This was a DNF for me. The storyline wasn't very entertaining and I didn't connect with the FMC at all. I wanted to shake her.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Review based on final copy. All opinions are my own.
Maya’s Laws of Love is a cute Pakistani-Muslim romcom that caught my eye due to the cute cover and the premise. While I can’t speak to the specifics of the rep, with responses being polarizing from ownvoices reviewers, I did appreciate getting Khawaja’s perspective on certain cultural issues through her characters, including the nuances of arranged marriage beyond the propaganda-like horror stories, not to mention the common “people pleaser” mentality many Pakistani Muslim children grow up with.
Maya’s characterization explores these issues beautifully. She’s chronically unlucky in love, which inspired the titular laws of love, and her belief she’s cursed. It has also motivated her to be fine with going along with the “safe” option of an arranged marriage her parents have arranged for her. But it’s clear that she’s not happy living this way, and an opportunity for true, requited love really changes her worldview.
Sarfaraz is a compelling love interest, if not from the initial “meet-cute,” definitely once they began interacting. I didn’t initially expect the connection between him and her fiancee, but it all made sense in hindsight, including him picking up on it before she did. He’s just a generally solid guy who also loves his family and wants to do right by them, but also wants Maya to choose herself for once instead of caving to what others want.
And speaking of the fiancee, I didn’t know what to think of him at first, but he really came through in the end, being really supportive of Maya and Sarfaraz. I don’t know what Khawaja plans to write next, but I hope she has plans for something involving him!
This was a solid debut, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for a contemporary romcom with nuanced Pakistani-Muslim rep.

I know not every romance novel, YA or Adult with Muslim characters, by Muslim authors is halal, no matter what the claim is, obviously. But I didn't realize how trope-y such a niche within the genre apparently is for Muslim characters falling in love, with some semblance of a religious conscience. In all reality I've only ever read a handful of "romance" novels, the romcom type, so I was surprised to see that this book also relies on weather causing a plane to be diverted, but not causing much stress for those stranded and thus allowing them to have a pocket of time that they must make the best of until they can resume their journey and lives. In this case it is Maya and Sarfraz. Maya is headed to her wedding in Pakistan, Sarfraz is the stranger that she can't avoid each step of the journey. Both are Muslim Canadian with their own baggage and obstacles, but by about chapter three it is pretty clear exactly what is going on, what is going to happen, and there are no real surprises. Maya's laws and her belief that she is cursed, I think are meant to be quirky, but I just found them rather annoying traits in an otherwise fairly likeable character. Her "doomed" love life is more dramatic than grounded in accuracy, and the passages where she reflects on her passed failures and current curse are slow, drawn out, and ultimately stall the story, particularly at the end. The characters pray on occasion and are Muslim, but fear and love of Allah don't dictate anything they do or keep themselves from doing. For an Adult book, the "haramness" is pretty tame and isn't much of a concern, they sleep int he same room, they hold hands, they do share a kiss, and ultimately there is dating, a few non Muslim lesbian and gay couples mentioned, some lying, and some belief in chance, luck, and superstition.. There is some commentary on Pakistani culture, misogyny, divorce, and immigrants, but nothing heavy or particularly insightful. The books stays on the surface, and reads like a 90's chick flick. I read the 310 pages off and on in the car in a single day waiting for my kids and enjoyed it for the most part. I wouldn't be terribly alarmed if a 16 or 17 year old picked it up, but I wouldn't hand it to them. I appreciate the "disclaimer" at the beginning, but SPOILER because the book concludes with them dating, not marrying, I feel like the takeaway does normalize a clearly non halal situation that can't be pushed into gray areas out of illness, necessity, fear, circumstance, or a moment of passion, as it kind of tries to up until the end.

I received a compliment copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

This is a slow burn and a perfect read for fans of love by chance. The book follows Maya who believes she is unlucky in love so she writes a list of laws to help her cope.
Her list can'thelp her when she heads ro Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome doctor who she doesn’t love because marriage comes first right .However her journey is full of disaster as she is seated next to the worst passenger and they end up being stranded in Switzerland . No law against unexpected love right? Yes right!?

What a fun book. Goodness knows I love when two people get stranded together. This book is full of self discovery, family, drama, and the process of gaining confidence in yourself.

I think many of us understand what it's like to be Maya, to feel the demands of family expectations while trying to find your place in the world.

This was a lovely fun romcom.

A little slow to start but overall a cute story! I appreciated the Muslim/Pakistani representation in the book! I am a sucker for opposites attract and this was done well!

loved this romance and how the characters were able to figure things out and find their way to love. Loved the friends .

I wanted to love this more than I did. The plot was fine, the characters were fine, but something was missing for me.

Love love loved this!! The language barrier got me a few times with the slang and I felt like I was constantly searching the definition of a term, but I loved this book! So cute and an easy read!

I feel like I can’t properly rate this book because I was not able to finish it, due to not understanding the culture and some reviews that said it was not appropriat information and didn’t want to deceive other readers. But thank you NetGalley and Maya for the chance to read this ARC!

A cute one, but not something I see myself thinking about for a while. I ended up enjoying these characters, but parts of this ended up being overly cheesy for me and I didn’t love the narrative device of Maya’s “laws”. Overall a good time though.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for the ARC!

Maya's Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja centers around a 1st grade teacher who believes she is cursed and doomed to have bad luck. She is on her way to getting hitched in Pakistan when the flight stops in Switzerland and the story really starts from there. It's a rom-com type of book so it has the usual equation. If you've read one, you know the drill.

What I enjoyed in the book:
🛫 References to prayer, masjid, and everything else Islam-related. It made me feel like I knew the characters more to an extent because of that shared background.
🛫 The K-dramas mentioned throughout made me smile and feel nostalgic because I did in fact watch both and they are also my top two--though I do rank Goblin higher than Crash Landing on You. I'm a fantasy lover, what can I say?
🛫 The plot twist at the end had me laughing and gasping for air--I just vocalized, "what just happened?!" several times. Then proceeded to continue with the book. 😆

What I found not-so-enjoyable:
🛫There were certain moments--dialogue, inner thoughts, actions--that did not sit well with me. I believe the author did preface the novel saying it won't be a halal love story, or something of that sort. Either way, it's interesting to note that one of the main points of the novel is that culture does not equate to religion and yet that seems to be a point made in certain circumstances and not others.
🛫 The fact that it's a Pakistani Muslim love story doesn't quite hit for me. Because, to be honest, if you remove those qualities from the book, it doesn't feel that different from the other rom coms out there. Aside from the identity crisis part but even that can be found in your average love story. Idk, maybe I'm being too harsh?

Overall, fast read, easy to absorb, not sure that it is really one I can pick out from the rest.

Maya is a bride-to-be convinced that she's cursed in love. Because of her unlucky streak, she decides to head to Pakistan for an arranged marriage. It's a disaster from the beginning, and she ends up stranded with Sarfaraz. This book explores familial expectations and cultural identity in such a way that depth is really added to the story. It's a heartfelt novel with themes of love, fate, and cultural identity.

#MayasLawsofLove #NetGalley

This book was a YES for me, the BANTER, the angst, and just a ride of emotions. This is the first book I have had the chance to read where the characters are of Muslim faith and Pakistani culture, I was so interested. I love how this author explained traditions and culture expectations. I respected how she wanted to make it in a point of view of a modern women., as a women myself who has tried to work on her cultural norms and be a modern woman true to herself, I related to this author in so many ways. The adventures these characters took and wild outcome of the story, won me over and in the end I found myself routing Maya and Sarfaraz love.

TROPES
~Forced Proximity
~Forbidden Romance
~Travel Romance
~Love Triangle
~Arranged Marriage

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, for the complimentary ARC of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all opinions are my own.

Maya's Laws of Law is the debut novel from author Alina Khawaja. I really enjoyed this sweet and swoony story.

I really enjoyed the main character, Maya, in this story. She is on a journey for self-discovery as she challenges the pressures that her family and culture put on her to find a balance between what she wants and what her family wants for her. There were a few times I stopped while reading to think about some of the life and love advice Maya; some of it was truly thought-provoking for me. 

I really loved the story and adventures that Maya and Sarfaraz find themselves in. Maya, having some of the worst luck, in both life and love, I have ever seen in a romance novel, made for hilarious and sometimes dangerous twists and turns. Even with everything that seems to go wrong, she always seems to find the silver lining and turn a bad situation into a fun adventure. Maya and Sarafaraz had fun chemistry and banter, with all the angst and pining. 

I really loved all the Pakistani culture, food, and language that is infused into this book. I love learning about different cultures and places around the world which you don't always get when reading romance books. For me, it was really fun to see familiar Urdu words and mentions of food that I have grown to love, that my husband, who is originally from the Middle East, has introduced me to over the years we have been together. 

This book is perfect for readers looking for a sweet, kissing-only romance read full of Pakistani culture, witty banter, and unexpected adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of Maya's Laws of Love. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Maya is unlucky in life and love when she agrees to an arranged marriage to college friend. She meets a snarly and uptight man who just happens to be her seatmate. They have several traveling mishaps together and slowly begin to develop feelings for each other. I admit to skipping parts and while I really wanted to love this title, there was very little character development for the main characters and the story felt forced/a little flat to me. I admit to skimming pages as the heroine continues to complain about everything wrong in her life without acknowledging that she needs to take accountability for her actions. While there are multiple instances where I agree that Maya is stuck, I felt that she whined more times than actually trying to find ways to help herself. This is an author that I would like to read more books by when she gets more experience as a writer and author.

Thank you HTP for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Maya’s Laws of Love was interesting to say the least. As a Muslim woman, I found myself cringing a bit and slightly uncomfortable. The concept was unique and I do believe it was a good book overall. A contemporary romance. Opposites attract. Travel romance.

This was a fun, light-hearted, very predictable romance. It’s just what’s needed when real life is stressful. I enjoyed learning more about Pakistani wedding traditions and the overall “bad luck” theme of the book. Good read!

I was so excited to receive this book! I was especially excited because I love reading books where the characters and the author come from a different cultural background than me.

As I was reading this, I loved that we got to see Maya struggle to gain her independence not only from her family, but her independence from her former ways of thinking. This is something that I think so many women struggle with and Maya said so many things that I myself have felt regarding familial expectations.

While there were a few moments in this book that kind of made me roll my eyes, overall I think Maya’s character as a whole is one that a lot of people can really relate to.

This book was so cute. I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me a e-ARC of this book. Maya is someone that I identify with because if I’m told that I’m cursed then that becomes my entire narrative. This book is one that was a cozy romance that put me in a good mood.