Great book! It was rom-com with adult issues interwoven. It was funny and refreshing. It wasn’t too cheesy.

Thank you to @readforever pub for a copy of this book. All I can say is don’t read this book while hungry, all I want to eat is fresh baked bread. I loved this story on Reena finding herself while figuring her relationship with Nadim. Their chemistry was hot and I adore the banter. The supporting cast of characters are a lot of fun too.

This is my second book by Farah Heron, and I am officially a fan. Between the relatable and badass feminist heroines, hot leading men, snappy dialogue, and yummy food descriptions, there is a lot to like. I loved being able to revisit the characters from The Chai Factor too. And I'm absolutely craving Indian food in a big way! This was a wonderful romance with the right amount of humor, angst, depth, and plot twists to keep things interesting. I'm excited for her next book, whether adult or young adult.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

This book deserves the four stars for the food and cooking descriptions alone. (I'm hoping that Brian will get his own book and can't wait to see how the author comes up with the right romantic partner.) Lots of nice humorous scenes, although I didn't have any real laugh-out-loud moments. While I found some of the side characters a bit annoying, I'm pretty sure that is what the author had in mind. The progression of the relationship between the main characters was enjoyable to watch. I appreciate that the author didn't, in the end, try to make all of the familial relationships have a fairytale ending.

Something about Farah Heron's writing really works for me. The humor maybe?
Reena is smart and generous and all sorts of things, but she's also just... real. Her situation, stuck in a career field that she doesn't love, getting laid off once again and trying to avoid the pressure and judgment of family who (while well-intentioned) have no idea what she wants in life, is as frustrating as it is mundane. So often, we read about protagonists who have this overwhelming drive and a great career and all they're "missing" is a relationship. But Reena is just sort of floating along and that's really close to home, for me at least.
I loved the way Reena and Nadim came together, messy and complicated as it was. Reena's got a lot of life and family stuff to sort through, but the romance is central enough that I don't think it was overshadowed.
I was so happy to see Amira and Duncan again, too. :)

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher for review. A different version of this review will run at Shelf Awareness.

I absolutely loved Farah Heron’s debut The Chai Factor and could not wait to get my hands on this. While this is about Amira’s best friend Reena, it works just find as a standalone and we get some fun appearances from Amira and Duncan.

This proved to be such an enjoyable read! If I could boil down the premise, it’s this: Reena is tired of her meddling parents so she’s dating Nadim, her neighbor she’s pretending to be engaged to for a cooking contest and whom her parents want her to marry…but they’re not telling their parents. That is a whole lot of family drama right there. But on the other side of it is Nadim, a man who has come to Toronto for a second chance at life and who becomes the genuinely good guy he was all along. But because of parental meddling, which included encouraging Nadim and Reena to marry as part of a business deal, Reena can’t trust that Nadim is genuinely interested in her and so she’s able to rationalize their fake-but-real-but-secret relationship.

Reena and Nadim are perfect together and I loved watching them navigate their neighbors to friends to lovers relationship. But the real star of this story is the food. Not only does Reena bake bread constantly thanks to her sourdough starter (who has a name, thank you very much), she’s also an accomplished chef. She’s just been downsized at work when she learns about the FoodTV Home Cooking Showdown, which offers the prize of a scholarship to culinary school. Not only did Reena’s food sound amazing, she made cooking feel accessible and I’m all in favor of when that happens. This book made me extremely hungry while reading. Nadim can cook but he’s mostly there as Reena’s sidekick and he made a great sous chef. He also gave her a ceramic crock for her sourdough starter, which was such a sweet and unexpected gift. Nadim had all these little ways of really seeing Reena and they melted me every time.

Nadim is from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as are Reena’s parents. At one point, he talks about being a triple-migrant (India, Tanzania, England, Canada) and what that experience is like. And then Reena reflects on being a double-migrant (India, Tanzania, Canada). I don’t think I’ve seen these particular terms used in romance before but it’s such a helpful framework when it comes to discussing immigration. I also liked the way religion was woven in, with Reena being described to Nadim as a “good Muslim girl” when she knows she’s not and so on. All of her family members have different relationships to Islam and I liked seeing this played out.

Several years ago, South African friends pointed out how Africa (a vast continent!) is often used to describe where someone is from, instead of their specific country, but this doesn’t tend to happen with other countries/continents. The same thing happened here. Nadim is often described as being “from Africa” or talking about how he’s going back to Africa, when really it should be that he’s from or returning to Tanzania. If Nadim was from Italy, it wouldn’t say he was thinking about going back to Europe. Heron herself is Indian Tanzanian Canadian so perhaps the editor/publisher thought readers could not grasp where Tanzania is, which sells everyone short. (And look, I'm saying this as a white American reader so take it with a grain of salt. That conversation with my friends really opened my eyes to the way this frequently happens in pop culture and the news.)

There is a whole lot of plot and it got overwhelming at different points. It might have been better to remove a couple of the conflicts and strengthen the ones that were already there. For instance, at one point Reena stops drinking alcohol and it wasn’t clear whether she was worried about dependency or if this was related to her past depression or if she was simply making a healthy choice while processing a painful situation. It could also be a pacing issue because of the sheer amount of secrets Reena’s family was keeping from one another. While I found Reena’s emotional arc to ultimately be satisfying, I do wish she had started dealing with things, at least one of the situations, earlier. Her trademark is to deflect and distance but she wasn’t called out on it soon enough for my liking and I really struggled with the way she put her head in the sand. This might be particular to me because plots with toxic family dynamics are not my favorite, especially when the characters aren’t going to cut ties. By the end, Reena’s family is in a better place but for much of the book, I didn’t understand why she would spend any time with her parents, much less go to weekly brunch.

Heron writes closed door books, while also exploring power dynamics (The Chai Factor) and fetishes. This has fade to black sex scenes but Nadim also has a foot fetish. I can’t say that his fetish was always treated with kindness and respect—Reena finds it hilarious, for instance. But she does let him massage her feet at various points. In any case, Reena and Nadim have chemistry for days and we may not know precisely what happened in bed but the book is not lesser for it.

Note: if you read The Chai Factor, you may remember that Reena’s sister’s disordered eating was a big concern. I was prepared for it to be here but instead Saira doesn’t even bring it up until perhaps halfway through and she’s received treatment and it does not appear to be a major concern anymore. Reena and Saira still have issues but it’s different from their conflict before.

Character notes: Reena is a 31 year old Indian Tanzanian Canadian Muslim woman working in finance with a passion for baking bread. Nadim is a 32 year old Indian Tanzanian man with a British accent, who is a property development project manager for Reena’s father. This is set in Toronto.

CW: heroine has a history of depression, toxic family dynamics, hero and heroine get head lice, perceived infidelity (but no cheating occurred), alcohol, past disordered eating (secondary character), medicinal marijuana (secondary character), anxiety (secondary character), heroine’s sister’s fiancé cheated on her with his cousin, heroine’s sister-in-law is pregnant with twins (off-page for most of the story but frequently referenced), ableist language

This sweet romance will have readers rooting for Reena and Nadim. Both characters undergo enormous personal growth that helps move the story forward in a way that is organic. The uncovering of multiple family and personal secrets help the reader empathize with the characters. An own voices romance featuring Indian/East African Canadian voices.

A cute idea with likable main characters. The ending felt rushed and the problems were magically solved.

Reena Manji is an Indian woman in her 30s living in Canada, not far enough from her meddling/overbearing parents. A lot of things in her life do not bring her joy until she meets her hot neighbor Nadim.
Reena and Nadim become friends. They decide to enter a cooking competition for FoodTV, as a fake engaged couple. They have so much fun together and the chemistry is undeniable. A mix of emotions from Reena’s end but she attempts to stay focused so she can win the grand prize: a scholarship to finally follow her passion.
I loved Accidentally Engaged so much. It was refreshing to have desi representation, learn about a new culture, and read through a not-predictable storyline.
Overall, I would give this book five stars. I look forward to reading Heron’s other novel, The Right Chai.

Reena is an aspiring baker and food blogger stuck in a dull job as a retail analyst. Her traditional Muslim parents want her to marry a nice Muslim boy, so much so that they arrange it so that just such a guy, Nadim, moves in next door. Reena is not interested in that kind of interference in her life....even if he's super hot. When Reena is laid off from her job, she and Nadim drunkenly enter a next-foodTV-star contest.....and their chemistry is clear for all the world to see.

Reena and Nadim are delightful and sincere characters, easy to root for. The plot, especially toward the end of the story, felt a bit thin--the solution seemed obvious to the reader if not the characters.

All told, a very charming, up-to-the=minute contemporary romance.

I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with this story. As a member of minority and growing up as a South Asian in Toronto, I was able to relate to the characters in many ways. Not being a norm to talk about mental health in our culture, and having way too involved parents who do not understand modern day society, were some issues that the book mentioned that I have personally experienced. Reena reminds me of myself in so many ways; trying to figure out her identity outside of her parents' nest, and still figuring out where she stands in her career. Nadim is the perfect person for Reena, who was there for her when she was at her lowest. I loved how the couple bonded over cooking. This novel is needed for our society today, to remember what multiculturalism is and to be accepting of all cultures. A wonderful story indeed, I will definitely recommend this to many people.

This book was a surprise. I had my expectations of what this book was going to be about and I was wrong.

Reena's parents want her to marry Nadim. Even though she finds him attractive and charming, having her parents be right makes her fight her interest. Then she finds out about a cooking contest that requires her to be part of a pair and decides to pretend to be engaged with Nadim to enter. This way she can get to know him without her parents' interference.

This book is part romance and part family. Most of the conflict comes from Reena juggling the lies she told her family and trying not to falling love with Nadim even though that's hard to do. Nadim is very sweet and them together is fun. Really made me want to eat some bread.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

An arranged marriage set up that becomes a fake arranged marriage set up that becomes a secret dating thing that leads into love ... what is not fun about that?
This books had me in splits and rooting for Reena and Nadim from the first chapter. And did I mention Accidentally Engaged has a #bookswithcooks setting?
Are you hungry now?

I really enjoyed this book. I love a good fake relationship book. This starts with Reena meeting her new neighbor Nadim and then finding out that their parents have arranged for them to be married. She immediately declares that she will never marry him. Reena's parents are overly involved in her life and she really seeks to be independent. Although she is worried about their meddling, she and Nadim begin a friendship. Part of this friendship involved them making cooking videos for an online show that Reena wants to win so that she can win a scholarship to a prestige cooking school. Her true love is cooking and baking and wants that to be her career. Familial judgment and expectations have prevented her from exploring that as a career path.

I enjoyed reading the development of the relationship between Reena and Nadim. It truly felt like they went from friends to lovers. The parts where they filmed the videos felt sweet and fun and I could see how they cared for each other.

There are a lot of secrets in this book. And that led to a lot of conflicts. It felt like a bit too much for me. I would have preferred a few less. The ending felt a smidge abrupt. In my opinion there was some low key body/fat shaming from Reena towards herself, I could also do without that.

Overall I was very invested in Reena and Nadim getting their HEA. I felt the story was a little bogged down with the conflicts.

(CW: body issues, discussion of mental illness, sister with eating disorder)

Accidentally Engaged has elements readers have seen before. Fake fiancé, overbearing relatives, arranged marriage to name a few, but Farah Heron makes them fresh by having a relatable main character in Reena, a wonderful book boyfriend in Nadim, a setting in Toronto, and a look inside the Indian East African culture.

Reena and Nadim’s chemistry is instant. Nadim becoming a sourdough starter baby sitter is my favorite scene. All the food and bread talk will make you so hungry while reading Accidentally Engaged so be forewarned.

I would recommend Accidentally Engaged. Food, fun, heat and heart.

5⭐
PG-13: you could lend it to your mom without blushing TOO much

This book. THIS BOOK. Where do I even start?? First, thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC because I enjoyed every single moment of it. This is the type of romance book that I love to read. And I loved this book.

Reena is the middle child of a tight knit Indian-Tanzanian-Canadian family who is holding tight to the independence she's fought hard for when Nadim moves in next door. And this neighbor who happens to have moved in next door? He's going to be working for Reena's dad who has promised Reena would marry Nadim. Reena has zero interest in an arranged marriage and just wants to figure out how to turn her finance job into a job that brings her closer to baking bread. But then one cooking competition video changes everything as Nadim goes from charming annoying neighbor to fake fiance.

I loved seeing the culture and family dynamics showcased throughout this book that I once only really learned about from my Indian friends. I think have a few friends would relate to the feelings of a close knit community, hiding a relationship due to family expectations and trying to balance tradition with modern desires. And I am so glad a few recipes were provided at the end of this book because my mouth was watering reading about the food in this novel. As a sourdough baker, I couldn't help but relate to Reena's challenges with finicky starter and laugh at Nadim when he didn't want to throw away discard.

And as much as I loved the culture and the food, I think what stood out to me most was the real challenges that the characters experienced. Yes, there were definitely a few times where a conversation probably could have fixed a few things. And yes, Reena could probably use some therapy. But these were real characters I could relate to and I felt connected to not just Reena and Nadim but their family and friends as well. The end wrapped up kind of quickly, but it didn't matter because I was cheering for these characters to find their happy ending. And of course, this is a romance so they did and it was lovely.

I truly loved this book and will be recommending it to friends and family to add it to their TBR, pre-order it, and recommend it to their library for an excellent spring romance.

A delightful and cute rom-com of Reena and Nadim with all the Indian food and the desi meddling family.

Summary: Reena is currently in a job she is not really enjoying and is actually aspiring to become a baker/chef. Nadim is in Canada to work with her father and is also a potential groom for her. Though she is attracted to him right away, she is not ready for a relationship at the time. But when an opportunity presents itself which might help her get closer to her dream job, in the form of a cooking competition for couples, she decides to get into a pretend-engagement with Nadim. With all this, there is also a major scandal and secrets that Nadim hasn't been open with, which is another huge can of worms. With a meddling family, though with best interests, and their true feelings coming out, will they simply continue to pretend or make it true?

Thoughts: I loved everything about this book. It definitely made me get some sourdough bread and samosas right away. Being an Indian, I just loved how the food was described even those that I eat pretty regularly sounded amazing. Reena and Nadim made an adorable couple and have crackling chemistry which I definitely enjoyed. There was angst and steam and it was closed-door but cute. The Tanzanian-Indian culture was completely new to me and I got to learn so much about it.

Having seen a couple of my friends keep a sourdough starter, name it and literally feed it like a pet for years, I felt the connection to the book quickly and once there were more food references, I knew I was absolutely going to enjoy it. It was nice to see all the friends and family also introduced with some character development instead of just being referenced when the plot needed. With such a fun book, the author also managed to include the mental health issues within the plot.

Thank you Forever and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reena is so tired of her family getting over involved with her life, so when she finds out the hottie next door (Nadim) is actually the guy her parents are trying to get her to marry she is over it. But then the opportunity of a lifetime comes up and Reena can get a scholarship to baking school if she wins the latest cooking competition. The problem is she needs a husband or a fiancé or some sort of family to participate with her. Luckily Nadim steps in and offers to be her fake fiancé and film the show with her. Only at some point the feelings stop being fake and start to be real.

Wow I cannot wait until everyone gets to experience this book. I loved it so much. It is heart warming and hopeful and so dang funny. I loved the Manji family and all of their quirks and secrets. They felt so real to me. And the romance felt very natural. FYI book is low on the steam level, so it really is a sweet love story. The food references made me hungry so grab a snack when you read it. AND it featured recipes at the end which always makes me happy! I’m very eager to pick up Farrah Herron’s first novel, the Chai Factor after reading this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Add this one to your cart - it comes out March 2, 2021

Reena Manji is a financier but her secret passion is bread. She has a bread starter that is like her family and takes it everywhere. But Reena wishes she could escape her real family. Her parents are determined to interfere with her love life and set her up with a Muslim husband. Reena will not be a part of their matchmaking and does not want to be with anyone who works for her father, no matter how handsome or wonderful Nadim's accent. But when she is offered the opportunity to participate in a cooking contest meant for couples, Reena finds herself in a fake engagement with the very man she refused to marry!

Farah Heron told a story of love filled with so much drama that I could hardly keep up. I enjoyed the food and the culture. Both of the main characters were flawed but somehow managed to find themselves once they found each other. The family dynamic was so complicated and knotted, I didn't know if the author would have been able to unravel the storyline to a satisfying, realistic ending, but she did. My favorite scenes revolved around the cooking show. I found Nadim and Reena's banter refreshing.

The conflict with family and family acceptance is powerful and greatly described. There were a kitchen sink full of secrets that had me raising my eyebrows on several occasions. Saira was one of my favorite characters and her story was quite colorful but I loved how the author ventured into somewhat taboo subjects such as mental illness.

Thank you #Forever and #Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sorry I just could not get into this book as I did Heron's debut THE CHAI FACTOR. I could not connect with the main character and I did not want to connect with her love Interest.

Thanks anyway for the ARC.