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Title: Accidentally Engaged
Author: Farah Heron
Sub-genre: Contemporary
Trope(s): fake dating
Look. Any book that has a built in excuse for me to buy some sort of food product for the sole purpose of taking a photo is going to be good in my book. And Accidentally Engaged gave me an excuse to buy bread, so clearly, it’s a winner.
Reena is in that spot in her life. You know the one. Jobless, boyfriend-less, at odds her with family, and finding her footing with her friends. When she is let go from her third finance job, she decides to keep the news from her meddling family for as long as possible since they are already pressuring her to work for her father’s real estate company and she’s just not interested. Unfortunately, keeping things from her parents is difficult when her new neighbor Nadim (aka brown Captain America) not only works for her dad, but is also supposed to be her new fiance. Reena squashes that idea pretty quickly, but she and Nadim start to become friends due to proximity and Nadim not knowing anyone else in town. One night when they are cooking together, they make a drunken tutorial video, which they then drunkenly submit to a cooking competition. Their video is a hit and they are chosen to compete, but the challenge is for couples and families so in order to continue on, they have to pretend to be engaged. And when their natural attraction to each other takes over, they start dating IRL. So the viewers think they are engaged, Reena’s parents think they want nothing to do with one another, and in reality they are dating. It’s a whole big mess! In addition to the many external conflicts, both Reena and Nadim have some scars to deal with from their pasts before they can really make a go of it. Of course, this is a romance, so they figure it all out and live happily ever after!
So not going to lie, for sure, one of the highlights of this book is the food. In addition to competing in the cooking challenge, Reena also makes bread as her main hobby and there is so much bread in this book I just wanted to be fueling carbs the entire time. Mmmmmm carbs. Not only did I love reading about the food, but I really liked how the food brought Reena and Nadim together, not just in the competition, but also in their friendship and actual dating life. I’m not a big cook, but I love to bake, and it’s always fun to share that with someone. And while I definitely liked Nadim, Reena was the real star of the show for me. I really related to a lot of her job struggles and dissatisfaction, especially this idea of going to school for something, building a career in a field, only to feel like it’s not the one for you long term. It’s a tough spot to be in, and I empathized with her a lot. I also really liked the dynamic between Reena and her friends. Her best friend recently moved away, and she is slowly building stronger relationships with her cousin who lives in her building, and another one of her neighbors. Making friends as an adult is really hard so I felt that deep in my soul. Overall, I just felt the book was really well-rounded in a way I love. The romance was solid, there were relatable issues, and did I mention the bread?
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
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