Format: hardcover
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Jia broke away from her family of doctors in order to find fame as a beauty influencer online. Newly transplanted from Bollywood to Hollywood, Dev also broke away from the family tradition of movies to make his mark in television. But when Dev finds out his meddling family had been catfishing Jia online, flirting with her and talking about a future together, he offers to make it up to her. One compromising photo later, and suddenly Jia needs Dev to help pacify her conservative, Pakistani American family. Calling in the favor she’s owed, Jia and Dev fake date just to satisfy her parents, but suddenly feelings get involved and Jia and Dev want to take the fake out of the equation. As outside forces continue to interfere with their lives, Jia and Dev find themselves quickly moving from like to love, both of their lives taking a turn neither could have predicted just months ago. First Comes Like is a sweet romance, full of family, culture, and the modern clashing of the two.
I was instantly hooked when I started reading First Comes Like. Alisha Rai is a new-to-me author, and I clearly need to go back and read the first two books in her Modern Love series after loving Jia and Dev’s story this much. Readers don’t need to read the previous books in order to appreciate this one, but I do want to see what other fantastic stories Rai has written. The writing itself is fluid on the page, seamlessly jumping between Dev and Jia’s point of views. I thought Rai did an excellent job of incorporating both of their cultures into the story without flat out listing cultural differences that would affect a Mumbai transplant and a Pakistani American. Jia and Dev both were at a crossroads in their careers. Jia, at almost thirty, is nearing her expiration date in terms of being a social media influencer. And Dev is relegated to small, villainous roles due to his lack of blond hair and blue eyes. Both characters’ uncertainty of the future mirrored each other so well, and it was cathartic to see them find a future - and some certainty - together. I also loved seeing a contemporary romance where the two people falling in love for the first time aren’t super young. I loved the sweet romance and cultural diversity represented in First Comes Like, and I can’t wait to check out more in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series.