Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Unfortunately, I had to DNF it - it felt very flat and wasn't a very fast read, and I just couldn't make myself read when I wasn't into the book. Maybe someone else would enjoy this, so I'm not going to rate it/will rate it 3 stars, but it just really wasn't my thing.

I love the fake relationship trope, but Ibrahim and Jiya sucked at the fake part. Even before they managed the "fake" part, they were dating while pretending they weren't. I liked the character development in both, though I am never a fan of the third act break-up.

An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I ended up not being a big fan of this book for a few reasons. I am usually a big fan of fake dating romances, but this book fell flat for me. The characters weren't developed properly, and they seem extremely one dimensional and bland.

From Fake To Forever
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 6/13/22
Author: Laila Rafi
Publisher: Orion Dash
Pages: 310
Goodreads Rating: 3.10

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Dash for providing a digital advanced readers copy of the book for me to read for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Jiya Ahmed has a dream: she wants to complete her MBA and get a job in the city. The problem is that her parents think it's high time she put her books away and focused on becoming good wife material. Ibrahim Saeed has a goal: he wants to avoid marriage but more specifically, he wants to avoid the arranged marriage his father has planned for him. Ibrahim's cheeky brother introduces them with the perfect setup: a fake relationship to stall their parents. As they embark on their plan, the attraction they set out to fake starts feeling all too real ... but love was never part of the deal.

My Thoughts: The story was narrated by Jiya and Ibrahim, from their own perspective, and each chapter was a different character and it was not clearly labeled, so it was confusing, if this was corrected, it would be more clearer and be a better reading experience. I generally love the fake dating trope, one of my favorites but it did not work in this book. I think the focus should have been on the insta love trope and it would have been a better set up. The book seem not complete in the editing department and that could be due to this being a ARC. It just made the book a little harder to read. The characters were well developed and had depth, it just took a long time to achieve it but there was no chemistry between our two MCs. I felt connected to Jiya, but no one else. I had a great disdain for Ibrahim, something about his character just didn’t click. However, overall, I did enjoy the story and the writing concept was cool.

“Her hands were still at his chest and he could feel the reverberations of his own heartbeat against them. It was as though his heart was finally beating properly after its staggered staccato since she’d walked away from him.”

Many thanks to Netgalley, Orion Dash and Laila Rafi for the arc in exchange for an honest review! :)

I requested this book because I’ve always been a big fan of the fake dating-trope and the cute cover spoke to me, but this book was a bit of a letdown. I really have mixed feelings about this book.

The story is about Jiya who is a waitress and studying for her MBA while living at home, where her family doesn’t understand why she doesn’t just marry and give up on her “silly dreams” and keep introducing her to potential husbands. Ibrahim works in the family business and is trying to stop his dad from wanting him to be engaged in a month’s time. Our male lead’s younger brother and Jiya’ close friend, Harry, sets them up for a fake relationship.

There were a few comments in the book that rubbed me the wrong way, for example, the male lead, Ibrahim commented how he liked that Jiya, our female lead, had “very light make-up on rather than a face caked with it” at the very start of the book.

Also the way the dual POVs are written makes it hard to understand who speaks when, and I had to re-read certain paragraphs a couple of times.

The second half of the book made up for the first half, that’s why I’m giving it three stars instead of two. I got really close to DNF’ing this book, but the second half really did pull the story together.

(3/5 stars, only because of the second half and the ending)

3.5⭐️ An enjoyable romcom with all the drama you’d expect from a Fake Dating Trope

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Books tor an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a fun read about Jiya and Ibrahim, who agree to fake a relationship to avoid the arranged marriages their parents are trying to push them into- perfect for fans of Dating Dr Dil!

I loved that Jiya was strong and ambitious and her friendship was Harry was super cute! I’d loved to have known more about the beginnings of the friendship - I think the author was setting up for further books, especially about the Saeed brothers ( particularly Zaf and his wife) so I really hope Harry gets one and we see a lot more of him! I’m intrigued to know what made Ashar so bitter (annoyingly it wasn’t mentioned I don’t think) but currently i’m still mad at him causing drama- he has some grovelling to do!!

Jiya and Ibrahim were very cute together, and I really liked their attraction/them discovering they were in love with each other.

I was less keen on how the writing switched between their povs quite flippantly- I love dual pov but this does switch a lot, even in the middle of chapters which could be a little disorientating. I also got a bit frustrated and felt like the issues could easily be resolved especially if Jiya and Ib communicated more - I was so annoyed that Ibrahim so easily slipped into doubting Jiya and being an arse because it seemed out of character for him!

Overall I did enjoy this and it was nice to read all the britishisms and actually read a british set romance book🥰

I’m a sucker for fake dating and so I thought I’d like this. But I didn’t really. This is kind of harsh but it wasn’t memorable for me. I can’t remember what happened. And I read it recently.

I wanted more Harry, less Ibrahim.

Harry was funny and cute and so sweet. He was SO nice to Jiya. Ibrahim was meh. He had no chemistry with Jiya and at one point he straight up gaslighted her. In reality, I think Ibrahim needed Jiya more than she needed him. Ibrahim agreed to this so he could avoid marriage, Jiya agreed to the fake dating so she could complete her studies in peace. Take a guess of who had a more immediate need.

The POV would switch without labeling so I didn’t know who was speaking until maybe halfway through EACH chapter. This made it feel like a book that is missing a few rounds more of editing.

At the time of finishing, I gave it a 3.5 star rating so I suppose I enjoyed something. Now, I’d probably give it 2 stars. 

I did enjoy Jiya though. She’s the first female in her family to get a higher education. I love main characters who fight for themselves.

Jiya as a first generation college student going for what she wants is amazing to see in a lead character. She struggles with what her family wants for her and what she wants for herself. Ibrahim already having achieved what he wants professionally also struggles with his personal life choices veering from his parents want for him. Enter fake dating!

Also I love when there is a strong bond between siblings in a book. The brothers are the best (especially Harry! We need more of him in future books!) and stick by each other but also make sure they point out when are wrong.

Jiya and Ibrahim will make you laugh and break your heart but you can’t help but feel all the things along with them.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a sweet book perfect for a summer read!

I'm sorry to say I couldn't finish this book which has only ever happened a couple of times in a lifetime of reading.
The key issue was the difficulty of the formatting and the jump between the characters perspectives with no acknowledgement of whether it is Jiya or Ibrahim.
I love the fake dating stories that are out currently but this fell very flat. The characters had no chemistry, the connection was full to read and I didn't feel invested in either character.
I'd did however enjoy reading about a different racial background than most mainstream books.

3.5 Stars.
This book is a light-hearted, fake-dating romance that will make you smile.

I love the cultural representation this book has and the differences in expectations from both a gendered and a class aspect. And the development of the relationship between Jiya and Ibrahim and their instant attraction to one another is written perfectly. This book taught me so many interesting things relating to South Asian culture, both historically and present day, and offers minorities to be the centre of the story. The dates in London between the couple continued to make me smile seeing their feelings progress was truly a wonderful thing to read.

The brothers are also so interesting to read about and I would love if we got to see their stories develop. I would love to see how Harry would be in a relationship. His comedy was a delight and I think seeing him fall in love would be amazing.

However, I wish that there had been an epilogue and that we could have seen the future between Jiya and Ibrahim but hopefully, this will become a series so we can continue to see them in other books.

Thank you to Orion Dash and NetGallery for an eARC of From Fake to Forever in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this, fake romance, and enemies to lovers? Sign me up! Unfortunately though, this book fell flat for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters, and nothing felt “new” to me. It wasn’t a bad read by any means, and I would definitely recommend this to a friend that’s new to the romance genre, but as someone who’s read quite a bit of it, I didn’t feel like new ground had been covered.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author – Laila Rafi, and the publisher – Orion Dash for the ARK of “From fake to forever”

This novel is the classic fake dating troupe featuring a couple that starts a fake romance to avoid arranged marriage. I’ve been reading so many fake dating troupes lately so this book was a little predictable for me but I think that’s due to the high amount of romance I’ve been reading and not a reflection of the story. It’s a cute summer read that won’t take you longer than a day.

This book had all the elements to make a great rom-com. Fake dating trope, interesting characters, and a diverse cast but it fell flat. This type of story has been done again and again and the author didn’t bring much to the table. The writing and editing were not good. There were unclear transitions between dual POVs and sometimes you didn’t even know whom you were reading about. The formatting was terrible and it made it hard to stay focused. This book had a whole lot going on but also not much at all at the same time. The ending wrapped up too quickly.

Thanks to Netgally for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgally for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

**Quick Ratings:**

Writing: 3/5

Story: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Chemistry: 2/5

Ending: 3/5

Would I reread this? No

Would I recommend this to someone? No - or, only if I thought they would enjoy it.

**Review:**

To start, I’m haven’t read many e-arcs, so I am not sure if this is a normal issue or if it was just for this book, but the formatting was very poor which definitely impacted how I read it, as well as quite a few grammatical errors. This was most prevalent with one of my main issues around the changing perspectives of the characters. The character perspective would change within the chapter without any indication and made me confused a lot and I had to go back to make sure I didn’t miss anything - by the end I found this very frustrating. Additionally with this, it resulted in a lot of scenes being repeated and having to re read the scenes from both Ibrahim and Jiya’s perspective.

This formatting (or lack of) also confused me a few times when they were speaking of something happening in a few days, but then the next line it was happening, almost immediately.

There were a few comments I wasn’t a fan on as a women, for example, the main character, Ibrahim commented how he liked how Jiya had “very light make-up on rather than a face caked with it” and Ibrahim and his brothers refer to another female character as a bitch. Additionally, at one point Ibrahim comments how he is speeding while riding a motorbike, which isn’t a good thing to do.

In relation to the story, I didn’t mind the concept but didn’t really feel very connected to the characters or that they had much chemistry at all. I feel like this story could have happened if Ibrahim did just accept someone his father set him up with and he might have fallen in love with her after getting to know her, like he did with Jiya. I feel like the book really hit a low for me after the engagement was announced and Ibrahim just acted awful, I was glad when Jiya left but then was disappointed again when they said that Ibrahim had given Carter her resume - even if they said it had nothing to do with her getting the job, it was obviously used as a way to make her like him again and I think it took away from her own achievements. All the other family issues was a good way to round out the characters but I struggle to see how a few conversations between Jiya and her mum would have resolved everything Jiya had to go through and felt like it was just swept under the rug.

Overall, it is a great achievement to write a book but I feel like this story just didn’t work for me and as I kept reading I found myself enjoying it less. I hope others have better luck than me.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the author – Laila Rafi, and the publisher – Orion Dash, for allowing me early access to this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

“From fake to forever” brings us the story of a young couple that starts fake dating to avoid their parents’ pressure to marry other people. As you can imagine by this, they will later fall in love with each other.

I’ve been liking the fake dating trope lately, so I requested this book. I feel this trope works better in an enemies to lovers kind of situation, which was not the case in here. I just think it gives rise to funnier interactions than the ones taking place in this book. Still, it was a cute story, but, the way it’s laid out, I think it might have worked better if it was an historical romance. I just didn’t find that much believable that the parents would arrange marriages nowadays.

Nevertheless, I could overlook the “unbelievable” part of it. What I can’t overlook is the very slow pacing, with the story going on and on in circles on how this is just a relationship for appearances. We only start to get some depth regarding the characters feelings way over half of the book, and I think it could have happened sooner. Additionally, I didn’t feel that much chemistry between the main characters, which was a downside for me. I wasn’t rooting for them to end up together, which should have been the objective.

I always like to end on a positive note, so I would like to say that I loved our female main character – she is the first female in her family to pursue a higher education and I’m all in for women empowerment and fighting for one’s dreams. The dual POV was a good addition to the story, I just felt the characters feelings could have been better explored from earlier on.

This review will also be available on my goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65805218-catarina-cat-literary-world

Jiya and Ibrahim both have parents trying to arrange them marriages no one wants so decide to pretend they are in a relationship to avoid any more match making. They both have an instant attraction to each other and bond over their traditional parents.
I enjoyed this book , however I do wish there was a big more grovelling after the conflict.

BOOK REVIEW: From Fake to Forever by Laila Rafi
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Rating: 3/5 stars
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Harry and Jiya were the only characters I actively liked and was rooting for in this book. Harry was the comic relief throughout and Jiya was the female lead who you couldn't help but root for ince she was so sweet and hardworking. The male lead, Ibrahim was okay until about 70% into the book when he made a mistake that in my opinion was unforgiveable. Jiya was too good for him. However there was an airport scene at the end of the book which was a big plus because I love a dramtic airport scene with a ridiculous declaration of love involving everyone's families for some odd reason in any rom-com. I am usually one who likes the fake dating trope, but I was kind of put off from it in this book since it was combined with the insta love trope. Insta love really isn't my thing and combined with fake dating it just didn't really make sense to me. Like why not just date then? Overall an entertaining read.

I thought this was a pretty good read. I enjoyed the premise and idea of it but would have loved to have seen a stronger build-up of their relationship. The end third of the book was my favorite part, there was so much going on, not too much, and it wrapped up nicely.

This plot I have seen so many times and this just brought nothing new to the table. The main characters weren’t that strong or exciting and I fell in love with the secondary characters more. So basically a no to me.

This was a fun, light read but didn't quite feel polished. I expected the feelings aspect to be more of a slow burn than it was. But them catching feelings early on was well balanced with other tension. Ibrahim was a bit one dimesional and his actions felt a bit over the top at times. On the other hand, I really loved Jiya's character. Always had a better time whenever we were following her. This definitely could use some tidying up, I found myself getting lost at times. But overall it was a sweet read.