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Meant to be in Manila

Mica De Leon
Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this RomCom set on a walking tour of Manila, Philippines.

Sophia Eunice “Piayaya” Hermosa, (now former) Philippine history teacher and a believer of meant-to-be, is on a plane back home to Manila after being ghosted by her Canadian boyfriend (whom she uprooted her life for) just as she arrived in Vancouver, Canada.

Raphael Alfonso “Rafal” Herbert, urban housing architect and artist, is going home to his father’s homeland, Philippines, to chase after the girl who ghosted him—and convince her of his love.

By some miracle of the romance comedy gods, Sophia and Raphael meet on the plane bound for Manila and strike a bargain to help each other with their respective ghost-ers. Raphael will pretend to be her fiancé at her brother’s wedding and Sophia will drive him around the city to look for the girl he loves.

As they search for closure from their failed relationships and tour Manila along the way, it won’t be long until they find out that they’re exactly where they’re meant to be: with each other.

Published: Aug/2025

ISBN: 9789815266122

Length: 352 Pages

Meant to be in Manila

Mica De Leon

Before Sunrise meets Love Hard in this RomCom set on a walking tour of Manila, Philippines.

Sophia Eunice “Piayaya” Hermosa, (now former) Philippine history teacher and a believer of meant-to-be, is on a plane back home to Manila after being ghosted by her Canadian boyfriend (whom she uprooted her life for) just as she arrived in Vancouver, Canada.

Raphael Alfonso “Rafal” Herbert, urban housing architect and artist, is going home to his father’s homeland, Philippines, to chase after the girl who ghosted him—and convince her of his love.

By some miracle of the romance comedy gods, Sophia and Raphael meet on the plane bound for Manila and strike a bargain to help each other with their respective ghost-ers. Raphael will pretend to be her fiancé at her brother’s wedding and Sophia will drive him around the city to look for the girl he loves.

As they search for closure from their failed relationships and tour Manila along the way, it won’t be long until they find out that they’re exactly where they’re meant to be: with each other.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Mica De Leon

Mica De Leon is a Filipino writer of swoony romance comedy novels and SFF novels. She has won the Don Carlos Palanca Awards For Literature in 2019 and 2022 for her essays on romance, feminism, history, fantasy, and the Filipino identity in the aftermath of Martial Law and the 2022 presidential elections in the Philippines. She likes walking on the beach, dogs, cats, swoony and spicy romance novels, lengthy epic SFF novels, and Taylor Swift.
Connect with her on Instagram and Tiktok: @micadeleonwrites

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