James Bailey

Penny wise or pound foolish? A heartbroken young Brit decides to turn his love life over to the flip of a coin—in this delightfully British rom-com in the vein of Jenny Colgan, Rosie Curtis, Nick Hornby, and David Nicholls. To coin a phrase, Josh is suffering a quarter-life crisis. He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, lost his job, and moved back home with his parents (shudder). Welcome to rock bottom in Bristol. As Josh starts questioning all his life choices, he has a mad Maybe he would just be better flipping a coin. After all, careful planning has landed him homeless, jobless, and single. What starts as a joke soon becomes serious and Josh decides to start putting his faith in the capriciousness of currency. He doesn’t have anything to lose. But when the chance of a lifetime and the girl of his dreams are on the line, will the coin guide him to a rich love life or leave him flat broke?

Ten years ago, C.J. Neubauer fled his family, trading coasts to provide himself three time zones of buffer space. Random email and social media posts yield all the contact he needs. Until a late-night phone call from his wistful father. Unaccustomed to hearing his dad say "I love you," C.J. freezes, vowing instead to reciprocate the next time they speak. But when the phone wakes him the following morning, it's his older brother informing him their father has committed suicide. Sporting a nagging conscience and a chip on his shoulder, C.J. books a flight home on his girlfriend's credit card. All he wants is to bury his father and try to make sense of what led him to take his own life. All he has to go on is a note that reads, "Sorry I wasn't what you needed." Was it intended for C.J. and his siblings? The mother who walked out on them twenty-five years ago? Or someone else altogether? Alternately heartfelt and laugh-out-loud funny, Sorry I Wasn't What You Needed explores the familial bonds that obligate us for life--and beyond.