Thank you NetGalley for this ARC read.

Maya is trying to cope with the fact that she is to marry her arranged fiancé in Pakistan. She tries to talk herself into the idea of falling in love with him until the trip overseas puts a dent in her plans after meeting a divorce lawyer during her travels.

•Enemies to Lovers and Forced Proximity

A beautiful, feel good #ownvoices romance debut featuring a Canadian Pakistani teacher who finds herself agreeing to marry a man she barely knows in order to please her mother. I loved this grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, travel romance that sees Maya questioning everything she thought she knew about life and love when she ends up falling for a complete stranger when she least expected. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Farah Heron and Uzma Jalaluddin. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I'm excited to read more from this new Canadian author!!

Steam level: kissing only

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, in return these are my honest thoughts.

I started off really liking this story, I found the character of Maya endearing. I loved how she loved kdramas and still believed in love despite what she had experienced. She was a little imature, but lots of girls are still in their early twenties.

The character of Sarfaraz was cynical and divorce lawyer, but I thought he was Maya’s perfect match. The balanced each other out well. I really was rooting for their romance. I normally hate cheating tropes, but the arranged
marriage made me understanding of why it happened.

I really liked this book, but then the reveal happened and honestly it just ruined the story for me. It felt like it was an unnecessary reveal just to create more drama.

I was checked out of the story aftet that. I think if you took that part out it would have made the story better.

Hard to get into at first but in the end very sweet. Maya is about to get married to her arranged fiance of three years. She is ok with the idea of eventually loving her fiance after they get married until she makes an instant connection with someone else and realizes what is possible.

With a lot of travel mishaps on her way to Pakistan, she comes to realize her motives to get married are independence from what she sees as an overbearing culture more than a desire to get married. I appreciated the exploration of self-discovery, culture, and family expectations.

🌶️- Acknowledges the existence of sex but in my opinion very clean.

Read if you like:
•Vacation flings
•Impossible Love
•Sunny vs grumpy
•Forbidden Love
•Enemies to Lovers
•Forced Proximity

“No one is incapable of love, but we all have the ability to sabotage our own happiness, even if we don’t realize it.”

I really enjoyed this book. It was an sweet, adorable heartwarming romance. I love the desi representation in this book and how the author went about explaining the culture in her story. I always enjoy reading books that have desi culture but I enjoyed this book even more because I felt I could relate to the FMC Maya as a desi woman. This story reminded me of all the classic Bollywood movies I adore so much.

Thank you NetGalley and Alina Khawaja for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute story. It even had a meet cute. Well, not really cute at first but as time goes on (for them) it turns into a funny story. Anyways, this book was deeply cultural. It's not my place to say if it's a great representation for muslim or desi people since I'm neither, but I can attest that it painted their culture in a beautiful picture. The pacing of this book was a little oft for me. It felt a little all over the place, and I don't even mean the plot itself. I wished we could've seen more of Maya in a finally fulfilled, happy, and loving relationship. We only got a snippet of it in the epilogue. I want more of them.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I feel like this book was the perfect setup for me to like, but for some reason, I just didn't jive with the writing style of it. I don't know.

Thank you so much Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, but I did not love the writing style and ended up dnf'ing at 9%. We (as the reader) are being told everything instead of being shown what happens leading the reading experience to feel rather clunky. I wanted to continue reading but did not feel engaged enough to do so.

I will say that I absolutely loved the author's note and the care that she put into representing a Pakistani Muslim,

I enjoyed the take on the author's on story telling. As the chapters continue, the story continues to get better. I always enjoy romance stories where I learn something about other cultures. This was my first with strong heritage weaved into the tale. This story was given to me by NetGalley for my honest opinions.

A cute rom-com and an incredible debut from the author.

Read this if you like:

💞 Forced proximity
🛏 One bed tropes
✨️ Forbidden romances

I've seen many conflicting opinions about this book, so let me start by saying I am not Muslim and my opinion is not based on cultural accuracy.

That said, Maya's Laws of Love was, for me, an incredible read. The story is sweet, funny at times, full of clichés and chaotic but so adorable and relatable.

Maya is a hot mess, ready to settle into an arranged marriage only to gain more independence from her Pakistani mum. Sarfaraz comes off as grumpy at first but it doesn't take much for him to fall for Maya... who is his brother's fiancée.

The banter and adventures between the protagonists can keep you turning pages, and overall, this is an amazing debut perfect for those who don't want higher heat levels than kissing only.

Thank you, Alina Khawaja, Harlequin Books, and NetGalley for early access to a copy.

This review was originally published on Instagram on March 25, 2024.

This had the makings of a very cute rom-com. Maya's life is Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong, especially with her love life. On the way to her arranged marriage, she almost misses her flight and ends up next to a grumpy seatmate. Then, to make matters worse, the plane gets grounded due to bad weather. While Maya tries to make the best of things, everything gets worse, from getting sick from her lunch to being robbed.

This story takes some whacky and sometimes unbelievable turns. While it was exciting and gripping in the beginning, it lost me in the middle, particularly when she and Sarfaraz get into a fight, and he says some pretty hurtful things. In fact, even as their storyline progresses, he continues to say some crass things that tend to get overlooked. I almost felt like the author wanted us to feel like he could be brutally honest with her by Maya gets that from literally everyone else in her life, I would have loved for him to be more tender and attuned to her needs.

Ultimately, it was cute, but the romance didn't seem to hold up for me the way I would have liked. I think the characters could have been more developed, and the plot could have been a little less absurd at times.

i don't even know where to begin with this book ... it was so good and i loved every moment of it. the drama and plot twists were so unexpected. i seriously ate every bit of this book up.

maya's laws of love was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and it did not let me down!! i LOVE love, and i am so so happy that maya and safaraz got their happy ending. i was rooting for them the whole story!!!

thank you to much to HTP and netgalley for the arc. reading and reviewing this book was a dream come true.

This novel started off very weak. The writing was choppy, and the author forgets that some readers may not be familiar with desi culture (although the representation is wonderful). As you approach the climax, the writing becomes more fluid and the overall plot strengthens. However, the denouement returns to the same weakness as before. I would’ve liked if we could’ve gotten to know Maya and Sarfaraz better too. Their personalities felt very surface level besides understanding their main motives.

I loved this book!!l

I thought the development of the relationship between the two characters was believable and sweet. Their families were wonderfully developed as well! I also loved the references to the Korean drama Crash Landing on You. :)

I loved learning more about Pakistani/Muslim culture and relationships through the book, while recognizing this is just one story and isn’t representative of all Muslim relationships, it is a sweet story! I recommend reading the author’s note to make sure this is the right book for you.

4.5 stars rounded up. In Maya's Laws of Love, we meet Maya Mirza, a 28-year-old teacher who is engaged and is traveling to Pakistan for her wedding. She's been engaged for a couple of years, because the only way her mom would agree to let her go to South Korea to teach for a couple of years was if she was engaged, so she agreed to an arranged marriage. Maya is also pretty sure she's cursed -- how else would she be able to explain all of the bad luck she's experienced in her life? And how else would she explain the fact that while she's traveling to Pakistan -- alone, so she could finish the end of the school year -- she not only ends up sitting next to the jerk who knocked her stuff over in the airport, but their plane has to make an emergency landing in Switzerland? And she ends up running into the jerk again and again?

I love a good meet-disaster, and I love a roadtrip book. I also really liked Maya as a narrator. She's trying to make sense of the world with her rules, and she's trying to live within the bounds that she's always been expected to stay in, but she also wants to be her own person, and that's really hard.

I also really loved the Muslim representation in this book. I think it's really important to read Alina Khawaja's author's note, which she's also put on Goodreads, because she says that the book isn't 100% halal, and that she wrote this book so she could see herself represented in Muslim women in books, but that she knows that there isn't a universal Muslim experience. I'm not Muslim, but her author's note really resonated with me as another religious minority. There's no one way to be "religious," and to only define someone as "religious" by how "observant" they are or whether they follow a specific set of rules can be really limiting. As someone Jewish, it's frustrating when the majority of Jewish characters I read about are so religious that they seem like caricatures or they're so secular and their Jewishness is not a salient characteristic. I know that I probably won't read about a Jewish character who is Jewish in exactly the same ways that I am, but it's still really meaningful to read about characters who are Jewish in similar ways, or who are observant in many ways but maybe not all the ways. So I can understand why Alina Khawaja wrote Maya's Muslimness in the way that she did. Having religious representation look as varied as the way we practice religion is super important. If you read the author's note, and you can tell that the book won't be for you, obviously you should put yourself and your needs first. But I am glad to have been able to read a character like Maya.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for providing me with an eARC of Maya's Laws of Love in exchange for my honest review.

This cover is so dang cute and the story is too! If you are looking for a clean romance with diversity in the characters I would recommend checking this one out as it checks both of those boxes!

I truly love all the tropes utilized in this story and I couldn’t have asked for more from this debut!

Thanks so much Mira for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Maya's Laws of Love, by Alina Khawaja
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pub Date: 3/26

I really enjoyed this one! It had such a fun mix of all the best tropes: grumpy/sunshine, one bed, forced proximity, fake dating/marriage, forbidden love, and slowww burn. I liked the format of the book, with each chapter beginning with one of Maya's laws that explain why she's had such bad luck when it comes to love. The romance was sooo sweet- I was swooning with these two characters as they fell for each other! I loved reading about Maya's misadventures and all the chaos that led up to her trying to travel and arrive in time for her own destination wedding (I would have been absolutely losing my mind- I definitely felt some second-hand stress at some of her setbacks, but she managed to squeeze in some sightseeing adventures so good for her!) Reading about Maya's culture was so interesting, and I definitely felt for her as she struggled with trying to meet her family's expectations while also trying to stay true to herself and find her own happiness.

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Truly sensational!
I think I gravitated towards Maya in an instant!
She was sick of trying to find love until it found her in the most unlikeliest ways. This kind of magical happenstance is SUPERB. I mostly saw this play out so beautifully in Rom Com movies, but this book truly made it magical.
I love the equal attention to her placement in her own story also in societal terms with her culture.
This was just lovely. So So good!

I want to start this review out with a note (and what is essentially a trigger warning) from the author that is included on GoodReads. I do not feel as if I can personally comment on the accuracy of the religious representation because it's not my place but if religion is important to you I recommend reading the full authors note:

"now, to answer a question that a lot of people have asked: this book isn't 100% halal. There are kissing scenes and other physical touch such as hand holding, hugs, etc, but nothing that goes further than that. i don't believe in misleading people, and i don't want people to come into my book thinking they're going to get one thing and then end up disappointed because they got something else. if you're not comfortable with the level of physical touch in the book, then i completely understand! please feel free to skip this book, and i'd be so so happy to recommend you other books by authors that feature more halal stories (zoulfa katouh, sk ali, ream shukairy, aamna qureshi, and uzma jalaluddin come to mind). but just because there is physical touch in this book does not negate the Muslim-ness of the characters, because being halal isn't all that it takes to be Muslim. it is the love of and devotion to Allah (SWT) that makes you Muslim, and then the decision of if you're good/bad is only up to God. if you can read with an open mind, then that'd be wonderful. if you'd prefer to skip this, then i completely understand. and in the spirit of authors respecting readers, i ask that you please respect me in return. all i wish to do with my books is reflect the diversity that exists in the real world, and help open doors for other Pakistani Muslims to share their own stories, because there truly is such diverse experiences within our culture that all deserve to be seen."

My review:

Overall: 2.5 stars

"Maya's Laws of Love" took me on a whirlwind journey through love, culture, and self-discovery. Maya, convinced she's cursed in romance, is en route to Pakistan for an arranged marriage when fate throws her a curveball - a chance encounter with Sarfaraz, a cynical lawyer, leads to an unexpected detour through Switzerland. As Maya grapples with cultural expectations, personal desires, and a growing attraction to Sarfaraz, she must confront the possibility of finding love where she least expects it.

While I wanted to root for Maya and her quest for love, I couldn't shake the feeling that the story fell short. The clunky opening and unrealistic scenarios left me struggling to connect with the characters, particularly Maya herself. Her series of self-made problems and immature behavior often left me frustrated, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in her journey. However, I appreciated the exploration of cultural identity and the complexities of navigating tradition and personal freedom.

Despite its flaws, "Maya's Laws of Love" shows promise as a debut novel. Alina Khawaja's storytelling shines in moments of introspection and cultural insight, offering glimpses of the author's potential. While the pacing and character development could use refinement, there's a raw honesty to the narrative that hints at greater things to come. I look forward to seeing how Khawaja's writing evolves in future works, and I'm hopeful for more nuanced storytelling and compelling characters in her next endeavors.

Big thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

I think this book was a solid attempt but I was just not vibing with it. The opening was very clunky and awkward. It’s much more effective to SHOW what’s going on rather than TELL and girlie did a whole lot of telling and info dumped the whole first chapter in a very unrealistic therapy session (why are we only now discussing these concerns?). I am not Muslim and do not have any issue with reading intimacy in any way but my ex was so I’m aware of the rules and it seems Maya has broken A LOT of them. I can see why so many feel cheated by the “representation”. Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character and that’s what held me back from really enjoying this book.