Alina Khawaja was an author who came onto my radar because of her debut, Maya’s Laws of Love. It was a fun romance and instantly made me want to read more from her, which is why I had to pick up Writing Mr. Right.
One thing I adored about Maya’s Laws of Love was how much we learned about our characters and how we saw them grow throughout the story. Going into Writing Mr. Right, I knew it was going to be similar, but she did it with a twist.
Before getting into my review, I want to mention that this has magical realism and slightly fantastical themes in it. If you’re not interested in those or don’t enjoy some of Ashley Poston’s recent releases, then this one might be a skip.
However, if you like that style and love a story about a writer, then you’re in luck. I’d like to thank Mira for sending me an ARC so I can read and review this one for all of you.
Writing Mr. Right takes you on an unexpectedly emotional journey.
Ziya Khan works at a law firm by day and then works on her novel at night, but things aren’t exactly going great in either department. She’s so dedicated to work that she doesn’t have friends there and barely takes time to eat lunch. Once she goes home to write and try to query her novel, it gets turned down by agents for being too low-stakes.
One night, she’s had enough and decides to give up writing and her novel. The next day, she ends up meeting Aashiq. Who is Aashiq? He is the embodiment of her muse and is there to help her find her love of writing again. Once the job is done, he’s gone and back to being in Ziya’s head, which doesn’t seem so bad at first.
While Ziya is reluctant to do anything, Aashiq quickly becomes a positive presence in her life as he’s outgoing, carefree, and kind. As you might guess, the two are spending a lot of time together, and they end up falling for each other. The only problem is that he is going to disappear once Ziya gets her love of writing back and finishes her next novel.
Since it has that fantastical element to it, I won’t give away what happens. However, I loved this concept, and I think it worked so well. It was so fun to see how Aashiq approached the world and people because he had never seen anything beyond what was in Ziya’s head. It was refreshing to see someone who had no idea what the world was like handle it. In turn, it was incredible to see Ziya blossom into who she was meant to be. She had been living on autopilot, and Aashiq gave her the push she needed.
The romance between Ziya and Aashiq is bittersweet as we know what’s coming. However, the two end up spending the time they have together intentionally. They do things Aashiq has only dreamed about, try new activities, and even venture to Times Square on New Year’s Eve. No worries on that, as they end up going back home before the ball drops.
Once again, Alina Khawaja captured my heart, and I adored this book. Her books are always so fun and fresh with Muslim characters who we don’t see much in romance books. Thankfully, you can now grab your very own copy of Writing Mr. Right as it’s out now, where books are sold.