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Maddalena Cavaciuti

I am building a list of commercial fiction and am particularly looking for romance, romcoms and women’s fiction, young adult, new adult and adult fantasy (preferably with a strong central romance) and crime, thrillers and mysteries (no romance required). In all genres I am looking for escapism – I want to be drawn in by hooky pitches and compelling characters then swept away by page-turning drama, relationships and adventure.

In women’s fiction I gravitate towards the books which come dressed in brightly coloured paperbacks – think Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary or Ali Hazelwood. I’m after a sweeping love story with an epic twist, be that a twist of magic or a twist in the plot (or both, like Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years) or with an original, compelling concept at its heart like The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. In romcoms, I love a good trope – give me enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating or a love triangle any day of the week – and want to find projects which take these tropes in new and exciting directions.

When it comes to fantasy, I want fun hooks, swooning romance, high stakes and strong female characters facing impossible decisions. Recent favourites include Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J Tuli and Carissa Broadbent’s The Serpent and the Wings of Night. 

In crime fiction, my favourite writers include Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell and Lucy Foley. I am looking for fast-paced standalone thrillers, original and gripping whodunnits, locked room mysteries and dark-edged psychological suspense. I love working through the mechanics of a good murder plot and want novels which do this from ambitious and creative new angles, like Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place Wrong Time or Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X.

I studied English Literature at the University of Bristol and joined David Higham Associated in 2017 after a spell working in marketing and events. As well as building my own list, I work with our Managing Director Lizzy Kremer and help to run DHA’s Open Days for Under-Represented Writers.

On the lookout for

I enjoyed A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley recently and would love to see more submissions like that in my inbox. I’ve also specifically got my eyes peeled for a sports romcom, ideally ft. hyper-competitive characters in a messy rivalry like in Elena Armas’s The Long Game.

On the lookout for

I enjoyed A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley recently and would love to see more submissions like that in my inbox. I’ve also specifically got my eyes peeled for a sports romcom, ideally ft. hyper-competitive characters in a messy rivalry like in Elena Armas’s The Long Game.

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