**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.

First Comes Like starts off really cute and has all the workings of a quality rom-com. However, I never felt fully compelled to continue to read this book. The characters, while endearing, fell flat for me, and the story line simply wasn't unique enough to hold my interest. I think a lot of people will enjoy this fun story, but it just was not for me.

Jia lives with her friends Rhiannon and Katrina, after moving from New York. An Influencer with a twist, Jia is a product of a conservative Muslim family, wears a hijab, and hides many of her insecurities behind a truly giant heart, a positive outlook and tons of hard work. If she could, she’d make everyone ‘feel’ beautiful, and her short videos that promote products she believes in help women of all sizes and colors feel better about themselves. She’s ultimately hoping to start her own company, creating makeup that works on a broad range of complexions and doesn’t require a ton of extra work to find that ‘right shade’. She’d found herself enamored of a ‘text’ relationship with a famous Bollywood name: a television actor with a verified account who helped her to feel desired and valued.

But finally meeting her ‘crush’ face to face at an event turns her world upside down. He doesn’t know her – and she’s been catfished. Dev Dixit is from a line of Bollywood stars, but took his talents to the small screen, and is in Hollywood to film a new nighttime soap, hoping to broaden his career. Things never quite worked out as he expected after his brother’s death, and taking responsibility for his teen niece, and bringing an Uncle to live with him under his now limited means as he navigates a new work environment and expectations is wearing. But meeting Jia, whatever the circumstance, leaves him unable to forget her. He’s intrigued and uses that concern for her (and fear that he knows who ultimately set her up with ‘him’ via text) is something he should atone for.

But Jia has other pressing issues: with her parents’ discovery of a photo of the two snapped by paparazzi, and her inability to declaim the photo, she needs Dev to ‘pretend’ a relationship – just to get her through the upcoming visit. This was possibly one of the most intriguing and complex stories of the series, as Rai uses traditional values, the “Desi” way of things, and the innate reserve of both Jia and Dev to create a relationship that shows the two truly starting to develop a connection, even with multiple and frequent interferences from family, friends and the press. A lovely look at hope, desire and the power of love – all wrapped into a story that defies first impressions, prejudgments and long-standing beliefs in your place in the world, all to be rewritten.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aRb /”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

While some other people may not have liked the various modern elements to the book, I liked that it was lightly touched enough it felt realistic without name dropping and trying to be current. Jia and Dev’s romance was sweet and with enough twists that it harkens back to the Indian serials that Dev used to star in. Worth a read if you feel in the mood for something feminist, modern, with cultural elements that make it unique... and a romance that doesn’t leave you overly hot and bothered but tugs on your heart.

Fake dating turns romance, but make it Bollywood meets Hollywood. First Comes Like is the latest of Alisha Rai’s YA novels. Jia is a Pakistani-American influencer living in Hollywood. Dev is a Bollywood actor seeking his own way in the world. Unusual circumstances bring them together, but the chemistry and the banter make sparks fly. My favorite dialogue?

“He was wearing jeans. And they looked good on him. Real good. Choke on a roti good.”

Thank you, NetGalley and @HarperCollins for this ARC.

Thank you, @alisharaiwrites, for sharing Jia and Dev with us. Thank you for showing us what representation looks like in this space!