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Meant to be in Manila

By Mica De Leon
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Brief Description
Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this romantic comedy about a Filipino history teacher and a Canadian-Filipino urban architect exploring Manila in search of lost love—and falling in love along the way. Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this RomCom set on a walking tour of... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4900

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this romantic comedy about a Filipino history teacher and a Canadian-Filipino urban architect exploring Manila in search of lost love—and falling in love along the way.

Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this RomCom set on a walking tour of Manila, Philippines.

Sophia Eunice "Piayaya" Hermosa, a former Philippine history teacher and a believer in meant-to-be, is on a plane back home to Manila after being ghosted by her Canadian boyfriend—whom she uprooted her life for—just as she arrived in Vancouver, Canada.

Raphael Alfonso "Rafal" Herbert, an urban housing architect and artist, is going home to his father's homeland, the Philippines, to chase after the girl who ghosted him and convince her of his love.

By some miracle of the romantic comedy gods, Sophia and Raphael meet on the plane bound for Manila and strike a bargain to help each other with their respective ghost-ers. Raphael will pretend to be her fiancé at her brother's wedding, and Sophia will drive him around the city to look for the girl he loves.

As they search for closure from their failed relationships and tour Manila along the way, it won't be long until they find out that they're exactly where they're meant to be—with each other.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9789815266122

Publisher: Penguin Random House SEA

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 May 2026

Country: Singapore

Imprint: Penguin Random House SEA

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 33.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 364g

Pages: 582

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Mica De Leon Penguin Books Romance

About the Author

Mica De Leon is a Filipino writer of swoony romance comedy novels and SFF novels. She has won the Don Carlos Palanca Awards For Literature in 2019 and 2022 for her essays on romance, feminism, history, fantasy, and the Filipino identity in the aftermath of Martial Law and the 2022 presidential elections in the Philippines. She likes walking on the beach, dogs, cats, swoony and spicy romance novels, lengthy epic SFF novels, and Taylor Swift. Connect with her on Instagram and Tiktok- @micadeleonwrite

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