, but also by a lack of the wild, unpredictable passion that characterizes her bond with Ellis. Daniel's grace in heartbreak and his support for Ellis's growth underscore his essential decency.

Halmoni (Mi-Kyeong Park)

Halmoni is the formidable head of the Park family—a woman of strength, wisdom, and unyielding love. Her belief in the power of fate and the family's magical gift is both a source of comfort and a source of pain, especially as she grapples with the legacy of her daughter's tragic love story. Halmoni's relationship with Cassia is complex: she is both nurturing and demanding, supportive and controlling. Her journey is one of learning to let go—of the past, of her own guilt, and of the need to control her granddaughter's future. In the end, Halmoni's greatest gift to Cassia is the freedom to choose her own path.

Sunny Park

Sunny is Cassia's aunt and confidante—a woman who has forged her own path within the family, balancing tradition with independence. Her role as the family's public face and her own late-in-life love story with Stu make her both a model and a cautionary tale for Cassia. Sunny's decision to reveal the truth about Cassia's parents is an act of love and courage, breaking the cycle of secrecy and allowing Cassia to claim her own destiny. Her humor, practicality, and deep loyalty make her an essential anchor in Cassia's life.

Emoni

Emoni is the family's wild card—a part-time presence in the business, a lover of money and risk, and a keeper of family recipes and traditions. Her sharp wit and unfiltered honesty provide comic relief and grounding wisdom. Emoni's devotion to the family is unwavering, and her willingness to adapt to change is a model for Cassia as she steps into her own leadership role.

Marcella

Marcella is Cassia's ride-or-die—a tall, stylish, and fiercely loyal friend who provides both comic relief and emotional ballast. As a mother, business owner, and survivor of her own struggles, Marcella is both a mirror and a foil for Cassia. Her willingness to challenge Cassia's assumptions, support her through heartbreak, and celebrate her victories makes her an indispensable part of Cassia's journey. Marcella's own marriage and family life offer a different model of love—one built on choice, effort, and the messy beauty of real partnership.

Shreya

Shreya is the glue that holds One & Only together—a young, bossy, and deeply competent office manager who balances tradition with modernity. Her friendship with Cassia is marked by mutual respect, shared ambition, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. Shreya's own struggles with family expectations and self-care mirror Cassia's, and her promotion to director of operations signals the agency's evolution into a new era.

Betty

Betty, Cassia's ancient and irascible cockatoo, is more than a pet—she is a living link to Cassia's mother, a symbol of survival, and a source of comic chaos. Betty's presence in the story is a reminder of the ways love and loss endure, and her acceptance of Ellis is a subtle blessing on Cassia's new beginning.

Matthew Lee

Matthew is the absent father whose choices shaped Cassia's life. His reunion with Cassia is fraught with regret, honesty, and the possibility of healing. Matthew's admission that fate is not a guarantee, and that love is a choice, provides Cassia with the final piece of wisdom she needs to claim her own happiness. His presence in the story is a reminder that forgiveness, like love, is an act of courage.

Plot Devices

The Red Thread of Fate

The red thread is both a literal and symbolic device, representing the ancient belief that lovers are connected across lifetimes. In the Park family's hands, it becomes a tool for matchmaking, a source of certainty, and a burden of expectation. The thread's color—red for active, white for fulfilled, black for broken—mirrors the state of each love story. The device allows for explorations of fate, free will, and the limits of tradition, as Cassia learns that even the strongest thread can fray, and that true happiness requires both faith and agency.

Face-Reading and Past Lives

The Park women's ability to read faces and see past lives is both a plot engine and a metaphor for empathy, intuition, and the ways we carry history within us. Each reading is a moment of revelation, connecting clients (and Cassia herself) to the patterns of love, loss, and longing that shape their present. The device allows for narrative structure—each client's story echoes and refracts Cassia's own—and for foreshadowing, as visions of past lives hint at the choices and challenges to come.

Parallel Love Stories

The novel's structure is built on parallel love stories: Cassia and Daniel, Cassia and Ellis, her mother and father, her aunts and their partners, her clients and their fated matches. These stories serve as mirrors and contrasts, exploring the many forms love can take—steady and sensible, wild and unpredictable, chosen and destined. The device allows for deep psychological exploration, as Cassia learns that every love story is both unique and universal, shaped by circumstance, character, and choice.

Family as Both Anchor and Cage

The Park family is both a source of strength and a source of conflict. Their traditions, secrets, and expectations shape Cassia's journey, providing both comfort and constraint. The family's history—of love, loss, and survival—serves as both a guide and a warning, forcing Cassia to confront the limits of loyalty and the necessity of forging her own path. The device allows for rich intergenerational dynamics, humor, and emotional resonance.

Fire and Rebuilding

The fire at the One & Only office is both a literal and symbolic turning point. It destroys the physical embodiment of the family's legacy, forcing Cassia and her loved ones to confront the impermanence of tradition and the necessity of change. The process of rebuilding—both the business and the family—mirrors Cassia's own journey toward self-acceptance, forgiveness, and the creation of a new kind of love story.

Analysis

Maurene Goo's One & Only is a luminous, multi-layered exploration of love, fate, and the courage to choose one's own happiness. At its heart, the novel interrogates the tension between tradition and freedom, destiny and agency, family and self. Through the magical device of the red thread and the Park women's face-reading gift, Goo weaves a narrative that is both steeped in cultural specificity and universally resonant. Cassia's journey—from dutiful granddaughter and matchmaker to a woman who claims her own desires—is a testament to the power of vulnerability, the necessity of forgiveness, and the beauty of imperfection. The novel's love triangle is not just a romantic dilemma, but a meditation on the many forms love can take: the comfort of the known, the thrill of the new, the ache of loss, and the joy of discovery. Goo's modern, witty, and emotionally rich storytelling invites readers to question the stories we inherit, the ones we tell ourselves, and the ones we have the power to rewrite. In the end, One & Only is a celebration of love's messiness, magic, and infinite possibility—a reminder that the truest fate is the one we choose, again and again, in every lifetime.

Last updated: February 5, 2026