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  • Published: 6 August 2024
  • ISBN: 9781761342080
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $34.99

Love Unleashed

A fresh friends-to-lovers romcom from a dazzling new Australian talent




'The romcom the Australian literary landscape has been waiting for.' Anita Heiss

When Bigambul woman Brynn Wallace leaves Brisbane to pursue her dreams in the Big Apple, she imagines herself landing a fabulous career at a New York City publishing house and acquiring shelves of Louboutin shoes, not working in a doggy daycare with a boss from hell and a wardrobe from her nightmares.

Yet good things are always possible in New York, especially when you believe in them hard enough. And Brynn has a collection of NYC Missions to set her on her way: challenges from her mother, whose death she is still getting over, to help Brynn rejoice in the city that never sleeps.

Brynn soon finds herself making meaningful friendships, engaging in flirty flings, and meeting the gorgeous Sienna, also known as dancer Scarlett Belle. And when she stumbles on a handsome, single dog-dad who just happens to be a literary editor, she decides that if she can convince him she’s more than just a dog-sitter, her dreams will finally come true. But Sienna has other plans, and as Brynn’s NY ride begins to stall, the city shows her just how full of surprises it is.

  • Published: 6 August 2024
  • ISBN: 9781761342080
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $34.99

About the author

Melanie Saward

Melanie Saward is a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman. She is a writer, editor, and university lecturer based in Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. Her debut novel Burn was published by Affirm Press in September 2023 and she’s also had work published in the literary journals Griffith Review, Meanjin, Overland, Kill Your Darlings, and has fiction published in the anthologies Flock: First Nations Stories Then and Now, and New Australian Fiction. In 2024, her first romantic comedy novel, Love Unleashed, will be published by Penguin Random House.

Praise for Love Unleashed

Love Unleashed is the rom com the Australian literary landscape has been waiting for. Thanks to Saward’s lens we journey with Bigambul woman Brynn Wallace in search of the New York magic her Ancestors laid down for her, while chasing her dreams of a career in publishing. We see First Nations women from here and abroad as passionate and caring, hard-working and at times hard-core, fun-loving and adventurous. Women who are living their best lives while enjoying the excitement of a new sexual encounter, but also the disappointments relationships can bring. Most importantly, through Brynn, we appreciate the significance of finding a sense of self-love and the relief in finding sexual freedom. Love Unleashed is about all kinds of love; love for the women who form our personal Sistahood, love for self, love for dogs, and love for the one that makes our heart race.

Anita Heiss

Melanie Saward has written a delightful romance brimming with relatable feels. Tender and funny, with a warm heart and a parade of adorable puppies, Love Unleashed will make you want to run away to New York and fall in love.

Amy Hutton, author of LOVE FROM SCRATCH

Heart and humour along with all of the hard gotten wisdom that comes from growing and spreading your wings.

Kylie Scott, NEW YORK TIMES bestseller

Love Unleashed is an explosion of joy. Like New York does to Brynn, this riotous romp of a book might break your heart for a moment here and there -- but it will put it back together ten times stronger.

Jodi McAlister

A bingeable, warm and soulful romantic comedy ... Saward skillfully crafts these moments with care, tenderness and a vulnerability that draws the reader in completely ... .Saward has created a unique and joyful romantic comedy for readers who enjoy Anita Heiss, Amy Hutton and Natalie Murray. Even when Saward delves into tropes, she does so with her own vibrant twist, making Love Unleashed an absolute treat to read.

Books and Publishing

Everything I’ve been longing for in a romcom by and about a First Nations woman: a charming voice, a warm welcome into a joyful group of friends, gorgeous love interests, dreams to chase, big laughs and a sprinkling of New York magic ... [which] sets this romcom is a cut above the average, because it’s attributed to the First Nations ancestors Brynn and her new roommate Corey check in with as they make their way on the Country of a city loaded with its own kind of Dreaming ... [A]s sexy and heart-swelling and escapist as the best of the genre ... Following in the (designer, high-heeled) footsteps of Anita Heiss, Love Unleashed is a story only Melanie Saward could have written, her heart and kindness shining through every sentence, but I hope it props the door open for many more joyous, romantic, funny stories centring First Nations characters and storytellers to follow.

Clare Fletcher, author of LOVE MATCH and FIVE BUSH WEDDINGS
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