✔️YA romance
✔️Bangladeshi rep
✔️fake dating
✔️love triangle
✔️clean

If you're into everything named above, this book is for you.

I enjoyed most of this book. It was a colourful and cute YA romance. It was so refreshing to read a story about the beautiful Bangladeshi culture. Although there were words and terms I was not familiar with, it was a bit confusing. Still, it was fun. I also loved the girls' friends group. It was so sweet and wholesome to read about such supportive and lovely friends.

I loved that Zahra, our FMC, was a dreamer and determined enough to chase those dreams even though everything looked to be against her. Her love and devotion for her family were so sweet and admirable. I loved seeing how she supported her family and mother's talent as ferociously as she did, even if sometimes her mother was a bit blind to Zarah's own opinions and dreams.

Harun, one of the love interests, was such a sweet, thoughtful, reliable and enjoyable character. I loved how we got to know him the more the story progressed.

Nayim, the other love interest, was the artistic, romantic, dreamy boy every girl has a soft spot for when they're teenagers. It was sweet to read about him.

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite resonate with any of the characters, and it was a bit tough to connect with the story as a whole. I feel like the romance part of this book was a bit underdeveloped and shallow. It felt rushed because they thought they loved each other almost immediately. It gave me the feeling of emotional immaturity, especially on Zarah's part, as her romantic feelings seem so mercurial. Well, they are only eighteen, so maybe it makes sense. Still, I think it could’ve been done better.

Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure many people love this book enormously. Especially if they are from this same community and culture; actually, I think if I had read this book in my teens, I’d have loved it way more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

A quick easy and cute read that I couldn't put down. I found myself really liking the characters and wanting to know what happens next, I didn't want to miss a single thing

'The Love Match' by Priyanka Taslim is a heartwarming young adult romance novel - 'Pride and Prejudice' with a Bengali twist. Zahra is an aspiring writer who dreams of being able to afford to go to college. Her Amma feels, however, the best thing for her is to enter into an arranged marriage with the son of a local rich family. Harun, our Mr Darcy, is certainly attractive but gives Zahra the cold shoulder. Unlike Nayim, the cute but poor boy working at the local coffee shop with Zahra. The issue for Zahra grappling with what is best for her family and what is best for her heart.

I enjoyed this adorable romance, particularly the twists and turns when it came to Zahra and Nayim's relationship. I could really see the P&P Austen style crossovers and was excited to try and work out where the story would go. Taslim does an excellent job of immersing the reader in the Bengali community and truly understand Zahra's challenge when it comes to family loyalty versus finding a love match.

This enemies to lovers, love triangle narrative was lovely to read and I was rooting for Zahra to find love AND have a future as a writer. Read on to find out if this is possible! 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect book to read after a long day at the office and you want to escape such fun characters and an interesting story you won't want to put down.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

This book is so wildly, wildly good. Cannot recommend it enough. It's swoony and sparkling, with vibrant family and friend relationships, and twists and turns that kept me on my toes. Absolutely buying this and reading it again and again and again

As the author says in the acknowledgments they hope “that the book has felt like taking a sip of a sweet, comforting saa” and that’s just what I felt!

An easy light hearted ya enemies to lovers, with subtle nods to Austen’s P&P, The Love Match gives us a glimpse into the life and first loves of a Bangladeshi teenage girl growing up in America. I enjoyed getting to know Zahra and her little world of her family, friends and love interests through her sense of humour and use of the authors self proclaimed “Banglish”. Even though I didn’t know exactly what the translations were this didn’t hinder my reading or enjoyment of this - only adding.

4.5 stars

This was a highly anticipated release for me since I first set eyes on the gorgeous cover and I'm happy to say I really enjoyed this! Love triangles aren't usually my thing, because I usually think it's so obvious who the main character should go for - but in this one, it wasn't obvious and I liked both of the love interests for the main character. This was such a charming story, with themes of grief and family playing a huge role which I wasn't expecting at all and was pleasantly surprised by.

Zahra, our main character, was a joy to read - she was funny, smart and cares deeply for her family, although she struggles to balance that with her own wants out of life, which I think is such a lovely depiction to see in YA. Zahra felt very real and I rooted for her throughout; I wasn't even that concerned about whether she would end up with Harun or Nayim, as long as she ended up happy. Her life wasn't just about the romance, she also had an amazing friendship group and that was really lovely to read about.

This book is full of Desi culture and while I'm not a part of that community so I can't speak on the accuracy of the portrayal, I loved reading about it and thought it was so great to see!

I do wish that I had felt more invested in the romance, or if the point was to not be, that the book had perhaps ended differently, but it's only a minor complaint and I would highly recommend this book!

Not for me as such but I could see how others would enjoy and exactly who I would sell it to in the shop and the characters were engaging and themes interesting

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'The Love Match' by Priyanka Taslim.

'The Love Match' was cute and insightful with a fantastic writing style from Taslim. This was a heavily anticipated book for myself and it didn't hold up to what I expected but it was still such a great book and I could think of hundreds of people who would read this and fall madly in love.
Overall, it was a decent read but not fully my favourite I've read.

I sped through this book so fast, it’s been a while since I’ve devoured through a book so quickly. Zahra is a young Bangladeshi American teen whose mother sets her up with Harun, who comes from a wealthy family. Both parties are not happy with this idea of going on dates with a chaperone, but decide to go along with it to please their parents. Enter, Naymin a new employee who she slowly gets to know and is falling for, so things become complicated.

I adored Zahra throughout this book and being an eldest daughter of immigrant parents I also related a lot to her especially how she has the pressure to make decisions that she thinks will benefit and help her family over her own happiness. This book is very realistic in which what a lot of South Asian children go through and I loved reading about the Bangladeshi culture in this book. I especially loved how this book was centred around family and friendship making it very wholesome to read. I really respected Zahra in this book, as she cares about her family and friends a lot making her a selfless character which I loved.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, The Love Match follows Zahra as she transitions to adulthood, balancing her family, culture and her love life, she finds herself in a love triangle, struggling to choose between cold and elusive Harun and dreamy Nayim.

This was such a sweet and vibrant read, I loved the cultural references and seeing the sense of community was so heartwarming. Taslim articulates the cultural conflict Zahra faces as a young Bangladeshi woman, whilst also trying to navigate her first romance. Harun’s character was the perfect Darcy, I loved the way he slowly fell for Zahra, moving from enemy status to close friends.

I would highly recommend!

2.25/5 stars! Ok; first of all, I really dislike the US cover of this book. It felt even younger than YA. I hope the author will consider using this UK cover because it fits the story much better. Now onto the story itself. I love both "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" and "Pride and Prejudice" so I was excited to dive into this story. This book is filled with slow-burn romance and enemies-to-lovers storylines. Unfortunately, this book put a heavy, heavy emphasis on being young adult, to the point that some of the terms are beyond my millennial understanding. Maybe kids would appreciate it but I got lost.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily