Author: Kitching, Jess

Adult & contemporary romance

Published on 25 September 2025 by Simon & Schuster Australia in Australia.

Paperback | 352 pages
234 x 153 | 0g

A poignant, life-affirming love story about two people whose lives are turned upside down when they enter an experiment that predicts when they will die. For fans of Beth O’Leary, David Nicholls and Matt Haig.

  When OPM Discoveries puts out an ad seeking participants for The Life Experiment, a study that claims it can predict when people will die, two strangers searching for meaning apply.

  Layla, a corporate lawyer, has foregone all relationships for her career, stuck in an endless cycle of late nights, impossible deadlines and the London rat race. Growing up on the poverty line, Layla has fought tirelessly to better her circumstances. But with work grinding her down, she wonders if happiness can be found behind a desk after all.

  Angus, son of the esteemed Fairview-Whitley family, is struggling with his family’s expectations after the death of his brother and a failed investment. Unsure of what to do with his life, Angus is frozen in a cycle of long hours and lazy days, watching time pass him by.

  Unaware that they are participating in the same experiment, Layla and Angus meet by chance in a café the same day they get their shocking results. Their attraction is instant, but can they open their hearts to more when their time might be brief?