Stop everything you're doing and read this book (when it is published on September 29!). It was the most beautifully written contemporary fiction love story ever. You absolutely fall in love with Azere as she navigates finding out that love isn't always what she expected it to be. Every character plays such an imperative role and I never felt like I was introduced with information that wouldn't help me later on. It was so beautiful and I can't recommend this book enough.

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo tells the story of Azere, a 25-year-old Nigerian woman living in Canada and must balance maintaining her family and heritage when she forms a relationship with a non-Nigerian man.

The highlight of this book for me was reading about the two main character's relationship with their respective families and learning about both Azere and Rafael's cultures. This book was fun to read and I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately, this book contains one of my least favorite tropes in the romance genre which, made it harder for me to enjoy the novel more.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when a traditionally raised Nigerian girl meets a handsome Canadian? This romance is a roller coaster of emotions! Quick to read with a lot more depth than you get with some romances, I recommend it.

This is an interesting book. Deeply relatable struggles as a first gen immigrant, and I especially empathized with the heroine's conflicted relationship with her interfering mother. I'm not sure how much I liked the hero, though. I was more interested in the heroine's arc than the romantic relationship.

A Nigerian woman must choose between love and tradition when she falls for a man her mother does not approve of.

As a child, Azere made a promise to her dying father that she would marry a Nigerian man after emigrating to Canada to preserve their family heritage. After the most recent in a long line of failed dates arranged by her overbearing mother, Azere flees to a hotel bar where she meets handsome (and not Nigerian) Rafael.. An evening of instant chemistry ends in Rafael's hotel room that Azere flees the following morning.

When their paths unexpectedly cross again, things between Azere and Rafael become much more complicated. Will Azere have to give up her family and her culture to be with Rafael? Will she have to give up part of her identity? Is it worth it?

Ties That Tether is a story of coming into one's own and making decisions for yourself after a life time of following your family's expectations and plans for your life. I thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected depth of this Romantic Comedy!

Let go of the life you've planned and accept the life waiting for you ....this sums up this book perfectly. I can't wait to read more by this author it just flows in the twists and turns and everything is Happy wanting more I don't know if they'll be a continuation of these characters are not but,this is a gift and I encourage you to read it if you're feeling like your plans are not what you wanted and you're figuring out if you can accept what is and what's to be.

This story was a refreshingly different take on contemporary romance – set in Canada, featuring an interracial couple, and touching upon timely topics such as immigration, acculturation, and how to balance more than one cultural identity without losing oneself.

Azere is a modern career woman living in Toronto, whose traditional Nigerian mother is busy playing matchmaker at every turn. After a spectacularly bad date with one of her mother’s selected suitors, Azere walks out of the restaurant and into the adjacent bar. While sipping on her favorite drink, she meets a handsome stranger named Rafael and flirts the rest of the evening away. One thing leads to another and she ends up sharing his bed.

One month later, Rafael appears at a staff meeting and is introduced as a new colleague at her firm. Suddenly, the one-night stand that has occupied her thoughts over the past several weeks is sitting in an office just across the hall and seems keen on rekindling the passion from their first night. Sparks fly, and as much as Azere tries to control her feelings for him, they eventually end up dating.

Of course, no romance novel is complete without conflict. Azere’s mom is still trying to find her the perfect Nigerian husband, her first love reappears out of the blue wanting to reconnect, and Azere has to make some major decisions about what direction she wants her life to take. While Rafael is the epitome of her ideal man, he appears to be keeping some secrets of his own. All of these elements create one big roller coaster ride of a romance, with plenty of ups and downs, but ultimately worth the ride.

I loved the characters in this novel. Azere’s struggle to reconcile her cultural heritage from Nigeria with her personal identity as a Canadian and an immigrant felt very authentic. She is a romantic at heart, as evidenced by her obsession with romantic movies and happily-ever-after endings.

My one issue with this book was the author’s choice in narrative voice. The story is told in first-person, yet the vocabulary used is very flowery and descriptive in a way that does not feel authentic. The characters do not speak this way when dialogue takes place. And both Azere’s perspective and Rafael’s are done in this fashion, which detracts from their ability to have uniquely distinctive voices. I feel like this book could have been even better if Ms. Igharo had chosen to tell the story from a third-person narrative point of view.

Still, it was a very engaging and entertaining read, with the perfect HEA to wrap it all up at the end in a most satisfying manner. Highly recommended.

This is a promising debut and I’m really happy to have a chance to read it because learning more about different cultures, their traditions, approaches, perspectives turned me into a excited child who is happy to discover new, colorful worlds and appreciates the knowledge is power.

Most of our ancestors have migrated from other countries and sometimes respecting your ancestors’ wishes and protecting your cultural identity might be one of the most challenging thing to achieve because when you adjust to your new environment, your efforts may be resulted with cultural degeneration. There are two risky solutions of this adaptation problem: you may lose the native identity completely and forget where you come from or you turned into someone without identity because you cannot adjust to both of the cultures. You’re just stuck in the middle of them.

This book gave impressive and educational approach to this sensitive topic:

The plot idea was also emotional, thought provoking and moving about young Nigerian woman, Azere wants to obey dying father’s last wish: she will preserve her cultural identity and marry with a Nigerian man. But when her one night stand with a white man turned into a intimate, meaningful relationship, she is stuck in a big dilemma: should she do what she’s told and respect her family’s wishes to marry with a man from her own culture or should she listen to her heart and choose her own path of happiness with Rafael.

It was entertaining, enjoyable romcom and both protagonists were thankfully likable. Their chemistry was hot, sizzling. Only the last quarter of the book a little disappointed me with regular cliches about hero and his big secret which ruined the lovers’ bright future kind of angsty parts. I found it a little unnecessary. But at least conclusion of couple’s lives story saved the day.

Because of the exaggerated angst parts I cut one of my stars. So I’m giving four identity, multicultural interest, powerful, promising, creative four stars! I’m looking forward to read new works of the author.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this moving ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions and introducing me a brilliant debut author.

I loved this story. If you come from an immigrant family or are a first-generation child it's even more relatable. The characters will engaging and likable. Great debut from Jane Igharo. I look forward to reading her future works.

I love a smart romance.
I love a book that transports me all over the world.
And I LOVE the 'oh shit we're about to crash into this relationship' trope the most.
So Ties That Tether was poised to be a book I love - and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
Jane Igharo's debut is so special. Azere is a protagonist I can empathize with wholly, and the pull/push between her Nigerian culture and her growing feelings for Rafa is written so honestly and beautifully. This was a really special book - and an incredible debut- and I can't wait to see what Jane writes next.

I enjoyed this book. It was fun to read about someone who wants to hold on to the culture of their birthplace, while also trying to fit into their new country. I thought the portrayal of the heroine and her family were amazing. The mom was such a micromanager, I was as frustrated with her as the heroine. This book is mainly the heroine's book, and she makes up the majority of the point of view chapters. There were a few chapters from the POV of the hero, but they weren't as useful. He's very closed up about his family and his past, and it made me not like him very much. I thought both of their grovel scenes were not quite explored enough and the end wrapped up a little too quickly. Also, this book utilizes the Insta-Love trope, which is not something I really get into. I felt like the main characters had a physical attraction, but the parts I would have loved to see more fleshed out were described as a montage sequence. The heroine loves Romantic Comedies, and it's how she looks at their own relationship. But instead of her describing a montage of their moments, I wanted to really see how they interacted and fell more in love in more detail.

I enjoyed this contemporary romance story so much! It had everything I love In a good love story. Azere’s family migrated from Nigeria when she was only 10 years old. As an adult she is expected to preserve her culture and marry a Nigerian. She made this promise to her dying dad and her mother is relentless in enforcing it by continually setting her up on dates.
Things heat up in every sense of the word when a one night stand with Rafael who is white, turns into much more. Azere is faced with the decision of living her life for herself or breaking her family ties. There are family secrets and complications along way. I especially loved Azeres tie in of romcom movies throughout the book and the love scenes were scorching!

What a beautiful debut by the author. Azere migrated from Nigeria at twelve years of age along with her sister and mother to Canada. She made a promise to her dying father that she would not forget her culture and she will marry a "nice Nigerian man. Fast word thirteen years later and Azere constantly puts up with her mom setting her up with Nigerian man whom she has no interest in but is too afraid to stand up to her mom. So begins this beautiful story and ask the question how does one stay true to their culture and identity and pursue a love interest that is complete opposite of your culture. This question is asked throughout the novel where Azere falls for the Spaniard Rafael and is torn between him and wanting to please her mother. Ms. Igharo does an amazing job of very descriptive life of what it means to be Nigerian and what is expected of a young woman in the culture. I felt the angst of Azere of wanting to please her family versus making herself happy. A great debut by the author and I look forward to many more of her work. Review on goodreads and amazon.

I enjoyed reading this book! It was well written with an engaging cast of characters. I do wish the book had been longer because as a reader, I really wanted more backstory, more character depth, and more of the character growth shown from so many of the characters. All in all, I'm glad I read it, and I will recommend it to others looking for a romance.

Jane Igharo’s debut novel, Ties that Tether, is a beautifully written love story of a young Nigerian woman falling in love with a white male knowing it will break her mother’s heart. What is Azere supposed to do when she falls for Rafeal, while her mother continues setting her up on potential husband dates. A well-crafted story that combines romance with today’s issues of identify, race, and culture. I highly recommend this story to anyone who has experienced following your heart and ignoring the voice in your head.

Okay, um, I can't get into this review until we acknowledge how RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS this cover is. Oh? My? God? It's one of my favorites of 2020, hands down.

Jane Igharo's Ties That Tether is a wonderful debut with a powerful underlying message about trying to figure out who you are when straddling completely different cultures that can, at the surface, seem totally incompatible. I rooted for Azere almost immediately (and not just because she's a huge rom-com fan like moi), and Rafael was a charming AF love interest.

Some of the dialogue was a little awkward at times and a few key moments were glazed over a tad quicker than I would've liked, but overall, this novel offered something different and much-needed in a genre that continues to expand its #ownvoices offerings and provide different perspectives.

I'm INCREDIBLY excited to see what else Janne Igharo has up her sleeve—she's one to watch.

Content warning: Discussions about death of loved ones

As soon as I saw this beautiful cover and the premise, I knew I had to this! When Azere was young she promised her dad as he was dying that she would marry a Nigerian to preserve her culture. She moves to Canada with her mother and sister, and now at the age of 25 her mother continues to set her up with Nigerian men she is not interested in. After one of her disastrous dates she meets Rafael, a handsome, smart white guy that she has a one night stand with. As fate would have it they would cross paths again, and now Azere can't decide between keeping her dad's last dying wish or following her heart with Rafael. This was a fun, touching, steamy and passionate read that I loved and would read again!