Title: The Pretend Couple
Subtitle: A Comedy of Errors
Series: Japanesque TS
Author: Yulia Yu. Sakurazawa
Welcome, dear readers, to a story that bends genders, breaks expectations, and dances on the line between the absurd and the profoundly real. My new novel, The Pretend Couple: A Comedy of Errors, isn’t your typical romantic comedy, though there are, undoubtedly, some laughs, some missteps, and a whole lot of complicated emotions to navigate along the way.
At its heart, The Pretend Couple is about Kaede, a young man whose life takes an unexpected and quite bizarre turn when he agrees to help his best friend, Gota, out of a jam. A simple deception, a fake engagement, quickly morphs into a journey of discovery where reality begins to blur, and the lines of gender start to feel far less fixed.
You’ll find a lot of humor in Kaede’s attempts to navigate the world of womanhood, from learning how to apply makeup (a true art form, as he finds), to wearing high heels (an experience that is as painful as it is amusing), and the awkwardness of finding himself in a “relationship” that feels so totally wrong, yet so very right.
But beyond the initial farce, this is also a story that is asking bigger questions. What does it mean to be yourself? What do you do when you’re thrown into a situation that makes you question everything you thought you knew? And what happens when love blooms in places that you never expected, in ways that defy expectations?
I was inspired to write this novel because I wanted to explore the fluidity of gender and identity in a way that was heartfelt and also, at times, hilariously absurd. To me, our experiences, especially our emotional and romantic experiences, are far too complex to be confined by simple labels or expectations. Life rarely goes as planned, and the most interesting journeys often take us down paths we could never have anticipated. This book has a number of those unexpected turns!
The Pretend Couple is a story about accepting ourselves, about navigating relationships in all their messy glory, and about finding connection in a world that is often confusing and unpredictable. You’ll encounter a number of colourful characters; a loving and somewhat overbearing mother-in-law, a best friend who is both crass and sensitive, a beautiful and powerful coworker that challenges everything Kaede thought he knew, and also many other kind and challenging characters along the way. This story is about them, and about the absurd adventure that they have together.
I hope that you find a touch of magic, a little bit of madness, and a whole lot of heart in this story. Dive in, embrace the unexpected, and let me know what you think.