This book is so special. It was 100% a romance, but we also went so deep with the characters' families and personal lives outside of the relationship. The way Farah was able to make this story feel like a romance but also give the plot so much impact is a masterclass in romance writing.

The characters felt real, the side characters were lovable, the plot was impactful, and there were real stakes. Marley is a personal stylist. She has the BRCA1 gene and is having surgery to help mitigate her chances of getting cancer. Nikhil was her high school prom date and is now an up-and-coming movie star. There's forced proximity, celebrity romance, and caretaking. Marley and Nikhil were so sweet to one another and I loveddd how much of a simp he was for her.

I hate 3rd act breakups, so of course that annoyed me, but ultimately the ending was worth it. After reading this, I'm interested in seeking out Farah's backlist and will read her future releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Farah Heron writes excellent romance and her move to bring in personal medical struggles was not a mistake. Celebrity romance is not a favorite troupe of mine, I see the downsides of dating someone famous but the romance and care between Nik and Marley was palpable. The characters, including the supporting cast were amazing and it is always great to see former characters in new books. I recommend this romance but do have a trigger warning for grief and cancer.

Thank you to Net Galley, Grand Central Publishing, and Forever for the eARC!

Marley is a stylist who carries the BRCA genetic mutation. She has made the major decision to have a double mastectomy about the same time that she lands a client who could have a major impact on her career. The client also happens to be Nikhil, her prom date who later ghosted her. As Marley manages undergoing a major surgery while also helping Nikhil, she has to come to terms with her new body. I really enjoyed the two characters and their separate storylines but for some reason the chemistry wasn’t there between the two of them. Overall, though, I still enjoyed the story. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

Nikhal and Marley are going through a lot! They are recently reunited and jump head first into helping each other out in their time of need. Nikhal's doesn't seem that huge but I have a feeling being a movie star is harder then it looks at least when it comes to being brown and wanting some sort of privacy. Marley has decided to undergo a full mastectomy since she is a carrier of the cancer gene. Her aunt died of it and her mom had it and she doesn't want to take that chance. Nikhal offers to move in with her when her best friend has to go away right when Marley's surgery is scheduled. Love blossoms for these two though she fights it with both hands.

A beautiful slow burn romance with lots of good feeling and very little manufactured drama. Farah Heron is one of my favorites and this one definitely didn't disappoint. My only distraction was that the author used . . . a LOT in this book. I know she was giving us a moment to pause as we read but it got old fast.

This is going to be a hard review for me to write. Because as much as I'd love to come here and gush about this book, unfortunately, there ended up being too many things in this book that didn't work for me. And that makes me really upset because I was so ready to love this book! I've enjoyed the previous Farah Heron books I've read, and this book has some really important themes in it that I was so happy to see featured in a romance, but in the end, I think this book fell a bit flat.

This book follows Marley, a stylist at a department store, who ends up tasked with styling a movie star. Except this star, Nikhil, was her prom date, who ghosted her. Oh, and to make things more complicated, Marley soon has to go on medical leave to get a prophylactic mastectomy because she has the BRCA1 gene, making her extremely susceptible to breast cancer. But that's okay! Because Nik ends up offering to caretake for her post surgery, and soon their feelings start growing more and more complicated.

I think having a romance centered around BRCA and breast cancer and a mastectomy is a fantastic idea. I was so excited to see this experience in a romance, and to watch how the characters all evolved and grew closer based on the shared healing they would undergo. Unfortunately this book was doing a bit too much and ended up feeling all over the place, without centering the romance. So let's discuss.

To me, there were about 10 conflicts too many in this story. Of course there was Marley, dealing with her surgery and all the emotions and realities that came with that. But she also had work drama. And family drama. And even friend drama. And then there's Nikhil, who's a movie star, dealing with a publicity mess as well as his own family drama. Because of each of the characters having so much going on, there wasn't a lot of ability for Marley and Nik to grow in a natural, relaxed way. There was always some drama going on with someone's work, or family, or whatever. Focusing on so many things meant that nothing had the time to be properly nurtured and developed into a story or relationship that I cared about.

On top of that, to me there was a lot of telling, without showing. Because there was no time for the story to breathe, we just had to be told how characters were feeling about characters, without truly getting a sense for why they felt that way about a character organically. The amount of times Nik tells us why he loves Marley, without me seeing a single element of Marley in any of his statements was quite a detriment to the story. It highlighted just how much telling was going on.

Additionally, while Marley's surgery was the focus of the story, in a way even that storyline felt a bit detached. Maybe this was because of all the telling, not showing, but I didn't actively feel all the things Marley was going through, even though she endured a lot during this story.

In the end, while I found the story very readable, I also just did not care what happened. I didn't emotionally connect to any aspect, and I didn't feel that the story was well crafted. Because of that, as much as it pains me, I'll be giving this book only 2.5 stars. My expectations for this book were quite high, but unfortunately, on practically every level, they were not met. I truly hope that other people who are drawn to this story end up having a different experience than I did!

This title is a bit more difficult for me to process and review as I have done mixed feelings about it.

To start, I’ll say I think that Farah Heron is a talented author, and definitely one that will remain an autograb for me - if she writes it I want to read it. Her books always feature some great representation and I love that they make me think and feel while I’m reading them. I love that her books generally feature South Asian MCs and mental health representation.

I loved that we got some good representation in this book as well. I still think that the story gave voice and representation to an important topic, so it was great to see that in a book. I was really excited by the tropes and premise of the story. I liked that, overall, it was a slower build up of a relationship for the two mains.

However, while there were parts I really enjoyed and lots of potential- I did find the book to be a bit muddling. The story has a lot of elements going on, and in this case it felt stretched a bit too thin and wasn’t able to really deliver as much impact with the split focus. As a result of what was happening around them, it kind of felt that the characters got a bit lost as a result. While we get some development of the mains, I felt this was really missing on any other characters. And with the story having so much going on, it felt for me like the connection and romance between the mains didn’t get to develop as much either.

While this particular story is not my favorite of the authors, I’m still glad I read it and I’ll definitely continue to look forward to and try anything this author writes.

Thank you to the publisher for an opportunity to read an early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

As much as I wanted to get into this book, I just felt really distant from the central characters. The problems felt too easily resolved and I didn't really see the chemistry between the two characters.

The premise of this book sounded really interesting but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. The comedy aspect also wasn’t my favorite thing but I do think a lot of people would enjoy this book

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Just Playing House releases July 2, 2024

Marley and Nikhil are the main characters of this story. 10 years ago, they attended the same high school and shared an intimate night at prom, though they didn’t part on the best of terms.
Now, Nikhil has just been casted for an A-list movie part and is in need of a stylist, which is where he ends up crossing paths with Marley.

The main theme of this story surrounds breast cancer, having the BRCA gene mutation, and undergoing a prophylactic double mastectomy. If this is a sensitive topic for you, I would consider skipping this one or making sure you’re in the best headspace.

Initially, after I read the first two chapters, I was ready to throw in the towel and call this a DNF. I wasn’t jiving with the characters or the writing style, and it came across as superficial and even a bit insensitive.
The writing is extremely repetitive and clunky with many back-to-back sentences starting with the same conjunction, and I definitely think this could have been 50-100 pages shorter.

For a story that was predominantly about the fmc’s breasts and undergoing a major surgery to get rid of them, I personally found it insensitive that the first few descriptions that came from the mmc’s inner monologue included noticing how “generously full” her breasts were, and how he “tried very hard not to peek at that enhanced cleavage” — it feeds into the male gaze and further amplifies the insecurities that women already face, let alone those that decide to have a mastectomy without reconstruction or implants.

There are depictions of adhd and depression from side characters, though they could have used more care and attention in all honesty because the traits that were used felt overtly stereotypical, surface level, and inauthentic.

On a positive note, I adored how Nikhil shut down the idea of having a fake publicity relationship with his co-star <I>so</I> quickly, not because he was already in a committed relationship, but because he had an interest in someone else. That’s a really admirable trait.
I also really liked the scene with the support group facilitator and found it to be a strength in the character development, but I wish it was incorporated way earlier into the book.

Read if you like:
- Canadian settings
- bisexual fmc
- South Asian rep
- taking care of her scenes
- second chance romance
- dual pov

I really love this book! I have no experience with people in my life having a mastectomy and I feel like I have A deeper understanding of that through this book.

Ended up not being what I was expecting. I just couldn’t get attached to the story or the characters, but I know people will enjoy the celebrity trope.

Thank you, Forever, Farah Heron and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I learned a lot about the BRCA gene and mastectomy process/recovery which I found most interesting! Not sure the characters had a ton of chemistry, I never felt the swoony feeling. Family dynamics of Marley could have been explored more as well as her conflict with Shane.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for the arc. This was a very interesting and moving story about Marley Kamal, a stylist, who's dealing with a few serious health concerns, while reuniting with an old friend who ghosted her after having sex, Nikhil Shamdasani. Nikhil is now an up and coming actor, and Marley is the only stylist who seems to know how to dress him. And when Marley goes through a very major medical procedure, Nikhil is there to take care of her. This brings them closer together, and it was lovely to read.

The detail that went into the medical procedure Marley endured, an elective double mastectomy due to Marley carrying a hereditary gene that causes breast and ovarian cancer, was fascinating, and heartbreaking when reading Marley's recovery process. But there was an imbalance of this storyline when combined with the romance of Marley and Nikhil. I felt the story drag whenever Nikhil had to deal with his film studio. I thought it overly complicated the story.

I did enjoy the book, and the side characters of both Marley's and Nikhil's families, plus Marley's best friend and roommate, were fun. I also appreciated Heron's description of the meals Marley and Nikhil ate during the book - all of it sounded delicious! Overall, I liked the book.

I really enjoyed this book and would give this 4.5 stars. The third person dual POV writing takes this second chance romance to another level and it gave me butterflies reading about Marley and Nikhil's concealed feelings while living in the same house.

Marley is such a strong person and carries a lot on her shoulders, as to not burden her family or friends. I was not aware of the BRCA gene and it was eye opening to read about the considerations that one has to go through after being diagnosed. The Author's Note at the end really made me appreciate this book even more, so be sure to read on.

Another thing great thing this book offered was the inclusion of the characters' culture and the conversation about challenges they face being non-white. Nik, especially, was gaining hate for being an "unexpected" casting decision in a movie based on a comic book.

And Nik... what a hunk and what a sweetheart! He has always worshipped Marley and the ground she walks on and I love that she became his safe space while he was navigating the ups and downs of Hollywood.

I would highly recommend this book and will be purchasing a physical copy when it releases.

Also side note- I will 100% be trying out Nikhil's Green Moong Daal and Marley's Ginger Chai recipes.

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

I would first like to thank Netgalley for the arc of this. book. If you love forced proximity, second chance love, famous love, and a dose of movie stardom this book is definitely for you. It is everything you want out of a rom com with excellent banter and lovely scenes. Stylist Marley Kamal had just started to get her feet under her becoming a personal stylist to the stars, the only thing she did not encounter for is the prom date that ghosted her being one of the stars she will style for. Whilst Marley is supposed to be recovering from a double mastectomy to save her life, Nik who is so desperate to have her as his stylist offers, some might say stupidly, to move in with her while she recovers from her surgery. As the saying goes, if one door closes, another one opens and that might just be the door to the heart. Absolutely loved Heron's writing and the book was perfect for a quick read.

Just Playing House review

Mahreen Kamal is an ambitious luxury personal stylist with a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery scheduled in two weeks. Nikhil is an almost nobody actor who landed a role in a big superhero blockbuster. He seeks out his highschool flame Mahreen for help. He has two weeks to get whipped into shape for a press event and Mahreen has her work cut out for her.

I was excited to get into this because of the BRCA representation I expected it to be impactful and touching. In the end it was a little too on the cringy side of millennial. And beyond that I found the plot to be a bit chaotic. The second chance bit in this also wasn’t landing for me.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of Just Playing House by Farah Heron.

Marley is a stylist who is working toward a promotion to personal shopper. Her path toward this includes styling for Nikhil Shamdasani. Not only is Nikhil on the verge of starring in a major film, but he is also a former flame of Marley's from high school.

As the story progresses they both find out that the flame is still going even after the time that has passed since they last saw each other. After Marley learns she has the BRCA gene, Nikhil helps to care for her as she recovers from her surgery. For anyone that enjoys roommates and forced proximity tropes, this would be a story to check out. Marley and Nikhil are so sweet to watch fall for each other all over again.

I really liked Marley and Nikhil, and I enjoyed them together, but the plot got overly convoluted at times and most of the side characters felt one-dimensional.

Still a cute romance though! Thank you Netgalley and Forever for the ARC!

This romance was not for me, sadly.

I had a hard time with the plot trying to balance a very serious medical procedure with a second-chance romance, and it seemed so did the plot. While I understood Marley's POV and her decision regarding the mastectomy, it seemed that none of her friends did (weird "Last Time" parties and "you should have sex with your boobs just one more time"). I was soooooo stressed for Marley that the idea of throwing in her high school prom date to the mix was too much for me.

Speaking of Nik, I hated how obsessed he was with her breasts upon first re-introduction as well as attempting to come off love-lorn and like he had been pining for ages when instead he found her photo in a magazine and decided to become her problem.

I'm sure this romance will work for other people, but I couldn't balance the comedy of the romance with the seriousness of the mastectomy in my head enough to enjoy either plot point.

I've read novels by Farah Heron in the past and have enjoyed them, but this one wasn't quite as fun for me. "Just Playing House" centers around Marley, a department store stylist who is given the opportunity to style an up-and-coming new celebrity. But when she discovers that the celebrity she'll be styling is her former prom date, Nik (who later ghosted her), she's not sure that the professional rewards will be worth it. Not only that, but Marley is anticipating a big elective surgery coming up soon and has many concerns about her health. As soon as Nik finds out, he's determined to not only be her client but also her caretaker.

While this book contained many of my favorite tropes, I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters. I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.