Midwife in Behruz

🌟🌟🌟 STARS
Midwife in Behruz By Judy Meadows was a sweet mostly tame contemporary romance.
It follows Layla a very down to earth sweet American of mixed heritage who journeys to her childhood fictional middle eastern country for her uncle's wedding.
Here she meets Majid a local doctor with a massive family, the poor blokes got meddling auntie's coming out of his ears.
The two connect over there love of healthcare, Layla herself is a trained midwife so they have plenty in common with each other.
Over the course of Layla's stay, Majid falls head over heels for the outrageous American with her suggestive t-shirts.
The only problem is Layla has an all American blonde adonis of a fiance back home she professes to love.
So what positives did I take away from this enjoyably different book?
The characters were fresh and likeable, I especially liked Majhad who seemed such a sweetheart and so clueless at times.
I was very interested in the cultural aspects of this story, the rich history and the lives of the everyday folks were really explored richly, I could almost imagine myself walking among the stalls at the local bazaar.
I loved the background setting for the story so much, it was so exotic, so very different in this aspect to a lot of similar settings for romance novels.
Midwife in Behruz was also very humorous, I especially loved the t-shirt slogans that Layla seemed to love and also the purchasing of unmentionable female products for the older lady he he, what a way to win the family over.
The story flowed easily for me, making for an enjoyable experience.
The downsides I found are mainly just observations that slightly didn't work for me.
So First the uncle, So here goes, I feel that a royal leader would be slightly more aware and clued up on reproduction issues even in a less westernised culture, if he was female, well yeh, I would get that but not for a man it just seemed slightly unlikely, but that's just my opinion.
Second, I thought Layla was slightly naive in regards to her relationship with her fiance, it seemed very high school and so uninvested for the both of them really.
Also, Her thought processes in regards to this fiance seemed to me slightly immature in nature, but again maybe just me.
Sometimes less can be more I find, this was so very descriptive medically which I didn't really like, I found it gave way too much medical Jargan for my personal tastes.
I also at times felt a little disconnected from Layla and Majhid, not sure why that was but I did.
So there you have it, those were my small niggles, but overall this for me was a solid delightful read.
Midwife in Behruz reminded me very much of an old style mills and boon romance.
with everything in a set structure boy meets girl, they fall for each but there are obstacles, (in this case the fiance) but eventually, this resolves and they live happily ever after.
The heat level here is low, with one small make out session and a hotel bedroom scene, these are more suggesting of intimacy rather than graphic descriptions of the act itself, so very mild indeed.
I would class this overall as a tame read.
There nothing wrong with that, sometimes simple, sweet, no angst is a nice change from the drama.
This book is a lovely boy gets the girl tale, it does exactly what it says on the tin, so if you like your romance humorous, sweet and romantic this would be a good fit for you.
I would like to say thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC this is my own free and honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book. It has a good storyline premise but might have been a little better written. This was my first book by this author.

I hadn’t read anything by this author before but I’ll never hesitate to do so in future. This was a moving, enjoyable romance set in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Behruz. That is where the heroine, Midwife Layla Shrivani, returns to the country of her birth to attend the wedding of her father’s half brother, the Sultan, Abu-Khan. Following the untimely death of her father when she was seven years old, Layla has lived with her Mother and three siblings in America but is drawn to visit her homeland again before she marries her childhood crush. A request from her uncle, a chance meeting and the opportunity to use her skills lead to so much more, including making her question her own plans for the future.

The exotic setting, different social norms, expectations and cultural aspects of this story all set it apart from any others I’ve read. I particularly appreciated the author’s writing style and vivid descriptions of locations like the bazaar! The author’s voice draws the reader right into the heart of the story, bringing it to life in the readers imagination. There’s plenty of humour - especially with the slogans on Layla’s t-shirts - and emotional drama, in this medical romance. There's also many insights into experiences living in two different cultures and how these can impact on expectations and relationships.

It is a story of re-evaluating choices, seeking your calling and following your dreams to help others. It is definitely different to the other Middle Eastern based stories I’ve read recently, with no worries about a young lady walking unaccompanied or without a chador, or any zealots or extremists around - but it is fiction! It is definitely a thoroughly enjoyable read that I have no hesitation in highly recommending to anyone seeking a tender love story with great characters and very different setting.

I requested and received a copy of this novel, via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

Midwife in Behruz is the fictional story of Layla, a midwife whose distant relationship to the Sheikh of Behruz, a fictional country on the eastern side of the Gulf of Arabia, sees her visiting Behruz for a month to attend her relative's wedding. Once in the country of her birth, though, she meets a charismatic doctor and discovers that perhaps her true calling lies in helping the women of this conservative country.

Judy Meadows has lived and travelled extensively in the Middle East, and is also a doula and childbirth educator. This knowledge shines through in the story, in Layla's sympathetic attitude and her skills, and in the wonderful portrayal of the fascinating and colourful lives of everyday people in a part of the world so many write off as backward desert nations.

Layla's growth as a person into figuring out what she really wants was fantastic, superbly written and realistic. I empathized with her all the way, and I absolutely adored Majid, who was a fantastic hero. He wasn't the stereotypical sheikh, but he was educated, passionate and compassionate, and I think any woman in his orbit would fall in love with him too!

While this is well written and edited - I didn't find a single spelling mistake, and only a couple of very minor punctuation ones - I did have a couple of issues with the story. I don't think it's realistic to write a story set in the Middle East these days which doesn't mention religious extremism, or even religion, in more than passing. We didn't even have Majid rolling out a prayer rug - there could have been an amusing mid-labour scene where the baby's father broke off his attention to pray, for example. In the back of my mind there was a constant niggle - Layla walking unaccompanied through the streets without her chador on set alarm bells about zealots accosting her ringing for me, and honestly I was surprised neither the Sheikh nor Majid seemed to have any concerns for her safety.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, these little niggles kept me from really loving it. It's definitely four solid stars, though, and I'd happily read more of the author's work in future.