I have no idea how I forgot to put a review up for this on my feed as it was one of my favourites from the first half of the year!

I absolutely adored this story, I loved the setting with all the travelling, getting to see different places through the characters eyes and a beautiful different culture too!

Forced close proximity shines here and it’s just an all round super cute book, I can’t recommend it enough! I’m going to repost my story (if I can find it😅) with my original review in it that I posted just after I’d finished reading it too!

From the blurb -
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love – she’s sure of it. Except…

*Trips are never smooth sailing.

From the start, Maya’s journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. Until a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, and she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions. And maybe something more…

*When you think you’re lucky, think again.

Before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune – finally meeting the right man a few days before she has to marry someone else.

*ARC from NetGalley ✨

If you love Uzma Jalaluddin, you'll love this debut by Alina Khawaja! We follow our narrator, Maya, as she makes an obstacle-filled journey from Canada to Pakistan for her wedding. On the way she meets a stranger...

I thought at times the voice was a little too telling and nothing showing enough, but that soon strikes a balance. And once the main character talks about her obsession for Crash Landing On You I was sold! Literally rewatched the TV show because of it.

With Maya's Laws of Love, we get a heart-warming story of finding what works for you and love when you're not looking for it. It was great to learn about Pakistani wedding traditions too and seeing supportive families. Generally a wonderful rom com!

I could enthuse about this book all day. I want all of my friends to read it. Especially my fellow Desi girls. This book beautifully represents our culture and the modern challenges we encounter.

This book single-handedly saved my entire reading year of 2023. I was impressed with the wit, the humanness and the humour this book had.

I thought this book was engaging, riveting and like seeing a screenplay. I liked the references to a kdrama Crash Landing On You. I felt the book didn’t force diversity and read easily. I’d happily pick it up again! The male lead was humble, kind and gentlemanly. I hope to read absolutely everything this author publishes!

The female lead was a dark grey morally on all counts. Her Islamic journey is never really focused on but I would have rather this were just a desi girl than someone who was ‘Muslim’ because she did some forbidden things which would be expected if the author wasn’t from the same religion and didn’t understand…. But this girl truly broke every rule- sometimes illogically and always without guilt or remorse. But in the end we see its all about forgiveness and second chances, pride and prejudice…


If you just want a book you can breeze through, read it. But if you are a Muslimah and you want to focus on the details and read a book that lets you think, and be opinionated, this one is not ideal.

I received this book from Netgalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own and completely honest.

Maya, who is a bride to be is convinced that she's cursed in romance finds her luck changing… at the wrong time.
Maya is so convinced she's unlucky in love that she's come up with a list of laws to explain it.
But that's about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love–she's so sure of it. Expect…
Right from the start of Maya’s journey it's riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated right next to her on the plane isn't helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections.

And before long, Maya is wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate misfortune… finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret. However, Maybe if she's willing to bend some laws, this detour could take her somewhere totally and wonderfully unexpected.

I enjoyed some PARTS but mainly the book just wasn't doing it for me. Also felt like with Maya already being engaged to Imtiaz for a while but then she meets this other guy on the plane like isn't that kind of cheating? She also didn't exactly get to know her fiance as much. I just think the muslim rep just wasn’t that good.

I wasn’t a fan of this- the whole book was essentially her cheating on the fiancé she never bothered to get to know. It wasn’t very well written and felt like a lot of “i did this” and “then i did that”. I wasn’t convinced by the chemistry- this all could’ve happened between her and her fiancé and it would’ve been a really sweet way for them ti build that relationship, but instead she did it with a random stranger who was super rude and then randomly invites her to share his bed???? The Muslim rep was really bad, and really uncomfortable to read as someone of that faith. Overall, I’m really disappointed because i wanted to love it so so much but it just kept falling short.

The Blurb :
Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love and life that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…
Law #1: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love – she’s sure of it. Except…
Law #6: Trips are never smooth sailing.
From the start, Maya's journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. Until a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, and she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions. And maybe something more…
Law #4: When you think you’re lucky, think again.
Before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune – finally meeting the right man a few days before she has to marry someone else. But if she’s willing to bend some rules, this detour could take her somewhere wonderfully unexpected.


My Thoughts :
Here we meet Maya Mirza, she believes her life is cursed and this has plagued her life for years, she thinks everything and anything bad will happen to her and is convinced she will have bad luck for the rest of her life, especially when it comes to love, so she lives her life by a set of Laws.
Maya is soon on her way to Karachi in Pakistan for her own arranged marriage to Imtiaz, who she has been engaged to for 3 years. Maya has argeed to the marriage more so to please her mum rather than herself, but she also thinks it may change her luck.
And as her luck would have it, her plane is forced to land unexpectantly in Switzerland due to bad weather.
Things cant get any worse for her, she then has to put up with Sarfaraz, who happens to be sat next to her on the plane, and she took an instant disliking too and they didnt get off to a great start.
Soon they have to spend more time together while making their way to Pakistan, maybe Maya was a bit quick to judge Sarfaraz as they get to know each other better and she soon starts to relax and go with the flow.
I enjoyed reading the relationship develop between Maya and Sarfaraz and where it would lead them.
Alina Khawaja, has written such a fun, feel good story that is worthy of a Bollywood film.
All of the characters were likeable and the descriptions of Pakistan were breathtaking, it was lovely to read about traditions and cultures.
I am sure the reader could just imagine themselves right there in amongst all the colours and surroundings.
Hope to read more from Alina Khawaja in the future.

This was a really fun and entertaining read and the character of Maya was a hoot!!

She's a realist and convinced she's cursed on the love front! But she's always hoping out for the romantic dream, which is very unlike the normal route for her with a Pakistani background. And with these expectations it was fascinating to learn more about what was expected and seeing how she dealt with it having lived in the Western world for so long.

On her way to Pakistan for her 'marriage' to a man who ticks all the family boxes and she gets on well with - but is it love? - her journey takes on her 'cursed' mantra and she finds herself in the company of Sarfaraz and the fun begins as their friendship deepens and cultures clash. They were both really likeable characters and it was interesting to see what bump in the road their travel adventure would throw up next! It was never rushed and I enjoyed the slow burn of it all, allowing the quirks of Maya to shine through with her way of looking at life! Really enjoyable!

A great read and an insight into another culture.
Maya is flying to Pakistan to get married. Will her encounter with Sarfaraz on the plane and subsequent adventures change things?

Maya’s Laws of Love was a great read, really fun and lighthearted but it was so nice to see a Pakistani main character and her struggles were so relatable. I did like that she was muslim and I didn’t mind the way in which her practice was depicted as faith is so personal to each of us. While I loved the way that Maya and Sarfraz got to know each other and their little adventure, I did piece together the little twist at the end pretty early on but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

I absolutely loved the way in which Maya’s personality and quirks were so evident throughout and her obsession with Crash Landing into You was more than relatable!

Overall it was a cute read and I was love to read more by this author in the future.

Road trip romance. The book follows Maya on a journey from her home in Canada to Karachi, Pakistan, for her wedding. When the flight goes horribly wrong, she and the Jerk (the guy she was sat next to) are thrust into an adventure, one which prompts Maya to reevaluate her priorities and leaves her asking herself if she really wants to get married. But with the pressure from her family, and the wedding happening so soon, does Maya even have a choice?

I was so gripped by this book, the pacing was perfect: a blend of quiet moments and travel disasters. Alina Khawaja took me on an absolute rollercoaster of emotions; I particularly loved the exploration of Maya and her mother’s relationship which changes as Maya embarks on a new phase in her life.

Sarfaraz, the love interest, was one of my favourite parts of the book. I liked how full of emotion and passion his interactions with Maya were, from their arguments to their moments of intimacy to (spoiler) the moment he leaves because he can’t bear seeing her marry someone else (!). I often found myself wishing we could have chapters from his perspective as well as Maya’s.

Despite some heart-wrenching moments, I still enjoyed reading ‘Maya’s Laws of Love’ and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author!

You had me at forced proximity! Very surprised to hear that this was a debut novel, a job well done.

They balanced each other out very well. I found their romance was very cute too. Overall, I really enjoyed this one.

"So, growing up, I made up my own laws in relation to Murphy's Law. It was the only way I could think to make sense of everything happening to me."

Maya believes that she is cursed. She blames everything that she does and everything that happens to her on these curses and lives her life almost abiding by them.

As an avid K-drama and Pakistani drama watcher, this book sucked me right in. However, I found the storyline to be very far-fetched. Sorry, but who in their right mind would take a bus from Islamabad to Karachi? And Maya's bike ride towards the end of the book - in Karachi? Are you kidding me? It was all just very over-the-top dramatic and unrealistic.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it.

There was so much drama in this oh my word. It was messy and emotional, and we covered all kinds of relationships. I loved how close she is with her mum and her sister, and the gradual getting to know each other between her and Sarfaraz.
As romances go, I found this had a slower, steady pace - there was no rush for Maya to figure things out, or for a dramatic insta-love moment. This was a story of a girl who thought everything in her life had already been figured out, she had a steady job, had already had her adventures travelling, and now marriage was the only logical step. As the novel progressed, more and more situations arose where Maya had to consider her motivations behind her arranged marriage - was this for herself, or out of a misplaces sense of duty?
A wonderful story overall that used a slow-burn romance to examine the Canadian-Pakistan diaspora and how people balance culture and religion!

What a cute ass debut!!! The year has just begun and we already have one the best rom-come ever. The humor was just top-tier, the banter very engaging and funny, and oh my lord the angst??? It gave everything!!! I love and adore Maya so much!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗔’𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗪𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘
—𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗸𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗷𝗮 | 𝟰🌟

“𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘵.”

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲:
✨Romcom
✨Muslim MC
✨Exploration of Pakistani culture
✨Forced proximity
✨Arranged marriage

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀:
Maya believes in Murphy’s Law—that anything that 𝙘𝙖𝙣 go wrong 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 go wrong—but for her it’s not just a theoretical concept, it’s her way of life, especially when it comes to her romantic escapades (or lack of). Now she’s on her way to her wedding and is hoping that her run of bad luck has changed, which it has, just not in the way she expects.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
Maya was a wonderful character, I found her a wonderful blend of growing up 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 yet having a deep love for her 𝗣𝗮𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 and 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 . The amalgamation of fundamental values and beliefs combined with Maya’s childhood trauma creates a 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 with 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 and a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲.

To be honest, I found Maya’s laws of love quite 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁. They were the laws of someone who had given up before they even tried. However, they also created a 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺 character development arc that has to be my 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 element of this book.

I also really enjoyed the 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and the 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 and 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 romance. Although the story takes place over a week, it felt like a 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 up of 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 that was so enjoyable to read. Sarfaraz, who Maya meets on her way to her wedding, is an 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗳 character that has a slightly generic profile of a family lawyer who doesn’t believe in love. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢’𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 is a 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 and 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 romantic comedy.

𝗞𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 | 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆

A lovely rom com that has a brilliant message about independence and choice at its core.

Sarfaraz and Maya are my favourite rom com protagonists in a long time !

A love story about the systems we put in place to protect ourselves and how they fall apart.It was really hard for me to put this book away. I pulled an all-nighter to finish reading it.

This might be my favorite book of the year. The characters were fun and the romance swoon-worthy. I cannot wait to read more from this author in the future.

This is a fun read and one to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of tea. You are willing here to find her happy ever after and it takes a few twists and turns along the way and a trip of self discovery.

We are always stronger then we know and love does find a way and sometimes you have to roll with it!