Electric Monkey are delighted to announce that we have snapped up two more books from award-winning author Laura Steven, whose novel The Exact Opposite of Okay was a bestselling YA debut in 2018 and was awarded the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize (Published Author category) in 2019.
Liz Bankes, Commissioning Editor at Farshore, signed the deal with Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary Agency for World Rights.
Steven’s third YA book, The Love Hypothesis, is a rom-com with a (double helix) twist. She will put issues of free will, consent and bodily autonomy under the microscope, and her trademark no-holds-barred voice and one-liners are set to create a potent mix in this chemically comedic LGBTQ novel.
Physics genius Caro Kerber-Murphy knows she’s smart. With straight As and a college scholarship already in the bag, she’s meeting her two dads’ colossal expectations and then some. But there’s one test she’s never quite been able to ace: love. And when, in a particularly desperate moment, Caro discovers a (definitely questionable) scientific breakthrough that promises to make you irresistible to everyone around you, she wonders if this could be the key.
What happens next will change everything Caro thought she knew about chemistry – in the lab and in love. Is hot guy Haruki with her of his own free will? Are her feelings for her best friend some sort of side-effect? Will her dog, Sirius, ever stop humping her leg?
Perfect for fans of Sex Education and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Love Hypothesis will publish in March 2020, with a fourth YA novel to follow in 2021.
Commissioning Editor, Liz Bankes, said, ‘Laura Steven is a force in YA that even Caro Kerber-Murphy would have trouble quantifying.
As the very proud publishers of Laura’s fiercely funny and feminist Izzy O’Neill books, we cannot wait to introduce readers to this hilarious and heartfelt love story with a genius twist.’
Laura Steven said, ‘I’m so excited to be working with the team at Farshore again, on a book that’s so close to my heart. The last few years have been a wild ride for both me and Izzy, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Caro!’
More about the author
Laura Steven is an author, journalist and screenwriter from the northernmost town in England. She is basically Leslie Knope.
The Exact Opposite of Okay, her YA debut about slut-shaming and the Friend Zone, received the inaugural Comedy Women In Print Prize, and is out now in the UK and in five foreign languages.
Laura has worked for Mslexia, a non-profit organisation supporting women writers. She has an MA in Creative Writing, and her TV pilot Clickbait – a mockumentary about journalists at a viral news agency – reached the final eight in British Comedy’s 2016 Sitcom Mission.
Laura’s journalism has been featured in The i Paper, Buzzfeed, The Guardian and Living North. She won a Northern Writers Award in 2018.
