This book was so cute! I loved Maya. I loved how her relationship with Sarfaraz bloomed. From him being The Jerk who she got stuck next to on the plane, to him taking care of her when she was sick, and then putting his life on the line to keep her safe. He also took everything that happened to them in stride, but I suppose it helped having someone to watch over, to make him feel less alone.

The curse was fun. I’ve read travel tropes before, where everything that can go wrong does. This one was so much more unique. All the bad things that happened to Maya were really just bringing her right where she needed to be. I loved getting a glimpse of Switzerland, and how Sarfaraz cared enough about what Maya said to look into her favorite show and watch it without her knowing. He was a sweet man who’d gotten the short end of the stick and had his own tragedies.

It was fitting how they came together, and I loved watching it happen. The clean romance aspect made sense in light of their culture and I didn’t feel the need for more steam—the story was well written.

This was a great story that I’m glad I picked up!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Maya believes she's cursed in love so she has decided to enter into an arranged marriage to a handsome doctor, the only problem is on the way to her wedding she gets stranded in Switzerland with a cynical lawyer who is going to have her questioning her marriage choice. Maya has been unlucky in love and thinks she's cursed, and to get her mom to take her seriously she decided to enter into an arranged marriage with a old colleague who is a handsome doctor. On the way to her wedding she is seated next to a cynical lawyer who she can't leave alone and when a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, Maya and Safaraz become unlikely travel companions. The more time they spend together the more the chemistry between them grows and the more Maya is questioning who the right guy for her is. Unfortunately this was a miss for me, I really wanted to like this but I just did not like Maya at all. I did not feel the chemistry or romance between her and Safaraz and wasn't all that invested in their relationship. I wish I could like this book but it fell flat for me and the romance wasn't there. If you are interested in an arranged marriage/fall for a different guy romance, give this a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Forced proximity travelling + grumpy/sunshine, the tropes were done so perfectly in this book 😭 there's a twist thrown in at some point which I absolutely should have guessed BUT I DIDN'T it really came out of nowhere, Alina you're a genius 😂

++ there's a rain scene where the main ship holds a sweater over the MC's head, the way I swooned 😭

I loved how everything was resolved at the end, the pacing of this book + the emotional setup and resolution was so satisfying! There's also a good amount of philosophy/psychology thrown in at the end, it was very well rounded 🥲

TWs - child abandoned by parent (the MC), extended fight between parent and son which leads to them not talking for years, mugging (a gun is used to threaten the characters although no one is physically hurt at the end)

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this book and want to say thank you for approving me for this ARC. I love the representation in this book and really related to the FMC. I thought the banter was great as well as the character development! Overall 4.5 stars!

I would love to interview Alina on my podcast, Raise Your Words. Maya’s Laws of Love is an incredible romantic book with Pakistani main characters.

I found myself being able to relate to Maya a LOT. I have a pretty cynical view of the world and felt that regardless of Maya's negativity, she was able to see the silver lining.
Cute book, well written.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I'm sure a lot of other people would like it way more than I did and there were many cute parts which is why I gave it three stars. However, if it wasn't an ARC, I would have probably just DNF'd it. The beginning half of the book the MMC is insufferable and really doesn't deserve the FMC. The FMC is incredibly kind and sweet and though I'm very much not from a Desi household, I could still relate to a lot of what she was feeling. I really also appreciated how much time the author spent both celebrating and criticizing her, and her character's, experience as a Canadian-Pakistani Muslim. My main problems with the novel are that I don't feel the MMC and FMC had a strong enough bond for me to root for them and that the book felt sometimes excruciatingly slow. The author could have had a cute, well paced book either ending it in the first half during the travel to Pakistan or just the second half in Pakistan, but I think she tried to fit way too much into one novel and it was hard to get through. Overall, I would say to anyone who was interested in this book that they should still try it - they might have a different take on it- but get ready for a really slow burn and to have to wait a while for the MMC to get remotely tolerable. I received an ARC from Netgalley.

review to come. posted review for another book by mistake. anticipating to have this read in the next week

Yes - 100% yes!

What do you do when you believe your love life is cursed & you’ve agreed to an arranged marriage…only to meet the love of your life days before your wedding day??? Do you test your luck and choose love…wedding and history be damned - or pick the safe route & marry a man you don’t have feelings for but is a “safe” bet? This is exactly the predicament Maya finds herself in within the pages of Alina Khawaja’s debut novel, Maya's Laws of Love!

💗 Swoon Worthy
✈️ Travel Adventures
🗺️ Follow Your Heart
💍 Arranged Marriage
📈 Character Growth
❤️‍🩹 Complicated Family Relationships
🇵🇰 Pakistani Author/Rep
🗣️ Banter
☀️ Grumpy/Sunshine

I truly loved this story and cannot wait to see what Alina Khawaja comes up with next!

Thank you Mira Books for the advanced copy!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC read opportunity!
I enjoyed this cute little novel. I like the humor that was brought through
go out main character and I honestly really enjoyed the representation of the Muslim and Pakistani culture and faith. I don’t see enough representation in most of my reading and I really liked that in this book.
It took me a while to get into this book but once I did, I really enjoyed it.
Some feedback that I have for the author is that some parts of the book felt slow and kind of hard to read. Nothing too bad, but just something to think about. But I really like you’re writing style and would love to read another one of your books later on!

4.25⭐ Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly - Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except - When you think you’re lucky, think again.

From the start, Maya's journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections. Trips are never smooth sailing. And before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune—finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret. If you’re overtired, you’ll always spill your guts.

I loved Maya, her faith, her humor. I like to read books about people who are different from me. Super fun romance. I loved to see more of the Pakistani Muslim culture, especially a woman who didn't feel held back by her religion. Great banter, great characters. Definitely recommended!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Cute, simple rom-com, but unique premise and not the same old -fake fiance- or -enemies to lovers- troupe. Easy read.

This was a cute and light book from the beginning to the end! I love the banter and really appreciate that it was clean. It was an easy read and I was able to finish this quickly. Thank you NetGallery for the advanced copy.

Thank you, NetGalley and the Publishers for giving me this ARC.

4.5 stars!

OH MY GOODNESS!!! This book was so cute. Maya is such a mirrorball girlie.

This novel follows Maya, a Canadian Muslim who is going to Pakistan to get married to her fiancee. Maya believes her life is cursed or just a bad case of "nazar" (evil eye) after her father left her, her mom, and her sister. Everything that can go wrong in her life goes wrong and because of that, she has lived her life according to others but never lived her life for herself. On the day of her flight to Pakistan: she's late to the airport, on the flight she is met with a rude stranger, and they are faced with bad turbulence so they have to make an emergency landing in Switzerland. Because the next flight to Pakistan is not for another couple of days, she makes the most of it by going to different places in Zurich and the location of her favorite K-drama. There is a series of events that happen in Switzerland that is a mixture of self-discovery and bad luck. She also strings the rude stranger from the flight (Sarfaraz) with her because he helped her when she was literally at her lowest (after vomiting all over him due to a bad case of food poisoning). After those couple of days in Switzerland, they are faced with more bad luck when they reach Pakistan. This whole adventure leads Maya to think more about the decisions she has made in her life and re-evaluate what her priorities are.

I loved this book. As a Muslim girl from a Western country, it is really hard to balance our culture (Western and Desi) and religion. When we are young we are told to never date or even talk to boys but after we turn a certain age we are magically supposed to have a husband and we will only be allowed to do stuff we want to do "after we are married". Maya struggles with being a hopeless romantic but does not believe that anyone is capable of loving her so she does what is best, pushes her feelings away, and rolls with the punches. It was not until her week with Sarfaraz and everything they faced, that Maya realized that she needed to open her heart to receiving love and to live her life how she wanted to live it.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion. This was such a cute and simple romance. I really enjoyed the cutest of it all.

Maya's Laws of Love

Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA and NetGalley provided an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Maya and Sarfaraz are crotchety, infuriating, and absolutely perfect rom-com characters. I really enjoyed all of their interactions and banter - definitely the highlight of the book. The ending felt a little rushed; I think the author could have trimmed a few of the details and interactions with side characters in the second half of the book in order to free up space for the story to come to a less abrupt ending.

There are several things to love about this book.
I really loved the representation. The characters were Pakistani and Muslim. you do not get a lot of characters of this background. I also liked that the author did not over-explain cultural/religious aspects. She used the right words to express exactly what she meant. I also loved that the FMC was not a Muslim girl who hated being Muslim and wanted to be “free” from the shackles of religion. It was a fresh breath of air to experience a character that is from a rich culture.
In this book, the FMC; Maya experienced character development in a way that was revitalizing. The more she got closer to making the decision she felt she was required to make, the more she realized how wrong she had been living. Also lovely that she went to therapy. As a black woman myself, I relate to wanting a therapist that’s able to understand the dynamics of your culture as that plays a role in your worldview.
I did like the plot twist, as an avid reader I would say I was not expecting that at all. I remember reading this in the bus and literally gasping.
I would love to read a second book, if the author chooses to continue to write about the story.
I am recommending this book to anyone who would listen to me. And thank you to the publishers for giving me a chance to read this book.

Maya is en route to Pakistan to attend her arranged wedding to Imtiaz, her fiancee of two years. Imtiaz and the rest of their family members are all there preparing for the big event.

But Maya’s never had good luck- and this is no exception. Her flight is forced to make an emergency landing in Switzerland due to a severe storm, causing her to be stranded for a few days. Despite this setback, Maya decides to make the most of her detour by exploring the sights with Sarfaraz, her seatmate on the flight. Although he initially comes across as rude, Sarfaraz turns out to be surprisingly kind, funny, and easy to talk to.

Upon their arrival in Pakistan, they encounter another string of bad luck, forcing them to travel together again, this time due to a bus that breaks down on the way to their shared destination of Karachi. The harrowing situations they go through together create a strong bond between them, making it increasingly difficult for them to part ways as they had planned to from the beginning.

Once Maya arrives to her family’s home on the eve of her wedding, she must decide whether to play it safe and marry her longtime fiancee, who’s always been respectful and caring, and that she hopes to fall in love with after marriage, or if she’s going to take a chance at real and passionate love with Sarfaraz.

Rooted in Pakistani and Muslim culture and faith, this sweet romance is a fun romp that features plenty of adventure, plot twists, and travel.

Fans of Uzma Jalaluddin's romance novels will find much to enjoy in this story.

When Maya's flight to her wedding in Pakistan is canceled, she ends up forming a tentative alliance with a stranger from the plane and they decide to do some sightseeing and stay together in a hotel while they wait for their rescheduled flight.

Throughout the first half of the book, we see the two of them get to know each other as they make their way to Pakistan, handle dangerous/stressful situations, and of course pretend to be husband and wife when they are stuck in a small village. Even though the beginning of the book only spans a few days, their interest in each other and emotional bond was very believable. All of the things that they go through together were actually the perfect opportunity for the reader to see their relationship start to grow and trust that there was a deeper connection.

There was a reveal that truly surprised me and the ending was incredibly sweet. My one critique was that there were some parts of the book that felt cheesy. Maya is convinced that she is cursed and this initially felt somewhat childish. She then proceeds to actually have absolutely terrible luck so it became more believable, but the repeated mentioning of her curse wasn't my favorite. It was nice to see her growth and character development on that issue by the end. Overall, this was such a sweet and heartwarming romance with fantastic representation of Pakistani culture and Muslim faith.

was lucky enough to read an early version of this and ohmygoodness it was SO GOOD. perfect for fans of jab we met, the main characters were nuanced and fleshed out, their relationship was amazing, this book is hilarious, the tension in the romance was fantastic, and it was SUCH A FUN RIDE THROUGH AND THROUGH. cannot wait to have this on my shelves and read it again and again.