Received this ARC via NetGalley

I was rooting for Jana and Anil the whole time! Jana’s Type A and introverted personality is so relatable.

The pressure to not disappoint your parents and societal shame is so overwhelming sometimes. But I appreciate how all the characters were able to communicate their perspectives by the end of the book. Each person’s experiences and previous trauma led to the decisions they made.

Even though this is a standalone book, I recommend reading Kamila Knows Best first.

By far the best Farah Heron I have read. I loved this book. It was vibrant, colourful and so compelling. I loved the plot and the characters. When I read Kamila Know Best, I did not really like Jana. But I am in love with her after this book.

So what I like about this book:
First, An amazing retake on co-parenting. Most of the times books are about how it does not go well while co-parenting but this book showed a new perspective. I loved how both of them put Imani’s happiness first and foremost. So refreshing!

Second, the Tanzanian description. I think I am putting it down on my bucket list. All the descriptions and events in Tanzania just took my breath away.

Third, pushing out of ones comfort zone, rediscovering oneself, rediscovering friends and realizing that one doesn’t need to change oneself to fit in. They can be themselves and still be loved for who they are.

I finished this in a single sitting. Couldn’t put it down really. Such an amazing book. Thank you @netgalley for the ARC review e-book.

'Jana Goes Wild' is the first book that I've read by Farah Heron, but it won't be my last! The main setting for this book is a destination wedding in Tanzania. I never thought about visiting Tanzania, but I am now! The descriptions transported me to the breathtaking views and amazing animals that were on their trip. Farah Heron's words made me feel like I was right there with Jana on her journey.

Jana Suleiman has always been one to strive for perfection. She strives to life up to her mother's standards and do everything the right way. The one time that she goes out of her comfort zone.. she winds up with a baby. Her daughter, Imani, is now 4 years old, and Jana is still working on getting along with her daughter's father, Anil. Anil and Jana co-parent their daughter, but other than that, they don't have a relationship or a friendship. That's all about to change as Anil shows up at the destination wedding of their friends Kamila and Rohan.

Now that they are in Tanzania together, Jana gets to see firsthand how great Anil is with their daughter. She spends more time with him and they start to feel like they could be a family. Anil hurt her in the past, and she has to ask herself if she is willing to take a chance with him again.

I loved books where I can learn about other cultures, foods, and traditions, and this book delivers! It even has recipes at the end of the book, and I can't wait to try them, I loved learning about the Muslim wedding traditions, Indian wedding customs, and traditional Indian and Tanzania foods.

Overall, this story really swept me away to the picturesque country of Tanzania. The characters felt relatable, and I love how the #bridalbrigade really showed up for Jana. Also, who doesn't love the music of ABBA? What a great story!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an ARC of this book.

Jana Goes Wild by Farah Heron us a great contemporary romance that is full of heart, heat, humor, sass, and four-legged residents of the Serengeti.

This book is so much more than a second chance romance between exes and coparents: Jana Suleiman and Anil Malek. It also encompasses humor, fear, love, loss, family, and finding one’s own way in life.

I really enjoyed the picturesque backdrop, the full character cast, and I loved the chemistry, humor, banter, dialogue, and progression of the complicated and passionate relationship between the two main characters. Despite their past, despite their individual differences and obstacles, they meet again…and the connection is electric.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Forever ( Grand Central Publishing) for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 5/2/23.

As soon as I finished Kamila Knows Best and realized Jana would be next, I couldn’t wait to read this book. I loved seeing the continuation of Kamila and Rohan’s relationship, especially with explicit mentions of them planning to stay child-free and taking steps to keep that goal. But while Kamila and Rohan still played a big role, this is the story of Jana and Anil finding their way to their own version of a happy family with their daughter Imani.

Jana Goes Wild takes place five years after Kamila Knows Best, and while Jana and Anil are amicable and try to make sure they have the best relationship possible for their daughter, Jana still holds resentment and trauma from having been the “other woman” when they first got together and even having lost jobs and friends because of that. When she joins Kamila and family and friends for Kamila and Rohan’s wedding, she assumed Anil wouldn’t be able to join them. So when she sees him and they’re in close proximity for two weeks, things between her and Anil start to change.

I love second chance romances, and I think this does a lot of really great things with showing them having to make amends with one another for their past, as well as the growth they’ve both had to experience over the last five years. I also thought it was a nice change to have Jana be the one doing a grand gesture to show she’s ready to try and have a future with Anil, especially as she’s been the one most reluctant and prickly (which is never shown as unjustified or she’s evil or anything!). Overall this was a great addition to Farah’s catalogue, and I look forward to seeing what she’ll write next!

Jana never fit in totally because she is too aloof... She only fell in love once and her heart got broken. Now she is a bridesmaid for a destination wedding with her ex in attendance and she decided to make a go-wild list to forget about him....

A fun book... Love the main characters especially. The friends and family are fun too. :) The dialogue is spot on. I wish Anil, the ex, had to beg and asked for forgiveness a bit more though.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

This was my first Farrah Heron novel and won’t be my last. I’ll be going back to Kamila Knows Best to read how we got to the events in Jana Goes Wild.

For starters, I loved the Tanzanian setting for most of this novel, and I loved that it was actually a part of the story. I’ve read other books in the past that were set in exotic locations but then had the story in a way that it could have been set anywhere. The environment and the culture infused into the wedding events was so vibrant on the pages here, and I felt immersed in it,

I don’t want to say that I pitied Jana, but I did feel sympathy for her and the struggles she faced as a single mother as a result of a relationship scandal she didn’t know she was a part of. I admired her determination to forge ahead on her path in the face of all the adversity and judgement she faced while also being an excellent mother.

I was frustrated with Anil. I don’t know if it’s because we didn’t get to see their past five year history leading up to the wedding trip, but I felt he was too frustrated with Jana’s hesitancy and distance given that he was the one who lied during their initial relationship. I appreciated his efforts to be an involved and loving father, and I could see signs that he still cared for Jana after all this time, but he wasn’t clear about it. To me, Jana was expected to let go of her ‘grudge’ without a ton of motivating actions from Anil to show it would be worth letting her guard back down.

In the end, the 4-stars are mostly for Jana’s internal work to let go of the judgment of others, including her mother, and go after what she really wanted for herself. She showed so much strength. Also, points for the Bridal Brigade (and Rohan) and their support for her.

The only thing better than this cover is the book inside!!I really loved Jana Goes Wild and I think it really boils down to Farah’s writing. This is my third book by Farah, and it won’t be my last. I plan to go back and read Kamila Knows Best (a modern Emma retelling!!!) because I want to see where Jana and Anil began.

I really loved the emphasis on coparenting and thought it was such an interesting and TENSE dynamic. I do think Anil was feeling a BIT bad for himself and didn’t quite respect how hard it was for Jana to be around him, but I understand it was ultimately for the best. I just loved that they both raised their daughter equally and then had to go on a trip together like good god the forced proximity!!!

This was super slow burn but the payoff was worth the melt. Both Kamila Knows Best and Accidentally Engaged were closed door, but I’d say Jana Goes Wild had around a sex scene and a half. My favorite was the coshowering 🥵🧼

Overall, this second chance romance was so emotional and set against such a lush background. I was in all my feels at ALL times. I really loved getting a book long grovel. I wouldn’t think I’d like a book that’s basically all third act breakup but I really, really did.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5/5

This was my first Farah Heron novel, but it won’t be my last. In fact, I will be ordering another as soon as I finish my review.

Dr.Jana Suleiman is a highly educated woman with a challenging job and is a single mother to an adorable 4-year-old daughter. She is also introverted, a perfectionist, and deeply concerned about how she is perceived by others. Her daughter is the result of a 2 week fling and drives the plot.

After the initial backstory, we find Jana is a bridesmaid at a destination wedding in Tanzania. At the wedding, she will be socializing with the father of her child, her mother, numerous longtime friends, and her potential new boss. Things don’t all go as planned, and the novel is a delightful safari ride to self-awareness and growth. The reader willingly believes all the coincidences and examples of how small a world we live in.

The romance is hot, the conversations between friends laugh-out-loud-funny, and the descriptions of Tanzania divine. This book was definitely not-put-downable.

I found Jana Goes Wild to be a fun romcom. The characters were well fleshed out and vibrant - I especially appreciated that there was a wide variety of supporting characters who actually had their own interests and were not just there to further the purposes of the main characters. I also found the setting to be lively and especially appreciated the detailed descriptions of things like food or the challenges of travel, as it made it easier to visualize and connect with the story. That said, the pacing felt slow to me; I tend to struggle with stories where an easily remedied miscommunication causes an outsized conflict and I felt like that happened one too many times in this novel.

All in all, I thought this was a cute story and would recommend it!

I’ve loved everything Farah Heron has written, and I’m so delighted to have had the pleasure to read this one early! Jana and Anil having their moment 5 years after the events of the last book makes a lot of sense for their story, and Potato is back — no longer a puppy! Anyone looking for Maricel though, she doesn’t make an appearance until 93%. So don’t waste brain space worrying if she and Kamila had a falling out (which is what I did lol my bad).

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC

It had a good vibe and the characters were good but I just didn't find them relatable and honestly I feel like this story was just okay. It was enjoyable but a bit boring and I wouldn't read it again.

Super cute story that I appreciated extra as someone with a South Asian background as well! I loved and connected with Jana way more than I thought I would. Often at times her stubbornness came through the page but you could always understand why she was thinking the way she was, even when her and the reader could acknowledge she might not be in the right.

Loved her chemistry with Anil right from the start, and the steamy scenes with both of them were SOOOO GOOD! I really liked the way the daughter was incorporated in the story, writing kids can be very tricky but this felt very realistic and adorable.

My only dislikes were the, not one but two(!) third act “breakups” or miscommunication plots. Ultimately I understand the need for this kind of tension but considering the first part of Jana & Anil’s relationship was ALSO built on miscommunication, it just became too predictable.

Thank you netgalley, Forever, and Farah Heron for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE reading about characters and a story set in my home town of Toronto. Farah has a way of immediately activating my heart and head with her beautiful books. This book had a tad too much miscommunication (least favorite trope) for my liking but it's essential to the story and how the FMC & MMC navigate their way out of it. I ended up pausing to read so I could place a pre-order as I will absolutely need a physical copy for my forever shelves. Books that yank at my heart and brain strings and yell at the characters to get their s@#t together is one I look forward to reading again and again. Anil is book boyfriend #1 of 2023.

I think this author is not for me. I couldn't connect with the characters. The whole story had an amazing vibe and premise. I would still recommend it to fans of the author. It just was not my cup of tea.

Fantastic! Amazing! Never been done before etc etc.

Love feron’s books. Fun, desi, and exciting. Just as good as accidentally engaged.