This preview was absolutely delightful. So far I really enjoyed the diverse cast with a wide variety of personalities and job.

Three stars because I only have read the first four chapters.

A tiny point, but one that was important to me was "Accidently Engaged" acknowledging a small part of the huge South Asian communities that live around the continent of Africa. It isn't something that fiction writers acknowledge. I can't speak for the Muslim representation but I do hope that this book will show diversity with its representation of a Muslim community.

I'm really looking forward to reading "Accidently Engaged" when it does come out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing a preview for this book.

A fresh and interesting start. I would read this book. The Kindle version is formatted weird on my app, it looks like there are missing spaces in between words.

Accidentally Engaged sounds like a great contemporary romance with a fake dating twist.
Reena is an interesting and strong character and I look forward to reading more of her story in the full book.
Many thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advance preview.

The first four chapters shown in the preview are a very good start. The characters are likable, the banter is smooth and witty, the pacing is great. The one thing I'm holding my judgement on is the arranged marriage premise, but I trust that it could be handled in a way that the main character reclaims her agency, based on the way her personality is portrayed in the first chapters. Good start!

I received a preview in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute excerpt and my mouth is already watering from all the bread mentioned in the first four chapters! Cannot wait for the full book.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the chance to read a preview!

That cover with its green and pink contrast, and the eye-popping "Engaged" 3D font, was what caught my eye, but I was also pleased to recognize Farah Heron's name. I enjoyed her first book, THE CHAI FACTOR, and I was pleased to have a sneak peek at this next one.

This story didn't quite click with me, but most of it was a "me" problem and just a lot of nagging things adding up. Some--most--of the food references sound delicious, but some of the name checks--nachos, rose, "barrel-aged saison beer," and "triple creme Brie" just really felt like "look, a Millennial! eating hip Millennial food!" I was really intrigued when the cover copy compared the hero to Captain America, because hello, but then that same phrase got used *twice* in this short excerpt and it started to grate. There's a lot about sourdough starters (peak Millennial of course), which reminds me of my attempt to cultivate one for a few weeks before I got bored and let DoDo (dough-dough) die, so everything about the sourdough just stressed me out. Finally, I get the sense this book was written before covid, because the absolutely most stressful part was right at the end, when the heroine keeps sneezing and then she is still working and going all over the place and hanging out with people and handling food and ahhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooo. It kind of seems like it'll be some kind of foreshadowing where she's allergic to something important? But ahhhhh wash your hands before touching the bread please!

So, I can see where this book is cute -- unwanted arranged marriage turns into fake engagement for the sake of a cooking show, plus we have diverse romance, which is always important (I went back and realized, I don't think there's any white characters in this excerpt, that's pretty cool). But the voice, especially the pop culture/millennial references, just wasn't clicking with me and I'm not sure if I'll end up picking this one up. I hope it works for other people though! And now I have to go find some bread...

The sneak peek at these first four chapters has made me wanting to read mooooore! I love this entire set up and can already see some shenanigans will be a foot!

OK, I am loving it so far!

In these 4 chapters, Farah Heron sets up vivid characters, sibling conflict, a hot neighbor, delivers some funny lines, and introduces a realist MC who calls it like she sees it. I get Reena "and how she sees the world in a way I don't often bump into in romance. Of course, I'd want to be friends with her! I'm surprising myself by saying that... it's not a barometer I usually use for how much I enjoy a story.

I suspect this one is going to take a different tack than some of the arranged marriage romances we've seen over the last few years. As an East Asian (American) reader, I can't comment on the representation, but I *can* say the book already spurred me to Google more about Gujarati Indians in East Africa.

Did I already say, I need the rest now?! Oh, ok. Like I said.