This Is Why I Need You: A Novel
$12.99-
Zinnia, Fay, Kiara, and Valentina have one rule since high school: the annual girls' trip is non-negotiable. No matter how much their lives change, they show up for each other.
But this year, the cracks in their friendship are threatening to break them apart.
What begins as a sun-soaked reunion quickly turns claustrophobic. Beneath the shared memories and inside jokes, something more dangerous is finally exposed: they may not actually know each other anymore.
For Zinnia and Fay, what’s been buried for years can’t stay hidden forever. For Kiara and Valentina, the pressure of holding everything together is starting to break them open in different directions. And as jealousy, secrets, and emotional fallout build, the group is forced into a question none of them want to answer:
When friendships survive on history alone… what happens when history isn’t enough?
Set against a high-tension girls’ trip that spirals out of control, This Is Why I Need You is a sharply observed, character-driven novel about long-term friendship, shifting identity, and the fragile line between love and resentment—where the people you know best might be the ones you’ve misunderstood all along.
PRAISE FOR THIS IS WHY I NEED YOU
“I can’t wait until This Is Why I Need You becomes the next great Canadian love story.” — Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares
“An intimate portrait of female friendship in all its messy, complex, beautiful glory, This Is Why I Need You is an unforgettable story full of humor and heart.” — Amy Jones, author of We’re All in This Together and Pebble & Dove
“The perfect blend of romance and women’s fiction, This Is Why I Need You is a heartwarming examination of friendship and forgiveness that’s filled with the kind of multilayered characters that feel like your own lifelong best friends, the kind who remind you that you’re worthy of being loved even when you’re at your messiest.” — Bianca Marais, USA TODAY bestselling author and cohost on The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
“An endearing, sparkling, sexy book that redefines what relationships we prioritize. It will make you want to pick up the phone and reach out to your friends.” — Mai Nguyen, author of Sunshine Nails
Available May 12, 2026. PRE-ORDER NOW!
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Alecsandra Kakon is an English Literature professor at Concordia University and Dawson College. She holds an MA in Hispanic Literature and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. Alongside her academic pursuits, she published My Profile Projects, an online series of personal essays that tell the collective memoir of 52 womxn. Alecs lives in Montreal with her three incredible children, Azalea, Ivy, and Brighton.
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Published: May 2026
ISBN: 9781770418578
Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 in.
Pages: 352
Reviews
“I can’t wait until This Is Why I Need You becomes the next great Canadian love story.” — Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares
“The perfect blend of romance and women’s fiction, This Is Why I Need You is a heartwarming examination of friendship and forgiveness that’s filled with the kind of multilayered characters that feel like your own lifelong best friends, the kind who remind you that you’re worthy of being loved even when you’re at your messiest.” — Bianca Marais, USA TODAY bestselling author and cohost on The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
“An intimate portrait of female friendship in all its messy, complex, beautiful glory, This Is Why I Need You is an unforgettable story full of humor and heart. Alecsandra Kakon writes with uncanny empathy and insight and has created characters who will feel like your best friends by the end of the book. This Is Why I Need You is a remarkable debut, and Kakon is a writer to watch.” — Amy Jones, author of We’re All in This Together and Pebble & Dove
“Alecsandra Kakon writes about female friendship with a sweet clarity that is bound to resonate with so many, including myself. I cried, I laughed, I reflected on my own relationships — all while rooting for the love tying these four flawed yet lovable characters together. An endearing, sparkling, sexy book that redefines what relationships we prioritize. It will make you want to pick up the phone and reach out to your friends.” — Mai Nguyen, author of Sunshine Nails