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.

'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.

I had SO much fun reading this book! The setting? Phenomenal. The cast of characters? Incredible. And I loved going along with Jana on her journey of discovery and re-discovery with Anil. She grows so much over the course of the book while remaining herself and every second of it was a treat. Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was my first Farah Heron novel and it most certainly will not be my last! I enjoyed Jana’s story. This second chance romance set against the beautiful East African landscape was beautiful and full of rich culture and natural description that really brought it to life. I love how Heron used the backdrop of an extravagant wedding to bring Anil and Jana together in a forced proximity style novel. She also keeps readers waiting for that HEA and does so very well. There’s a lot of push and pull elements here and I think Heron does the situation justice.

Jana Goes Wild is the story of Jana Suleiman who is a bridesmaid in a destination wedding in Africa. While en route to Africa, she realizes that Anil Malek, her daughter's father and her worst nightmare, is also part of the wedding party. They'll soon cross paths many times over the next few days.

This second chance romance had the most perfect setting. Reading about their time in Serengeti National Park made me want to jump into the pages of the book and experience what the characters were experiencing. I've always wanted to go on a safari and after reading this book, I want go even more.

Though Jana holds much resentment towards Anil, who caused a bit of a scandal five years prior when he left Jana after she accidentally became pregnant, he really did care for her and their daughter. There were some great scenes with Jana and Anil co-parenting, and that was nice to see.

Overall, this romance was very slow burn and while it wasn't perfect, I enjoyed reading it very much. Read this one for the setting and Jana's mom, Rashida, if nothing else! She was one of my favorite characters!

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, but it ended up being a fun ride. At first I wasn’t sure how Heron was going to convince me our MCs should get back together what with Anil being a cheater and all. But it turns out that the backstory isn’t that simple and Heron wove together the pieces so that we could understand and feel Jana’s anger and frustration while still accepting her forgiveness.

The story dealt with a very complicated relationship and the emotions that go with it really well. Anger, hurt, attraction, responsibility to their daughter, love, exhaustion were all wound together in a way that felt realistic. I liked that Jana and Anil’s current selves were sometimes contrasted with their younger selves—it added texture to know that they’ve changed as a result of their relationship and becoming parents.

That said, I do wish we got see some more of their relationship before it went sour, besides just the prologue. Jana reminisces on how easy things used to be with Anil, how well they worked together, but we don’t actually get to see any of it in scene, so we don’t actually know how well-suited they are and have to just take Jana’s word for it. Basically we don’t feel the underlying passion, which in a lot of romances is a big driver of progress. Here, the pacing was fine, but I didn’t always feel like I had a great sense of where we were in the story. The way Jana and Anil are hot and cold, it’s hard to tell how much progress is being made in their relationship, especially without that intense underlying romantic passion convincing me to push on.

All together, I enjoyed the story, I appreciated that Heron went in for a story with very tangled up emotions and conflict instead of one that was cut and dry, that the side characters were prominent and invested and not flat, and that there were diverse characters. I did however want the passion of the relationship to be shown more instead of told.

3.75, rounded up

Jana Goes Wild is Farah Heron's latest book. Jana, her wonderful family and closest friends all travel to Tanzania for a destination wedding.

With all sorts of animals, large and small and with a setting so magnificent, Jana learns to let loose and discover who's opinions matter the most.

This book goes hand in hand with Kamila Knows Best so I would highly recommend reading it too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this awesome book!!