Julia and Niko cross paths for the first time during a night of youthful revelry. She is an angsty spoken word poet, he is a failed soap actor. A cemetery romp and a broken pelvic bone later, it’s Niko and Julia forever. Together they are going to conquer the world and always challenge each other. They will never become like everyone else. No, for real. They mean it. Because how could they?
Fast forward fifteen years and two children later, and that is exactly what has happened. Their once passionate flame has been replaced by the mundane routine of everyday life with school drop-offs, sleep deprivation, a quick hand job and pre-fab meatballs for dinner. Julia craves the connection and intimacy they once shared, while Niko appears to be distancing himself from her – and hiding something.
During a couple’s dinner, their friends praise the benefits of being in an open relationship, and Julia is intrigued. That night she runs into Mahir, a sexy restauranteur on whom she had a crush during her teenage years. When he locks her gaze with his dark eyes, long-forgotten feelings of excitement and passion are stirred up.
Eager Julia and evasive Niko (what is he hiding?) decide to venture into the uncharted waters of an open relationship. Their understanding is that they can explore their desires but never fall in love with anyone else; their family unit comes first. And a little spice might be just what they need to save their own relationship. Have Niko and Julia cracked the code to a problem as old as time and created the ultimate love hack? Or will this end in disaster and heartbreak? When Julia starts to develop real feelings for Mahir and Niko crosses a forbidden line, things begin to spiral out of control.
In this often laugh-out loud and blushingly relatable romantic dramedy, debut writer Isabel Nylund delves into the intricacies of love, obsession, and monogamy with a razor sharp pen and an unbeatable sense of timing.
Laugh, cry, cover your eyes – Love Hack is the smart, contemporary love story you’ve been longing for.
Author
Reviews
“Nylund is good at spinning comedy around their contemporary self-involvement. How pleased they are with being different, how they know everything about disturbed attachment styles and can throw in an analysis of the world’s political climate to back out of a tight spot. They are the babbling class, and Isabel Nylund knows them inside out, knows everything about every word they say to avoid being present and standing up for who they are.”
Svenska Dagbladet (SE)
“A spot-on contemporary comedy about love, obsession, daddy issues and monogamy.”
Allas (SE)
“For what does this deeply entertaining, feel-good novel ultimately reveal? The inherent tyranny of Western romantic love, whether it is modern or not.”
Aftonbladet (SE)