Review by Booklist Review
Beauty expert Jia Ahmed wants to build a cosmetics company for people of color, so she decides it's time to meet the Bollywood star she's been texting with for over a year. When she finally comes face-to-face with Dev Dixit, he doesn't know her at all. Filming a new show in Hollywood in the hope of expanding his base, Dev is intrigued by the woman who is so upset with him. When he finds out that she was catfished by someone in his family, he is determined to make it up to her. With twists and turns right out of a Bollywood drama, Rai's delightful romance introduces another Ahmed sister in her Modern Love series (The Right Swipe, 2019; Girl Gone Viral, 2020) to a family struggling with fame and loss. Jia and Dev are appealingly dimensional, as is the varied cast of minor characters. Dev is raising his orphaned niece, while sorting his mixed feelings about his deceased brother. Jia wants her family's approval, but is not afraid to follow her instincts and heart. Another win from this rising romance star.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Rai (Girl Gone Viral) lovingly dives into modern Desi family dynamics in this playful, good-natured story of growing into love. Beauty influencer Jia Ahmed takes the bold step of crashing an L.A. party to meet the man who has been wooing her via Instagram messages, Bollywood actor--turned--soap opera star Dev Dixit--only to discover that he doesn't know who she is. Jia is humiliated, and to make matters worse, her family insists on traveling to California to meet her new beau after the paparazzi publish a picture of her and Dev from their one conversation at the party. Jia asks Dev to pretend to date her during the visit so that she doesn't have to tell her family she was catfished. But in the process of learning enough about each other to be convincing as a couple, they develop a true fondness for each other. Rai offers a refreshingly balanced depiction of minor celebrity; her protagonists clearly have money and fans, but in the end, they're still people. The personalities of the couple's families are distinctive, but never so over the top that the novel falls into farce, and the story lands as upbeat, witty, and sincere. Readers are sure to be satisfied. Agent: Steven Axelrod, the Axelrod Agency. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A makeup artist and beauty influencer is the target of a catfishing scheme. Jia Ahmed is a well-known internet sensation for her makeup tutorials and beauty tips, but she senses her star is waning and is tired of the pressure to create new content. She's also determined to finally meet Dev Dixit, the man she's been texting for a few months. His family is Bollywood royalty, but he's a star in his own right, having spent a decade as the lead in one of India's most famous serialized dramas. Dev moved to California for a part in an American show, but mostly he's trying to escape the emotional turmoil caused by his brother's unexpected death and the responsibility of becoming his niece's guardian. When Jia approaches Dev at a party and he doesn't recognize her, she is horrified and embarrassed to realize she was catfished. Appalled that his identity was stolen and used to hurt an innocent woman, Dev approaches her and they develop a cautious friendship. When the media gets hold of the story, the two pretend to be engaged to smooth things over with their respective families. Although Jia and Dev are completely likable, the book reads like mainstream fiction, not romance. The focus is on the thorny dilemmas the two face in trying to achieve professional goals and their individual navigation of complex and interesting family dynamics. Although they go on a few dates, most of their thin, hastily constructed love story is jammed into the last few chapters. Romance fans may wonder what happened to Rai's trademark ability to craft deeply felt emotional connections between her main characters. Delivers on the titular premise of "like," but may not satisfy romance readers hoping for love. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
