First Comes Like then came love. I really, really, really enjoyed reading this fun and flirty modern day romance story. Alisha Rai always aims to please with her whirlwind romances with plenty of likable characters, sassy, steamy, dialogue, and a few familiar characters from her previous novels. In this fresh new modern romance, we meet Jai and Dev, two individuals in the prime of their lives being thrown together by a few surprises!!!

THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THIS SERIES!!! (As a side note, I hope that Jia's twin sister gets her own story). I really love books when the protagonists are just trying really hard to be good people and are good at what they do. Jia is a makeup youtuber/instagram influencer, and due to an illness her metrics are down. (I don't know when Rai wrote this, but this is the first book that mentions illness that could be COVID [she left out how she was sick]- so that was really interesting to see covered). And she's trying to get her numbers back up, but also she's trying to expand into her own makeup line. Dev is a big TV star in India, and has moved to the US to attempt a cross over career. But, the reason he moved is because his brother died and he now has custody of his niece and he wants her to have a normal life away from the fame of their family. He is trying so hard to be a good, fair, caring, understanding parental figure and I am HERE for it.

They meet (not under the best circumstances), they decide to fake date (for REASONS), they catch feelings (and are open and honest about that), but then are THRUST into an engagement. They work together to solve problems, they work on communicating their needs (there are some problems there they have to overcome). It's a super sweet story that I really loved.

Last week I used my @sudio headphones to finish First Comes Like, the third in the Modern Love series by @alisharaiwrites. This looked so cute that I decided to listen to it right away and I realized that I never listened to the second book. So you can absolutely read them separately!

I loved the fake dating trope in this novel. Jia has been catfished by who she thinks is Dev Dixit, a huge Indian Soap Opera star and tries to meet with him when he moves to LA for a Hollywood career. He has only a few months to earn his inheritance, but the conditions are that he must be married. They start to fake date to make both families happy and get some bonus points for their careers. I loved the mixture of cultures and learning about their big families. Dev’s brother has recently passed and he takes on the guardianship of his young niece, who he has moved with him to the US. Their relationship is one of the highlights of the book for me.

Jia has been DM’ing with Bollywood royalty Dev for over a year when she runs into him at a party- except he has no idea who she is! She learns that she was being catfished by Dev’s family, but an unknown paparazzi pic of them together is enough to start the rumour mill spinning about their relationship. The two come up with a plan to fake-date to quell both of their family’s and society’s pressure but is there some truth to their arrangement?

First off I want to say that Jia and Dev are the cutest couple! Their chemistry came across as genuine and incredibly sweet. The pacing was a little strange because it had a nice slow-burn building up for the first 80% and then went a little crazy. (Spoilers ahead!!) There was lots of tension leading up to the wedding and then the actual scene went by in the blink of an eye- I would have loved to spend a little more time there. I also felt the last conflict over the housing was introduced and resolved too quickly so kind of felt like an afterthought that was just thrown in. Overall a fun read, I will definitely be checking out the first two in the series!

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for an advanced review copy of this book, but as always all opinions are my own!

I loved this sweet story, it was a little farfetched, but well written and lighthearted and made me smile. I love that it had a strong muslim heroine and how it incorporated the couple's beliefs into the story, it was nice that they didn't rush into the physical aspect of their relationship and let it slow-simmer. This is my first book by the author (yes I know this is book 3 in the series) but it makes me want to go back and read the others!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

This book follows Jia. She goes to confront Dev at a party and finds out she had been catfished. One thing leads to another and they develop a friendship that turns into a fake relationship that moves towards something more.

I enjoyed getting to know Jia more and seeing how she approaches life and love. I liked how Jia and Dev complemented and supported each other despite the way their relationship starts.

This was a lovely third story in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series.

I enjoyed The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral, so I was delighted to get an early release copy of First Comes Like by Alisha Rai. The Modern Love series by Rai gives readers a look into the lives into successful women who are navigating careers and love.

Jia Ahmed runs a successful business as a beauty influencer. What she doesn't expect is to be catfished by the attractive and famous Dev Dixit. What comes next is where the real story begins as she meets the real Dev and begins to figure out how their stories connected in the past and potentially the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Jia is a beauty expert/influencer who has been DM-ing with Bollywood soap star Dev…. or has she? Turns out - she was catfished!! Dev and Jia slowly start to get to know each other and agree to a fake relationship. The new “fake” couple is embraced by the public and Jia’s family. As their charade continues...could this be more than like?
First Comes Like is the third book in Alisha Rai’s book series “The Right Swipe”. This is a fun, quick read. This book can be read within the series and works well as a standalone
#netgalley #firstcomeslike

This was an extremely fun read and a quick one too, finished it off in one sitting. I enjoyed that the characters are relatable, real, nuanced and flawed. You could understand them and their insecurities. I am not Muslim, nor can I speak on the culture, but I appreciated the respect I felt was shown in the book, for Jia’s religion and how that affects her relationship with men. As for my predictability index, although like any good romance you kind of know the end, there were some twist and turns that I didn’t see coming so big points for that. I enjoyed the relationship between Dev and his niece and would actually have liked some of that dynamic shown more, and her relationship with Jia. I had not read the previous Modern Love series, but liked this story description, and now you can call me a convert. I must now go back and revisit the stories of Katrina and Rhiannon (Who make small but interesting appearances in the book). A very relevant, non plot point for this book: It provided another example of the wonderful diversity that has come in the way of romance fiction in the last couple of years. A hijabi wearing heroine joins the ranks of black, latin, indian, autistic and plus size characters that I have read about during the last year and I’m the more enriched for it.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit - I thought I would love this book until I started reading it. Jia's Muslim identity is barely mentioned and having her thoughts on sex, was not it. For context: Books like Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali portrays Muslim teens more accurately if you want to know more about Islam and what being a Muslim actually means. Dev is Hindu and Jia's a Muslim. In this book, it seems that her sisters Sadia, Noor, and Ayesha are slightly more practicing. I might get hate for this review, but I'm really sick of seeing Muslim girls being portrayed this way in books especially as a Muslim woman. If you want to read an Adult Muslim romance novel, go check out Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin. We need more books like Ayesha at Last and Love from A to Z!!

{Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for my complimentary e-ARC.}

Alisha Rai does it again! First Comes Like, the third installment in her Modern Love series, tells Jia and Dev’s story. Unlike The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral, First Comes Like is unexpectedly chaste (at least until 91% of the way into the book!) but given the Muslim main character and her conservative values and her family’s traditional background, this makes complete sense—and somehow it didn’t detract from the almost unbearably sweet catfishing turned fake-dating turned true love love story.

I love the diversity Rai weaves effortlessly into her stories, the glimpses into a culture and a religion I knew little about. Representation is important, and to see it presented so casually, without fanfare, is awesome. It feels completely natural and inclusive and reinforces the truth that EVERYONE deserves love—not just the people who fit the “romance genre mold” or the “Hollywood ideal.” And a modern, successful heroine who wears a hijab? Awesome sauce.

While I’m always here for the steam, Rai proves that sometimes a subtle smolder is just as hot.

Gia. Gia. “Pray on how to not be so bitchy” Gia. My girl. 😂👏🏼

Enemies to lovers is beyond a shadow of a doubt, my favorite romance trope. I also love the fake relationship trope. This is one of the best E2L plots I’ve read in a while. First, the hate is organic. The relationship is organic, the love, organic. There was one aspect of their relationship that did seemed rush, but I’m just going to let it slide today. 😂

Gia was such a great MC. She was witty and fun. I also loved that she’s headstrong and very confident. When she ripped up her check, I clapped. 😂 I loved her sisters and her friends. It was so nice to see a modern woman deal with modern problems like actual cat fishing and YouTube tutorials!

I loved Dav’s relationship with his niece. He was trying so hard and finding articles to help understand how to raise a teen, and it was just.. the best. Trying to understand and come to a common ground instead of just ignorning how teenagers deal with different situations than his generation did was so kind.

The last 15% was like reading a completely different book. This was such a wonderful squeaky clean romance until about the last 15% then bam! Sex central 😂 I mean, they did wait, so I’m sure they had a lot of time to make up. It took me by surprise (not in a bad way, let me clarify that right now) just because it was so clean and then.. sex sex sex. I am not bothered by it, however, some may be taken aback by the turn of the romance. Then, they were in love and she is crying because she thinks he doesn’t love her and wants her to live in a separate house? Did I miss something? I feel like the first 85% was so strong and then it was like, “oh crap. Let’s throw in some conflict to wrap up and call it a day”.

Overall, I really enjoyed this! I loved the first half so much that I bought the other two books in TJ series because Alisha Rai is a wonderful author. Even though it felt like two separate books, or that I completely missed something, I still thoroughly enjoyed it!

This book took to long. The fact that the main character was Pakistani didn't add to the story line. Otherwise was your stereotype o romance. I stopped reading after 45% DNF.

***************************I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion.************************************

For me this was a very ‘meh’ book. I’d give it a 2.5 but I’ll round up to 3 stars. It read fast it had some cute parts but it just didn’t do anything for me. I feel like I needed more character development so that I could be more invested in the outcome of the story.
Thank you NetGalley and Book Clib Firls for the opportunity to read this in return for my honest feedback.

The protagonists are sweet, their insecurities are relatable, and their romance is endearing. The characters' backgrounds sort of make this a slow burn by necessity, but even so the flame was set a little too low for me. That and slightly veiled references to the pandemic (which I sort of appreciate, but overall felt too lowering since in our reality we're not on the other side of it yet) made this a less than five star read. However, the leads and their costars are fun and entertaining, particularly the cameos from the previous heroines in this series. I would recommend it to those who have read the previous two, but it definitely isn't quite as effective or enjoyable as The Right Swipe.

4.0 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle copy of this book from Avon through a Book Club Girl Early Read giveaway on Facebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Alisha Rai, Avon, Book Club Girl Early Read giveaway, and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

I read this book out of order in a series. Typical for me! But, I am starting Book 1 today. Although, I think that I would have understood the characters better if I had read the first two books in the series.

The book was definitely written for a younger audience than me. Obviously, the sex scenes in the last few chapters were not necessary for the story. Boy, I am getting OLD! Ha! Plus, it was about online influencers which I get, but don't fully understand so that was VERY helpful information.

What I really loved was understanding more about the Muslim culture as the two main characters were Muslim. I love learning more!!

Overall, I liked the character development, storyline, and that it took place primarily in my hometown of Los Angeles. It was a perfect book to start out 2021 and leave 2020 behind.

RECOMMEND - definitely a beach or pool book this summer!

After realizing she’s been catfished into falling for a handsome Bollywood star, Jia is mortified to realize he has no idea who she is when she approaches him at a party. Jia and Dev have every reason to pretend to be together, however, when paparazzi catch them in a seemingly-compromising position and their families get involved. This charming third in Rai’s series is an examination of the whirlwind courtship of a traditional couple who hold off on the physical side of their relationship while their feelings only intensify.

The latest in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series is a different story from the first two. It reminds me of a Regency romance with fake dating and forced marriage tropes. It is definitely a less steamy read, but it is a much more romantic story. The building affection between Rai and Dev is sweet and how they resolve their misunderstandings makes this a realistic, mature, and modern romance.

Wow!! This was a beautifully chaste romantic comedy that I couldn't put down. I felt as though the plot was well-conceived and original, with a mix of enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes that made it feel wholly unique. I'd love to see another book with Jia as the lead, but I'd also be happy with the logical choice after this book ;). I loved the treatment Rai gave the cultural differences in this book, never putting any pressure on either character to violate their commitments. Plus the focus on family was so wholesome and made me enjoy this book even more.

This was a fun final installment in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series! I loved the glimpses of Jia in earlier books and was so glad to see her get her own HEA. She and Dev both felt like such authentic, relatable characters despite their very unique circumstances/celebrity status/etc. This book was less steamy than the previous two in the series, but every bit as compelling and romantic! Maybe even more romantic because of the wait for the physical side of the relationship. I loved this series start to finish and can’t wait to see what Rai does next.