This book was a surprisingly heartwarming read.
Judging from the cover, I’d expected a light “enemies to lovers” story like “You deserve each other” or even “The hating game”. Instead it’s MUCH deeper than that.

The story features Liya, a beautiful, smart, independent woman who gets ambushed by her parents into a dinner with a potential suitor, Jay, and his mother. Wanting to escape the awkward situation, Liya makes a run for it, only to smack into Jay and then run from him too, without even bothering to explain.
Only one day later does she discover that Jay is the new lawyer assigned to save her company from closing, and that she is going to work with him every day from now on.

I almost dropped the book early on, because Liya’s character and her actions at the beginning rubbed me the wrong way. I could not understand her ways, she came off as conceited, arrogant, rude, even selfish.
But then? The ugly truths of her past come to light, and that changes the character completely. Immediately I felt for her, my heart ached and I just wanted her to be okay.

The romance with Jay is the sweetest thing. Jay is perfect, the epitome of a nice guy who has an open mind and open heart. He doesn’t trust the rumours going around Liya and is just *nice* to her, in a quiet, calm, undeterred way, and that is just what Liya needs - even if she does try to push him away in many occasions. But still, both of them have their past to face, and how will that alter their relationship? Will there be a chance for them after every secret is revealed?

I won’t spoiler anything, but I just want to say that this book is ... deep. There are some serious issues that are being dealt with throughout the story, like verbal and physical abuse, violence, loss, death, trauma. I believe the author did a good job of portraying them in a sensitive yet realistic way. Moreover, the story is set in Houston, Texas, and the “southern sass” intertwines with the Indian tradition and culture, especially as it pertains to the role of a woman in contemporary Indian society. I found this a very interesting take on the story and it rounded up the story for me.

All in all, an excellent book! I’m surprised and overjoyed, because I wouldn’t have guessed it from the title. But I read it in one day, and this is the longest review I’ve ever written, so you can say that I’m really impressed.
I look forward to reading more from Sajni Patel.