Two teens discover that love defies the boundaries of anyspoken language in this debut romantic dramedy about finding love andreconnecting with your culture in the most surprising ways.

A WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD FINALIST

Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. Asmuch as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand moreabout her culture and find her biological mother.

So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summerspa coworker, Toby, says hell teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs toteach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out hiscrush. The only problem is that Catie doesnt actually haveanydatingexperience. But she can fake it.

With her late fathers copy ofThe Five Love Languagesand allhis annotated notes, Catie becomes the perfect dating coach. Or so she thinks.As she gets dangerously close to Tobyandto finding out whatreally happened to her biological mom, she realizes that learning the languageof love might be tougher than she thought.

Stefany Valentines debut novel is both a fresh, fun romance as well as aprofound, luminous story about grief, family, transracial adoption, and what itmeans to truly follow your heart.

About the Author

Stefany Valentineis an emerging young adultauthor. Her first publication is featured in the adoptee anthology,WhenWe Became Ours, and her sophomore title,Love Makes Mochi, isexpected to release with Joy Revolution in 2026. Follow her for updates onTikTok and Instagram @BooksByStefany and on her website,stefanyvalentine.wordpress.com.