By Uzma Jalaluddin.
This book wormed its way into my head and I couldn’t shake it loose. It was all about the relationship, or rather non-relationship, between fun (and snarky) Nada and handsome, grumpy, shy Baz. There was a spark there. So why did they keep each other at arm’s length?
We follow them as they navigate the massive Deen&Dunya Muslim convention in downtown Toronto. Nada’s best friend Haleema doesn’t know that Baz and Nada are old acquaintances (and they neglect to tell her) when she tries to set them up during the convention. For some reason, they’re keeping it a secret. The atmosphere between them is tense. Baz appears to dislike Nada and avoids her as much as possible. But something is simmering just under the surface, and we readers are certain there’s more to their acquaintance than meets the eye.
Through a series of flashbacks that go as far back as seventeen years ago (when both Nada and Baz were eleven years old), we learn about their rocky history as enemies, then friends, then enemies once more, and the surprising reason why they’re keeping their past interactions a secret.
As with many secrets, there comes a time when a carefully constructed cover story breaks apart and no longer works. For Baz and Nada, their time at the convention may be the breaking point.
(Published in 2023 by Berkley Romance, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)
