This debut romance feels like a cross between a Nigerian immigrant take on Bridget Jones and the heavier struggles at the center of Booker prize winner Girl, Woman, Other. It’s a difficult combination/balance to manage and it doesn’t quite come together here. Azere, a twenty something Nigerian-Canadian advertising professional, has a passionate one night stand with a man who could very well be her soulmate if not for the inconvenient fact that’s he’s not of Edo descent like herself, and she’s promised her parents that she will only marry within their ethnic group. Plus, as they soon find out, he’s her new coworker—surprise!

It’s an interesting setup, but there are several significant issues with how it’s executed. There are throughout, dozens of references to romance in popular culture. But they buck up awkwardly against some very harsh family drama. The result is that neither element shows to its best advantage. The movie romance references sometimes interrupt even the most serious emotional scenes, and that feels overdone and artificial.

In addition, some fo the characterizations of the heroine’s mother and potential Nigerian suitors are extreme and harsh. Azere even acknowledges that her mother sometimes sounds like a stereotype of an evil woman from a Nollywood movie.The way the text talks about most Nigerian men is also jarring and not really challenged on the page. At times, it also seems like Rafael’s whiteness — his blue eyes and white skin— and Azere’s mixed race best friend’s looks are described in adoring terms precisely because of their Europeanness.

Overall, it’s an interesting debut with some compelling bits and a lot of promise that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
About 2.5 stars

I loved this book. I loved reading about the Nigerain culture. I enjoyed reading about Azare struggles but I think she could have stood up for herself a little more. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Great read!!! I look forward to reading more from this author.

3.5 stars?

This book was lowkey triggering and then almost made me cry? The emotions are strong with this one.

There are a few things I strongly disliked about this book, like the surprise baby trope and the constant referring of rom coms (hello spoilers! but also, UGH), but overall, I kind of actually enjoyed it? Mostly? So much goes on throughout this book, so my mind is still trying to process it as I write this.

Long story short. I really liked Azere as a character, Rafael (and the love triangle, for that matter) wasn’t my favorite for many reasons, I loved the discussion surrounding culture and Azere loving and holding on to her Nigerian roots, and then I got caught up with the number of storylines that ultimately contributed to my lower rating. But alas, I would pick up what the author has next for us!

This book was really really good! I enjoyed it a lot ! It has a couple of twists and turns that I was not expecting nor will I spoil! Highly recommend it to everyone as it is so good ! I literally read it in one night !!!! Fantastic debut novel and I’m so looking forward to whatever the author writes next !!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy!!

I'm so disappointed with this book. First off, I was looking forward to it so much. The cover is stunning. It was written by a Nigerian author. The plot sounded really interesting. Did I mention I wanted to love this book. I REALLY DID.

Now that I have that out of the way, I borderline hated every moment of this book. As someone with fertility issues who has been actively trying for a year, Azere's pregnancy was INFURIATING. Through a condom on a one night stand? Really? How did that pass editing? It's offensive to those of us who are moving our whole lives around just to see those 2 little lines on a pregnancy test. Every month for a year I've cried after fertility tests, OPKs, diet changes, life changes, and you use it as a plot point in a story. It hurt. I should have stopped reading at that point, but I figured I could push through.

Then her mother disowns her. Then she tries to settle for a Nigerian to be welcomed back into her family. Then she tries to bully Rafael into sharing what happened to his last wife before he's ready. And then. And then. And then. These characters were so incredibly selfish. It was hard to stomach. And her mom just magically decides to not disown her anymore because she has a baby? Get real.

I don't write reviews like this often. I couldn't wait for this book to be over and it makes me so sad to say that.

I unexpectedly read this in one sitting. The romance starts from the very first page, when main character Azere does something totally out of character and hooks up with Rafael after a disastrous date set up by her mother. Azere and her family are Nigerians living in Canada, and she struggles constantly with finding her identity - is she Nigerian, Canadian, or some kind of hybrid? Her mother sets her up regularly with Nigerian guys (specifically Edo guys) because of a promise that Azere made to her dying father when she was 12. When Azere's one-night stand with Rafael turns into something a lot more serious, she has to content with her mother's vision of her identity and also figure out what her own vision looks like. A great romance with a lot of depth and heart.

A nice new voice in romance. The banter between the two main characters is enjoyable, but it's the relationship between the heroine and her friends, and really with her mother, that truly shine. I will be recommending this to many of my patrons, and look forward to seeing more from Igharo.

This story follows Azere--who was born in Nigeria and immigrated to Canada at age twelve--as she struggles to stick with her resolve to marry a Nigerian-born man to retain her culture or risk romance with her new coworker (and one-night stand) Rafael. I love the way Igharo explores the idea of losing one's culture and some of the nuances and struggles that come with an intercultural romance, and the way she writes Azere's family feels so visceral and vibrant.

Unfortunately, the romance didn't work well for me; I didn't feel connected to Rafael--despite Igharo's revealing a lot of personal details about him, his personality didn't shine through--and the introduction of Elijah as the "perfect Nigerian man" in the love triangle felt half-hearted.

First I must comment on how beautiful the cover is for this book. The colors and artwork are stunning.

This is a story about a Nigerian woman living in Canada that has a chance meeting with a man. This chance meeting changes both of their lives. I would say this is your typical woman meets man but with a great twist. I love all the Nigerian culture that was woven throughout the story. Azere, the Nigerian woman, was torn between the country of her birth and the country of the current day. Azere's mother did not want her to dilute her Nigerian heritage even though she was living in a country that wasn't Nigeria.

There was one explicit sexual scene that I did not think was necessary and actually detracted from the overall book.

I will definitely be watching for future works from Igharo.

I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

This was fine - the writing feels a little clunky and awkward, and the plot feels jam-packed, as though Azere is constantly moving from one scene to another without any downtime. But Azere gets pregnant after a one-night stand, and it's hinted in the first third that Rafael lost a loved one in a bloody way. I would've appreciated some content warnings on this before I started reading.

I liked this fine overall, but felt like the editor had too strong of a thesaurus or that Jane wasn't confident in her writing. The epilogue, which felt more natural, was lovely, but much of the novel felt forced and clunky.

I wanted so badly to love this romance, but I couldn't connect with it. The writing, particularly the dialogue, felt very stilted. I also couldn't handle reading about the main character's overbearing mother.

This was an engaging romantic novel about an interracial couple facing family pressure to marry within their culture. The story is told from the point of view of a Nigerian woman, Azere, who falls in love with a Spanish man, Rafael, despite trying her best to please her mother and avoid her feelings toward him.

As a first generation Canadian, the cultural expectations were so relatable even though I’m not Nigerian. I recognized so many parallels between Nigerians and Indians.

Azere’s determination to please her parents was so unnerving, I wanted nothing more than for her to come to her senses.

If you can understand that compromise is necessary for any relationship to work, the book forces you to look at culture differences as nothing more than a matter of compromise. It also shows that even among people of the same culture, values can be vastly different.

I was fascinated to learn so much about the Nigerian culture and was impressed by the author’s ability to show that some people truly belong together despite their backgrounds and visible differences.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a heart-warming love story.

3,5 STARS

This was a lovely story, Iliked the set up.Azere is tired of her mother setting her up with 'good' Nigerian men, since she is Nigerian too!However she has spend her life in Canada and when she has a night stand with Raphael, things will get more complicated.
This isn't a simply romance it's so much more, it's about family, traditions and culture.The ending was what I wanted!Overall, it was a great read!

LOVED this Own voices novel! Sexy but timely, I thought the messages were great and I really was rooting for the characters! Would definitely recommend to rom-com fans.

Ties that Tether was one of those books that reminded you that we, as in all people, are more alike than we are different. Azere (love this character’s name) has been pushed to her limits by living in fear of disappointing her over-bearing mother and her deceased father. The book starts with a bang as Azere is on another fix-up that goes south before the end of the meal.

When Azere leaves her date and goes into a hotel bar, she’s struck with an alarmingly odd physical and emotional connection to a white man, which was wholly reciprocated. Therein lies the conflict of this story. As a young girl, Azere promises her mother and her father, while on his deathbed, that she will marry a Nigerian man. Their fear stems from their migration to Canada from Nigeria and the worry that she’ll forget her native roots, traditions and customs.

Through wonderful, realistic and captivating storytelling, Azere’s journey becomes our own.

Whether it’s religion, race or ethnicity, people may feel a subconscious pressure or actual pressure from family to marry within a similar “kind” of people. This book pushes you to think outside the box and see how strikingly similar these supposed differences really are. With this being the common theme throughout the book, much of what was covered deals with identity, open-mindedness, romance, mother/daughter relationships and welcoming new traditions while still honoring your own.

So glad this book came my way. It gave me a lot to think about…made me laugh and cry. If you enjoy it like I did, I suggest reading, Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate. I look forward to reading more from this debut author.

f you are looking for an addictive, read in one sitting, book that keeps you up way past your bedtime - this is seriously the one for you!!

It’s an instant attraction, steamy office romance, with a lot of family drama - but honestly I don’t want to give away much more ... so I’m leaving it at that. Here’s a few things I loved:

✨I adored the flow of her writing and first person POV
✨Romance movie obsessed main character and all of the references
✨Loved learning about Nigerian culture and felt such appreciation to the author for explaining it for me
✨That struggle between choosing family and culture vs love was both heartbreaking and heartwarming

I found this book to be very readable and the story interesting. However, the writing felt choppy and the timeline choppy at times. I love the themes of the book but the writing drew away from the story at times. I also found the trope of an unplanned pregnancy to be cringey and the relationship between the two main characters to be problematic and wildly unrealistic.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this romance featuring an Edo woman who fell in love with a white man of Spanish descent. I'm always looking for romances featuring Black women who fall for Spanish/Portuguese speakers(Whether they're European, Latin American or from the African continent, so race isn't a factor for me) so when I saw this suddenly, I was intrigued to whether it'd fulfill my need to find this pairing.

Some of the obvious tropes are forbidden romance, as it's important to her family to uphold traditional concepts like saving herself for marriage and marrying a man of her culture, but how accidental pregnancy is handled, I was naturally fearful that she'd become a baby mama.

In her culture (specifically Edo tribe Nigerian) she was expected to fulfill a dated dying wish of her late father's by doing everything her parents say. This proves to be challenging since she's been cultured Canadian and has had premartial relations as well as dated a man so different from her culturally.

The heroine was hard to understand sometimes but only because she wanted transparency but often wasn't honest herself in most of her serious relationships(family included). But her mother was quite the hypocrite but it made her character feel flawed in a way most foreign parents are not humanized. She was very much a "Do as I say, not as I do" kind of woman, so to see how something very obvious was in my face when it came to her, I admit I was surprised because it was the opposite of what she expected of her own daughter.

They were the perfect push and pull for one another(even though she disowned her for a while, which was uncomfortable) and forced emotions out that were often hard to challenge when tradition was everything.

The hero had a back story and they fit well together, I just couldn't help but agree with how involved his family was, it felt like they were planning a Spanish upbringing and leaving her Nigerian-Edo one behind. His back story was sad but I'm glad he found love again.

I think this story is perfect for non-African Black readers to lean in and understand a culture very different from their own. I'm a Black-Cuban American, so some of this is VERY different from my upbringing but I like that it taught me what it was like to be a Black woman of her culture. I think all readers would benefit from a book like this, but I just think Black women across the pond don't understand each other, so we're divided because we don't understand each other. It doesn't help that language, traditions and birth countries seperate us.

The ending was a little cheesy but not uncommon for a HEA. I loved it. I hope this author does more in the future.

Jane Igharo’s debut novel about Azere, a Nigerian Canadian woman, contending with a promise she made as a child to her father on his deathbed, one wreathed in her Nigerian culture, and what it means for her in her mid-twenties in Canada.

Preserving cultural identity, considering personal growth and desires, many things are touched on in Ties That Tether in a way that highlights the complex nature that is the aforementioned situation.

*Likes*

Azere’s relationship with her sister, Efe. They understood each other probably about as well as sisters can and it was interesting to see how they navigated themselves as not only siblings, but as daughters.

Christina, Azere’s best friend and coworker, was a fun presence who did not shy away from calling Azere on her b.s. when she lashed out. I thought she was a a sympathetic support for Azere.

The discussions, whether between the people in the book or within Azere’s mind and the reader looking in, about the pressures that she was facing from not only her mother, but from her society whether it was Nigerian or Canadian. The different expectations intermingled throughout the story and Azere’s observations made her actions all the more anticipated by the reader.

*Dislikes*

There felt like an issue with pacing at stages of the book, wherein certain revelations came too quickly, their build up being glossed over, events gotten to and over with little fan fare, then others were I was a bit frustrated with the “please get to the point” of it.

I really did not care for Azere’s mother or the secondary “love interest”, if he can be called that. There were scenes that were uncomfortable for me because of personal experience (so these did not affect the rating), but despite that, the attitudes of both characters did chafe. Redeemable? Perhaps (that would be part of the story).

*Conclusion*

Azere’s story, and largely it is with the romance also being there, is an enjoyable read looking at a young woman discovering the parts of herself that have room to stretch and grow and who to share this with, whether that means honoring a promise or otherwise.