Thank you so much for letting me have a chance to review this book. I very much enjoyed the twist at the end where really he liked her all along where she thought he didn't

This was a super fun and cute romcom! It was light-hearted and easy to read and I just found myself completely flying through it!
Rav and Annika had adorable chemistry and the fake dating was just top notch!

This was a really sweet and light-hearted rom-com that I enjoyed making my way through. I would highly recommend.

The Love Arrangement by Ruby Basu

I loved the cute cover and expected a cute and fluffy rom-com which are my favourite. But I really struggled to get into this book. I felt a disconnect from the characters, especially the female main character. It was constant with the whole you don’t need a man, you can be a strong woman, it got very repetitive. I also didn’t connect to her reasoning for the arrangement. I get the male main character needed it for his job but lying to your ill father just doesn’t sit well with me. I really had to force myself to finish this book.

I loved this writing style, and the characters really made it come to life.
Rav and Annikas chemistry was fab.
I love the fake dating, enemy to lover vibes and wish I'd got round to reading this sooner.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Absolutely loved this book!

The writing style was really good and I look forward to reading any other books from this author in the future :)

Annika is an independent woman who doesn't need a man, but to get her family's approval so she wants to find herself a man willing to pretend to be her significant other to make them happy. Or so she thinks.

The vibe between the love interests is also trying to be enemies to lovers but it's just not because there's so much miscommunication between them in the last so when they actually get to know each other they get on very well. The idea Rav is her nemesis is from childhood comparisons from her parents.

Annika and Rav are super sweet and I was hoping they'd both realise they loved each other much sooner than they did. It's a closed door romance so it was just sweet.


Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my copy✨✨

Cute fake romance!
OK, I have to be honest here; this is my first Ruby Basu book, no idea why it took me so long to finally read this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I don't usually go for a fake romance story, it's never been a favourite trope of mine but I was pleasantly surprised at how invested I became in Annika and Rav's story, I liked how they developed from maybe friends, could be enemies, fake relationship to something more.
Annika is such a lovely character, she grows so much over the course of the story and I liked how her perceptions of Rav changed, after her initial opinion of his was born out of childhood so obviously, he's going to be different - and he is such a cutie how could she not love him?
I really liked seeing how British and Indian culture is explored within the family, it's so lovely to see the mixes of different cultures coming together and navigating barriers, that was wonderfully written.
Overall an easy-going, fun and charming book a definite winner!

I love a fake dating plot and found this book so easy to read! The perfect book to get lost in over a weekend!

I love a good fake dating trope and this one sounded like one I was going to enjoy however I could not get on with this book.

I wasnt a big fan of the writing style and found it incredibly hard to connect with the main characters.

This was a dnf for me.

I really enjoyed this one, and I'm sad it took me so long to read it. I found it gripping and easy to read, I loved the characters and the progression. I'll definitely look forward to reading more from the author.

I adored this book! It was fun, sweet and cosy. Annika and Rav had great chemistry and I loved spending time with them and their families and friends. I really enjoy a fake dating trope, and the set up for this one was cleverly done. The characters' motivations were believeble and the resolution was heartwarming. This was a mostly chaste romance, which worked for me. Possibly my favourite romance of 2022.

I feel like this started really strongly but just lost steam as it went on.

There was so much potential but this suffered a real curse of telling rather than showing. You are telling me that they’re falling in love but you’re not especially showing it.

I want to see the banter and conversations that brings them closer not just hear that they had a good conversation. This really stopped me from being able to connect with the characters and their love story.

I just have to take the authors word for it that they have chemistry?

A real shame because the plot was interesting and the characters were interesting and I could’ve really loved them if I was given more than a surface level insight into them.

After Annika's father falls ill, she want to do anything to make him feel better, that includes blurting out that she has a boyfriend, even if he doesn't exist. That is until she bumps into childhood nemesis Rav who is now an entrepreneur, who is single and is sworn off relationships but is looking for someone to attend work events with.
It was only ever meant to be temporary, but as they're both about to find out, rules and deals are meant to be broken.

This book has all the good tropes, fake dating, enemies to lovers, and childhood enemies. This book was sweet and cute, and I would recommend to anyone looking for a sweet romance to sit down with and relax with.

I did really enjoy this, as the premise of fake-dating enemies-to-lovers is a well-worn favourite of mine to read. Annika’s desire to remain career-oriented and not tied down by a relationship was refreshing to read about, though I felt at times it came across a little unrealistic how she flat out refused to consider relationships because again and again she reminded us how ‘it wouldn’t work’, only for, of course, it to work by the end of the book. Also maybe it’s just me but I’m still not 100% sure what she actually did for a living?

I thought the chemistry between Annika and Rav was fantastic, though the ‘childhood nemesis’ aspect dampened that for me a little as I felt it just wasn’t needed, especially with how easily it was resolved (miscommunication trope of course). I was rooting for them throughout however, and perhaps I even preferred Rav to Annika in terms of their personalities.

I loved the insight into their Indian culture as very few romance books have this in, and I enjoyed the prominence of family and familial ‘expectations’ throughout. However the constant reminder of Annika being guided by her father’s ill health did feel repetitive and drawn out by the end.

Overall, this was a light easy romance read, nothing to shout about as it is such a popular genre by now that it’s hard to stand out as something special, but still enjoyable and I’m glad I read it.

The plot had a lot of promise, career oriented independent woman fakes a relationship with a childhood nemesis for the sake of her parents who want her to settle down and get married, and he too has a business motive for the arrangement...they are polar opposites so things should be easy and there is no chance they will fall in love, right?!

The narrative started off well, the scene was set, the protagonists get introduced to the reader and the sub characters but...at one point it was all just too repetitive. The book needed better editing. I felt the plot was just going around in circles, unnecessary emphasis on Annika's concern for her father, Rav being the academic goody two shoes who no one liked (at some point I'm sure the sentences were repeated word for word), Annika's questioning of the energy between her and Rav and the ease with which it was disregarded, too waffly and not enough punch. I wasn't won over by the "chemistry", it felt too bland which is unfortunate as this could have been an amazing read.

Thank you @netgalley and @HQStories for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a light quick read, but it was just missing that ‘spark’ for me. Even though I adored the idea of this one, I found the main character was too stubborn and set in her ways to actually be likeable <i> ‘But I decided a long time ago that this couldn’t be mine unless I was willing to sacrifice a big part of myself.’ </i> the male lead was great, but quite reserved and I found the FMC just never actually gave him a fair chance and that annoyed me too 😅
So, an okay read, but I found it just a bit too repetitive on the whole “I can’t have a relationship and a job I love” when really, if you want something hard enough you usually can find work around a 😅

A light hearted look at love! Sometimes felt that I was being given too much instruction about the plot and this stopped the flow a bit.

I really enjoyed this. Whilst I loved the actual story line between Rav and Annika, I think what really stood out for me was the Indian culture. This is the first book I've read which has really discussed Indian traditions and fashion and immersed you in the story. At one point in the story Rav and Annika attend a wedding and various outfits are mentioned like "kurtas", I found myself googling these terms as I didn't recognize them and it was interesting to actually see the outfits and how beautiful they were. It was definitely a learning experience for me.

It was a bit repetitive at times but overlooking that it's a fun read - with a very cute cover.

I love reading about other cultures and romance is the perfect way to immerse yourself in that in an accessible way. I'll 100% be reading another book from Ruby Basu in the future.