It’s a message Rumble knew from early on in the writing stage and was inspired by her younger sister. “I just thought, if I wanted to pass on one piece of advice to my sister it would be to never compromise herself or her happiness for the sake of others. And that’s what I hope readers take away from it,” she says.

However, her foray into romcoms may not have happened as she initially set out to write a “really dark and serious” novel. But when it came to sitting down and trying to write something, she just wasn’t feeling it. “Turning to the romance genre felt very natural to me because those are the books and TV shows that I turn to for comfort. I just love love.” She also explains she wanted to write a story that was reflective of her own experiences of going through the chaos of her 20s. “I love reading and watching stories about strong, independent young women just trying to figure it all out with their best friends by their sides, so I wanted to put that at the heart of Tia’s story.”

Born and raised in south-east London, the 26-year-old started her journalism career at the BBC aged 18 and went on to produce and cover stories ranging from the politics of Black hair to colourism in Hollywood. It’s a career that’s also reflected in her novel: Tia is a young journalist working at London City News (LCN) and her experiences at work form a huge part of The Situationship. “When I was in the thick of working as a journalist, yes, I’d be going on dates and trying to squeeze them in whenever I could. But it was work that was the bulk of my life, so I had to include that for Tia too because it’s the reality for so many of us,” Rumble explains.

“Never compromise your happiness for the sake of others”: author Taylor-Dior Rumble on her debut novel The Situationship