At 35, Mika Suzuki is struggling. She’s been fired from another dead-end job;she lives with her best friend, who just so happens to be a hoarder;her last romantic relationship, with a pot dealer named Leif, went up in flames;and she’s beginning to realize she may never live up to her traditionally Japanese mother’s impossible standards. But everything changes when Mika gets a phone call from sixteen-year-old Penelope Calvin—the baby girl she reluctantly gave up for adoption when Mika was just a teenager herself.  She shares her hopes and dreams, her silly little flaws, and most importantly, her Japanese heritage with Penny, who seems all-in. The harder-won heart belongs to Thomas Calvin, Penny’s adoptive father, a forty-something widower. Thomas seems determined to see the worst in Mika, which makes Mika determined to win his trust. What starts as a rocky, contentious relationship slowly blossoms into a friendship and, over time, something more. But can Mika really have it all—love, her daughter, the life she’s always dreamed of? Or will falling for Thomas destroy everything she’s built with Penny, and lead Mika back to where she started, waiting for her real life to begin?  Perfect for fans of Linda Holmes’s Evvie Drake Starts Over, Nancy Johnson’s The Kindest Lie, and Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date, Mika in Real Life is a delicious, feel-good read that tackles larger issues about cultural heritage, overcoming personal trauma, the model minority myth and the precious, complicated relationships between parents and their children.