What’s it all about?:
You can’t choose who you fall for…but it helps if there’s a list
Raina, twenty-nine, is still unmarried much to the dismay of her family who think that by now she should have been married in a dream Indian wedding. The pressure to settle down reaches new heights when her grandmother, Nani, decides to play matchmaker in order to find her the perfect man.
Eager not to disappoint her family, Raina goes along with the plan but when the love of her life returns – ex-boyfriend Dev – she’s forced to confront her true feelings and decide what she really wants.
Funny, feelgood and heart-warming, The Arrangement shines a light on being single in your twenties, societal and cultural expectation of women, and modern day arranged marriages. Perfect summer read for fans of Ayisha Malik’s Sofia Khan is Not Obliged and Aziz Ansari’s Master of None.
What did I think?:
Happy publication day to Sonya Lalli and her wonderful novel, The Arrangement – a story about love, the “arrangement” of love and the importance of family and friendships that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you so much to Lauren Woosey at Orion Books for sending me a copy of this incredibly touching read in exchange for an honest review. I have to be perfectly honest, I’m not usually the biggest fan of romance novels as I think I’ve mentioned before in my blog so I did approach this book with a slight wariness and trepidation about what I might find. Would it be too cheesy and sickly sweet? Well, I had no need to worry. Sonya Lalli has a wonderful sense of humor which she uses throughout the novel to tell a moving story where I instantly fell in love with the characters and cared about their lives.
Our main character is Raina, a young woman living in Toronto, Canada with a high powered career but as yet, no husband on the horizon at the age of twenty-nine, much to the despair of her beloved grandmother, Nani. Raina is of Indian heritage and the pressure is on to find a suitor and have that perfect wedding by the time she is thirty. To mollify her Nani, Raina gives her permission to come up with some potential husbands that she agrees to date and see where things go. Of course, Nani comes up with a whole list and encourages Raina to go on multiple dates to try and find her Mr Right. However, Nani isn’t aware that Raina is still holding a torch for her last boyfriend, Dev who she dated when living in London and the relationship ended quite acrimoniously when Dev had his doubts about moving to Toronto for her. Now Dev is back in Raina’s life and saying all the right things, leaving Raina torn and confused about what her heart really wants.
This novel is contemporary romance with such a humorous twist and I absolutely loved it. Not only did I fall completely in love with Raina and her adorable Nani as characters but I also appreciated the nods that Sonya Lalli gave to traditional Indian culture which I found fascinating and felt like I learned a lot about their customs and beliefs. Raina goes through such an emotional journey in this novel – we see her past relationship with Dev, her present situation when he returns and a different side of Raina as she goes on dates with potential suitors. We also get to see her more vulnerable side where not only are her strongest friendships tested to the limit but she has a heart-breaking struggle with close family members that really moved me. My favorite relationship in the novel had to be Raina and her Nani, who practically raised her from a young girl and is her staunchest and most enthusiastic supporter, no matter what Raina does or says. For anyone looking for a funny and heart-warming read I would certainly suggest The Arrangement – it was a beautiful story that made me feel all fuzzy inside and put a big smile on my face to boot.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
