This was my first time reading a romance featuring main characters who were Muslims set in Uganda. It was quite refreshing to see how Bashir and Yusra dealt with a highly emotional situation. Three years! It took three years for them to learn their sons were switched. I still can't believe that happened. Anyway, I loved how they fell in love with their "birth" sons and then with each other. The cover was definitely an indicator of this beautiful romance and how two people found love in an unconventional way.

Hana Sheik’s THE BABY SWAP THAT BOUND THEM (Harlequin, ebook, $3.99) starts with a pair of newborns in a Ugandan hospital: One is the son of Yusra, a divorced graphic designer; the other is an infant orphaned in a car crash, who must now be raised by a gruff, reclusive billionaire guardian named Bashir. Both birth experiences are marked by grief. There is love, but it is a desperate, dark feeling — love as need, as defensiveness, as loss.

Three years later, Bashir and Yusra learn they each took the wrong infant home from the hospital. Now they’re faced with the problem of whether to abandon the child they’ve loved and raised, or refuse their claim to the child that they were meant to have. The solution, clearly, is to raise the kids together — and to get married to simplify any questions about custody.

Marriage to a stranger is a popular premise, especially in category romances, but it’s completely realistic in cultures where arranged marriages are common. After the nikah the children fade into the background — as they should. They’re only the trope, the scaffolding of the story; we’re here to see how two unhappy adults find their way to bliss.

Bashir has one of the most advanced cases of Billionaire Romance Logic I’ve ever seen: He’s survived a flood and a shipwreck, so naturally he lives on a yacht with a glassed-in underwater observation room. An emotional reactionary, he was bumping right up against the on-page shenanigans limit for me.

Luckily, our couple’s future is made possible by a stunning possessive turn by Yusra, after Bashir pushes her away yet again: “That made him a coward. But he was her coward.” This line changes nothing except the reader’s perspective — but that perspective is all-important. For the ending to feel balanced, an author has to give the heroine something to counter the billionaire hero’s wealth and power. Bashir might have the money — and the yachts, and the hotels — but the book gives Yusra the right of claiming.

The Baby Swap That Bound Them was an excellent book. Yusra, Bashir, and their sons story had a number of twists and turns. It has intrigue, people brought together through unusual circumstances and an eye opening look at immigrants and how they can or cannot succeed in societies. The story also has a subplot on how Bashir and Yusra's earlier life experiences continue to impact their current lives. I highly recommend this book.

I started reading romance books when I was a teenager, borrowing the ones my mom owned. Most of those were from Harlequin, but the characters never looked anything like me. It honestly blows my mind a little bit to find a Harlequin romance with a hijabi character featured prominently on the cover.

I really enjoyed this. Like most Harlequin romances, this had more telling than showing, but the romance was a sweet, slow build. The plot is pretty much exactly what you'd guess based on the title, so nothing that happened really surprised me. The story takes place in Uganda rather than somewhere in the US/Canada, which was also refreshing.

I liked the Muslim representation for the most part, and that both characters were Somali. I'm not sure how religious Bashir is, there were some off-hand mentions about dating, not going to the mosque often, and having experience with sex that made me wonder about that. Yusra prays frequently, is described as wearing modest clothes, and wears a hijab, so we get to see more of her practicing. I like this kind of portrayal, though, because it's the small details sprinkled throughout the book that made me truly feel that I was reading about Muslim characters.

This is an entertaining read. This is the 2nd author that I have had the pleasure of reading that her books take place in Africa. It gives the readers a glimpse into Africa and their cultures and the continent in general. Yusra s a single mom and she receives news for sexy billionaire Bashir that their sons were switched at birth. Oh, wow how could that have happened. Not wanting to give up the son that he has raised for nearly three years; and not wanting to give up the son that he didn’t get the chance to raise Bashir comes up with a solution. He suggests that he and Yusra get married a marriage of convenience to raise the boys together. Bashir is having a hard time as to whether he is willing to give his heart to Yusra because he lost his family when he was a child.

Can Bashir and Yusra have a marriage of convenience and raise their sons together, will Bashir put his heart on the line for Yusra, is there an HEA in store for Bashir and Yursa?

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for access to this arc

I just love this cover. The tropes in the book – a marriage of convenience between a divorced mother and a man who stepped in when his cousin died – has the added interest of being between Somali MCs and taking place in Uganda and on billionaire Bashir’s superyacht.

Yes of course we all know that their Reasons for a “no love” marriage will fall by the wayside no matter what is behind those reasons. Frankly I can better understand Yusra’s reasons to avoid love as she dealt with the change of her husband from loving to controlling and finally stood up to him and reclaimed herself. Bashir’s reasoning – fear of losing his second family after he lost his first to a flood – also makes sense but his actions – “I will run from the second family to avoid the pain of losing them which I know will happen” – frustrated me. The “I’ve known pain before and won’t put myself through it again” is a romance trope I don’t care much for but to run away from the only family – who took him in and love him dearly – he has left and to have not contacted them (or not much) in twenty years gobsmacks me. Yes I feel for him as he was hit by crippling anxiety at the thought of another loss but I wish he’d gotten some therapy for this.

The romance takes a while to get going. Both MCs are of course attracted to the other but must deny this. Roughly 45 pages (and three weeks) of silent lusting and no communication about it later, things finally begin to work themselves out as we get a tour of Kampala and watch Yusra begin to flourish. Bashir manfully denies his feelings until he thinks he’s stepped beyond the pale. Then finally they start to talk only for the dreaded last act separation. Kudos for having Yusra stick to her feelings and realize a way she can try and bridge their gap while also helping Bashir past the thing that has caused him so much pain. Also kudos that Bashir sends Yusra a present that lets her know – even though he’s still denying it – how much he cares. Personally I think she does a great deal of the heavy lifting to get them back together but once Bashir admits love back into his life, he’s full on.

Now I’m not a person who just adores plot moppets dropping into storylines and neither AJ nor Zaire are PMs. However this is actually a story in which I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of them given how important they’re supposed to be to their parents. A bit more page time for them would have been nice.

So there’s not really anything new as far as tropes or plotlines go but I enjoyed having a character driven story of observant Muslims, flourishing in their chosen professions, as main characters and seeing the unusual setting of Kampala.

An endearing glimpse into what makes a family. Sheik exposes the heart to the vulnerabilities of emotion. Bashir and Yusra tackle the binds of love with a beautiful rawness that speaks to the soul. The Baby Swap that Bound Them is heartache at it's most captivating.

Single mom Yusra is shocked when billionaire Bashir tells her that their sons were switched at birth. Neither wants to give up the child they've raised for almost three years, yet they also feel a bond to the child who shares their blood. Bashir suggests they raise the boys together. Can they make a marriage of convenience work for the sake of their sons?

This is a strongly character-driven book that delves into Bashir's fear of intimacy. Having lost his family as a child in a Somali flood, he's wary of giving his heart to Yusra. This is the primary conflict of the book—it doesn't spend much time on the drama and upheaval of the baby swap. This is a marriage of convenience book rather than a blended family book. I enjoyed the Muslim representation and the African setting.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was a fun, adult Muslim romance. Perfect for fans of Uzma Jalaluddin and Ana Huang. This involves a switched at birth scenario so it’s got a predictable storyline but it’s still a fun read!!

I don't always read Harlequin category romances, but Muslim romances are so rare and I was immediately drawn by the adorable cover. The title gives the plot away haha. Bashir's baby and Yusra's baby were swapped at birth. When they find out the truth a few years later, they decide to get married so they could parent both children.

Overall, this was a decent and entertaining read. The story and the characterization are pretty much what you'd expect from a Harlequin category romance. The only difference here is that the main characters are Black Muslims originally from Somalia and the story is mostly set in Uganda. The writing is decent, but it could use a final round of editing. I really hope we continue to get more and more diverse Muslim romances in the future!