Comes with an Attitude Is Out Now!

Comes with an Attitude (A modern Pride and Prejudice retelling)

Comes with an Attitude, is out now! Comes with an Attitude is a modern Pride and Prejudice retelling, and I'm super excited to share it with the world. The book is now available on Amazon in several formats (e-book, paperback, and hardcover), and it’s also free on Kindle Unlimited. You can get the book here (*Amazon affiliate link). If you’re looking for a fun contemporary romance with Jane Austen vibes, enemies/rivals to lovers, slow burn, and low spice (kiss only), here’s the blurb for you:

June Wrap-up and July Hopefuls

Two of my June reads

June Wrap-Up

• Finished: 9
• Started but not finished: 2
• Total pages read: 2,738
• Average rating: 3.944

I had not expected that I’d read so many books in June! I thought I’d have time to finish five books, but I read four more. In the beginning of the month, I read one novel in verse, Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming (5/5 stars), which was also my favorite book of the month. I also read Sarah Brooks’s steampunk fantasy The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands (3/5 stars), which unfortunately was a bit of a disappointment.

Book Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Book title: Ayesha at Last
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin
Genre: Contemporary romance
Published: June 12, 2018
368 pages
My rating: 3.5/5

“Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there’s an even greater truth: To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.”

Ayesha Shamsi dreams of becoming a poet but has to take a job as a substitute teacher so she can pay off her debt to her uncle. Her flighty younger cousin Hafsa, about to reject her one hundredth marriage proposal, is a constant reminder that Ayesha is still single. But Ayesha doesn’t want marriage, especially not an arranged marriage. But then she meets Khalid and is irritatingly attracted to him, no matter how conservative and judgemental he is. As for Khalid, he is perfectly fine letting his mother find him a suitable bride, and outspoken Ayesha certainly isn’t the modest wife his mother would approve.

Ayesha at last is a contemporary romance and a debut novel by the Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin. I read her second novel, Much Ado about Nada, last year and wanted to read her debut for this year’s Jane Austen July.

Jane Austen July 2025

Jane Austen July TBR

Jane Austen July is a month long readathon all about Jane Austen, her works, and her time period. Last year was the first time I had time (and small enough TBR!) to join the readathon, and I had a blast. So naturally, I want to take part this year as well.

There are seven challenges in this readathon: five books and two screen adaptations. There is also a readalong associated with the challenge. I won’t be participating in the readalong because I had already decided what I wanted to read before the readalong book (which is Emma this year) was announced. You can find more information about the challenge from the Youtube videos posted by the hosts of the challenge (Katie from Books and Things, Marissa from Blatantly Bookish, and Claudia from Spinster’s Library).

Anyway, without further ado, here are my choices for this year’s readathon and my reasons for picking them.

Book review: Much Ado about Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

Much Ado about Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

Book Title: Much Ado about Nada (*affiliate link)
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin
Genre: Contemporary romance
Published: June 13, 2023
313 pages
My rating: 4/5

“Nada had tried forgetting. She had buried her secrets and regrets in a small bundle she kept hidden in a floral hatbox inside her closet. It hadn’t helped; even years later, they kept bubbling to the surface, magma that threatened to erupt in a dramatic volcanic explosion, obscuring her emotional atmosphere and making progress impossible.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Nada Syed is stuck: unmarried, living with her parents, and mourning the failure of her start-up company. Her best friend Haleema is determined to bring her out of her shell once more and forces her to attend a giant Muslim convention at the heart of Toronto. And Haleema knows the perfect man for Nada to spend her time with: her fiancé’s brother, Baz. What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a very long and very secret history.

Book Review: Of Love and Beer by Amanda Darcy

Of Love and Beer by Amanda Darcy

Book Title: Of Love and Beer (*Amazon affiliate link)
Author: Amanda Darcy
Genre: Contemporary romance, Jane Austen retelling
Published: March 12, 2024
324 pages
My rating: 5/5

“If there was one thing Ellis could trust, it was her first impressions, and things were not looking good for Wallace. She’d always had a knack for sizing people up quickly, but she’d recently had the opportunity to hone her skills. Since June, when her partner announced his plans to retire, every beer loving Lothario in a thirty-mile radius had shown up at the brewery thinking that if they bought Barney out, they’d get to plant themselves behind the bar and “pick up chicks.””

Craft Brewer Ellis Bourne has two problems: avoiding the suitors her match-making mother thrusts upon her and finding a new business partner. Luckily for her, she knows she can always trust her first impressions. So when a handsome vintner Dean Pembrook insults her, she knows exactly what to think of him. That is until Dean’s friend shows interest in her business, and she’s stuck trying to ignore Dean and trying to get his friend invest in her small-town brewery.