Book Review: First Comes Like by Alisha Rai

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Title: First Comes Like

Author: Alisha Rai

Sub-genre: Contemporary

Trope(s): Fake dating

Guys, I have some complicated feelings about this book. Alisha is one of my auto buys and I have been looking forward to this one for a really long time, but even though it’s a great book, it didn’t hit for me how Alisha’s books usually do.

Jia (who we have met several times in multiple series) is struggling. As a YouTuber and beauty influencer, she relies on engagement for her income,  but after an illness (presumably COVID, though it’s never explicitly stated) sidelines her for a bit, she is having a hard time rebounding her stats. And she is finding she might not be as in love with her career as she was when she started. When she was sick, Jia found herself taking solace in her online conversations with Dev, who just happens to be an uber famous actor in India and part of a Bollywood legacy family. Dev is moving to the States to take a new role on a TV show and Jia is excited to take their relationship from online to IRL. Only trouble is, when Jia introduces herself to Dev at a party, he has no idea who she is. Dev’s brother and cousin were catfishing Jia. Dev takes Jia out for a drink to apologize and the two are caught in a photo together, causing Jia’s family to jump to the conclusion that the pair are dating. Jia has always felt like a disappointment to her family, so she lets them believe she is with the handsome star, and he agrees to fake date her to make amends for his family catfishing her. But of course, the more time they spend together, the more they develop real feelings for each other. There are some stumbles along the way, but in the end, they find a way to make a real relationship work.

Alright. So. If this was my first time picking up an Alisha Rai book, I think I would have loved it. I have always really liked Jia and I found her career struggles and struggles with self-acceptance to be extremely relatable. I also really liked Dev, who is mostly just a squishy cinnamon roll, trying to find a place in Hollywood. I really enjoyed their connection and the way they fell for each other. My main complaint here is that I expect Alisha’s books to be super steamy and this one is basically closed door. Because of their religion, Jia and Dev don’t sleep together until they are married, and don’t even kiss until they are engaged. There’s no real physical contact between the two until almost the very end of the book and because I wasn’t expecting it, it threw me off. I think the book is super entertaining and obviously very well written, for me, it was just missing the spark and sexual tension Alisha has done so well in her previous books.

Overall Rating: 4 stars