Sphere signs 'significant' pre-empt for Moya Lothian-McLean's debut

Sphere has bought journalist Moya Lothian-McLean’s debut “sharp, sexy romantic comedy” in a “significant” pre-empt. Editorial director Cal Kenny acquired the world all-language deal to Matchmakers from Monica MacSwan at Aitken Alexander.

Matchmakers, due for a spring 2028 release, follows Mika Gordon: 31-one-year-old advice columnist, Virgo rising. She knows every dating trend and red flag but keeps her own heart off the page. Her counterpart, Max al-Masri – celebrity profiler, ex-model and the magazine’s golden boy – supplies the column’s male perspective; he is a man Mika knows to avoid. "Until she quits and launches a matchmaking agency – only to realise she doesn’t know any single, straight men. Max does. And as rivals turn collaborators, business and pleasure collide, with explosive results.”

Lothian-McLean is the New York Times’ contributing opinion writer for Britain and managing editor at Mill Media. She co-hosts with Ash Sarkar the weekly podcast If I Speak and has presented the narrative history podcast Human Resources.

She said: “I feel like I’ve spent my life studying romcoms; if there was a PhD in romcom-ology, I’d have graduated with honours. But I didn’t realise how desperately I wanted to add to the pantheon until Matchmakers poured out of me. There’s so much I want to say about modern love and dating, and I’ve put it into this book. Writing it was a dream fulfilled.”

Kenny said: “Acquiring books is like dating. It’s hard to find the right match and, in the absence of emotional connection, it becomes easy to question your taste, or wonder whether your standards are too high. Then, like a bolt of lightning, a novel like Matchmakers sweeps you off your feet. Moya understands in her bones what makes a satisfying romantic comedy and delivers on every level: an unforgettable voice, erotic tension, laugh-out-loud humour, loveable-but-flawed protagonists and a brilliant cast of supporting characters.”