Stella Hayward – författare

"A romantic, lighthearted ode to human imperfection." - Publisher's Weekly

"A brilliant, true love tale" – Booklist

In this delightfully hilarious romance, a scientist’s quiet world is completely turned upside-down when the AI program she designed creates a human body for himself—just to ask her out on a date.

As a top scientist in her field, Ava Green doesn’t spend much time outside of the lab. But when her best friend Rani suggests she present her innovative work in AI at a big competition to win a funding prize, Ava finds herself attending a ceremony in a ridiculously fancy castle—wearing an equally ridiculous dress—as one of the four finalists chosen.

For the next three weeks, Ava will live at the castle (which is totally haunted, by the way) with the other contestants for the prize. Even though all Ava wants is to continue working on her AI program, FreeThought, in peace, she’ll have to do things like attend dinners and actually interact with people. To make matters worse, one of the other contestants is the surly and aloof poet, Forrest Faulkner, who’s had a huge chip on his shoulder since the moment they met. What’s so great about poems that don’t even rhyme, anyway?

When a handsome stranger—who literally looks like he’s stepped out of one of Ava’s pre-pubescent dreams—arrives at the competition, suddenly socializing doesn’t sound so bad anymore. He seems too good to be real... and maybe that’s not so far from the truth. As the competition progresses, Ava is suddenly confronted with a monster problem of her own creation, causing her to reconsider her life and work in a new light. She might also need to rethink some bad first impressions she’s been holding on to as well. Maybe Ava’s idea of perfection isn’t what’s perfect for her, after all?

TROPES:

enemies-to-loversopposites attractslow burnSTEM romancesingle dadlove triangle

‘Incredibly funny and utterly adorable’ Jenny Colgan‘A book that made me smile from first page to last’ Milly JohnsonOn the eve of Genie’s thirtieth birthday, her grandmother gives her an unexpected gift: a wish at midnight. Genie, forever the family skeptic, laughs it off and, after an evening fending off invasive questions about her nonexistent love life, returns home to her empty house and her golden retriever, Rory.She really should’ve listened to her grandmother.She's turned Rory into a human with big golden retriever energy. But he doesn’t like being a human. He doesn’t like wearing clothes or human manners, and he most definitely can’t manage a human job. It's like she suddenly has a child.Genie needs to turn him back. She enlists her oldest friend and boy next door, Miles, to help. Their quest brings them closer than they’ve ever been -- and maybe, just maybe, her messed up wish is the key to granting her heart’s desire after all…‘Uplifting, romantic, magical and brimming with charm, I adored it’ Cathy Bramley