So when her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences 'Operation Find A Date for Rachel's Wedding'. Armed with a totally flawless, incredibly specific plan, will Yinka find herself a huzband?

The book cover is gorgeous and apt, centering on British Nigerian Yinka and the close female friends and family that are her support network. Yinka's life is going haywire: the promotion she was expecting at work fails to materialize and she is given the pink slip instead, her close friend Rachel just announced her engagement putting immense pressure on her to produce a boyfriend to attend the ensuing festivities, her younger sister is pregnant, her mom and aunties keep setting her up with blind dates. Meet Yinka: a thirty-something Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman whose mother's constant refrain is "Yinka, where is your huzband?" For the romcom part, I don't think I was too invested in who Yinka ultimately chose - easygoing Alex, supportive Derek, needling Donovan, ex-boyfriend Femi. Yinka gamely trying to acquire skills in both Yoruba and Nigerian cooking to impress Alex rang true - as descendants of immigrants, some of the culture and heritage will be invariably lost/diluted. The side detail of Alex's deceased twin sister didn't really go anywhere despite some tantalizing clues, my guess had been that both Alex and his mother took to Yinka because of the resemblance with his sister. Also, I wish that the author had explained that in Yoruba culture, twins are traditionally named Taiwo (firstborn) and Kehinde (second-born), instead of just calling it Alex's 'Nigerian name.' The novel charts Yinka’s urgent search for a plus-one when her cousin Rachel announces she is getting married. The summer wedding date gives Yinka around six months to find herself a boyfriend. An academic overachiever who works for an investment bank in the City, she draws up a meticulous and very specific plan (complete with key performance indicators to monitor progress) and launches into “Operation Wedding Date”. But things do not go smoothly. Firstly she gets made redundant, then she runs into her handsome ex who—wouldn’t you know it—has just got engaged to someone else. Although she does meet someone at church who looks quite promising… A provocative debut novel about a marriage in crisis that asks the question: Can you ever be rooted in a home that's on the brink of collapse?

Yinka is single, and her mom and other family members and friends make sure to remind her as much as possible. So the majority of this is her trying to find a partner. If you’re like me, you’re probably rolling your eyes, and I probably turned you off, but I promise that is worth it because there are strong messages tied to the events that occur throughout the story. I really enjoyed this story — I liked learning a little more about Nigerian culture and appreciated the London references even more after my recent trip there. I was rooting for Yinka throughout the book. I didn’t agree with all of her decisions but I admired who she was as a character. Soon things get worse when another cousin announces her engagement and Yinka is made redundant (let go) at her bank job. If she thought her mum and Aunties were laser focused before, now they are hyper determined and trying to set up Yinka with any man they know. Trying to keep from being questioned and lectured by her mum as well as dealing with other family and a Ghanian roommate, all with opinions about her life, Yinka might have made a few omissions and white lies. But she’s got a plan to find a date before the cousin’s wedding in six months. That is if her life doesn’t fall apart before then. When her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences ‘Operation Find A Date for Rachel’s Wedding’. Armed with a totally flawless, incredibly specific plan, will Yinka find herself a huzband? What if the thing she really needs to find is herself?

A total joy to read – it's hilarious, insightful and so uplifting' Beth O'Leary, author of The Flatshare Sam-Duru, Prisca (January 31, 2022). "Nigeria: Books That'll Make a Good Read in 2022". Vanguard . Retrieved February 7, 2022– via AllAfrica. Yinka, Where is your Huzband? is a warm and witty novel about finding yourself and reclaiming your place in the world, and doing so on your own terms. It’s an incredibly fun and pacy story, equal parts winces and giggles, about one endearing young woman discovering her true self, finding her voice and not being afraid to use it. I loved meeting Yinka and am going to miss her. We had an absolute blast. So modern and fresh. Like Bridget Jones, Yinka is a lovable and relatable disaster—which is to say, she isn’t actually a disaster at all…I adore her.”When her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences Operation Find A Date for Rachel's Wedding. Will Yinka find herself a huzband? And what if the thing she really needs is to find herself? The best thing about Yinka, Where is Your Huzband is the amalgam of interesting and fully fleshed out characters that really bring the story to life. Each with its own eccentric personally, adding deph and humour to the story. Yinka is a lovable and relatable disaster—which is to say, she isn’t actually a disaster at all…I adore her.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers

Spreadsheets, meddling aunties, and makeovers… Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? is a delightful journey of aBritish Nigerian woman longing to find love, and to love herself.Reader, you’ll root for Yinka the whole way.” This was not what I was expecting. It wasn't the "sweep you off your feet" romance I wanted to read, but it was definitely refreshing, funny, full of warm moments, modern, and overall a great story of family, friendship, and ultimately love. A story about friendship, family, romance, and the most important quest of all - loving and accepting yourself' Lauren Ho, Last Tang Standing wonderful stars for Yinka, Nana, Donovan, and this whole cast of characters! (Thank you Doubleday Canada for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review). Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? is a beautiful, big hearted story about friendship, family, and love. Yinka’s charming voice draws you in and her journey toward self-acceptance will make you stay. A fun and relatable read.”Yinka is too old to be learning that it’s not okay to lie to your friends and family and it’s wrong to “borrow” your roommate’s clothes. She also felt entitled to her love interest’s affection and behaved deplorably when he didn’t return her feelings. What can I do?’ she asked. You can fight, I thought , you can fight for your daughters. But then again, who was I to speak of such things

LDB: I am a Christian, and I know my personal relationship with God is very intimate and personal. I kind of felt like society doesn’t always get to see that. I feel like Christianity is portrayed like old-fashion, or Christians are portrayed as judgemental, and I wanted Yinka to show a different side to Christianity where it is more so about her relationship with God. I didn’t want her to be perfect because we all screw up, but I wanted to show the intimacy of her relationship with Christ. I loved that she didn’t shove it in people’s faces. She only talked about her experience. But it was a great experience and personal as well. TS: How did writing this story change you? Beautifully observed, warm and deeply human, Yinka is a meditation on family and friendship, on love and self-love. Feel-good, funny and clever, it's got smash-hit written all over it!’ Josie Silver And that’s when the real work began, because no longer could I faff about wasting precious time editing a sentence. Nelle had signed me on without seeing a full manuscript. I had to finish it. Nelle was amazing; a former author herself, she had a good editorial eye. She really believed in Yinka’s story, and her passion encouraged me to keep going. However, it wasn’t easy. The changes that she was asking me to make meant I had to essentially rewrite the story. My God, it was a painful process. Writing can be emotionally draining, especially when you take a week of annual leave to write and that’s when your creative juices decide to go on holiday too.

Long story short, something must’ve gone right, next thing I knew, Nelle, her agent, called me to say that Lizzie had decided to accept my offer. I ran up and down the stairs hollering and scaring the cat, and then started to plan how I was going to get this extraordinary book into as many reader’s hands as possible.