Messy

Jane the Virgin meets Bridget Jones's Baby in an outrageously funny and entertaining novel about a woman ready to go to any lengths to have a baby, even if that means using the frozen embryos she made with her ex ... who has inconveniently gone missing.

These embryos were made in a grand gesture of panicked love. The love is gone. But the panic is real.

When Daisy is hit with early perimenopause, her plans to start a family suddenly come with a deadline. Since she's single and competing for her dream job as a TV weather presenter, the timing isn't ideal. It's a good thing she already has embryos on ice.

Their origins are ... complicated. She and her ex made them after Xavier's cancer diagnosis - before Xavier's miraculous recovery, when he'd dumped Daisy for his oncology nurse, Erik.

Giving Daisy his blessing to use the embryos is the least Xavier can do. Except Xavier says no. And then he goes missing.

The date for the embryo transfer is fast approaching. Xavier will turn up eventually, right? So Daisy goes ahead. She just can't tell her sister, or Xavier's grieving parents, and definitely not Xavier's brother, Max, her teenage crush, who turns up wanting to talk. If the procedure works, she'll figure the rest out later.

But Daisy isn't the only person telling white lies, and things are about to get more complicated than Daisy could have ever imagined.

A novel about the unforgiving nature of biological clocks, the impossible battle between career and motherhood, the messiness of adult relationships and how quickly a few little white lies can spiral out of control.

PRAISE:

'An absolute romp that proves life has a wicked sense of humour. Daisy is as funny as she is relatable. You'll laugh with her and feel every setback alongside her. She's impossible not to cheer for. Pack this novel with you for your next sunny escape. It's the perfect beach read: a zippy page-turner where the surprises just keep coming.' Holly Brunnbauer, author of What Did I Miss?

'Hilarious, heartfelt and gloriously unhinged, Annika Johansson's Messy is utterly irrestistible. I devoured it in a day.' Jane Tara, author of Tilda is Visible

© 2026 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9781038107992

Release date

Audiobook: 30 December 2026