Author: Priyanka Taslim

Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing

ISBN: 9781665901109

A young woman balances her mother’s expectations with her own feelings on love and commitment. As her mother tries to set her up for marriage, the woman must decide whether she’ll let her heart or her duty to her family rule. Author Priyanka Taslim throws in Bollywood-level antics and romance in her decent debut The Love Match.

Zahra Khan is doing everything she can to keep it together in her hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, but her mother, Zaynab, isn’t making it easy. Ever since Zahra’s father died, she’s been working longer hours at the café Chai Ho to help pay the bills. Zaynab is no longer working at the factory; instead, she’s building up her business as a seamstress and finally has steady work. Zahra is incredibly proud of her amma and dotes on her grandmother and younger brother and sister. The family of five lives in a tiny apartment and share all of their spaces, but they’re okay.

Until Amma gets it in her head that the only way to make sure Zahra is taken care of is to get her engaged. After all, she’s 18 and old enough to support her own family. Why can’t she start considering marriage?

Zahra wants nothing to do with it, even if her amma has her eye on the ultra-rich Emon family and their only son, Harun. At a wedding, Zaynab snags the attentionof Pushpita, Harun’s mother, and the two women concoct a scheme to get their children together. Zahra goes along with meeting Harun but knows right away that he is not the guy for her. He’s practically a robot, and his favorite being outside of his parents is his bearded dragon. Who needs a lizard lover as a boyfriend/future husband

 At a wedding, Zaynab snags the attentionof Pushpita, Harun’s mother, and the two women concoct a scheme to get their children together. Zahra goes along with meeting Harun but knows right away that he is not the guy for her. He’s practically a robot, and his favorite being outside of his parents is his bearded dragon. Who needs a lizard lover as a boyfriend/future husband?

Still, Zahra is a good daughter and agrees to a handful of dates with Harun. She’s shocked when the “robot” opens up and confesses that he doesn’t want to marry her either. The whole idea of an arranged marriage, especially when they haven’t even hit 20 yet, seems so nineteenth century. Why can’t their parents just leave them alone?

The two come up with a plan to sabotage their parents’ idea: start fake dating and convince their parents they’re completely wrong for one another. When new employee Nayim Aktar joins Chai Ho and catches Zahra’s attention, she’s even more eager for her fake dating plan with Harun to work out. Nayim is sweet and sensitive and genuinely interested in Zahra’s dreams of becoming a writer. He’s nothing like Harun and everything Zahra wants in a future partner. Then Zahra starts getting to know Harun. All of the sharp lines dividing them and their interests get blurry, and she can’t help but wonder just who is the right guy after all.

Author Priyanka Taslim leans heavily into her Bangladeshi background for this novel that has an almost-exclusively South Asian cast of characters. True to her note at the start of the book, Taslim has thrown enough filmi flair into the plot to make the biggest Bollywood fan happy. Some of the situations land; others feel a little more contrived.

The entire premise of Zaynab insisting that Zahra marry for financial security sounds true to South Asian culture but also feels dated. Had her mother insisted that she study something more practical than writing in college—given her own experience of suddenly becoming a widow with little money to support her family—the main plot line would have seemed more realistic. As it stands Zahra’s story fits perfectly in the 1990s; in contemporary times, it comes off as a little too saturated and loud like many of the Hindi films of that decade.

The triangle with the boys will give target readers all the feels of a typical YA romance. Taslim excels at making the universality of Zahra’s dreams and emotions front and center. Her cultural heritage enriches the story but doesn’t distract from it. In fact, some aspects are a little too muted. The Auntie Network could have benefited from more time on the page as an amusing side plot.

The climax with Nayim is predictable; most readers will probably spot what’s happening long before Zahra does, which ruins the fun. The end, too, isn’t left in much doubt. Taslim’s novel follows tried-and-tested tropes and mostly does them justice, but it would have been nice to see a few surprises.

Those wanting a typical YA romance that centers on South Asian characters and culture will like this one. I recommend readers Borrow The Love Match.