Wish You Were Her

*Winner of the 2025 Books Are My Bag Young Adult Readers Award!* Wish You Were Her is the riveting rivals-to-lovers YA romance from bestselling, award-winning Elle McNicoll. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry's Book Lovers. 'A beautiful, witty, cinematic romcom . . . A must read for summer' - Lizzie Huxley-Jones, author of the Vivi Conway series 'I LOVED this swoony enemies-to-lovers autistic love story' - Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of Dadaji's Paintbrush Dear Mysterious Reader, I think I'm falling in love . . . Everyone wants a piece of actress Allegra Brooks. When she decides she desperately needs to get away from the spotlight she heads for the remote town of Lake Pristine and its summertime book festival. When Allegra immediately clashes with annoying (and annoyingly handsome) bookseller Jonah Thorne, their rivalry soon becomes the talk of the small town. Before long, Allegra's main escape is the increasingly flirtatious email relationship she's sharing with an anonymous charming bookseller that she's sure can't possibly be Jonah . . . An unforgettable romcom about finding the one person who makes you feel yourself when the whole world is watching. Praise for Elle McNicoll's Some Like it Cold: 'A clever, poignant and healing love story' - Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen 'Achingly honest and heartfelt, this is McNicoll at her best. It is quite literally my favourite romance novel of all time.' - Lizzie Huxley-Jones, author of Make You Mine this Christmas 'McNicoll delivers a breathtaking story of love and joy that will keep the reader hooked until the very last page.'- Anika Hussain, author of This Is How You Fall In Love

Elle McNicoll is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize, as well as Blackwell's Book of 2020. She is a four time Carnegie nominated author, and was shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Awards 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Branford Boase Award 2020 and The Little Rebels Award 2020 and 2021. She was also honoured in the US with the Schneider Award, 2022. Her second novel, Show Us Who You Are, was Blackwell's Book of the Month and one of The Bookseller's Best Books of 2021. Her first fantasy middle grade, Like a Charm, was nominated for Best Children's Book for Older Readers in the first ever Week Junior Book Awards, and was highly praised in the New York Times. Her debut novel, A Kind of Spark, has also been adapted for television, is Emmy nominated and won Best Children's Programme at the Broadcast Awards and a Royal Television Society Award. She is twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the winner of the 2025 Books Are My Bag Young Adult Readers Award for Wish You Were Her. Her adult debut, Unapologetic Love Story, published in 2026.