I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It seems a lot of book plots are centering on authors who are struggling or seeking inspiration! This one is a great introduction to this new theme. I enjoyed tbe characters and the chemistry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was SO cute! It felt like Inside Out but as a rom-com. Just imagine that Joy comes to life…as a very hot man…who’s specifically the writer’s Muse…trust me, it works

Loved the growth of Ziya and happy how her story turned out.

I was a *little* bummed about her best friend Emily’s story, her boyfriend massively sucked

Rating ⭐️: 3.75/5
No Spice 🚫🌶️
Book release date 📣 : June 10 2025

To anyone who is a writer that enjoys magical realism and romance, this book is for you!

Imagine... You are struggling to become a published author, feeling defeated and make a wish at midnight on your birthday. Then suddenly a really attractive guy ,that technically you created, comes to life determined to help you rediscover your love for writing. But in the process you fall for him too. You can’t be together …. Or can you?

"I see the world and all of its shades so differently now, and that’s because of you."

"To have another season to keep falling in love with you. That’s all I would have liked to do."

Thoughts:
This was fun read! I will say in the beginning it took me a bit to get into it, but the second half was worth the wait.

Ziya: I loved getting to experience Ziya rediscover her love for writing and, in the process, find herself. I also really appreciated how the Ziya highlighted how important it is for her to write characters that reflect her own ethnicity.

Aashiq: What a fun character! Watching him navigate the human experience and ask questions about it made me pause and reflect on what it truly the human experience is.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

Lo disfruté mucho y me recordó cosas importantes.

Ziya trabaja como asistente en un despacho de abogados. En sus descansos, se dedica a escribir y enviar su libro a agentes literarios, pero todos la han rechazado. Cuando recibe otro rechazo, unas horas antes de su cumpleaños, decide que es suficiente y que debe dejar atrás ese sueño. Lo que no se imagina es que al día siguiente su musa, Aashiq, aparecerá y le dirá que salió literalmente de su mente y está allí para ayudarla a terminar su libro. Durante ese tiempo, él le enseñará a volver a disfrutar de las pequeñas cosas de la vida, a aprender a valorarse, a no dejar de luchar por lo que quiere, a no desperdiciar el tiempo, a entender que el trabajo no lo es todo y a construir relaciones...



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! The perfect bit of magic, mystery, and romance. I would say if you’re new to a sprinkle of magic in your romance this is perfect for you—just enough to keep it interesting!
Thank you, NetGalley!

This book was so cute! I have never read a book like this and I loved it so much. This was the perfect mix of romance and magical realism.

Comforting like an early 2000s rom-com. Everything feels familiar but not overdone. Even the beats you know are coming are still heartwarming or heartbreaking. Alternated between crying and kicking my feet for the last 10%.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC!

Sweet, cozy, and whimsy, this magical realism book was a decently fun read. It's one of those where you don't think too deep, kinda like a palette cleanser book.

Writing Mr. Right by Alina Khawaja is the perfect pick-me-up for anyone who loves a cozy, whimsical romance. The story follows Ziya Khan, a legal secretary and aspiring writer who’s lost her spark—until her muse, Aashiq, appears in human form to inspire her once again. It’s a fun mix of magic and romance, with a dash of humor that will keep you smiling. The magical realism element adds a fresh twist, and while the story-within-a-story approach might feel a little too meta for some, I found it to be a charming reflection of Ziya’s own creative journey. If you’re into feel-good, lighthearted reads that celebrate love, creativity, and unexpected inspiration, this one’s definitely worth picking up!

The first word that comes to mind for this book is cozy. It’s a sweet romance that follows Ziya who has decided to give up writing for good, but her muse Aashiq comes to life and has plans to inspire her to pick it back up. As the story unfolds, you get to experience New York City (and honestly life in general) through a refreshing point of view and watch Ziya slowly grow outside her bubble. There’s no external issues that are looming or intense plot twists. This is a low stakes romance that feels like what you want to read when you are looking for a breather between really intense books.

I will say what really held me back on this book was how meta it was. I had that thought pretty early on in the book, but as the book progressed, that thought just grew more and more. It got to the point that I couldn’t even be present with the main storyline because I was feeling too much of the two overlapping. My focus went from just enjoying the story unfolding to feeling like I was almost being told more from what she was writing than what she was experiencing. And it also just made some of the resolution at the end feel a little rushed.

But I don’t think that everyone will feel this way! If you’re looking for a cozy sweet romance, you might really enjoy this one.

Also, one of the reasons I requested this book was because it reminded me of Ashley Poston’s magical spin on romance novels, and I feel like this definitely fit that thought! So if you are wanting a low stakes romance novel that feels like a love letter to romance writers, then this might be just the read for you :)

This was extremely cute and I’m so glad I picked up the ARC! I thought this was a good rom-com book to pick up on a cozy day in, and I was right. I loved the banter between the characters, the plot was interesting, and I liked the ending.

Everyone has a muse of a sort, but what would would it be like for your muse to come to life?

On the day before her birthday, Ziya's book was rejected, again. Not to mention the long, disappointing day she had already. That evening she receives a cake from her best friend that has 'magic candles'. With only a few minutes until midnight she decides to light them.
The next morning she wakes up to see her muse. Her muse is a beautiful male named, Aashiq.
Aashiq is there to help her get back into writing after she declares she's given up the night prior. He's pesky, and annoyingly sweet. The story is funny, cute, and sweet all while also having a strong lead female character. It's so refreshing to read a story like this.
Not a single line skipped over, the author's words will draw you in. I was able to read this as if a movie was playing in my head. It was just so dang good. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this story. Above is my review, and it'll be posted to Goodreads. See link below to access my Goodreads account along with the review.

I love that she found her real like MMC. Someone to push her boundaries in a good way and show her what more there is to life. I also love that Ziya is in her 30’s. I feel like often in a good romance book they’re in their 20’s and have their lives together and good to go. When it’s totally normal and okay to have a roommate, still figuring your scope of life out in your 30’s. This was a fun read!

I’m really surprised at some of these reviews because I thought this book was great! The banger was realistic and fun, the romance was adorable, the magical realism is totally my jam. I loved the friendships, the setting, the characters. I really loved this story. I feel like it had a lot of heart.

I loved how this book celebrated a culture different from my own, introducing interesting food, sayings, and references. The characters were well-developed, and I could relate to the protagonist, as an aspiring writer myself. However, while the story had great potential, it occasionally felt drawn out and awkward, which made it difficult to stay engaged. Ziya, a thirty-year-old Muslim, gives up on her writing dreams until a handsome male muse appears, helping her with magic. The premise is fun, but the magical elements, like a credit card that solves all problems, threw it the plot off at times. Additionally, the writing sometimes felt forced, and the portrayal of Ziya as a 30-year-old didn’t always ring true. While the diverse characters and unique blend of romance and fantasy are appreciated, some aspects felt problematic or confusing, especially given the culture it incorporated.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

This was so cute! I absolutely loved this and how the author developed the story. The characters are written so that you get well attached and relate to them easily. This book was well organized and well thought out.

While i thought this was a hood and unique idea, I felt like it was slow and clunky. It was not my favorite read personally.

While I appreciated the diverse characters and the interesting take on rom coms and fantasy, I thought some of writing felt clunky and I that I wanted to finish it to be done, not because I wanted the HEA but because I found that this was hard to keep my interest.

Title? Good.
Cover ? Good.
Read ? Ok.

Magical realism in a contemporary setting. The FMC’s literary and career goals seem to be insurmountable at the start of the book. Until, “he” appears. And, while there are some moments, it also was wasn’t difficult to put down.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


#WritingMrRight #NetGalley

At a crisis point in her personal and professional life, a thirty-year-old Muslim legal secretary Ziya gives up on her dream of becoming a writer. The next morning, a handsome male muse shows up to help her write the very book we’re reading and take care of her with magic. This is a fun premise until he whips out a magic credit card, the equivalent of making a pile of gold appear. If he can do that—poof, story over. The author makes it overly clear that she is writing a person of color main character like herself, which is great and something we need to see more of. However, her character does not sound 30. The last after-school special aired in 1977. For her to have seen one after school would make her at least 54. From what I’ve read elsewhere, this magic situation doesn’t work for a devout Muslim either. Miracles are a sign for people to listen to prophets, and since Mohammad is the final prophet and the Qur’an his final miracle, any other supernatural act is from the enemy. Muslims are not even allowed to communicate with djinn because those who try to speak to us are followers of Iblis. Lastly, how did they create a birth certificate and high-school transcript high-quality enough to fool lawyers without magic?

Mechanically, the novel reads like the draft of a first book. For entire chapters, she avoids the word “say” at all costs (berate, tell, speak, snort, points out, allow, add, press, demand, argue) and then starts using it suddenly later. The sentence structures are unvaried, with most paragraphs on each page beginning the same way. A lot of descriptive phrases made no sense or jangled:
His cheeks widening
His lips appear soft as he curls them inward
A long earthy wet breath
Excitement immediately mellowed
confusion worrying his eyes
He sucks his cheeks in and then speaks.

Enough negatives. It was a sweet story I just couldn’t enjoy. I couldn't find this book on Goodreads, but several other books had the same title.