When Life Gives You Lemons

Sun Tower #1

by Noor Sasha

Alina Azlan has two missions in start her daycare centre and have a happily ever after. But when an unexpected seizure sends her first-ever boyfriend running for the hills, Alina wonders if her epilepsy has destined her for a lifetime of spinsterhood. As a hopeless romantic, though, she agrees to a blind date set up by her baba, only to exchange unpleasantries with an arrogant yet devilishly handsome hotelier who is anything but Flynn Rider-esque.

Azeer Khan has two goals for the provide his adopted daughter, Zoha, with a comfortable life and maintain his freedom despite familial pressures. However, fate intervenes in the form of a blind date with none other than Alina Azlan, his childhood tormentor. And things only get worse when Alina tampers with his little sister's wedding cake, and the two end up covered in a Pakistani buffet.

Their punishment? An arranged marriage that, miraculously, offers mutual benefits. Alina can pursue her dream of opening her daycare in the prestigious Sun Tower hotel while sharing a bed with someone who sets alarms for her medication. Meanwhile, Azeer can give Zoha the mother she’s been wishing for— not that it would hurt to wake up to Alina’s dimples every morning, either.

With unwanted butterflies fluttering around them, Alina and Azeer are left wondering if their sour beginning could eventually lead to a sweet ending or if it will leave them with a case of lemony heartburn.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Marriage Of Convenience, Contemporary, Adult, Fiction

451 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2023

About the author

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* I’m Noor Sasha, a twenty-something-year-old, and I write arranged marriages, forced proximity, desperate pining, second chance romances, nemesis to lovers, and heated sports romance ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Instagram: @authornoorsasha
Twitter: @authornoorsasha
TikTok: @authornoorsasha
Goodreads: Noor Sasha

Reviews

[Iqra]

Single dad? Arranged marriage? Millionaire romance?? PAKISTANI REP??!!!!

take my money 💳 💥💳💥 JUST TAKE IT-

[Khadidja · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is exactly what i'd have written if i had unrestricted access to wattpad as a twelve years old.

I didn't know much about it except for the pretty cover and the fact that the love interest is a single father + arranged marriage and that is exactly my cup of tea in romance books. However the excution of said tropes was...bad. I didn't like their first meeting, it felt like she was meeting that one rude extra that no one cares about which will ultimately lead her to meet her real love interest but unfortunately for me he was the love interest. The banter or whatever they had going on was not in the least romantic, it felt more like sibling rivalry than romantic interest. The event that led to them getting married was absolutely ridiculous i thought i was being pranked but no that was the actual plot of the book Like are you seriously telling me that a 32 years old grown man and a grown 26 years old woman had a cake fight in the middle of the said grown man's sister's wedding which resulted in it being absolutely ruined and the bride rushed to the ER and their parent's fitting punishement for them was.....to get married? yea im sure that will teach them how to behave their age the characters acted like teenagers and not grown adult, there was waaaaaaay too many pop references you could feel that the author just wanted to let you know she knows these things (mainly kpop and anime and as a fan of both medias...im sorry to say but it was cringe to read about) and the writing style was sloppy at best i really thought it was written by AI in some scenes.

Also the romance chemistry was ???? like azeer did NOT like alina AT ALL and this was not some case of 'enemies to lovers' or 'idiots to lovers' going on no, i fear he found her annoying and hated her at least that's what i got from reading his POVs and i honestly wished better for Alina.

i'd speak on the muslim "representation" this book had but i decided to be a good person because i know everyone's experience with religion doensn't have to align with mine but still.. i think it would have been better to just not mention that those characters were muslims.

all in all i was really excited to read this book and i am so disappointed in myself and the book itself for not liking it.

~~~~~~

Well...it wasn't as good as i expected it to be

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ this was so wholesome & fun!!!

i loved the tropes!! single dad + arranged marriage + enemies to lovers??? goodbye. immediately invested.

THE CHARACTERS WERE EVERYTHING. i loved the references, the culture, the representation.

it was a bit too long for me considering there wasn’t THAT much storyline. and i did get bored throughout some parts. but a fun & fluffy read overall <333

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF: 41%

The male main character Azeer is straight up icky, arrogant and is actually scary, and not grumpy. He straight up gives physical threats under the name of "banter" and says the worst things about Alina including commentary on her social class which is horrible and the way he describes her physically straight up disgusting. There are multiple scenes where he basically is like "do what I say or bear the consequences", either verbally or non verbally. I love Alina's character but the fact that someone like her is not only forced to marry someone like Azeer but also that she finds his toxic behaviour attractive is probably the worst part of this book.

He's giving me weird mixture of Christian Grey and Kabir Singh and I don't particularly want to experience that any more.

Also adding to the above review (29/07)

The whole food fight during the wedding is such BS. These are grown ass adults, having a food fight in the middle of the wedding, with a cake the bride is SEVERELY ALLERGIC to...and in front of everyone? Idk what the aim was here but it just was the starting point of me losing interest in the book. I am not Pakistani, but I am pretty sure nobody is gonna do THAT during a wedding, especially a desi one, in front of all adults.

I also wanted to scream because of the overuse of certain words and the weird intonation of others. For example, meri jaan and baccha were used so many times, they lost meaning. And the child saying "oh-em-gee" like made me cringe so hard.

Also the overuse of Desi pop culture references (who tf describes their father's phone by the entire brand name?) to really drive it home that "THIS BOOK HAS BROWN PEOPLE. THEY ARE DESI" but their actions and the story itself doesn't really depict that they are Desi ...and that's causing a huge whiplash. Like just because they dance to bole chudiyan and eat biryani and kulfi and wear lehengas and say urdu words doesn't make them Desi. I would be fine with neutral Desi rep but if you claim you are going to do authentic rep, then you can't be so surface level wishy washy with it.

Also please if this was supposed to be about a single dad rep...he's not really being much of a father other than being a grown ass man bullying some 6 year olds and paying a nanny to take care of his daughter. Alina did more for the child than he did.

I was so looking forward to this book because I love Desi romcoms so much and have had such good experience overall before this but this was preposterous honestly.

[Mehvish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was eagerly waiting for this book to come out as soon as my friend sent me the synopsis of it.
It would've been better if I had never read the book and just left it on my TBR.

This would've been such a good book if the characters had some spark (not only talking about hormones, kind of spark lol) , or had some depth to them. They were flat and running on infatuation and lust. There was nothing to like about the main characters nor the side characters except for the 6 year old daughter, Zoha. She was at least making some sense.

As per the authors Q & A on Instagram, one of her goals of the story was to represent the Pakistani culture: she did a horrible job with representation.
If you consider having desi names, phrases in Urdu, having an evil aunt or saying Ya Allah as representation, sorry to say you haven't read any good books. I have read a lot of books with desi representation while having smut, romance, and a plot in them, and those were WAYYY better than this. Representation isn't just phrases it's about the food , the culture, and the atmosphere surrounding the culture, especially during weddings or other festivities. When Life Gives You Lemons had a food fight in a wedding - I mean wth was that 😳.


Coming to the story- what attracted me most about the book was the single dad plot line. It would've been great to see more of his struggles of being a single dad without being married. The author tried to represent an epileptic character but failed to make her more intriguing. There was unnecessary swearing in the book , and don't get me started on the smut. Felt like some 10 year old has written it - who in their right mind says their full name while being pleasured. Also, the overdose of the phrase 'Meri Jaan' , my eyes hurt after reading it so many times. The whole book could've been shorter , after the 15th chapter, I was getting bored and wishing it would end. I skim read the book cause I wanted to know how it ended as I invested so much time in it.

Going off on a tangent - even though the author had mentioned there was not going to be any Muslim representation, I feel I have to address this point: just because you got them married and made things 'halal' doesn't give you the green light to put explicit scenes.

This book starts off with a bang and then deceives you. Will not recommend this to anyone. Idk how some have given it a 5 star rating...

P.s. the next book is about their cousins 🤢 and just reading how they were in this book - don't think I'd be reading the next.

[Bookish Thais&#x1f48c;]

I genuinely CAN’T WAIT to get my hands on this book

[✨Dashik✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨It was nice, cosy and fun✨

[Alina (alinaisreading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to the lovely author for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for a review.

Rating: 3.5

I was really excited for this book seeing it had Pakistani rep (it’s me hi) and it was a billionaire romance. Plus add in the fact that the guy was a single dad and it was an arranged marriage trope? Sign me up.

Both the main characters were fun to read. I loved seeing how whipped azeer was for his wife and of course how good of a father he was. Alina was a lovely main character to read and I especially loved how her struggles with the ups and downs of epilepsy were shown in such a realistic and raw manner. It truly brought tears to my eyes. The commentary on race and class was also great to read.

While it was great, some of the quips Azeer threw at Alina were borderline sexist (isn’t a woman’s natural place the kitchen) and quips at things brown girls are generally insecure about (bushy eyebrows, wavy/unkempt hair) which kind of upset me. His character was so lovely and I think it was unnecessary for him to be rude in the name of being a grump.

I sadly have to say that the Muslim representation in this book was bad rep. in real life, drinking, sleeping around, drugs are all everyone’s personal business and I’m a huge advocate for everyone making their own choices. But if you’re writing a book and you constantly state that these characters are Muslim but also state that they’re non practicing the I just think it’s a waste of space and a trait/ part of representation overlooked and added for diversity points. I understand that Muslim experiences differ widely (hell I know mine does from so many people) but it felt unnecessary for that to be there.

Thank you again to the author for their generosity!

[Ash Juillet]

I am dying to get my hands on this book! Pakistani rep? I haven't read any of those yet, so this is going to be an interesting experience.

[nandini · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

THE DESI-NESS OF THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY <33

[Rehab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never cringed so much while reading a book.

[Raania Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book earlier in the morning but genuinely needed some time to process everything that happened in it hence why this is being written a while after I marked it as read.

When life gives you lemons follows the life of Alina Azlan along with Azeer Khan, both of which have very different goals in life. Alina wants to find a husband good enough to rival the ones in her rom-coms and along with that, needs him to accept her epilepsy and love her for who she is. Azeer on the other hand, wants to find an ‘ammi ji’ for his ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE DAUGHTER, Zoha (whom he adopted 6.5 yrs before the book is set). He has no intention to form an actual bond with someone and to a certain extent, believes that he can take care of Zoha just fine on his own.

Alina and Azeer are set up on a blind-date by their fathers (ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SCENES) which is where we see the first interaction between the two. Following their date at Espresso Express, they meet at the wedding of Azeer’s younger sister, Iman where chaos ensues (IM TRYING TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SPOILERS IN THIS SO HARD). Long story short, Iman and her husband Ali end up in the ER while Alina and Azeer kneel before their parents (+ Maya Phupo) asking for their forgiveness. As punishment, both families agree to arranging their marriage and they have their Nikkah the next day.

Certain desi stereotypes were definitely noticeable throughout the book, whether it was Maya phupo’s consistently annoying presence throughout the book or the basic political discussions that were talked about.

Something I definitely noticed was the essence of (a majority of) Pakistani couples. I don’t know if this was an intentional move but with a lot of Pakistani arranged marriages (ARRANGED DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN FORCED BY THE WAY), there’s usually a noticeable tension in the air between the bride and groom. Their bickering and constant taunts is definitely something that is stereotypically Pakistani but I enjoyed the more modern twist that Noor was able to put on it.

I genuinely can’t believe that this was Noor’s first book, it was amazingly written and I loved the overall atmosphere it created. Characters like Zoha and Maya Phupo definitely stood out to me for numerous reasons. Zoha, for one is such a headstrong, adorable little ‘bacha’ (child in English) and I’m extremely glad that everyday problems that girls in her shoes would face were portrayed (regardless of her coming from such a wealthy background) whether it was being taunted by her family because of being adopted (due to it not being too common in everyday Pakistani culture) or whether it was just bullying because of her skin colour. I could definitely tell she was Azeer’s child through her personality, she was a copy of him until Alina came into the picture. Maya Phupo was another character I enjoyed reading about despite her ‘dayan’ (evil/witch-like in English) nature. She genuinely represented a majority of Pakistani phupos and I loved that.

I’m extremely excited to see how Noor grows as an author because ‘When Life Gives You Lemons’ was honestly such an engaging, enjoyable and inspiring story and I loved every page.

[Margherita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

This book was so good and addictive, it had me sneaking my phone out during holidays with my family just so that I could read more about this beautiful little family. I just finished reading it and I seriously can't even form coherent thoughts yet. I might re-read it soon because I'm seriously addicted.

And I'm so excited about the next stories in this series!!

As a side note, I would like to mention something about the spicy moments. I honestly have never read a book before where both MCs talk dirty and praise each other. It is always one-sided (and always done by the man). BUT THIS BOOK has that and I seriously loved every single moment of it, I even read those scenes multiple times (and I usually skim spicy scenes). I really wish more writers wrote dynamics like that.

Azeer is so down bad for Alina, I'm obsessed.

Content warnings: ableism, racism, toxic family members, toxic ex, bullying, child death (past).

Representation: Pakistani female mc with epilepsy, Pakistani single dad li, Black (adopted) daughter.

[Bethany]

dnf @ 7%

I really wanted to like this one, because the description sounded right up my alley, but hoo boy this wasn’t for me. Super info-dumpy, the male mc was barely on page but already sexist, and the reasons for them getting together that were starting to develop just weren’t believable. And honestly, it just really wasn’t good.

[gavie (busy with nursing school) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a fun and cute read that it had me screaming,crying,giggling and kicking my feet in the air.. it's a 4.5 stars for me✨

[Apeksha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It could've been a solid 5 star IF it wasn't 1) for the worst muslim rep
2) the ridiculous cake fight (what are they? 5 year olds? And I'm going to be real here, even my 3 year old baby cousin is mature enough not to do that thing infront of so many people)
3) the whole sexist and toxic feminism bullshit which was as unnecessary as pineapple toppings on pizza.

All this being said, you may ask why did I even bother giving this book a 3 star or saying that it could've been a 5 star? Because I really liked Alina and Azeer as a couple if we keep all complaints on side, their banter was also funny and one extra star for zoha and lemon (their cute cat🥺)

Will I recommend this book? Not really because the first 3 cons are too much to be ignored.

[Ayushi (bookwormbullet) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up!

[yami๋༊*·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before you start reading my review do yourself a big favor and add this book to your tbr✨

Tropes:
🍋Single dad
🍋Nemesis to lovers
🍋Arranged marriage
🍋Age gap (6 years)
🍋Pakistani representation
🍋Epilepsy representation
🍋Opposites attract
🍋Forced Proximity
🍋Millionaire romance

mini blurb💌
After a failed date arranged by their parents, Alina and Azeer meet again at Azeer's sister's wedding, which ends in a swapped wedding cake, a food fight, and an arranged marriage as punishment. However, it is beneficial for both, Azeer will finally be able to give his daughter Zoha a mother figure and Alina will finally be able to build her long-awaited daycare. But can their marriage be that bad or will they really find love in each other?

The characters and the story💌

Alina Azlan is a unique and fun character, I really had too much fun reading her. She is an admirable and very strong character. I loved every second so much, the jokes she made to Azeer, the pure and loving heart with she received Zoha🥺

Azeer Khan what a beautiful man, at times being honest I felt that some of his actions and behaviors were childish but he won my heart and my love, always giving everything for his daughter and over time for his wife🧎🏽‍♀️ WE NEED AN AZEER KHAN IN OUR LIVES TO BUILD US THE LIBRARY OF OUR DREAMS🤌🏼

Zoha Khan WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GIRL I love SO MUCH when there are children in books and they are participatory. Zoha definitely won my heart from the first moment we love her so much okay?🥺

The story was very entertaining, never low, the tension, the jokes, those little moments in which little by little they fell in love for each other🥺

Please go NOW AND ADD IT TO YOUR TBR IT'S COMING OUT THIS JULY 23RD

Thanks to Noor Sasha for the ARC💛



ESPAÑOL💌
Antes de empezar a leer mi reseña háganse un gran favor y vayan a agregar este libro a su tbr✨

Tropes:
🍋Single dad
🍋Nemesis to lovers
🍋Arranged marriage
🍋Age gap (6 years)
🍋Pakistani representation
🍋Epilepsy representation
🍋Extreme bantering
🍋Opposites attract
🍋Forced Proximity
🍋Millionaire romance

mini sinopsis
Tras una cita fallida concretada por sus padres, Alina y Azeer se cruzan en la boda de la hermana de Azeer, la cual termina en un pastel de bodas intercambiado, una pelea de comida y en un matrimonio arreglado como castigo. Sin embargo resulta beneficioso para ambos, Azeer finalmente podrá darle a su hija Zoha una figura materna y Alina finalmente podrá construir su anhelada estancia infantil. Pero ¿puede ser su matrimonio tan malo o encontrarán realmente amor el uno en el otro?

Los personajes y la historia💌
Alina Azlan es un personaje tan único y divertido, realmente me divertí demasiado leyéndola. Es un personaje admirable y muy fuerte, que no se deja derrumbar. Me va encantado muchísimo cada segundo, las bromas que le hacía a Azeer, el corazón tan puro y amoroso con el que recibió a Zoha🥺

Azeer Khan que hombre más lindo, por momentos siendo honesta me pareció que tenía acciones un tanto infantiles pero logro ganarse mi corazón y mi amor, siempre dando todo por su hija y con el tiempo también por su esposa🧎🏽‍♀️ TODAS NECESITAMOS A UN AZEER KHAN EN NUESTRAS VIDAS QUE NOS CONSTRUYA LA LIBRERÍA DE NUESTROS SUEÑOS🤌🏼

Zoha Khan QUE NIÑA MAS HERMOSA yo amo MUCHO cuando hay niños en los libros y son participativos. Zoha sin duda se ganó mi corazón desde el primer momento la amamos mucho okay?🥺

La historia fue muy entretenida, nunca bajo, la tensión, las bromas, esos pequeños momentos en los que poco a poco iban cayendo el uno por el otro nono que joya.

Por favor vayan YA A AGREGARLA A SU TBR SALE ESTE 23 DE JULIO

Muchas gracias a Noor Sasha por el ARC💛

[frog · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 36% and i only made it that far because i was on a plane with nothing else to do...

i really did enjoy the depiction of a young brown woman who loved her cultural values and wanted to get married and stay within her culture - i think we get a lot of books about brown and black women rebelling from their cultures and what's expected from them (understandably) so it was nice to see a depiction of someone from a loving, caring and healthy family who sees the beauty in their culture and wants to continue it. my two stars are for this

however the rest of this book (or the 36% i read) was nonsense. the crux is...the MMC and FMC get into a food fight AT HIS SISTERS WEDDING where they throw lemon cake at each other and his sister is SEVERELY allergic to lemon cake and they send her to the ER because of it. so their parents force them to get married because of embarrassment (????) and yeah.... the MMC is supposed to be a smart and suave businessman and he starts a food fight at his sister's wedding??? also the FMC, in an attempt to get revenge on the MMC (I'm not sure what for) slips PORN SOUNDS into the DJs mix at the wedding so it gets played from the speakers. the FMC is 26. the MMC is 32. yeah. NONSENSE.

also, the MMC has an adopted child from Ethiopia and his extended family don't like her because she's black and ugh, it was just not handled well at ALL. the daughter is forgotten about most of the time (seriously, the MMC and the FMC go to a roller rink arcade and leave the 6 year old child to her own devices while they flirt/argue) and is ALWAYS with the nanny the MMC has hired and...ok...so his EXTENDED family doesn't like the daughter but the implication is that the immediate family love her, right?? but we never see this on page. I got to 36% and I think the only times we ever see his immediate family interacting with the child is maybe twice????? that's it. there's literally no other interactions with her, she's not in hardly any family scenes, there's no cute grandparents fawning over their grandchild, and I just don't see how she's integrated into the family at all. and the MMC constantly calls her "my kid" and I hated it

oh and to ingratiate herself to the 6 year old child, the FMC smack talks some other literal children??? and this woman wants to own and run a daycare???

"“Ew.” I let out a loud snort, unable to contain my amusement. “What’s with their outfits? They look like they’re auditioning for the next season of Power Rangers.”"

she is LITERALLY referring to a bunch of kids rn I'm sorry I cannot take this woman seriously, pls give me the number to Canada's child protection services, this woman should be nowhere near a daycare.

maybe it gets better after the 36% mark idk, but I just couldn't go on any longer

[amna (taylor’s version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have so SO many good things to say about this book. first and foremost, i could not appreciate the pakistani representation more. it is so rare to get and this book just does it perfectly!! i love how relatable alina felt to me as someone who is believes in God and believes in Islam but not like traditionally religious. she’s trying her best. she’s also super in tune with her culture but also very much with the western times too. i felt her so much.

AZEER KHAN. dare i say he’s my dream man. idk if pakistani men like that exist irl, but if they do, can i please find one?! smart, sexy, successful. knows the words to bole chudiyan. great father. amazing husband. respects women so much. he is everything.

i absolutely loved all the pop culture references. they were top tier and felt super natural and a part of the story, not randomly thrown in. and the dialogue was super real and authentic, at least for me. i really laughed out loud at some scenes and especially all the pakistani family dynamics were so hilariously accurate.

i am SO read for nyla and shahzad’s story!!! noor sasha, you deserve your very own lemon cake from the pakistani community for writing something so personal and enjoyable for us 💛💛💛

[☆maia☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

BIG FAT FUCKING NOPE = DNF

there is annoying and then there's alina, god she's a menace and never have i wished more for the instantaneous death of a character like this book would have (even the little bit i read) been so much better if alina (FMC) got run over by a car somewhere around the end of chapter 4 (prior to the wedding fiasco that FMC started, continued and was unrepentant for)

not saying that azeer (MMC) was this sweetheart (he was annoying too) but not so much as alina who quite literally had me wanting to rip my hair out at the things she did (honestly the biggest bitch i've read about)

i genuinely fear for zoha's (the kid) mental health having alina as a parental figure (someone call cps)

[هـ &#x1fae7; · Rating 5 out of 5]

this has to be one of my top books of 2023 and i know thats a bold statement to make when we still have some months left of the year but i can confidently tell you that this book holds the best representation ive ever read

moving on to the gorey details alina is me and im her, she has easily become one of my favourite book girls and azeer definetley checks all the boxes for the perfect book bf
AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT ZOHA SHES SO CUTEEE AGHH AND DARE I SAY I LOVE HER MORE THAN AZEER AND ALINA

anyways i don't think i can recover from this book ever it has become an obsession of mines atp

live laugh love the khan family 🙈

[cindysreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25/5 This was without a doubt my most disappointing book of the year.

Now I know, you don't need tell me, that I've rated many many books 0 and 1 stars this year so some may argue that When Life Gives You Lemons isn't really my most disappointing book of the year, but it is. Why? Because I had such high expectations going in, whereas I knew that the other books would be as trash as they come (that's why I picked them in the first place).

On paper this book is everything I love about romance books, truly. But the writing felt oh so juvenile: it read like a Wattpad book, and not even a good one. Do you remember the books we used to read on there, in like 2016, where the writers always seemed to have the craziest life stories:
"I am so incredibly sorry for not uploading the next chapter of this story, I know you guys keep asking but my cat was hit by a car last week and it turns out the driver of said car was my aunt who got out of the car and put me in a sleep induced coma" HUHHH?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WOKE UP FROM A COMA AND THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS APOLOGIZE TO YOUR WATTPAD READERS??? I-

Yeah, the author might not have had a crazy anecdote in the acknowledgments but her book sure seemed to take inspiration from those Wattpad stories. At times I even felt like the author wrote down her craziest fantasies (what she looks for in a man/relationship) and put it all in it. And usually there's nothing wrong with that when it's written as an enticing story but when it feels more like a scenario that needs to tick a list of green flags rather than an actual story... yeah, you might not want to do that.

I understand this is Noor Sasha's first book which is why I'm not writing her off entirely as a writer I might enjoy. I do believe that I could've really loved this book, for example, if a lot more editing went into it: some things should've been cut (it absolutely doesn't need to be 448 pages and it doesn't need to have pop culture references every two pages), other things should've been replaced or enhanced. The unnecessary details made this book heavily boring, I didn't want to finish it because I didn't want to go through the torture of reading them last few chapters (and I didn't, I skimmed through them only reading the dialogue to have an understanding of how it ended).

It read like a first draft of what could've been a great book. The ideas are there (the plot is actually cool, the characters are charming, the subjects tackled are incredibly interesting...), but the execution was really poor. Although the author wants you to believe that the characters are in love, it doesn't feel that way. Not only do you not feel the spark between both characters, Azeer (the main male lead) didn't even seem to LIKE Alina (the female lead). He only settled for her because his daughter loved her, which isn't really as romantic as you would hope a ROMANCE BOOK to be.

All of this to say, I will not be reading the second book in this series 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

[Mohini · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS was so good!!! Read!! It's serotonin!! Coherent thoughts to come!!


[PRE-PUBLICATION]
No I haven’t read this yet but I just have a FEELING I'm going to love this

[min · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a whole lot of nothing and probably my most disappointing read of the year

I don’t think at any point in time reading this, i started to see what Alina sees in Azeer, that man is full of himself, makes sexist and classist remarks about Alina, talks to his sister in insanely derogatory ways, and is much like the desi men I’ve encountered and steer clear of in real life. There was absolutely nothing likeable about this man and I had no understanding in why Alina considered him her type at any point during this book, and I still can’t comprehend how she let him off the hook so easily after finding out he talked about how she couldn’t cook in a group chat with his cousins - my mind is boggled.

I also wasn’t the best fan of Alina because a man acting like a stupid buffoon is one thing but this girl HAVING THE HOTS FOR HIM??? All my flabbers were gasted reading this, she was into his weird ways of telling her to respect him and called them “power plays” that turned her on and I genuinely cannot tell why she would ever like someone like that: WHY ARE YOU LETTING A MAN TREAT YOU LIKE GUM UNDER HIS SHOE?

The desi representation was eh and the muslim representation was a huge no to me, i get that muslims all practice differently but reading about how this man got a tattoo and both had gotten high in the past AND how they had already kissed when they were younger made me want to rip my hair out and eat it with a fork.

WHY WERE THEY HAVING A FOOD FIGHT AT A WEDDING?? This was Azeer’s sister’s wedding and not only did they decide to ruin it by acting like children but to throw lemon cake around that she’s allergic too really made me scream into a wall until I could taste the paint work on it.

In conclusion, I would never want to have a man like Azeer come anywhere near me, the bar was so low that I could grab it off the floor and hit both leads with it, and Alina is better than me because as soon as a man starts insulting me I would’ve been out of that room so fast.

[Brittany (BritReadsBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*CWs included in the book*

I am glad that I saw this book through to the end. There was a point I honestly almost put it down near the beginning.

I struggled in the beginning because Azeer was just being a grade-A dickwad to Alina and I just wanted to slap some sense into him. They were also acting extremely childish for absolutely no reason. His child was more mature than him. He does have a soft romantic side but it takes a bit to get there. Okay, more than a bit. Definitely a slow burn for these two. He’s also definitely got “touch my wife and die” energy.

There was also a moment where he goes to his daughter’s school to confront her bullies and ends up with random students in his car which I took issue with. It was just a very weird scenario and gave me red flags. Stranger danger, anyone?

Despite my rocky start, I did enjoy the second half of the story. Azeer and Alina take a while to warm up to each other and even when they do they still bicker. But we love bickering in this house. He’s there to catch her when she falls and to hold her when she’s down. They go from wanting to light each other on fire to talking each other through their pain and lifting each other up.

What can you expect? Arranged marriage, single dad, FMC with epilepsy, tons of bickering, jealousy over a body pillow, and definitely a love/hate relationship with lemons.

I did like this book enough to want to pick the next one up as there is some set up in this one for it.

[mumu · Rating 1 out of 5]

childish characters, lack of chemistry and really weird representation. i'm not even going into the muslim rep because if you're going to represent a certain religion or race there are rules you lowkey have to follow. i'm sick of authors, especially muslim authors, slapping the label of muslim onto characters and then writing really odd personalities and habits. i don't know, i just didn't like it.

the epilepsy rep and adopting a child could have been well written but it just wasn't and i didn't like it at all, the characters just felt so superficial and not well developed. also, as much as i like diversity, forced diversity just isn't it. 'meri jaan' and 'bacha' and other urdu words were too overused and it didn't flow (saying this as a desi girl myself who loves her language and culture).

dnf at 50 pages.

[Hibs · Rating 2 out of 5]

No :)

[Arzum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. AM. OBSESSED.

[sads · Rating 1 out of 5]

girl what was this 😭 i had such high hopes for this book. Azeer is an actual ass, will never listen to tiktok again 😀