I struggled a LOT with the pacing of this book. I enjoyed the new twist to an old story and the fact that it featured Muslim characters, but the pacing failed to draw me in. Every time I picked it up I struggled to stay immersed, and every time I put it down, struggled to pick it back up.

I put off reading this book as I wasn't sure if I would like it but 2 of my friends loved it so I gave it a go and I really liked it. I couldn't put it down.
Ayesha is a Muslim and is a school teacher but she writes poetry. She lives with her family and feels she owes her uncle. She has a flighty and irresponsible cousin who puts her in positions that she should say no.
Khalid is also a Muslim and lives across the street from her. He watches her and always wants to meet her as he thinks she is beautiful.
1 night they meet and they have words and neither really likes the other one but then they become friends only he thins she is her cousin Hafsa. Khalid's mom wants an arranged marriage and finally tells him he is marrying Hafsa. But Hafsa is not who he thinks she is.
Then Ayesha hears unsettling news about Khalid's family and tells her cousin she shouldn't marry him.
Ayesha and Khalid do become close friends and both have feelings for each other. Khalid's mom is not a very nice person and she is kind of vindictive.
I like how the storyline ended.
Also felt bad for Khalid as his boss is a woman and she does not like the fact he dresses in his Muslin clothes instead of normal clothes for work. She will try anything to have him lose his job.

I’ve been going through a reading slump lately and starting a book takes a lot more effort than I would like. When, I picked up Ayesha a couple days ago, I was really sad I couldn’t get into it so I put it down and continued binging Brooklyn Nine Nine. Because I had it for review though, I decided to pick it up again and push through. I ended up going to bed at 5:30 AM because I legitimately did not want to put Ayesha at Last down.

I first read P&P in 10th grade and watched the BBC adaptation alongside reading it. I thought the Colin Firth adaptation was the peak of P&P adaptations. Reading Ayesha at Last has made me completely reevaluate that opinion. This thoughtful, creative retelling really does bring its own charm to the OG story. I said this about Pride Prejudice and Other Flavors too but Ayesha At Last truly does go that extra mile to take those tropes and create something wonderful and new. You can see elements of Pride & Prejudice but you can also see a completely unique story that could one day be a classic too.

Ayesha and Khalid may have a lot in common but they are also opposites in many ways. Ayesha is confident and outspoken but isn’t really sure what she wants from her life. Khalid sort of knows what he wants from his life and is confident in his abilities but doesn’t know how to speak up for himself and also be true to himself.

After an awkward first meeting, they are pushed to work together on a conference that will help raise funds their mosque desperately needs to continue functioning. As they get to know each other better, they start reconsidering their misconceptions and slowly falling in love. I don’t know if I’d describe the romance as slow burn because they fall in love over a short period of time but it still felt just right?

“Your forgiveness for a kofta?”

Ayesha at Last is a Pride & Prejudice retelling so of course the romance is pretty central to the book but its a south asian P&P retelling so… yeah the MCs families play a huge role in the book. Ayesha at Last doesn’t just confront the misconceptions Khalid and Ayesha have about each other, it also confronts the misconceptions they have about their families. Whether it is Ayesha learning to let go a bit when it comes to her cousin to Khalid realizing his mother is not the perfect person he paints her to be. There are also good friendships and many amazing supporting characters overall.

I’ve wanted to read Ayesha since it came out in Canada over a year ago and the wait was honestly worth it. I really hope that P&P fans and romance readers in general will gather around this book and show it the love it deserves. I am so happy south asian P&P retelling are now a thing and I cannot wait to read what else Uzma Jallaludin has in store for us!

Ayesha At Last is the latest Pride and Prejudice adaptation to debut in recent months and I can't seem to pass them by. This one takes place in a close knit Muslim community in Toronto and is a more loose adaptation than the other two I've read this year. Ayesha is a wannabe poet who has gone into teaching, in order to help provide for her family. She is close to her younger cousin, Hafsa, who is excited to be introduced to potential husbands. Khalid is a pious conservative Muslim who is proud of his heritage. The sparks between Ayesha and Khalid fly when they meet and I really enjoyed seeing how the entire story would play out. As an avowed Janeite, it was easy for me to pick out the Pride and Prejudice aspects, but I believe anyone would enjoy this story without knowing (or caring) about the Austen comparisons.

Although this was a little slow to start, I quickly became invested in the characters and couldn't put the book down. This is a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading more by Uzma Jalaluddin.

Pride and Prejudice retellings are never out of style in Romancelandia—see below—but despite some awkward moments this one is significantly more rewarding than most. I am resisting the temptation to write you a full essay on exactly what changes Jalaluddin made to the original story and how brilliant her overall vision is. I mean, placing a story about hasty judgments and self-knowledge in the context of present-day Islamophobia and misogyny and how those systems intersect is already Full Galaxy Brain, but there are so many more aspects of this book that made me gasp and stop and scribble notes about parallels and contrasts. It’s a little like the way Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series plays with fairy tales. The allusions aren’t just fan service, superficial nods to those who’ll get the reference: they’re weight-bearing plot structures that get things done.
For example: our less-than-impressive rejected suitor, Mr. Collins in Austen’s original, is transformed from a stodgy Anglican vicar into a very self-promoting young Muslim man named Masood who is, I kid you not, a life coach for professional wrestlers. He believes our heroine Ayesha has too much “repressed frustration,” and that she should consider channeling that into a signature move. It’s an absurd, impossible vision of good behavior—just Mr. Collins all over—but it’s unique and current and I died from sheer delight. And considering we know that our heroine Ayesha’s most cherished dream is to be a poet, and that her best forms of expression are verbal rather than physical, it’s clear instantly why this man is all wrong for her as a prospective bridegroom.
Ayesha’s poetry is also part of why hero Khalid is drawn to her. Mr. Darcy is possibly the most well-trod territory in all of romance, but traditional and devout Muslim Khalid is the sharpest take on Darcy I have ever seen. What does it mean to be perceived as cruel, or disapproving, when it’s because of your religious beliefs and how you express them? What happens when your heart comes into conflict with your beliefs and traditions? This book shines most when our main characters are sharing the page: it’s a very deep and true connection, though a very chaste romance—there’s precisely one fade-to-black almost-kiss.
One last point, because I’m going to be thinking about it for a while. In period-set adaptations of Austen’s book, the Mr. Wickham figures often come off as merely inappropriately sexy, rather than actively predatory. Wickham is something more than just a regrettable ex-boyfriend: he’s a threat to the Bennet family’s future. Modern retellings like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and now Ayesha at Last translate this successfully by making the Wickham figure not merely a romantic rival, but also someone who trafficks in the worst aspects of online sexuality: revenge porn, coerced nudes, exploitative and misogynist sex sites. This book really puts the ick back in Wickham and gives us the proper emotional zing for the storyline.
There’s also a lot of undercurrents in this book about reputation, and consequences, and secrets, and forgiveness, which didn’t quite end up anywhere specific. But I sure did enjoy the journey, and it’s not one I’ll soon forget.

Through a myriad of Pride and Prejudice adaptations, it would be easy to think you’ve seen it all. I am a total sucker for the story, because it is so timeless and I’ve always found the way two independent characters come together to make my heart swell. Uzma Jalaluddin’s novel Ayesha at Last features two Muslim leads living in Toronto and feeling the pull between culture, family, religion, love, and passion. I found Ayesha at Last to be an entirely fresh take on the story, and one that completely delighted me from page one until the very last!

Ayesha and Khalid have different ideas of what it means to interpret their faith and duty to their families, and they are constantly battling over those differences. And yet, they are each what the other needs to balance their fierce approach to love, family, and religion.

Ayesha is teaching high school and writing poetry when she can. She’s never appreciated the tradition of rishtas, where the families negotiate a union while she awkwardly avoids making too much eye contact with a man whom she could end up engaged to without even a solo conversation.

Khalid and his mother recently moved to Ayesha’s neighborhood. He works in technology but finds himself the target of his new boss, who can’t understand or appreciate his conservative religious views and dress. But when Khalid sees Ayesha one morning in her purple hijab, he can’t help but feel a spark of something. Love? Khalid believes strongly in arranged marriages. His mother wants to choose for him, and he is committed to his faith, family, and traditions.

When Ayesha’s cousin Hafsa asks her to fill in for her at a conference planning team at the mosque, Ayesha and Khalid find themselves forced to work together despite their differences. And then things only get more complicated from there. They clash, they butt heads, but perhaps there is something more between them.. How can it ever work though when Khalid is committed to marrying the woman his mother chooses for him?

The passion in this is built solely upon who these two individuals are as people, and their stubborn beliefs. There is very little in the way of physical romance, and understandably so. But the romantic tension is some of the strongest I’ve felt, founded upon two people who are so committed to their beliefs, that they struggle to acknowledge what they truly desire.

There is a levity to this book, despite what might be perceived as weighty themes. I found myself laughing at witty one-liners, and I adored the banter between Ayesha, Khalid, and the surrounding characters. Khalid’s best friend, for instance, is a riot though troubled. His storyline was surprisingly deep, and a lovely addition to this book.

Ayesha’s family is filled with a variety of character types that made me fall in love with this community. From her cousin Hafsa who is on the precipice of her 100th marriage proposal and is a bit spoiled, to her grandparents who understand the generational differences and encourage them, I found her family to be wonderful to read about.

This book was much more than a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It has many other storylines that are fresh and inviting. I was talking to a friend about the book, and while describing it I found myself very interested in the evolution of a community steeped in tradition but also stocked with multiple generations whose interpretation and practice of those traditions is in a state of evolution. Even within a single generation we see everyone from modern Ayesha to traditional Khalid to friends of theirs who showcase all different ways of balancing their faith and their lives.

There is also a really great moment of cultural learning between Ayesha and her best friend (non-Muslim) around rishtas. I won’t spoil it, but it is such a fun scene and a beautiful way to think about how much we all still have to learn from each other’s cultures and traditions. That there is still room for the beauty of rituals in the modern world, just in a new way.

I can’t recommend this book enough—I loved it!

Thank you to Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own.

The fact that this book took me so long to read and review is basically a summary of my experience reading it. I was super excited to see a hijabi woman on a romance book cover, so I requested it without even reading the synopsis. And I really liked the dual perspectives going on and the connections to Pride & Prejudice--that shone through really well. I also love how this book represents muslims who are more traditional in their viewpoints without the author shading them or making it seem like a negative way to express their faith. It's also super groundbreaking in a romance, I think. I liked Ayesha's strong will and the ways that she was similar to Elizabeth Bennet. The muslim community in this book was fleshed out really well and I liked how you saw a spectrum of people's relationship with their faith as they all came together as one denomination.

The biggest downfall of this book for me was that it was just so slow. There were moments of heightened tension and a series of relevant events occurring, but for some reason, when I put this book down, I never was inclined to pick it back up unless I shut off all my technology and forced myself to get back into it. Maybe I would have liked it better on audio, but even though this book had awesome characters and representation, and a cool premise, it was difficult to get into unless I was reading it for long stretches at a time.

This was publicized heavily as "Pride and Prejudice with Muslim characters," which gave me some misgivings, but I've been on the lookout for fiction with Muslims that doesn't tokenize them, or double-team Muslims with terrorism, that I went for it despite being somewhat tired of P&P cash-ins.

Glad I did. Jalaluddin actually does a better job than most of the recent crop of Austen cash-ins by touching the basic plot points as well as the tone--somewhat satiric romance, observation of people with occasional flashes of insight, and also of parody.

I think this could have been a terrific novel without the Austen substrate, though I suspect it wouldn't have had nearly the publicity push it got. As it was, the changes Jalaluddin made helped shape an engaging story once we met all the recognizable character types: for example, the Darcy-character, Khalid, has an older sister with a Past, rather than a younger. The Wickham character is a lot more sinister in intent than the Wickham of Austen's story. Ayesha has no sisters--the Lydia character is her cousin, and Ayesha gets into a jam by pretending to be her cousin for plot reasons.

I really appreciated the fact that these Muslim characters are living their lives, not being tokens or villains--they come from all over the world (as Muslims do) and their identity as Muslim ranges from deeply devout to assimilated in all but who they hang out with.

Along the way they do collide with prejudice but the author keeps the pacing brisk, and the tone sparkling, as Austen did in her own book. Khalid/Darcy is unlikeable at first in his own prejudice, but as we get to know and understand him, his character takes on appeal, especially as he works to understand and improve himself.

Ayesha/Lizzie is a lot of fun, her cousin alternately annoying and a crackup, as Lydia is. The various aunties and hovering mothers determined to wrest their kids into marriage are entertaining, but drawn with a sympathetic touch.

I really enjoyed it.

Finding love wasn’t a priority to Ayesha, she was focused on settling into her teaching job while pursuing her poetry writing/performing, her true passion, on the side. Upon meeting Khalid, Ayesha initially pegs him as a stiff, judgmental type of Muslim, not a man she’d have any sort of romantic interest in. Khalid judges Ayesha as a Muslim with loose morals. However, as circumstances throw them together, they find their initial impressions might have been off, and their admiration for each other grows.

While it took me a little bit to get into the story since I felt much of the beginning was an introduction into the culture, and I think there was a lot going on plot wise, I did enjoy the story. I think any fan of Pride and Prejudice will be able to draw pleasing comparisons to the original beloved story. I loved Ayesha’s character just as I did Elizabeth’s, both viewed as independent, spirited women for their situation, and I was glad they didn’t just cow to their expected roles in life. Both lived life as they thought they should, no matter the accepted norms around them. Khalid was judgmental and rigid at first, but he grew on me as his view on life expanded. Hafsa was the “Lydia” of the story and just as selfish, and irritating. Ayesha was a lot more forgiving of her behavior than I think I would’ve been. Khalid’s mom was something else, the dreaded “Catherine de Bourgh” of the story.

Ayesha at Last is a sweet, funny re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, one of the few re-tellings I’ve actually enjoyed.

A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.

Ayesha Shamsi is a modern Muslim and is quite talented as a poet and has the opportunity to share her poetry. However, she works as a substitute teacher. She longs to get married but is not keen on the process involved with her family and her faith. However, Ayesha is behaving quite conscientiously. When she and her family arrived in in Canada, from India, her uncle helped in tremendous ways, something that she makes her feel deeply indebted. She hopes her job as a teacher will allow her to begin to pay her uncle back. Meanwhile, Ayesha cannot get away from her family, because her cousin Hafsa is front and center in her life. Hafsa is presented as having far more to offer than Ayesha and has been receiving numerous marriage proposals.

Khalid Mirza is a conservative and devout Muslim man. He is doing his best to follow the rules of his culture and tradition in his manner of dress and style and by allowing his mother to arrange marriage for him. When Khalid meets Ayesha, she affects him so much that he forgets to breathe, However, she is nowhere near as traditional as Khalid, so therefore, he finds her unacceptable and never once wants to trust the feelings he cannot help but to have for her.

While Ayesha is indeed drawn to Khalid, there are indeed obstacles that would prevent her from ever considering anything further with him. For one thing, there is much gossip about Khalid and his family, so bad, in fact, that Ayesha wants to be as far away from him as possible. She also knows that his mother has other plans for Khalid. Beyond that, Ayesha has very good reasons never to trust her heart.

Ayesha at Last is a multi-layered story. The stories intertwine quite well. The reader will be able to see things like Ayesha and her relationship with her cousin. Then there Khalid's mother and how she strives to orchestrate everything in his life. Meanwhile, he is facing huge adversity on his job. The fact that his boss shows remarkable aversion to him simply because of his religion and appearance was nothing less than despicable.

This debut novel was absolutely incredible! I can barely believe that Uzma Jalaluddin could write such an amazing book. So many scenes in this book are permanently imprinted in my brain. I learned about the culture and how, in today's society, things such as planned marriages still exist here in the United States. All I wanted was for Ayesha and Khalid to find love. For the author to write a book with so many conflicts and the resolutions that occurred, well, it was done expertly.

What an amazing book! If this is what this extraordinary author has to offer her readers, no doubt I will be first in line for any book she dares to pen. So, if you cannot tell already, I highly recommend this read. If one is overly concerned about the fact that this involves a situation where faith is often mentioned, they need not worry. What they will get is a book with real people, in real situations, with even some humor, oh, and beautiful poetry, finding their way to love just like any other romance novel one would read. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention that this is a modern-day Pride and Prejudice retelling.

Many thanks to Berkley and to Edelweiss for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'll be honest, I could not get into this book at all.
I had hoped, and I was so excited to read it, but I couldn't get interested.

I’ve read a number of Pride And Prejudice inspired stories or retellings in the past six months and I think I hit my current limit one book ago, which is an utter shame because that meant I came into this one excited about the premise while also being ready to not read anymore Jane Austen-inspired anything for a couple of years.

What I can say, however, is that the Muslim lens for this P&P-inspired story was brilliant. Emphasis on this being an inspired story. A lot has been changed or updated from the source material so if you’re expecting a Muslim P&P you’ll be disappointed.

There’s great tension from the moment Ayesha and Khalid meet. He completely misjudges her, believing she isn’t a devout Muslim, and she writes him off as an uptight fundy. But their paths keep crossing and as they do, they start to see one another in a new light. It’s an entirely chaste love story in keeping with their faith but the chemistry is palpable.

One of the best parts of this novel are the descriptions of food. I wanted so badly to reach through the pages and grab whatever Nani was making. I also loved the way Ayesha talked about chai: "Chai was so much more than a caffeine kick for her...Chai was love, distilled and warming."

My issues with the story are largely my own reading pet peeves. Khalid comes to believe Ayesha is her cousin Hafsa and she never corrects him, not even as they start to spend time together outside of planning for the mosque conference. She could have easily set him (and the imam!) straight at any point but she didn’t and this bothered me to no end, especially because Hafsa did not deserve to be covered for. Hafsa is a spoiled brat who needed to be put in her place. All the enabling really messed with my reading experience.

In fact, Hafsa never has to face consequences for any of her actions. Ayesha doesn’t even push back until almost the end, which is way past when it should have happened. I get that Ayesha felt loyal to her uncle because of the way he helped her family when they immigrated to Canada but that doesn’t mean Hafsa should be able to treat them so horribly.

This is contrasted to Khalid’s mom Farzana, who also needed to be stood up to. While she does face consequences for her actions, it was almost too extreme and it was part of the Wickham character’s nefarious plot, not Khalid standing up for himself.

If these elements don’t bother you, then you’ll enjoy this one just fine. And while my pet peeves made me enjoy this less, it’s still a strong story and a wonderful interpretation of Jane Austen’s classic. Jalaluddin examines immigration, Islamaphobia, and more through the course of the novel in some really compelling ways. I’m glad I read it.

CW: death of a parent, grief, alcoholism, Islamaphobia, workplace harassment due to faith

Romantic comedy at its best! A rave read!

Wonderful look at traditional practices informing life. When Ayesha Shamsi covers for her cousin Hafsa, at firstly an arranged marriage interview, and then organizing a Muslim youth concert, she comes in contact with Khalid Mirza a conservative Muslim man who has agreed to his mother's suggestions for using a marriage broker.
The fact that Ayesha finds herself attracted to such a conservative man is somewhat troubling to her.
Ayesha is smart, a poet and a young woman struggling to find her destiny, interrupted as it is by her having to pay off her debts to a wealthy uncle.
Roughly following a pride and prejudice type trope this story is full of heart, laughter and love with a healthy dose of reality. I was right there with Ayesha in her journey. So present!
I really enjoyed this most unusual and throughly captivating novel from Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin.
I must say I love the cover!

A Berkley Publishing Group ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own)

Ayesha Shamsi is considered a spinster in her big family. She’s only in her 20s, but she’s put her own interests and career before entertaining the idea of marriage, and while she’s seen as dependable and smart, her family also pities her. Her cousin Hafsa, on the other hand, is younger, prettier, and is well on her way to marrying a rich man so she can settle down and go shopping. Ayesha and Hafsa have a close relationship, but Ayesha isn’t jealous of Hafsa. She doesn’t even want to get married anyway.

But all that changes when Ayesha meets Khalid at a poetry reading one night. Khalid is conservative and awkward, a mopey downer to be sure—but she can’t help but be drawn to him. Even though their first encounter is unpleasant, they find themselves working together on a fundraising project for the local mosque. Over time they become close and are forced to challenge their beliefs and assumptions about each other. But their fragile connection is shattered when Ayesha gets caught in a huge lie and Khalid’s past comes back to haunt him. After all the drama unfolds, the two have to decide if they can forgive and forget, or if there’s just too much baggage to move forward.

Think of this book as a Muslim version of Pride and Prejudice. Intriguing, right? The story manages to incorporate many of the good points from the original P & P (shady Wickham, dumb-dumb aunties, crazy siblings, etc.), while adding a whole new layer of interest through religion and culture. I loved getting to know these characters, Khalid especially. I found myself wondering how I would act around him if he were my coworker. It made me think, and I appreciated getting to know someone from a completely different upbringing than my own.

I have a couple minor complaints. First, the book has some slow moments. If it had been about 50 pages shorter, things would have moved along much more comfortably. I also wish Khalid’s mother had been fleshed out a little more in the beginning, since she plays such a major role later on.

But I still really enjoyed the story overall. What a refreshing take on a well-loved classic.

I loved the supporting cast featuring good friends, a cousin dreaming of a Bollywoodinspired wedding, an embarrassing mother, and a Shakespeare-quoting grandpa. If you’re a P&P
devotee, this is a delight. If you’ve never read the original, you can still enjoy this story about
friendship, family, obligation, and love.

A modern twist on Pride and Prejudice, I loved getting to know Ayesha and Khalid. This is the second P&P reimagining I have loved (looking at you, Pride!) [and I still hate Austen's P&P and you can love it and I don't care].

This is a sweet romance where modern ideals clash with traditions, families think they know better than our hero & heroine, and two people who think they have nothing in common find out they understand each other better than they think.

I am here for any and all books that Uzma Jalaluddin writes next!

Positives: I think this book did a wonderful job depicting the microaggressions and blatantly racist comments toward Muslims.

Negatives: I couldn't really get into the book/story/romance. And I am sad because I was excited for this book.

I still think lots of people will love this and hope it does really well, it just isn't for me :(

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

I am honestly super regretful that I didn’t write this review sooner because I have mixed feelings about this book.
There were things that I liked, and things that I didn’t like, but overall I wouldn’t completely diss this book. I’d been really excited since the announcement of it publishing in Canada (once it published I tried to get it from my e-library, but they didn’t have it), and when it made its way to the US, I got really excited and was lucky enough to be able to read early.
I had no idea it was based off of Pride and Prejudice until after I read I, but now I see the connection and it makes this story all the cuter.
If we start with the positives . . .
Obviously the romance was sweet & I was fully on board with the ship.
I don’t think it’s possible for me to like a romance novel if I don’t like the ship (but maybe I’m be proven wrong one day).
I thought Ayesha and Khalid were such a cute ship, and I totally adored the slow burn. Sloooow burn. The tension was great and it just built up and up and up—especially when Hafsa is thrown into the mix.
There is FAMILY DRAMA and I low-key lived for the boisterousness of the family—especially with Hafsa’s antics and reading it all from Ayesha’s point of view.
The interactions when Ayesha and Khalid were just together, even if they didn’t want to be, created some really spicy moments . . .
So definitely a recommend of the romance element in this—wait for it—romance novel!
One of my biggest qualms was just the pacing, partly because of some of the plot points.
This is where things start to get a little so-so for me. I totally love the concept and the story, even the bits I’ll talk about later on, but some of the pacing was a bit awkward for me.
I felt like it was well-paced for the first half, but once we got to the second half and some things, things got a bit less well-structured for me?
I don’t know if it was just a me-reading-wrong issue, or something else, but in the second half, it felt kind of rushed, especially near the end. More tangible plot points (not necessarily romantic ones, but things happening in Ayesha and Khalid’s lives) started coming into play, and it felt a little bit . . . out there?
Some things just required a bit of a imagination from the readers to feel like the characters would do certain things or react certain ways. It’s hard for me to talk about without spoiling, but some of the plot points seemed a little bit extra, and it was because of these—what feels like to me at least—out of character actions by the characters, which required me to make that mental stretch to believe.
And once again, it could just be me! But I think there were just some things in the second half that were a bit weird in the scope of the story, and it messed with the pacing. There was just a lot going on, and it was hopping around the plot points pretty quickly.
(I also think it’s good to note that it could have been on account of Jalaluddin trying to make this fit the Pride and Prejudice mold, but I can’t be sure because I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice).
Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who . . .
- loves a good slowburn romance,
- wants awesome #OwnVoices Muslim rep
- enjoys Pride & Prejudice
- wants ALL the family drama
Although this wasn’t the perfect read for me, I’d definitely be willing to reread at a later date because of both the couple and the story.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally like retellings of Jane Austen's works because the originals are so well done that it's hard to see anything being made better. This novel has been described as a Pride and Prejudice retelling and while there are certain plot points that hearken back to that novel, the book also feels like a reworking of a Shakespeare play and somehow it really works!

Ayesha is drawn into a charity fundraiser planning group at her mosque where a case of mistaken identity turns her life upside down. Khalid, the Mr. Darcy figure, in this novel is a fundamentalist Muslim who is also part of the planning committee. As one would expect the two have their misunderstandings and a will-they-won't-they vibe for most of the book until Ayesha's true identity is revealed.

I think what I like so much about this novel is not the Pride & Prejudice themes but how religion and love are interpreted by each character. Since we are given the perspective of most of the main characters we don't have to infer their feelings but really get to know them.

I found the overall experience of reading this book to be enjoyable, with both plot and character elements that unfolded nicely and with forward momentum. While not the best book I have ever read, I would pass this title along to other readers and librarians.