I adore this series from Alisha Rai, but was a little hesitant on this book based on glimpses of Jia that I got in previous books. I'm still not a fan of influencers as the new go-to career in contemp romance, but I fell in love with both Jia and Dev. I absolutely love fundamentally good/principled characters that are put-together on the surface but dealing with A LOT underneath. They had legit misunderstandings that made sense with their character arcs (not contrived) and were still resolved within reasonable amounts of time. Seeing Rhiannon, Katrina, and (maybe especially) Lakshmi were nice call backs and helped move the story along. And while both Jia and Dev come from cultural backgrounds different my own, I was so happy to see everything normalized (no italics, translations, etc). I was immersed in the characters and honestly, the influencer stuff was the hardest thing to fully grasp all the nuances/references (this probably shows my GenX age more than anything wrong with the writing).

This was a fun read! I absolutely loved the characters. The representation of true South Asian culture is done extremely well, sometimes in very subtle ways - for example, by always discussing how the scarf worn by Jia, but never coming out and saying that she is conservative Muslim. One of the best features of Alisha Rai's writing in this book is the completely normal, wonderful way that she developed multifaceted characters, who, just like real people, are conservative in some values and open in others. My one major qualm with this book is the speed by which it moves. it's very easy to read and went by quickly but felt appropriate, until we got about 2/3 of the way through and then the book started moving just a little bit fast for me. The end of the book felt a little bit rushed, but I definitely loved the sweet storyline and the characters kept developing throughout, even in the last few pages. I'm now excited to read other books by this author!

I enjoyed Jai and Dev in this book. I loved that they each had their own careers with goals and such strong relationships with their families. The fake dating romance had all the best elements where they set it up to help each other and it spun out of control. While I really enjoyed this book, the romance just fell a little flat for me. I wanted more chemistry from Jai and Dev.

I read the first 2 books in the Modern Love series several months back and I enjoyed them both, they were both 3.5-4 star reads for me.

After I read them and found out that Jia’s story would be next I was really excited because it sounded like such an interesting story.

That being said I have complicated feelings about this book. The story itself was great, I really enjoyed it...

However, the romance aspect of this book is where my feelings start to get complicated. I really did not feel the romance or the connection between these two characters.

Things to know about this book:
* This is an open door romance, but I would not classify it as steamy.
* There are cultural and religious elements that contribute to the slow pacing of the romance.
* Because of this, you will be waiting a very very long time for our MC’s first kiss.
* When I say romance aspect I am not just talking about physical intimacy, I am talking about that fact that there is really no romance between these two. I didn’t feel the connection at all, there are really no sweet or swoon worthy moments and there is no grand gesture.

I’m going to start with what I enjoyed about this book:
- The characters. I liked both Jia and Dev and the side characters.
- The story line. I felt like the storyline itself was really interesting and I was very invested in it.
- Bombay beach. I really enjoyed the parts of the story that took place there and thought it seemed like a really interesting place.
- I liked that Dev watched all of Jia’s videos and would go out and buy the products she would recommend, I thought that was adorable.
- Dual POV.


What I didn’t like:
- I felt like the author was making references to COVID but she never came out and said it. There were mentions of several characters being really sick and a reference of Jia being quarantined at one point. Even though it really has no bearing on anything major in the plot, it just bugged me.
- There was basically no romance in this romance novel... I completely understand that there are cultural and religious elements at play in this story and because of those so that means that physical romance scenes are limited. I didn’t understand the attraction between the characters and there wasn’t really anything that cemented the connection they supposedly shared.
- No epilogue! Ugh! This is truly my biggest pet peeve.
- The conflict between Dev and Jia in the last few chapters made me so mad. I’m not even sure it can be called miscommunication, although I can’t really say in detail what happened because of spoilers. Basically Jia said she was happy with something and Dev did something to accommodate that and then she freaked out on him and was like “that’s not what I wanted” and I was like “UGH! yes you did!”🙄 Hopefully that explanation without spoilers made sense.🤷🏼‍♀️
- There’s no grand gesture! I don’t think that there is any hard and fast rule that there has to be one, but since the romantic gestures were few and far between the story really could have benefited from something like this.

I had a really hard time deciding what rating to give this book and I finally decided to rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.

First Comes Like comes out on February 16 and even though I did not love it, I still encourage you to give it a read because you might like it more than I did.

**3.5 Stars**
I really wish Goodreads and Amazon let you 1/2 star books. I enjoyed First Comes Like. It has an interesting premise starting with a social media connection that is not quite what our heroine Jia thought it was. Jia is an influencer and social media darling, Dev is a Bollywood serial superstar from a celebrity family who is trying to reinvent himself in Hollywood. This story is a comedy of errors that stands right on the precipice of drama for drama sake without going over the edge, which I appreciate. Fake Relationship/Marriage of convenience is not my favorite trope, but I think Alisha Rai did a really nice job with the emotional connection between the characters and developing their friendship.

This story is low heat and includes a lot of references to traditional values and expectations for Jia and Dev based on their culture, but as Dev was Indian and Jia was Pakistani and Muslim, and there were multiple references to Dev's father being disowned for marrying a Muslim woman I would have liked more insight and details about how culture and personal values played into their decisions. This was referenced, but I am not an expert in Indian or Pakistani culture and I think I would have found additional information valuable and informative in the decision making of the characters.

I think Jia and Dev are a perfect pairing and I would love to see where they end up in the future, in an extended epilogue or future books. I felt like we got an HFN not an HEA, even though I know these two will be happy together forever.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily give my review.

Make up influencer Jia Ahmed is finally going to meet the man she’s been messaging online. Dev Naik is everything she could want: handsome, romantic, and basically Bollywood royalty. The only problem is that when Jia finally get the nerve to talk to Dev in person, he seems to have no idea who she is. Between this cat fishing mystery and a slightly compromising photo of them leaking to the press, Jia and Dev find themselves in a PR conundrum and decide to fake date one another to avoid too much scandal. But when the lines blur between what is fake and what is real, the two will have to decide if they have a real future together.

I appreciated this book a lot. I was a bit nervous going into another fake romance contemporary romance, since I feel like I’ve read a LOT of them over the last year, but Rai kept this one fresh, in part because she kept things pretty chaste due to the characters’ religious and cultural beliefs about dating. While folks excepting another steamy romance may find it disappointing that Jia and Dev will take things slow, I found it to add much more depth to a trope that often feels too predictable. For me, this was the most unique of the series, and I found it a breath of fresh air for the genre.

A cute social media gone wrong story. There was a layer of substance and drama to this one that I appreciated. Sometimes romance that are pure rainbows and butterflies can become boring, so the added layer of loss and conflict really made this one special. Also love culturally relevant romance books!

Jia is a well known Instagram influencer and Dev is a famous actor from India who is making the transition to Hollywood. Jia mistakenly thinks she has been texting Dev for close to a year, but is actually the victim of a cat fishing prank. When she goes to meet Dev in person, she realizes that he knows nothing about her, but he would like to. They then engage in a fake relationship to please her family and to escape the embarrassment of admitting the cat fishing incident to the public.

This book started out very sweetly. I loved Dev and Jia and their blossoming romance while pretend dating. I think my issue was assuming that this book would be so much like the author’s first two installments in the series. There were quite a few characters in this book that seemed flushed out and then discarded by the plot. I feel like the book was a little rushed to get to the conclusion in a satisfying way.

Just not my favorite work of the author’s, which was a shame because the characters were some of my favorites that she has written about so far.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me a free advance copy of this book in exchange he for an honest review.

I received an advance copy of Alisha Rai's First Comes Like as a Facebook member of The Book Club Girls. I most commonly read multicultural or historic fiction, rarely romance or rom-com. This book appeared to have enough of a multicultural angle to entice me.

It's a sweet story of Jia, a Muslim American beauty blogger, who thinks she is communicating with and falling for Dev, a Bollywood star. That is, until Dev comes to the U.S. to join a soap opera cast, and Jia finally meets him. Much to her surprise, he has no idea who she is because he has not been the one communicating with her. Instead, she has been a victim of catfishing; someone else had falsely lured her into an online romance by using Dev's social media profile.

Although the characters are likeable enough, including Jia's and Dev's families who bring in a bit more multicultural conflict, this novel was a bit too light and perhaps a generation or two too removed from my reality. If I were 40 or 50 years younger, I think I would have enjoyed it more. From this reading experience, I will learn not to request a book though Book Club Girls simply because it's free.

That said, I do understand how the story could capture the hearts of many readers. It's a cute escapist story and provides a break from harsher realities of life.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. This is the third book Modern Love Series by Alisha Rai. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, but I think this one may have be my favorite one of the series. The author continues to write and portray a smart, strong female lead, allowing the story of Dev and Jia to build slowly.
Jia and Dev meet under unfortunate circumstances and build a relationship in an unconventional way. It is a modern day love story with strong traditions interwoven.
I would recommend this book to friends and book club members. It is a quick, mostly light hearted read that can be devoured quickly. A great beach or vacation read.

Catfish tuned fake dating becomes very real!

Jia and Dev find themselves in the middle of a fake relationship with some very real feelings, which could be manageable without their fame, her traditional family, and his ultra famous, wealthy family who is kind of blame to for everything!

I absolutely adored Jia and Dev’s slow burn strangers to accomplices to lovers. The respect and consideration they showed each other was as sexy as the sex itself. The blending of their cultures and families was also nicely explored. And I loved getting to see the other Modern Love couples!

However, one of my favorite things about this book was the subtle nods to love and life during Covid. From isolation due to illness leading to text chats to the inclusion of family via video chat.

I listened to the audio of this one and at first I wasn’t too sure about the female narrator but as I got to know Jia she felt like a perfect fit.

I really hope we get Lakshmi’s story!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book and audio but all opinions are my own.

First Comes Like was my second Alisha Rai book, and I enjoyed this one more than The Right Swipe. I liked that it was a very sweet, innocent romance, with very little steam. Jia Ahmed was a modern female lead, working as beauty influencer, instead of her family's plan of being a doctor. And her romantic interest Dev was a Bollywood and soap opera star which provided an extra unattainable quality to their romance.

I loved the set up of their romance as originally being a catfish situation, and that they then both slowly developed feelings for each other. But I felt some of the middle of the book was unnecessary until the last quarter of the book, where everything seemed to be packed in. Dev's grandmother was coming for a visit, now we're engaged, there's a marriage requirement for an inheritance, there's a wedding, family drama, and some more innocent love and misunderstandings. I wish some of this part of the story was more fully developed because it would have allowed us to see more of Jia and Dev's romance and how they navigated their situation. And it would have provided more family drama and interaction that would have helped the story.

A Muslim Pakistani American beauty influencer, a Bollywood Star along with a cat fishing scheme has the makings of a great story. I enjoyed the sweet, romantic roller coaster ride of a story which was a refreshing break for a cold, dreary week. This is definitely one to choose to take your mind away from the problems of the world. Their were a couple of references to the characters having Covid, which I felt was a bit too soon to read about. Then to have the storyline continue with no other aspects of the pandemic (masks, social distancing, etc), it felt a bit odd and out of place

I loved this romance story! I loved it so much I quickly ran out and bought the other two books in this author's series.

I found the characters and the storyline perfect. I don't like super cheesy romances or odd nicknames characters may call each other so this was wonderful. Yes the storyline is kind of wild but nonetheless, it's a fantastic read that I had to get my hands on Alisha's other two books in this series.

Jia Ahmed is a YouTube beauty blogger whose make-up tutorials are viewed by millions. Dev Dixit hails from Bollywood royalty and is now looking to make it big with an American tv show. For the past year Jia has been exchanging DMs and texts with Dev and now finally has the chance to meet him in person…only he doesn’t recognize her. As Jia quickly learns, she’s been catfished. For an entire year. And one quick paparazzi snap forces the two together, whether they like it or not.

I’m brand-new to the Modern Love series, this being the third book, but quickly got up to speed. Fake dating is my most favorite romance trope, so from the start I was sold, but by the middle of the book it began to slow and by the end I was feeling every one of its 400+ pages. After the two are photographed together, their completely innocent pose is seen as decidedly not-so-innocent by both their families and VERY quickly an engagement is announced – immediately followed by a marriage. Despite the agreement to pretend to be in a relationship, Jia and Dev are never seen out in public together, so that angle was a bit pointless. I also had to roll my eyes as there was drama and miscommunication thrown in during literally the final chapters in a botched attempt to heighten the tension. Something interesting worth noting, it’s never explicitly stated, but Jia and one of her sisters both suffered from an unnamed illness, her sister still recovering from the aftermath. I’m not the only reader to read between the lines and wonder if this was meant to be COVID.

I really enjoyed Dev and Jia's story so very much. I personally liked how it embraced current social media trends and the witty and unexpected turn of a phrase. Others will describe the story, I just want to describe the warm fuzzy feeling I felt at the end of this book! I'm totally excited to learn that this was the third entry in this series and there are two prequels to read..

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This series is just too cute! The characters sound like your best friends and the crazy situations they get themselves into are maybe just a bit beyond belief, but make for excellent fast paced reading. Focusing primarily on Jia will this be the time she finds love for real or will this faux romance fizzle? You'll have to dive in to find out!

Jia and Dev's first actual meet up is, in a word, less than auspicious. They quickly figure out what happened and both meet up to figure out the best way to go from there.as both have their reasons for wanting to not let the specifics of the relationship come to light, as Jia doesn't wish to have her parents know she got cat-fished and Dev doesn't want it let known who did the cat fishing. However, after they get caught in a somewhat compromising position by the paparazzi and get questioned by their respective families, then they both decide to enter into a fake-dating agreement. Through a series of unforeseen circumstances, this ends up being a fake-engagement and the rest of the chips fall as they will from that.

This one was a huge change from the other Alisa Rai's that I have read in the past. It was a sweet romance with minimal steam. Which isn't say it was bad because it wasn't. It was just a change from what I have come to expect from the author. This was more about the friendship between the two before the romance was thrown in. There was obviously an attraction between the two but that wasn't the main focus of the story. I liked the slow build here although I know that it is not well liked by others. It worked for this story and for the types of people that Jia and Dev were.

I also liked how good of an uncle Dev was to Luna and how Jia made it a priority to make her feel welcomed. I feel that there could have been more development in the blossoming relationship that Dev was cultivating with Luna and even with his grandmother, but the focus was Jia and Dev. And because of how their relationship went, we don't get to see too much of the after the marriage so I hope that we revisit them later, since I genuinely enjoyed their story. I think a lot of Rai's fans may be surprised by the lack of steamy scenes but if they focus on the sweetness of the romance, this one will make its way to a favorite on their shelf, because it did for me.

Great story of meddling family member impersonating another family member on social media. Received ARC from The Book Girl Club on Facebook early reading program, Netgalley and William Morrow Books. Jianna "Jia" has been texting back and forth with her crush who reached out to her, but all attempts to meet in person is squashed. Jia decides to take matters into her own hand and crash his event with no recognition from her crush as to who she is. Devanand "Dev" spots a beautiful woman at his event and she walks over to him to his delight, but he has angered for some reason. Dev is troubled about what happened and cannot get Jia out of his head so he reaches out to her. The two eventually realize what happened and who was involved, but the papparazzi captures the two and starts tongues wagging in a different light. To put the media and family at bay, the two decide to fake a romance, which seems so real. Enjoyed all of the secondary characters like Adlil Uncle, Luna and Aji besides her girlfriends.

First Comes Like is my first Alisha Rai book and I'm looking forward to more! I enjoyed it from the first page to the last.
Jia is the type of girl that I assume I couldn't connect with - my polar opposite - on first glance. She enjoys playing the vapid fashionable girl that people tend to underestimate. But she's completely likeable. She consistently treats others with kindness and generosity.
I smiled regularly throughout and thought the hero, Dev, and supporting cast were equally likeable. I can't speak to the accuracy of culture and religious Dynamics but I can say that I loved reading about a diverse cast. I love that Alisha wrote in such a way that I knew who the characters were without over explanation.
Now I just need to read Rhiannon and Katrina's books!
TW: mild language, skippable steam
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.