Spotlight and Giveaway: Valley Verified

Legally Blonde meets Silicon Valley in this new addictive novel . . .

We are excited to feature Kyla Zhao's latest novel, Valley Verified, today. It sounds intriguing and is perfect for anyone who loves stories about careers and office culture. Fans of Laura Hankin will enjoy it, as well. Thanks to Berkley, we have one copy to give away!

On paper, Zoe Zeng has made it in New York’s fashion world. After a string of unpaid internships, she’s now a fashion columnist at Chic, lives in a quaint apartment in Manhattan, and gets invited to exclusive industry events.

But life in New York City isn’t as chic as Zoe imagined. Her editor wants her to censor her opinions to please the big brands; she shares her “quaint” (read: small) apartment with three roommates who never let her store kimchi in the fridge; and how is she supposed to afford the designer clothes expected for those parties on her meager salary?

Then one day, Zoe receives a job offer at FitPick, an app startup based in Silicon Valley. The tech salary and office perks are sweet, but moving across the country and switching to a totally new industry? Not so much. However, with her current career at a dead end, Zoe accepts the offer and swaps high fashion for high tech, haute couture for HTML. But she soon realizes that in an industry claiming to change the world for the better, not everyone’s intentions are pure. With an eight-figure investment on the line, Zoe must find a way to revamp FitPick's image despite Silicon Valley’s elitism and her icy colleagues. Or the company’s future will go up in smoke—and hers with it.

"Sharp and incisive yet brimming with heart, Valley Verified establishes Kyla Zhao as one of our brightest chroniclers of Gen Z ambition, idealism, and passion. A riveting, satisfying read.”
—Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit

"Kyla Zhao's Valley Verified captures the experiences of a young woman navigating the hierarchies and prejudices of her Silicon Valley company while staying true to herself and carving out the place she deserves in the world. A page-turner that brims with humour, snappy dialogue, and sharp observations of an industry."

—Balli Kaur Jaswal, author of international bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

Credit: Kyla Zhao

Kyla Zhao had her first women's magazine byline at the age of sixteen, writing about weddings for Harper's Bazaar Singapore before she'd even had her first kiss. Since then, she has also written for the Singapore editions of Vogue and Tatler—experiences which helped shape the settings in this book. A native Singaporean, Kyla now works in Silicon Valley after graduating from Stanford University in 2021 with an MA in communications and BA in psychology. She's still trying to understand why Californians adore hiking and Patagonia fleeces so much. 

Visit Kyla online:
Website * Twitter * Instagram

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends January 23rd at midnight EST.

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