Title: Kamila Knows Best 

Author: Farah Heron

Date of publication: 8 March 2022

Genre / Themes: Contemporary Romance / Muslim MCs / Emma retelling 

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 3 Stars

But between planning the local shelter’s puppy prom, throwing a huge work event, and proving to everyone that she’s got it all figured out, Kamila isn’t letting herself get distracted—until her secret nemesis returns to town with an eye for Rohan. Suddenly, it seems like the more Kamila tries to plan, the more things are starting to unravel—and her perfectly ordered life is about to be turned upside down.

I love Farah Heron's writing voice and I have greatly enjoyed her previous books. This one did not work that well for and it's partly my fault for not paying attention that this is a contemporary Emma retelling. As I am not a fan of Emma (nor the book, neither the heroine), and this was very close to the original Emma story, I did not like it as much as I wanted to.

That said, if you are an Emma fan and love the Legally Blond movies, I am fairly certain you will enjoy this book much more than me.

On the plus side, this story had a lot of things I liked - great friendships, complicated families, Indian movies and food. I really liked that we get an older character (Kamila's dad) who deals with depression and anxiety. Mental illness is treated as the serious issue it is, no miracle cure, just persistence and constant effort to be better.

Kamila's friends were all awesome, the support and care that they had for each other was great to see,. At the same time, I felt Kamila went over the top, bending herself out of shape to please everyone around her. Her match-making was the thing I found most annoying. I liked how dedicated she was to her work, but also hated how she constantly played a role and hid her true self in order to make others happy. She was easy going and fun but also so certain of her being right all the time in everything she did, I hated it. The way she was so sure that she knew best how to care for her dad, how to treat Rohan, how to react to her nemesis, how to bring two people together. There was never a moment she questioned herself, never allowed the possibility that other people around her might be right and she might be wrong. She cared deeply for the people in her life but in a sort of controlling, tiring way.

I didn't get to know Rohan as well as Kamila. Her remained distant, a bit enigmatic. The focus was so much on her that he felt not so well developed as a character. The third act break up was all his fault but he was in a difficult situation and then he did his best to make up for it. In a way, I feel Kamila was hiding so much of herself from everyone that they just made the wrong assumptions about her.

The story started slow and then the ending was really busy. I enjoyed the final third though there was still a moment there where I wanted to slap Kamila, she acted so irrationally, I couldn't believe it. It seemed she hadn't changed or learned anything from her mistakes.

Overall, this contemporary Emma retelling is too close to the original and as such not my favourite. Sill, the writing is solid, the cast is fantastic, I am just not the right reader for this.

CW: child abuse (in the past), mental health issues, hospital stay (side character)

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Title: Accidentally Engaged 

Author: Farah Heron

Date of publication: 2 March 2021

Genre / Themes: Contemporary Romance / Muslim MCs

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 4 Stars

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