‘Definitely ‘best books of 2022′ material!’ GLAMOUR
‘A funny, touching celebration of second chances’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
‘Warm, funny and a brilliant read’ SUN
‘By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this is a total joy of a read’ HOLLY MILLER, author of The Sight of You
________

Penny Calvin has questions.

Placed for adoption sixteen years ago, she’s desperate to get to know the mother she’s never met.

Mika Suzuki just wants to hide.

Jobless, single and living in a chaotic flat share, she can’t bear her daughter knowing her life is a mess. So, when Penny gets in touch, Mika tells a few white lies, pretending to have it all – a career, partner and money.

Keeping up the pretence over the phone is one thing. But when Penny and her widowed adoptive father Thomas spring a visit on Mika, things get complicated.

By coming clean about the secrets in her past, will Mika finally get the life she dreamed of?

Or will she lose it all?
________

‘An endearing, joyful tale about finding (and accepting) yourself’ Good Housekeeping
‘Smart and offbeat funny: think Maria Semple’ i
‘A sheer delight’ Rochelle Weinstein
‘Had me laughing, crying and cheering’ Lauren Kate
‘Hilarious, tender and very real . . . for every human trying to figure it out’ Nancy Jooyoun Kim
‘With the offbeat humour and poignancy of Maria Semple and Kirsty Capes, this has the potential to be a big hit’ Bookseller, Editor’s Choice

‘Definitely ‘best books of 2022′ material!’ GLAMOUR
‘A funny, touching celebration of second chances’ MAIL ON SUNDAY
‘Warm, funny and a brilliant read’ SUN
‘By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this is a total joy of a read’ Holly Miller, author of The Sight of You
________

AT 35, MIKA SUZUKI IS STRUGGLING.

She’s been fired (again). Her last relationship went up in flames. Her mother is perpetually disappointed in her.

And now, she’s had a phone call from sixteen-year-old Penny Calvin: the baby she reluctantly placed for adoption when she was just a teenager herself.

Penny has questions – and Mika is desperate to meet her girl. But she barely feels like she can take care of herself . . .

Is she ready to show Penny who Mika Suzuki really is?
________

‘An endearing, joyful tale about finding (and accepting) yourself’ Good Housekeeping
‘Smart and offbeat funny: think Maria Semple’ i
‘A sheer delight’ Rochelle Weinstein
‘Had me laughing, crying and cheering’ Lauren Kate
‘Hilarious, tender and very real . . . for every human trying to figure it out’ Nancy Jooyoun Kim
‘With the offbeat humour and poignancy of Maria Semple and Kirsty Capes, this has the potential to be a big hit’ Bookseller, Editor’s Choice

When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true. Only…

Her parent’s engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.

But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?

Izumi Tanaka has lived an uneventful seventeen years in her small town, keenly aware of all the ways in which her family is different from most of her classmates’. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity . . . and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan.

Soon she’s traveling overseas to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she’s only dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight. Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself-back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?