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Yearning Difficulties

By Elle McNicoll
Series: Lake Pristine Quartet
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Brief Description
It's autumn in Lake Pristine! Discover the brand new standalone romance from Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of Wish You Were Her. Zella has just landed her dream student job as the co-host of a show on Radio Panache, Lake Pristine High School — if only she... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2500
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Releases 2nd February 2027 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Yearning Difficulties" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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It's autumn in Lake Pristine! Get ready to fall in love with this fake-dating romance from Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of Wish You Were Her.

Get ready for a swoony friends-to-lovers, #FakeDating romance with autumnal Gilmore Girls vibes, from bestselling author Elle McNicoll!

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

It's autumn in Lake Pristine! Discover the brand new standalone romance from Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of Wish You Were Her.

Zella has just landed her dream student job as the co-host of a show on Radio Panache, Lake Pristine High School — if only she didn't have to share the gig with her chauvinistic ex-boyfriend.

Her classmate Killian seems shy, but has no qualms calling out Zella's ex live on air — making Zella immediately warm to him. The thing is: Killian's been secretly in love with her for years, and now, as friendship blossoms between them, he's terrified to make a move and ruin it.

When Killian learns Zella is hoping to be chosen for his mother's writing seminar next semester, he comes up with a plan: he'll be her fake-boyfriend for the autumn, allowing her complete access to his family under the guise of being his girlfriend — and it's doubly appealing for Zella, who gets revenge on her ex by 'dating' the person who humiliated him.

But as Killian, desperate to keep his feelings a secret, begins to trip up on his own lies and their friendship starts to fracture, Zella will have to open her heart to the possibility that what she's looking for has been there the whole time.

Series: Lake Pristine Quartet

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  • Yearning Difficulties
    Pre-order
    Yearning Difficulties
    It's autumn in Lake Pristine! Discover the brand new standalone romance from Elle McNicoll, award-winning author of Wish You Were Her. Zella has just landed her dream student job as the co-host of a show on Radio Panache, Lake Pristine High School — if only she didn't have to share the gig with her chauvinistic ex-boyfriend. Her classmate Killian seems...
    By Elle McNicoll
    Paperback
    $2500
    Pre-order
    Out 2 Feb 2027

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781037402180

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 October 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Macmillan

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 224g

Pages: 320

Collections

Children's Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Elle McNicoll Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date Series: Lake Pristine Quartet Young Adult Young Adult Romance

About the Author

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.

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