In a few weeks’ time (or less, oh my god) my latest novel Mine will hit South African shelves.

So far, I’ve been describing the book as a love story. And it is.

Fin and Kayla, two kids from different sides of Cape Town, meet and fall in love. They’re both into music – she’s a huge comic book geek, he’s on the road to success –  heart emojis pop around their heads when they’re together.

But it’s also so much more than that.

It’s a no-holds-barred look at teen sexuality and the reasons we sometimes say ‘yes’ when we mean ‘no’ and the heart-breaking reasons girls find themselves in those situations to begin with.

It’s about rough home-lives and the bad decisions we make to escape our realities.

It’s about how music defines us.

And yes, it’s about love.

Love is a minefield. A minefield full of flowers and butterflies but also hidden hazards THAT COULD EXPLODE AT ANY SECOND.

We make up, we break up, we hate each other, but we also sometimes feel like we can’t live without each other. Love makes us do stupid things, but it also makes us feel like we can do anything.

This book explores the whole rollercoaster of emotions that comes with love, from the high, weightless moments all the way down to the plunging, stomach-turning lows.

You’ll meet the good guys afraid of getting hurt, the players who’ll say anything just to get what they want, the slut-shaming bullies and the misunderstood loners just looking for someone to love.

So be prepared to have your heart taken for a wild ride. There’ll be plenty of music and comic book references as well as beautiful Cape Town settings to look at along the way.

Just for you, here’s some quotes from the book designed by my amazing friend Emma. You can find her on Instagram at @_blah_di_blah_

I’ll be posting more of these gorgeous book quotes on my Twitter page.

Mine releases locally in February and will be available from all major bookshops.

Buy it from Raru. 

Add it to your bookshelf on Goodreads.