A perfect summer read. I really enjoyed and liked it. It was fast paced, easy to tread and pretty engaging and entertaining!!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review .

Yes, excellent book. Liked it a lot.

Zara is such a strong women who enjoys some fun. She definitely needed to put herself first before going I toms relationship. I loved that she always put the aesthetics clinic first and slowly built it to the top. I definitely needed way more spicy moments and something was missing.

Thank you NetGalley, Orion Publishing, and the author for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Now, onto the review! Nope this is a hard no for me. The author's writing was not for me either. The sex scenes were so uncomfortable and grotesque that I had to skip over them (and I read dark romance.. this was not sexy at all). That's why I read this book so fast 🤢🤮. I had to skip over the sex scenes.i I can't even describe them without vomiting. The female main character was completely annoying throughout the book. Also, this wasn't even set in Dubai like the title suggests. There was only like 5 chapters in Dubai and nothing happens there. It's all set in Glasgow. Also, I am all about female empowerment and exploring their sexuality. But the FMC had no charm and seemed desperate to be honest. You can have sex with a lot of men and not seem desperate. She states she doesn't want to settle down. But throughout the book she is trying to "feel" something after her last break-up to essentially settle down. 🙄 So, that's where the plot is wonky. She is self deprecating to her body. And that's another hard no for me. The pacing was off.. and so much more. The only good thing about this book was Raj and Andy. I really wanted to love this book but I couldn't.

When I had finished book 1 "A Glasgow Kiss", I thought the protagonist had finally realised her worth but I was definitely wrong because this book was filled with the same self-loathing & self-pitying that was there in book 1 too with the only difference being that the FMC is no longer looking to settle down & is instead engaging in one night stands with almost every man she lays her eyes on.

I found her attitude really toxic. Her so-called best friends seemed to encourage her shenanigans instead of helping her to be a better person, as usual. I don't even know why her sister's character is there because she does not contribute to the plot in any way except for their so-called weekly breakfasts which in reality are occasional breakfasts/brunches.

Also, I will probably be scarred for life with the kind of erotic scenes that were described in this book *major eye roll* They were all very unpleasant to say the least.

The only positivity that I found in this story was during the last 15% of the book. At long last, after pushing through almost two torturous book readings (book 1 + this book 2), the FMC learns about body positivity. That & the fact she finally took charge of her career earned this book the 2 ⭐ Oh! Also because she found herself a truly good man at the end & did not make a hare-brained choice like always.

So, yeah, this book wasn't for me & after reading two of the author's books I don't think her writing style/sense of humor are for me either. No more Sophie Gravia books for me.

Thank you for NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group & the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

To be honest I still don't quite know what to think of this book. The first half I didn't really enjoy, but I felt like it picked up in the latter half. The main character Zara feels a bit like low budget Bridget Jones, and I just couldn't get to the point of relating and rooting for her. The writing was quite sitcom-esque, but for me a lot of the jokes fell a bit flat.
Both the main character and the story got better for me towards the end, so I left the book feeling like I did enjoy it a bit. However I will probably not be picking it up again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an ARC.

I'm not really sure what to make of this book. I think that it was trying to be too many things and there for didn't really pull them off amazingly well. I think if it would have stuck to just one thing then it would have been much better. Sorry

oh no. just no.
after that embarrassing moment when Zara hooked up with a dad and his son in one week I should’ve stopped. God this is not healthy. It’s ok to enjoy life with one night stands, but Zara needs to keep a break and and stop being unhygienic.
And honestly the writing style made me mad. So I DNF this book around halfway through.
I didn’t even know what happened in Dubai but I don’t even want to know know.

This book was fun not my normal read I typically read fantasy however it was nice to step away from it and get a break and read something completely different I did enjoy it was funny and I read it rather quickly and would read again.

I love erotica. Love Romcom.

This didn't seem to be either.

It's was a book about setting up clinics and then dispersed through it was the most unsexy attempt at erotica.

The language doesn't work, the discriptors don't make you want to keep reading.

The book could probably have been half the length really.

I did finish it as I was determined to see what happened but wouldn't read again.

I am not the biggest reader of romance or erotica, but I find these genres perfect for summer, so I decided to request this book as a fun romantic read. I am familiar with Glasgow, and as it is not usually the city that comes to mind as a setting for a romantic book, I was intrigued with what the author can do with it. What Happens in Dubai is a sequel to Sophie Gravia’s book A Glasgow Kiss. I have not read the first part, but I think the story is simple enough to follow on its own.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it is worth picking up unless you really resonate with the author’s humour and writing style. I can’t say I enjoyed the characters, the plot, or the overall feel of the book.

Zara Smith is an insufferable character, that wants to appear almost Bridget Jones-like, but lacks the charm to pull it off. She is self-conscious and always commenting on her lack of attractiveness, but still manages to sleep with almost every single male character mentioned. She ignores all the red flags these men show and thankfully has at least some dignity not to continue with the truly worst ones. The whole story centers around her work and (mostly) terrible dates, but we don’t get to know her much as a character beyond these two areas.

Yet, the worst parts of this book are the erotic scenes. The number of terrible names and metaphors for genitals will probably never leave my mind and I feel slightly traumatised. There was not one scene that would sound truly enjoyable, leaving you probably more repulsed rather than interested.

Also, the title itself is slightly misleading, as the characters spend in Dubai no more than three days and honestly, not that much happens there. I understand it with the plot development, but still.

Overall, I would not be interested in the author’s further work, as the writing style didn’t work for me at all.

This book wasn’t up my alley.

Zara the esthetician has a broken heart and a broken ego. She looks for love in all the wrong places…and her escapades leave a lot to be desired. The characters sojourn to Dubai and shortly return to Glasgow.

At about 65% the story improves as she is getting her clinic up and running. There’s charming competitions with her ex, and she may be building some nice self worth.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this story

Really not for me. The writing wasn’t my style, however I think a lot of people will enjoy this because it’s written more like a real person not a fictional one. It’s very “ millennial“.

I found this book really difficult to get into. I also did not like how the main character dictated her self worth through sex and so many of her encounters were toxic.

I absolutely loved A Glasgow Kiss and was super excited to return to Zara and her escapades.
The book took a whole 6% before I was full on cackling! I apologise to my neighbours
I loved getting to see Zara get to prove that she was an intelligent business woman and loved getting more time with Ash.
This was such a wonderful sequel as it had everything that I’d loved from the first book; it was utterly hilarious and kept me guessing as I never knew what Zara was going to get up to next. I also loved the wee found family vibe going on at the clinic
I don’t think I’ll ever eat sweetcorn again and now have a new fear of getting sand in awkward places. Heavily recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first book
Huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook in exchange for an honest review. I’ve already preordered a physical copy that I’m going to tab for when I need a giggle

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book. Beautiful setting to lose yourself in this book

Absolutely dreadful book. Please don’t waste your time or money. The characters are no attractive, the writing style leaves a lot to be desired and the story relies on too much badly written sexual encounters

What Happens in Dubai by Sophie Gravia was a bit of a letdown for me as I was expecting more of the story to actually be set in Dubai, which is honestly what drew me to this book. Further, I did not relate to protagonist Zara, and felt that much of the narrative was over the top raunchy, insubstantial, and downright shallow. On the plus side, I did enjoy a few laugh out loud moments, mostly down to the outrageousness of Zara's antics, and just genuine shock at what I was reading. While I consider myself to be very openminded, my jaw did drop several times, and I would caution more conservative readers to proceed with caution.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an ARC.

Honestly it was weird to read something (at least partly) set in Dubai, although they do mentione super touristy spots mainly - however, this was not my issue with this book. I have giving 1 star reviews, but honestly, I could not give myself to give this book more.

I absolutely couldn’t stand Zara as a protagonist. She was self-conscious, constantly self-pitying, trying to define her worth through sex and men, and didn't really show any growth at all in this respect. She was constantly putting down her own body and defining her character by her insecurities. On top of that, absolutely all her interactions with men were so toxic! Not a single healthy encounter in sight. (Including scenes likewhere she basically coaxes a guy to tell her his fantasy, it’s anal, she agrees even though she doesn’t want to do it and then she panics about it for ages but still doesn't feel like she can back out, and this encounter is somehow like 15 pages long?! Just tell him no!)

In relation to the side characters, honestly it just seemed like all her friends just enabling her incredibly toxic behaviour. Her best friend - <spoiler>shagging her ex and getting pissed off when the guy she cheated with moved on?!</spoiler> These were all around terrible people

On top of that the pacing was all over the place. It felt like nothing much happened?

This book reminds me a lot of Sophie Kinsella books - witty and entertaining, with a few outrageous moments. I reached for the book every chance I could get because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The characters are engaging and I love the author's candor in her descriptions. A great light read!