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Love for Life
After successfully matchmaking within the Sydney desi community for years, Nas has decided to open a marriage agency to help all Australians find love. With 17 years of marriage to his dream woman Tasnim under his belt, he's keen to help others find the same happiness that he's had. But what he sees as a perfect, happy match isn't necessarily what something others agree on - including Tasnim.
Before long, the cracks in Nas and Tasnim's marriage are beginning to show, and Salima, their 16-year-old daughter, is caught in the middle. Which parent will she side with, if either one at all? She’s got her own complicated life going on, one that her parents seem too busy to notice. Maybe it's time for her to break some rules and follow her heart at last?
Before long, the cracks in Nas and Tasnim's marriage are beginning to show, and Salima, their 16-year-old daughter, is caught in the middle. Which parent will she side with, if either one at all? She’s got her own complicated life going on, one that her parents seem too busy to notice. Maybe it's time for her to break some rules and follow her heart at last?
- GenresAudiobook
Audible Audio
Published May 2, 2023
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Saman Shad
5 books13 followersI am a writer, journalist, editor and playwright and have been involved with storytelling for a number of years now.
My debut novel, The Matchmaker was released in January 2023. In addition to this, I am working on a number of projects across the page, screen and stage including The Disposables on ABC Me and The Marriage Agency that premiered at the Kings Cross Theatre at the end of 2022.
I was a scriptwriter for a BBC radio series Silver street for five years. I also had an afternoon play on BBC Radio.
Upon moving to Australia I created a few radio programs for the ABC and established my career as a journalist.
I am a regular writer for several publications including the Guardian, SMH, news.com.au and SBS, where I have recently completed a one year maternity cover as Editor for SBS Voices.
I am also a playwright with works commissioned by theatres around London and Australia. Most recently I was part of the Next In Line program at Darlinghurst theatre.
I was awarded development funding by Screen Australia to develop a feature film and am hoping to be able to announce some exciting new film projects in the near future.
My debut novel, The Matchmaker was released in January 2023. In addition to this, I am working on a number of projects across the page, screen and stage including The Disposables on ABC Me and The Marriage Agency that premiered at the Kings Cross Theatre at the end of 2022.
I was a scriptwriter for a BBC radio series Silver street for five years. I also had an afternoon play on BBC Radio.
Upon moving to Australia I created a few radio programs for the ABC and established my career as a journalist.
I am a regular writer for several publications including the Guardian, SMH, news.com.au and SBS, where I have recently completed a one year maternity cover as Editor for SBS Voices.
I am also a playwright with works commissioned by theatres around London and Australia. Most recently I was part of the Next In Line program at Darlinghurst theatre.
I was awarded development funding by Screen Australia to develop a feature film and am hoping to be able to announce some exciting new film projects in the near future.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 12, 2024
It took some time to adjust to the Indian accent, but I think that added more uniqueness and fun, especially since the story is about the Desi community. When I started listening to this audiobook, I had different expectations about where the plot would go. It was easy and fun to listen to, but it felt like a bit of a mishmash. There are a lot of plots—Nas and Tasnim, then Salima and Aloo, plus Nas’s business, Salima running away from home... Yeah, like I said, there’s a lot going on.
The characters are fun, and each of them has something special. Oh, and I love how Nas is a stay-at-home dad who loves his life, wife, and daughter. More people should be like him! Tasnim is a business-driven woman, which I like, but she also kind of forgets she has a family. Salima is just a teen trying to find herself, but she accidentally ends up helping her parents with some magic. It’s an interesting story.
The characters are fun, and each of them has something special. Oh, and I love how Nas is a stay-at-home dad who loves his life, wife, and daughter. More people should be like him! Tasnim is a business-driven woman, which I like, but she also kind of forgets she has a family. Salima is just a teen trying to find herself, but she accidentally ends up helping her parents with some magic. It’s an interesting story.
July 10, 2023
"Can you please stop being so understanding? I feel like an absolute villain in our relationship. It's very hard on my self-esteem."
"I can't be anything but what I am," he said simply. And she knew that was true.
— 3:33:41 Chapter 10: Unplugging (Tasnim)
A short and sweet audiobook at about 4 hours, it doesn't lag and has you invested in the characters quickly. The voice actors' skill also sells these characters, and I hope to read more books with them in the future.
The story is a tight-knit family drama with a lot of heart and plenty of chai. We open with our male lead, Nas, as he follows his dream of opening a matchmaking business for everyone, not just the South Asian community he's had much success with on a casual basis. Honestly, a solid idea, to be honest. We're quickly introduced to his intelligent and cheeky daughter Salima and his wife of 17 years, to who he was matched and utterly devoted.
Nas is such a gem of a man, with a calm undercurrent and personable approach. He loves a story — particularly about the Taj Mahal, which I learnt so much about! He loves love unironically, which confuses many who first meet him. While his wife Tasnim takes a moment or two to adjust to — she's such a great foil to Nas at moments — you begin to root for her too. Listening to her grow as a mother and a wife as they work to communicate better and support each other was a fulfilling character-driven plot. Salima is the tie that binds this couple together and teaches them to be their own people. Her relationships with her parents are respectively tender and fraught, capturing the struggle of sixteen-year-olds trying to be independent but ultimately needing their parents.
Reading a book about a family drama and strained relationships that doesn't end blisteringly with everyone angry and hurt was a joy. It's a refreshing change from many other books of a similar genre I've seen and read. There is a sense of peace and recovery as you reach the end; they do the work and succeed. They love each other and are fortunate enough to make it work.
Saman Shad's complex story on the bonds of a family put to the test is brought to complex life with the skill of voice actors Zenia Starr and Adil Jain. These two bring so much heart to their POV switches and add a depth that may not have been totally apparent in the written version. You leave the audiobook feeling like you've had a true insight into the life of an Indian-Australian family dealing with the complexities of life.
"I can't be anything but what I am," he said simply. And she knew that was true.
— 3:33:41 Chapter 10: Unplugging (Tasnim)
A short and sweet audiobook at about 4 hours, it doesn't lag and has you invested in the characters quickly. The voice actors' skill also sells these characters, and I hope to read more books with them in the future.
The story is a tight-knit family drama with a lot of heart and plenty of chai. We open with our male lead, Nas, as he follows his dream of opening a matchmaking business for everyone, not just the South Asian community he's had much success with on a casual basis. Honestly, a solid idea, to be honest. We're quickly introduced to his intelligent and cheeky daughter Salima and his wife of 17 years, to who he was matched and utterly devoted.
Nas is such a gem of a man, with a calm undercurrent and personable approach. He loves a story — particularly about the Taj Mahal, which I learnt so much about! He loves love unironically, which confuses many who first meet him. While his wife Tasnim takes a moment or two to adjust to — she's such a great foil to Nas at moments — you begin to root for her too. Listening to her grow as a mother and a wife as they work to communicate better and support each other was a fulfilling character-driven plot. Salima is the tie that binds this couple together and teaches them to be their own people. Her relationships with her parents are respectively tender and fraught, capturing the struggle of sixteen-year-olds trying to be independent but ultimately needing their parents.
Reading a book about a family drama and strained relationships that doesn't end blisteringly with everyone angry and hurt was a joy. It's a refreshing change from many other books of a similar genre I've seen and read. There is a sense of peace and recovery as you reach the end; they do the work and succeed. They love each other and are fortunate enough to make it work.
Saman Shad's complex story on the bonds of a family put to the test is brought to complex life with the skill of voice actors Zenia Starr and Adil Jain. These two bring so much heart to their POV switches and add a depth that may not have been totally apparent in the written version. You leave the audiobook feeling like you've had a true insight into the life of an Indian-Australian family dealing with the complexities of life.
June 22, 2023
This was a shorter sweet books that looks at how a strained family dynamic starts to be repaired after an incident with the daughter.
The parents in the book agreed to an arranged marriage which added complexities to this situation.
The first family member we are introduced to is the farther and I immediately had a soft spot for him. I didn’t connect with the mother who we met in the next chapter straight away but as the book went on the more and more I appreciated her position and the actions we took and finally there is the daughter. The situation between her parents is impacting her and she also wants to make a positive change in the world. I also suspect she has some of the optimism and zealous that young people have as they transition from childhood to adult hood and are still gaining life experiences.
I really loved how this showed how a family realised tensions and destained had happened and realised that work needed to re connect.
I listened to this book on audible and I really enjoyed it. So much so that when I saw another book at the book shop by the same author I brought it immediately.
The parents in the book agreed to an arranged marriage which added complexities to this situation.
The first family member we are introduced to is the farther and I immediately had a soft spot for him. I didn’t connect with the mother who we met in the next chapter straight away but as the book went on the more and more I appreciated her position and the actions we took and finally there is the daughter. The situation between her parents is impacting her and she also wants to make a positive change in the world. I also suspect she has some of the optimism and zealous that young people have as they transition from childhood to adult hood and are still gaining life experiences.
I really loved how this showed how a family realised tensions and destained had happened and realised that work needed to re connect.
I listened to this book on audible and I really enjoyed it. So much so that when I saw another book at the book shop by the same author I brought it immediately.
June 18, 2023
Was a cute story with lots of masala and misunderstanding, reminds me somewhat of Tanuja Hidier's Born Confused, one of my childhood faves! The narrators did a BRILLIANT job, lekin I wish Adil really attempted singing kabhi kabhie, and a few more olden goldies Bollywood gaane, even if part of the BGM, and typical desi references would've been a great cherry on top! Definitely gained a new fan for both the story and narration though, love this kind of representation of us non-residential Indians.
March 28, 2025
What should have been a heartwarming story about love, tradition, and second chances ended up feeling frustratingly predictable and lacking in depth. At the center of it all was Natasha, a successful but guarded woman pressured by her family to settle down. When a well-meaning but meddlesome relative set her up with a matchmaker, she reluctantly agreed, expecting disaster. Enter Saif, a man with his own baggage, who seemed like the perfect candidate on paper but never quite came alive on the page. The arranged-meeting-turned-romantic-tangle had potential, but the execution felt more like a series of rom-com clichés strung together than a truly engaging love story.
The themes of cultural expectations, personal growth, and finding love in unexpected places were certainly present, but they lacked the emotional weight needed to make an impact. Natasha’s internal struggles felt repetitive rather than revelatory, and Saif’s backstory, which could have added much-needed complexity, was glossed over. The side characters—family members, friends, and the ever-involved aunties—provided some entertaining moments, but they often leaned too far into caricature, making their interactions feel forced rather than natural. A late-story conflict attempted to shake things up, but it was painfully obvious where everything was heading, robbing the climax of any real tension.
The writing style aimed for light and witty but often landed as surface-level and forgettable. Conversations that should have been sharp and meaningful felt drawn out, and the romantic chemistry never quite sparked in a way that made the relationship feel compelling. The setting had potential, with glimpses of vibrant family gatherings and cultural richness, but it never became a character in itself. In the end, it wasn’t terrible—just uninspired, with too many missed opportunities to make it truly memorable.
Read more here: https://annietheinkdrinker.wordpress....
The themes of cultural expectations, personal growth, and finding love in unexpected places were certainly present, but they lacked the emotional weight needed to make an impact. Natasha’s internal struggles felt repetitive rather than revelatory, and Saif’s backstory, which could have added much-needed complexity, was glossed over. The side characters—family members, friends, and the ever-involved aunties—provided some entertaining moments, but they often leaned too far into caricature, making their interactions feel forced rather than natural. A late-story conflict attempted to shake things up, but it was painfully obvious where everything was heading, robbing the climax of any real tension.
The writing style aimed for light and witty but often landed as surface-level and forgettable. Conversations that should have been sharp and meaningful felt drawn out, and the romantic chemistry never quite sparked in a way that made the relationship feel compelling. The setting had potential, with glimpses of vibrant family gatherings and cultural richness, but it never became a character in itself. In the end, it wasn’t terrible—just uninspired, with too many missed opportunities to make it truly memorable.
Read more here: https://annietheinkdrinker.wordpress....
February 22, 2024
An interesting family drama populated by characters who feel very real, though the writing is unpolished at times. And I'm rather bemused that the adult characters seemed to get away with assault and (possible) kidnapping. Threw me out of the story a little! But gosh it's nice to listen to Australian stories, told by voices that I could easily hear on my own street.
June 9, 2023
3.5 stars simple read
June 16, 2023
It was short and sweet. No real twist or cliffhanger. Certainly some moments to make you stop and think about relationships though.
June 28, 2023
3.25/5
Short, simple & right to the point. A story about a family learning and growing to understand each other better.
Nice, but not one I'll particularly think or talk about again.
Short, simple & right to the point. A story about a family learning and growing to understand each other better.
Nice, but not one I'll particularly think or talk about again.
July 6, 2023
Very cute book
July 10, 2023
Contrary to other reviews, I think a lot happens in this book. It's more gentle than some stories, yes, but it has an authenticity to it that makes the subtlety of the events feel significant.
July 12, 2023
Nowhere near as good as The Matchmaker, which I just adored.
July 13, 2023
Enjoyable easy read with relatable themes of marital stagnation and repair, finding your place, adolescent angst, parenting and cross cultural/country experiences.
June 22, 2023
This was definitely a quick and short listen! I really struggled with the start and could not pay attention but I wanted to continue as it was based in Australia with a south asian MC. As the the story progressed I wanted to see what happened next but there was not really any twists or unpretictable moments.
July 5, 2023
this was a cute, sweet simple story of a family that's changing and realising they were not what they thought they were. very quick little read.
March 20, 2025
Finished July 2023 OK
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews