Welcome Back, Booklovers! I own a couple of Farah Heron's books and I've heard great things about her. I just never found the time to tackle her backlist. So when I saw the arc being offered as Read Now on Netgalley I decided it was time especially since I like the idea of a romance with destination wedding backdrop. One thing I will note is that I did not realize this is a sequel where characters from the previous book play a big role. It's still readable without having read that one but go and read Kamila Knows Best first for more context.
Jana and Anil are both friends of Kamila and Roshan who are getting married and they've planned a fun filled two week getaway in their family's home country of Tanzania. When Jana agreed to be apart of the bridal party she didn't think Anil would actually take on being a groomsman with his job keeping him preoccupied. So she's shocked when she finds out she'll have to spend more time with him than she's spent in the last five years. All Jana has to do is pretend to get along with him for the sake of their daughter but it's not easy especially with her mother running around bragging about them having the ideal coparenting relationship.
Jana has mostly been communicating with Anil via a parenting app and a well mapped out custody agreement. She's still upset because when they were in a relationship he never told her that he was still legally married. As if finding out she was pregnant wasn't complicated enough, she also had to deal with his ex wife's family trying to sink her reputation and paint her as the other woman when the situation was a little bit more complicated than that.
I really enjoyed the wedding party particularly the bridal brigade. They really tried to help Jana come out of her shell while also acting as a sounding board when it came to her unresolved feelings for Anil. I liked reading about their exploration of Tanzania with the different safaris, delicious food and uncles and aunties. Although I feel like some of the hotel hopping could've been cut down to streamline this story since it did drag a little in the middle and there was so much to address.
I thought Jana and Anil had great physical chemistry together. I enjoyed the scenes with them and their daughter. I liked that Jana didn't hide the child from him so he actually had a very active and present relationship with his daughter. People who aren't a fan of children in romance will probably want to skip this one because little Imani is on page a lot. I think this is the most interactions I've read with a child during one of these second chance romances ever. Which was very realistic to me especially since they were on a family vacation.
At times the book got a bit repetitive when it came to Jana and her misplaced anger towards Anil. I understood she had unresolved trauma regarding the situation and then how her mother was trying to spin the story to make herself feel less embarrassed. But it got tiring to consistently hear Jana mention how Anil is such a good dad but she can't stand him because he wasn't completely honest about his situation surrounding his marriage. It took way to long for them to have a proper sit down conversation. So the end felt a little rushed in having Jana finally address both Anil and her relationship with her mother.
Overall I still enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading some of Farah Heron's other books.
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