With Valentine’s Day coming up, romance is in the air and VIZ Media have caught the bug! They are releasing a new shojo manga called “CACTUS’S SECRET“.

What are the “prickly” details?:

Miku Yamada has a longtime crush on classmate Kyohei Fujioka. But no matter how many times she tries to show him how she feels, clueless Kyohei just doesn’t get it. Frustrated, Miku gives up on him, only to have him start calling her “Cactus” for being prickly when he’s around. In the opening volume, Miku decides to try telling Kyohei her feelings by giving him chocolates for Valentine’s Day. But Kyohei, unaware that he’s the object of her affection, offers himself up as a practice partner for her love confession. Can Miku get through to him that he’s the one she loves?

The manga is written by Nana Haruta whose first manga was written and published when she was just 15! Her first manga was published in a magazine called “Ribon Original” in the year 2000. Her other works include “Love Berrish!”, “Chocolate Cosmos”, and the more recent series named “Stardust ★ Wink” (which is being run in Ribon at the moment).

Elizabeth Kawasaki, Senior Editorial Director at VIZ Media:

“Shojo manga fans won’t want to miss the cute artwork and funny romantic hijinks of CACTUS’S SECRET,” says Elizabeth. “Creator Nana Haruta began her manga career with a debut in Ribon magazine when she was only 15, has written several popular manga series since then and we are very excited to introduce her work here in the US. Readers will smile from the very first page as the romance between Miku and Kyohei gets off to a thorny start!”

“CACTUS”S SECRET” will be available from March 2nd 2010 (I know – it’s a little late for Valentine’s Day!). You will find it under the Shojo Beat imprint, rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will cost $9.99US or $12.99CAN. If you like more info, you can visit the VIZ Shojo Beat site.

Don’t tell VIZ, but you can get it from our Rightstuf store too – for a smidgen cheaper!