You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Hachette Children’s Group has snapped up two Young Adult rom-coms from British début author and bookseller Bea Ingalls with the first title, a New York City-set novel, written after Ingalls’ long-anticipated first trip to the Big Apple was scuppered by the pandemic.
HCG editorial director for fiction Lizzie Clifford acquired world rights from Rachel Petty at The Blair Partnership to the two standalones, We Used to be Magic and Your Favourite Fake Girlfriend. HCG says the books were "ones to watch" internationally, as it sewed up German and Italian deals just before the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Hertfordshire-based Ingalls had planned a "life-changing" trip to New York but when it was disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions, she started writing instead, "pouring heartfelt hopes and dreams into We Used to be Magic". The rom-com follows new model Audrey navigating the "dizzying bright lights" of the city; and Ezra, who has returned to town from studying with a broken nose and a broken heart. "Their connection is instant, smouldering and all-consuming. But when Audrey is confronted with the darker facets of the fashion industry and Ezra’s past proves impossible to outrun, will it be enough?"
Clifford called the book "gorgeous rom-com escapism that had me swooning from page one and clearly marks out [Ingalls] as a YA author of exciting potential. Her exquisite writing is vividly cinematic, the dialogue snappy, on point and loaded with emotional resonance".
Ingalls said she was "beyond excited to be introducing these characters to the world... it’s been a dream come true, and I’m still waiting for it all to feel real".
HCG will publish We Used to be Magic on Valentine’s Day 2025, with Your Favourite Fake Girlfriend coming in February the following year.