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WHILE YOU WERE DREAMING
by Alisha Rai

WHILE YOU WERE DREAMING by Alisha Rai

This debut contemporary YA romance is a must read for fans of Sandhya Menon, Emiko Jean, Jennifer Dugan, Emery Lord and Nicola Yoon

Rights: World English: HarperCollins Children’s 21 March 2023

It’s a classic story: girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, boy finally notices girl when he sees her in a homemade costume. At least, that’s what Sonia Patil is hoping for when she plans to meet her crush at the local comic-con in cosplay.

But instead of winning her crush over, Sonia rescues him after he faints into a canal and, suddenly, everything changes. Since she was in disguise, no one knows who the masked do-gooder was . . .but everyone is trying to find out.

Sonia can’t let that happen—her sister is undocumented, and the girls have been flying under the radar since their mother was deported back to Mumbai.

Sonia finds herself hiding from social media detectives and trying to connect with her crush and his family. But juggling crushes and a secret identity might just take superpowers.

Can Sonia hide in plain sight forever?

Praise for WHILE YOU WERE DREAMING:

“Sonia’s troubles and triumphs are richly drawn; through her struggles, Rai intimately explores personal questions around body image, mental health, and toxic internet culture while interweaving thought-provoking interrogations of U.S. immigration and healthcare policies.” Publishers Weekly

“A well-balanced story poised between serious reality and romantic ideals.” Kirkus Reviews

Alisha Rai writes award-winning, emotionally complex contemporary romance novels and is frequently sought as a speaker on a range of topics covering romance and media. Her books have been named Best Books of the Year by NPR, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, Kirkus, Bustle and Cosmopolitan Magazine, and her novels have won the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for erotic and contemporary romance. Her first YA novel, WHILE YOU WERE DREAMING, will be published by HarperCollins in early 2023, and she is currently the co-host of the popular podcast, Lovestruck Daily. Alisha lives in Los Angeles.

www.alisharai.com