This is really good! Fake dating is a trope that I always enjoy, so I knew I had to get a copy of this one. The reason behind their fake dating seems reasonable, and the conflict in the story also felt realistic. It has some grand gestures that are reminiscent of my favorite rom-com movies, which I enjoyed. Sometimes, the format of the dialogue was a little confusing, and I couldn’t tell who was speaking, and I thought that the ending felt a little sudden and was surprised to find no epilogue, but overall, I really enjoyed this!

The Good:

You know who I love in this book? Harry! Can we just have Harry? He’s funny, loyal, amazing, and a total dork. He’s got me wrapped around his finger.

I love Jiya and how she stood her ground and did what she set out to do, kudos. I love it. The groveling after the third act conflict was amazingly executed. As someone who’s not a big fan of these kinds of grand gestures and it’s predictable outcomes, I’m impressed with how it played out in this story. It honestly made me smile.

The Bad:
Ibrahim definitely needed to grovel more. Payment must be made!
Also, I feel like it’s full of British idioms that I had to constantly research. Now, I feel like I need to further immerse myself with more idioms so I started looking up flights to London and whether I should get a hotel in Heathrow area or Notting Hill. It’s bad because it’s going to set me back a few thousand dollars and I’m not prepared for it. That’s uncalled for.

The Ugly:
The POV kept switching within each chapter and it wasn’t clearly labeled. I don’t know who’s talking now! So, each chapter, this book would send me to a haunted house because I’m over here wondering, “who said that?” “Who are you?” “Tap on the walls 2 times if you’re Jiya!”
It seriously gave me a mental whiplash..
Also, I feel like some of the fonts & spacings were off, so it could use more editing.

This book reads like it’s setting itself up to uncover Zaf’s insecurities and his relationship with his wife. I’m definitely here for it.

I want to be immersed in this world.
Whenever that happens, I know that I’m in for a good book hangover. I kind of wanted an Epilogue but I trust that this would be a series and that’s why I’m not in total panic mode.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The fact that this book has a fake dating trope just makes me like it a lot more, but it’s not the most amazing book i’ve read but it was still so good.

I would definitely recommend this book to others who I feel would enjoy this.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley!

This was a debut novel by this author and it was so good!! I was really impressed by this and I loved the authenticity behind the characters and the cultures! I found this to be an easy to read romance with the fake dating trope I absolutely love.
All the characters were so loveable (barring the ones you’re not meant to like) and both Jiya & Ibrahim showed a good level of character development.
I would have liked a little more of an epilogue at the end to know how the couple make it in the future other than that I really enjoyed and would recommend

The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the familial relationships, particularly the relationship with Jiya and her parents.
The book is also set-up nicely to follow a whole series on the Saeed family.

The relationship between Jiya and Ibrahim felt a tiny bit lacking to me. Maybe because I’m not a massive fan of insta-love, but it felt like there was little build up between this pair of strangers.

I did also find it slightly confusing on the jumps between both their perspectives.

Overall it was a fun read and some interesting characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Orion publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m an ownvoices rep and I liked the Muslim rep in this book. This was a cute book and I loved the chemistry between the protagonists.

From Fake to Forever is a wonderful fake dating romance story.
I really enjoyed this book. It was such an entertaining read.
I thought this book was so satisfying, lovely, perfectly written, filled with complex characters.
Jiya and Ibrahim are really enjoyable characters to follow along with and read their journey.
I felt it was skillfully handled in pacing that it never suffered from too much humor or intensity. It was really a great balance all around.
From the premise, to the cover, to the characters and plot, everything was perfect.
I have always loved the fake dating trope, and try to read as many books which use it, and this was one of the best.
It's so witty and clever, but also some really heartfelt moments, that take the reader through a whole boatload of emotions as they read Rafi's debut novel.
I am so looking forward to reading more of Laila's work in the future.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Orion Dash,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of "From Fake to Forever" by Laila Rafi in exchange for an honest review. All of the following opinions are formulated on my own.

3.5 out of 5 stars

From Fake to Forever is a romance novel about the fake dating of Ibrahim and Jiya for the purpose of avoiding a forced arranged marriage from their families. Overall, there wasn't really anything that stood out to me from this book when comparing it to other fake dating novels. It started off fairly well and I was intrigued by what was going to happen. I found myself getting annoyed with Ibrahim further into the book. It was a quick read and decent enough to not put down and then leave it to never pick back up. I love the concept and the interactions with side characters because they were not there to simply be filler.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

From Fake to Forever follows Ibrahim and Jiya who enter into a fake relationship to avoid their families' plans to push them both into arranged marriages, and then end up having to navigate the emergence of real feelings for one another. For the most part, the story is lighthearted and hits the typical fake relationship narrative beats. I did find some of the writing to be confusing at times, at moments it was unclear whose perspective you were in and I also found Ibrahim's actions to be really terrible, in a way that made me not want to root for him to end up with Jiya because it felt like she deserved much better!! I will note that I found the arc of Jiya's relationship with her mother and Ibrahim's arc with his sister-in-law Reshma to be really interesting side narratives that added depth to the overall story. I am intrigued to see if the author's next book is focused on Reshma and Zafar as it's set up quite nicely here and would make for a really interesting read.

Overall, From Fake to Forever definitely reads like a first book which could use some tidying up with the plot and some editing with the writing. I think it's a good start for the author, that could potentially lead to some interesting future stories within the universe.

okay this book started off amazingggg, like i couldn’t stop smiling. then it kinda went downhill with the delivery. like, i feel like some things weren’t really needed in the story. overall though, i’d say it was still really good! and the end scene😅my heart

This was a sweet fake dating trope that I enjoyed reading. The characters were likeable and the interactions between Jiya and Ibrahim were believable and really cute.
The book kept a steady pace throughout - nothing felt rushed or left questions unanswered.
This was short but sweet and an easy beach read. I would definitely read something of Laila's in the future!
Thank you to NEtgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is the first book that I read by the author but it will definitely not be the last, I loved this story, I practically devoured it in one sitting, I love the fake dating trope and this is perfect, sweet, funny, interesting, I loved all the characters, the story has a steady pace and keeps the reader entertained from beginning to end. I loved the way the author narrates the interaction of the brothers, I liked them from the first scene I read in the restaurant
I also loved the way the author narrates how Jiya and Ibrahim get to know each other, it's so sweet, it made me swooned so hard, It caused a swarm of butterflies in my stomach.!
If you are a fan of fake dating this is definitely an entertaining, unique, interesting and addictive story. Highly recommended!

I loved this book, and couldn’t put it down! I quite honestly read this book in one sitting as I was hooked. We all know the trope of fake romance to real, but the way this was written, and all the twists and turns, was so good and blew others out the water. I found myself falling in love with all the different characters, and it was nice to see their imprint in the story, and was rather disappointed there was no mention of a series to pick up with the other brothers (if the author’s reading these, please do more about this family!) My only criticism is that the ending feels like it needed a bit more, though if this book does develop into a series, hopefully we’ll see more of these characters in that, and answer some questions left remaining about some of the brothers. 10/10 would recommend!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Orion Dash and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Cute, fun, entertaining, whimsical, quick read. Exactly what you’d expect.