I really enjoyed the first book by this author, The Love Match, and when I heard about this one, I was so excited to get an advanced copy to read! I was not let down either, as this had so much fun, family, and new culture for me to learn. Like I didn’t even know that tea was brought to the area, and that originally they drank coffee! I also once again have so many new foods that I want to try. And I wish we had a Royal Fried Chicken restaurant to eat at as well.

I have to say that like the author says in her acknowledgement section at the end, I can’t necessarily relate to Bibi as I am also the older, responsible daughter/sister in the family. However it was easy to fall in love with Bibi, and unlike in other stories where the character like that might annoy me, I totally still understood all the things she was feeling. I mean kind of. Bibi had to deal with the cultural aspect of parents who wouldn’t even let her date until her older sister got married, which gets the story started off, because she is currently grounded and having to work the summer at her father’s restaurant because she got caught trying to meet up with a boy. Nothing salacious, she just wanted to get her first kiss, and even just spend time with the cute boy she had a crush on, who also seemed to like her back.

But then, surprise surprise, her sister shows up and guess what, she’s getting married! Of course this thrills Bibi, knowing that hopefully she’ll get to start dating soon. This wedding is going to happen quickly though, and they even are going to fly almost right away to Bangladesh, their families’ home country. And while Bibi thinks it will just be a big vacation, nope, that’s not what happens.

First she runs into a surly boy who says he works on the tea garden, only to show up at the dinner that night and find out he is her future brother-in-law’s younger brother. Her future in-laws are not very nice. They are very wealthy, old money, and they are very snooty and look down on Bibi and her family, and even let rude, cutting remarks slip around her sister. Then, because Sunny, her sister’s fiance, is now coming home to learn how to run the tea garden/estate, both Bibi and her sister Halima are told they need to learn how the estate runs as well. So now Bibi is still working, and this is a lot of outdoor work, and Bibi, sooooo not an outdoorsy girl. She’s really into fashion, which of course her thoughts on a gap year to travel and then going to fashion school also do not endear her or her family to the Rahmans.

But, after hearing she can now date, all of a sudden all the aunties and people in the family have a book full of eligible bachelors, or the Big Book of Biodata as they call it. She goes out on a few dates. The first one being with a really rich boy that she of course develops a crush on. And also as you might expect, he isn’t about calling/texting her right back or setting up another date right away. He is a cousin of Sohel and Sunny, and Sohel does not like him, says he is a player and Bibi shouldn’t date him. And it does turn out to be true, although not quite in the way I expected!

Sohel, the younger son, really is the one who has always wanted to run the estate, to take it over, so he has a bit of anger issues with his brother now coming back and seeming to take away what he’d thought could be his. Not in a bad way though, just that he had been the one who wanted it, and his brother was only coming back because his family told him if he did come back to take over, they would approve of this marriage. Sohel has so many changes he wants to make in this still colonialist type of world. He already makes sure the people working there are getting paid better and that they are treated fairly. He is friends with the people from the villages around, and they all appreciate what he does.

Of course being in another country and dealing with all of the family drama, the wedding, suddenly/finally getting to date, Bibi has all sorts of chances to get into trouble/cause more drama. Not that she’s trying to, it just follows her as she is someone who stands up for those around her and doesn’t let people talk to her unfairly. I love the way this author can keep me hanging to see what is actually going to happen. How things will be solved in the end, as well as what types of obstacles might pop up that are unexpected, or if expected – still so different from the norm. And I also loved all the cultural aspects of the story, learning so much that I didn’t know.

This is another book that I can’t wait to share with my students next school year, and I am definitely highly recommending it to everyone else as well!