Love Unleashed is the first romantic comedy novel by Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman Melanie Saward, and it’s as adorable as the pretty pink cover would have you believe. It’s got all the feel-good, swoony and fun feels of an early-2000s rom com, with beloved romance tropes like found family and friends-to-lovers.
The book follows Brynn Wallace who jets off to New York to pursue her dream of working at a big literary journal. She’s armed with a list of “NYC Missions” left to her by her late mother, who spent time in New York as a girl. Brynn believes that good things are always possible in the city that never sleeps, but when she gets there her dreams don’t quite pan out as she imagined …
About the rom com Love Unleashed
Love Unleashed has everything you want in a rom com – a relatable heroine, a brilliant cast of characters, larger-than-life situations, dialogue that makes you laugh and enough heartbreak to have you flipping pages to get to the happy ending. Plus, cute dogs and a little New York City magic. The journey that Brynn goes on is one we can all relate to, about discovering our worth and being our own champion.
While there are certainly a few suitors vying for Brynn’s attention, like a lot of romance novels this story is about more than the heroine’s romantic relationships. Love Unleased is also about friendships and family, the joy of finding comfort in your own skin, and the importance of many different kinds of love, including self-love.
Melanie put it best herself in an Instagram post:
“My book is about family: blood and culture as well as chosen family; about connection to Country when you’re far away from it. It’s about queer and fat joy. It’s full of Baby-Sitters’ Club references, fashion on a budget, burlesque dancers, Reneé Rapp, Manhattan, and of course, dogs.”
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Love Unleashed by Melanie Saward
A friends-to-lovers rom com
When Bigambul woman Brynn Wallace leaves Brisbane to pursue her dreams in the Big Apple, she imagines herself landing a fabulous career at a New York City publishing house and acquiring shelves of Louboutin shoes, not working in a doggy daycare with a boss from hell and a wardrobe from her nightmares.
Yet good things are always possible in New York, especially when you believe in them hard enough. And Brynn has a collection of NYC Missions to set her on her way: challenges from her mother, whose death she is still getting over, to help Brynn rejoice in the city that never sleeps.
Brynn soon finds herself making meaningful friendships, engaging in flirty flings, and meeting the gorgeous Sienna, also known as dancer Scarlett Belle. And when she stumbles on a handsome, single dog-dad who just happens to be a literary editor, she decides that if she can convince him she’s more than just a dog-sitter, her dreams will finally come true. But Sienna has other plans, and as Brynn’s NY ride begins to stall, the city shows her just how full of surprises it is.
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