This book was such a delight! Cooking, craft beer, romance, secrets and a dash of family drama are all the ingredients necessary for a fantastic read. Pun intended.

Honestly, this was just what I needed, when I read it. I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope and I like to cook just as much as I love to eat so this was right up my alley. Bonus points because this is another book, by a Canadian author set, not too far from where I live, in Markham, Ontario. I loved that some of the recipes mentioned in the book are also included.

Fair warning, all the food talk in this book will probable make you hungry. Definitely read this one with snacks. If you enjoyed her other novel The Chai Factor you will certainly love this one.

This is a delicious romcom that follows Reena as she navigates being set up on dates by her overbearing parents, figuring out what her future holds career-wise, and defying the cultural expectations set upon her shoulders. Nadim is an expat that moves in across the hall from her. She instantly feels intrigued by this new tall, dark, and handsome man and winds up in a fake engagement with him to participate in a cooking show. Feelings will soon begin to simmer and secrets will be dished out.
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My favourite thing about Reena’s story was its display of culture and how one’s life is heavily influenced by it. Reena continually struggled with the expectations of her parents and what they deemed success for a woman her age. Sometimes parents need to accept that what they think is best isn’t actually what’s best for their child. I was rooting for Reena to step out into all that she is and it was heartwarming to see her slowly embrace that. I can’t talk about this book and not mention cuisine; Reena loves to bake sourdough especially, but she spends her time cooking other foods too. The concept of the cooking show is actually the cornerstone of the romance so food is very vital in the story. I loved the agreement of a fake engagement to participate on said show; it was perfect that Reena and Nadim’s relationship really began to bubble as they were partaking in it’s process. There were a lot of complications in this one, from strained relationships, family secrets, carrying barrage, and a lack of communication. However, everything pretty much came full circle with moments of healing and clarity. Reena found what made her heart happy and in turn, that made mine happy too.

Such an enjoyable read! I am a sucker for any book that mentions food and this was no exception. I loved how the main characters slowly built their relationship. First they became friends and as they got to know each other, the romance blossomed. Despite this being a second book in a series, I did not feel like I had to read the first book to fall in love with the secondary characters. A great romance that I will be highly recommending!

As a Muslim woman myself, this was a lovely romance to read. Although culturally it is based on a very specific group/background, some of the characters reminded me of my family which was a lot of fun to encounter—that doesn't happen a lot in the romance world. The description of the food was very well done as well and really brought me into Reena's world. All that said, Reena's world is very realistic & can be a lot! I was a little bit confused following relationships and different plotlines but eventually they all came together at the end.

I enjoyed this book. In my opinion the book was at it's best when it was focusing on Reena trying to figure out what she wanted in her life. Her relationship with Nadim was fun but I did find myself wanting a little more when I got to the last page. I wish it had focused a little more on the two of them and their baking competition than taking the story in a hundred different directions.

Speaking of different directions, I liked the direction they took with her relationship with her sister. It was nice to acknowledge their differences but allow them to come together throughout the book. The weakest part for me was her plot points with her parents. It felt forced and a little over the top in a way that her relationships with her sister, Nadim, and her friends did not. More Nadim, less obsessing about her mother's poker hobby.

2.5 stars

I actually really enjoyed how this story started but my enjoyment declined somewhat as the story progressed.

There were so many things going on within the plot that I think it would have been a stronger storyline if there was just one main focus. With everything going on within the story, it felt like I was being pulled in different directions between the family businesses, the cooking show, and a fake engagement (yet real relationship). This is not even including the different family dynamics and complexities that also surfaced in the story. There was too much going on that it didn't feel as if the story was as 'fleshed' out as it should've been, especially nearing the end of the book.

Speaking of 'flesh', there were some very weird things in this novel and one of these things was....a foot fetish. I don't know whether that was supposed to come off as attractive, charming, or comedic but it came off as none of the above. It was creepy and it was weird.

What really stuck out to me the most in this novel was the amount of issues resulting from a lack of communication. I understand that miscommunication can be a key issue in many novels but I feel like if done well, it's more subtle. In this story, it was frustrating and bothered me. There was miscommunication between Reena and Nadim, between Reena's parents, between Reena's father and Nadim's father, and between Reena and her sister. The list could go on. Communication issues for all.

I'm disappointed because this novel started out so promising but somewhere along the line it took a turn. I liked the author's style of writing though so I will give future works another chance.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I really enjoyed this book. Reena's character was so relatable. The whole time I was reading it, I felt penned in by her parents choices. I completely understand why she was limiting the information she shared with them. I also really like how she dealt (or didn't deal with) being laid off. I have had many friends and family members, either be laid off or furloughed this year, and how she responded is how many of them responded. Ice cream, sweatpants, etc. Her relationship with Nadim was fun to watch develop. And frankly, after reading about all the baking, I also baked bread. Not sour dough, but still. Fair warning, this book will make you want artisanal bread, and you will either have to bake it or buy it.

I love a modern arranged marriage. It's also wonderful to see good Muslim rep on the page. Also, the food. Oh, the food.

Thank you to Read Forever Pub for our gifted review copy.

"You take a leap of faith. It’s not hard, you know. You just need to find someone who makes you a chai when you were tired, and who rubbed your feet when they are sore instead of insisting you are wearing the wrong shoes."

Just finished ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED & I LOVED it so much!
- fake dating, actually fake engagement
- lots of food 🤤
- family secrets and drama
- one of my fave HEA (maybe ever!!🥰)

Accidentally Engaged was such a great read! There’s amazing representation that I think a lot of folks will relate to, and the family dynamics are relatable for pretty much anyone. I was totally invested in the romance from the start. This is a pretty slow build, but I honestly enjoyed the details and peripheral events as much as the bigger moments in the plot, so it didn’t bother me one bit. The story still kept its pace and kept me interested, plus I felt like I got to know not only the MCs but also the people who were important to them and some of the backstory.

I’m so glad to have read this! Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance e-copy.

This was super cute and full of amazing food and bread descriptions. I appreciated that this "rom-com" was funny and mostly light-hearted, fitting what I would expect from a rom-com romance novel.

There was a lot of plot packed into this story, and since we only get Reena's POV I was hoping for more time with her and Nadim together, on-page. Reena's family is big, messy with secret keeping, and also very much involved in gossip and nemesis-having, which was fun but also at times overwhelmed Reena and Nadim's fake relationship reality Tv show plot.

Despite all this, the family felt loving if overbearing, and this was fun to read. For a close-door romance, it was nice to still feel the heat and chemistry between Nadim and Reena, and I was not expecting the foot fetish!

I’ve been savoring this one, and it was just the light read I needed after a slew of hard hitting literary fiction reads.

My favorite thing was all the food descriptions and strong female friendships that Reena has. I also loved the sister bonds which also led to sibling rivalry and conflict, but I really enjoyed it all.

*many thanks to Forever publishing and Netgalley for the gifted copy.

This is a very engaging contemporary romance with with a strong focus on messed up families. I liked the story a lot, it has many twists and turns and unexpected developments which is rare in romance but it worked well here.

The heroine is a modern-day Muslim 30-something woman in Canada and we see her struggling to balance her family traditional values (at least one the surface) with hectic life in the big city. We see lots, and lots of food and food making (the reality cooking show is a major plot point but the focus is very much kept on the cooking rather than on the show aspect). I liked how the food was something that brought the MCs together, something they had in common but also something they enjoyed doing together. Nadim's relationship the sourdough starter was hilarious and so, so endearing.

A found the romance really interesting, there was a strong chemistry between Reena and Nadim but also many hiccups in their getting together - inner and outer conflicts abound. Their relationship was very closely interwoven with their families, for better or worse. We see strong friendships and tense family relations and many characters. working through stuff, not always in the healthies way but making a conscious effort to be better.

I felt at some point there were too many secrets, it was distracting and overwhelming. On the negative side we get only the heroine's POV which did give us a very in-depth look into her character but in comparison Nadim felt much less developed. I still liked him a lot and felt convinced in them as a couple but would have loved to get more insight into his character/motivations.

All the relationships we see in the story are complicated, even when the people care for each other and it felt very real and relatable. It takes a lot of effort and honesty to form and sustain any relationship. And despite Reena's family being meddling and overbearing, they ultimately cared for her (and each other) unlike his father where no reconciliation seemed possible.

Ultimately this is the story of two young people finding their place in life - professionally and personally - all under the heavy shadow and too close surveillance by families.

CW: eating disorder (off page), depression (in the past), toxic family dynamics

Reena and Nadim's story was a little lacklustre for me. I feel like for 60% of the book I just wasn't buying into the relationship or seeing the chemistry that was supposedly there. Reena felt like she had a justified reason for being hurt and angry at her family and, I understand it's hard to be mad at family, but also.... your father sold you? Be mad? She was very easygoing for someone who was being pawned off to another family in order to get ahead in business. Nadim was just... not remarkable at all for me? I don't know what it was about this but it just did not land for me. HE HAD A FOOT FETISH? NO. In any case, I stuck with it until the end and although I loved how much Indian culture was given to us and how CANADIAN this was (shoutout to the 401 name drop).

The end was just too conveniently perfect. Everything just HAPPENED to fall into place right in the same chapter? I couldn't buy-in. I'm so sad because I was actually excited about this and pushed it to the top of my list but sadly, it was not for me. I'd give this 2.5/3 stars.

Accidentally Engaged made me homesick for the bread my grandmother used to make from a starter she fed every few days although she didn’t name hers like Reena did. Make sure you have some yummy bread or Indian food nearby while reading this because you will start to crave both since food is a predominant theme showcasing the Indian and Muslim cultures represented. More than once I was googling to find out about different dishes discussed.

I loved this book. There was so much humor in this romcom and the banter between Reena and Nadim was on point. They had such amazing chemistry together which can be hard to express on the page when the author has the more intimate moments fade to black and the door closes. But this was executed well.
I hope we get more books featuring one of the minor characters in this book. I wasn’t ready for it to end when it did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for approving me and providing me with a complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Accidentally Engaged was a book that I was looking forward to ever since we decided that it would be one of our Team books for Trope-ical Readathon. I am a huge fan of the fake dating trope so this sounded right up my alley. Once the readathon started, it was one of the first books I picked up to read, so I was very disappointed to learn that it wasn’t my cup of tea.

One of the main issues I had with this novel was that I wasn’t a fan of the main character, Reena. A lot of the plot focuses on the toxicity of her family, but Reena herself isn’t innocent of contributing to it. She spent a good amount of the book complaining that they weren’t supportive, but she hardly ever tried to solve these issues with actual communication. In fact, one of the biggest tears in her family (between her and her sister) could have easily been solved if Reena had been more willing to talk it through rather than run away and sulk.

Nadim, on the other hand, was absolutely wonderful. This was another romance book where I found myself cheering for the love interest more than the main character. He was patient and loving and (if I’m remembering properly) I faulted Reena for basically all of their quarrels.

The other thing that I was confused by was the pacing of the book. The ending seemed to come out of left-field and it felt so rushed to me that I couldn’t make sense of it. While it did succeed in tying all of the loose ends, I felt as if most were done a bit too conveniently. I either would have preferred to have more pages to deal with everything or to have some of the loose ends simply left untied. Not everything in life will work out the way we want it to, and it’s nice when a book can confront this fact head on.

Regardless of my personal issues with this novel, I do think that Accidentally Engaged will be a book that many people will love. It has #ownvoices South Asian rep and I enjoyed Farah Heron’s writing style. On top of that, the book features so many delicious dishes that it is sure to make your mouth water. My edition even had some recipes at the end for me to try at home! I’ll definitely keep my eye out for other books my Farah Heron and give those a try.

Received an advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

This is my second Farah Heron and she once again delivers a rich and complex group of characters you want to root for. There were a few too many plates spinning for my taste, plot-wise, and it felt like they were resolved way too easily, but the charm of a Farah Rochon novel means you don't really mind.

I love the representation she brings to the genre and want an entire cookbook made of the recipes described in mouth-watering detail, please!

Y’all this book is the essence of a feel good romance full of chemistry and baked goods!

I picked up Accidentally Engaged last week and it immediately put a smile on my face. I love how Reena and Nadim bonded over their love of food, overbearing parents, and just trying to find their way in life for themselves while also trying to not disappoint everyone else. It is such a fun, sweet, entertaining read I highly recommend picking it up ASAP! And definitely grab some fancy bread while you’re at it because you’re going to want it 😂.

I absolutely adored everything about this book. One I finished it I immediately reread it. I loved Reena and Nadine and their beautiful friendship that bloomed into a relationship. And the food descriptions were sensational. Even Nadim’s “thing” for feet was adorable. I will definitely be recommending this to anyone looking for a thoughtful, charming and romantic read.

This book immediately caught my attention, with both its Fake Relationship angle (my favorite!) and its Canadian setting (Toronto). With a vibrant cast of characters all living in the same apartment building, I can totally see this as book one in a series where each of Reena’s family and friends populating the complex get their own books, but let’s start with Reena, our heroine.

Reena is living in an apartment building that her father owns, which is a bit of a compromise with her strict Tanzanian-born Muslim parents, who would otherwise prefer she live at home until they can marry her off. Reena, naturally, doesn’t want anything to do with an arranged marriage; she’s a modern Canadian woman, after all, and she needs her privacy from each of the four other family members that are constantly trying to insert themselves in her life (okay, her brother isn’t really meddling, but that’s probably only because he and his wife are currently expecting their first baby, BUT I DIGRESS).

Reena loves baking bread and cooking, and used to run a well-known food blog – until her sister, Saira, managed to completely screw things up for her by posting a rant in the comments section. Instead of going ballistic on her sister, though, Reena sucks it up and pretends it never happened, which not only means she tanks her own career opportunities (her dream is to write a cookbook), but she also harbors resentment against her sis, who isn’t even remotely aware that she’s created this mess or that Reena hates her for it.

Dammit, Reena!

On the plus side, Reena recognizes she has a problem, and when her sister attempts to mend the relationship she can see is clearly off-track (even if she’s not totally sure why), she manages to confide in Saira. I loved this whole subplot, even if Saira is kind of a self-absorbed jerk, because she really is trying, and I saw a lot of myself and my own sister in this frustrating relationship.

But let’s get to the real meat of this book: NADIM.

I loved Reena and Nadim’s chemistry, as well as the million-and-one reasons why she absolutely, positively, 110% will NOT be marrying this man – despite the fact that her parents are trying their best to set them up for an arranged marriage, and she (not so) secretly falls in love with him.

Nadim is a TASTY SNACK, by all of Reena’s thirsty descriptions of his “brown Captain America” good looks, and he is also a bit of a freak for feet. He’s also sleeping in Reena’s childhood bed since he’s new in town (and to Canada at large, for that matter), and Reena’s family has lent him a bunch of furniture, which causes some very funny hemming and hawing over whether it would be appropriate to sleep with him in said bed.

Not only that, but the man loves bread. Fresh-baked, homemade, sourdough bread. He is already in love with Reena before he meets her, because of the smells emanating from her apartment. For all the single ladies who spent their quarantines perfecting their bread game, I can highly recommend this book for Nadim – the man of your dreams, who will compliment every attempt whether your bread rises or falls flat!

In short, this contemporary romance is super cute, super sexy, and has lots of hot bread-baking (and other types of cooking!) scenes that’ll make you want to bust out your culinary skills for your significant other just to see if you can make them moan over a meal. Two thumbs up, five gold stars, and one “ungagement” ring!