Wants and Needs: A novel about coming of age in your thirties from the author of As Young As This - Softcover

Dunn, Roxy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241632781 ISBN 13: 9780241632789

Publisher: Penguin, 2026

Synopsis

FROM THE AUTHOR OF AS YOUNG AS THIS

'So wryly funny ... Roxy Dunn writes so smoothly about the limitations - and liberations - of adult love with such delicacy and honesty' CLAIRE DAVERLEY, author of Talking at Night

'A thoroughly amusing coming of age (in your thirties) novel written with wit, honesty and tenderness' CLAIRE POWELL, author of At the Table

Independence seems to be drifting away from Misty. Just months ago, she was living with her fiancé and planning their life together. Now she’s single, back in her childhood bedroom, on crutches from knee surgery, and relying on her mother to help her with the smallest of tasks. This isn’t how thirty-two was meant to look.

When Misty turns to dating apps, she's immediately intrigued by charismatic, handsome Christopher – so intrigued that she doesn't doesn’t even notice the acronym ‘ENM’ on his profile. By the time she discovers that it stands for ‘ethical non-monogamy' – and that he’s in a long-term open relationship – she already feels such undeniable, dizzying chemistry that she decides to give things a go.

And so Misty makes a pact with herself to date Christopher for the next six weeks while his partner is away. It’s all part of her plan: she wants to learn to become less attached, and to prepare herself for her next ‘real’ relationship. But is what she wants really what she needs?

'So enjoyable ... The writing is just so good and moreish. I loved it' Catherine Airey, author of Confessions

'Roxy Dunn is oh so good on love ... Wants and Needs is witty, warm and seriously sexy' Chloë Ashby, author of Wet Paint

About this title

About the Author

Roxy's debut novel, As Young as This (published by Fig Tree, Penguin) was sold at auction and was a Best Book of 2024 in The Independent, Harper’s Bazaar, Stylist, Cosmopolitan, and Sunday Times Style. She is also a screenwriter and alumna of the BBC Comedy Room. Her scripts have been optioned by several production companies and her pilot Useless Millennials was commissioned and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Wants and Needs is her second novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241632781
• ISBN 13: 9780241632789
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288