FIRST COMES LIKE by Alisha Rai

Mar 23

Mar 23 FIRST COMES LIKE by Alisha Rai

I’m a big fan of Alisha Rai’s writing and have been eager for Jia’s story since meeting her in Hate to Want You. I picked up First Comes Like with every expectation of enjoying it, and though it’s a sweeter, slower burn than I expected, there’s definitely a whole lot to like.

As with the prior two books in the Modern Love series, the plot spins off a social media mishap. Beauty influencer Jia Ahmed believes she’s been messaging with Bollywood royalty and longtime soap opera star Dev Dixit for months, but when he relocates to Los Angeles and she decides to surprise him at a party, she learns she’s been catfished; the real Dev has no idea who she is. Eager to make up for the hurt done to Jia in his name and happy for an excuse to spend more time with her, Dev agrees to a fake relationship after a misleading paparazzi photo puts her in a bind with her conservative, Muslim family.

Dev and Jia are genuine, likeable characters with a ready compatibility that’s easy to root for. Jia is confident, creative and charming, but it isn't effortless. With a career that’s frequently dismissed as frivolous, the intelligence, hard work and discipline underpinning her success go as easily overlooked as the hurt and insecurity she hides behind her very big heart. After years at odds with her family’s expectations, she’s developed strategies to drown out critical voices. Especially endearing is her habit of recording affirmations to play for herself when she feels overwhelmed. Though she doesn’t let naysayers derail her professional goals and takes responsibility for working through her “I’m too much” refrain, it’s nonetheless gratifying when Dev comes into the picture taking her work seriously and wholeheartedly appreciating her, exclamation points and all.

Dev, too, is pretty wonderful, but unlike Jia he’s reserved, cautious, and a little shy despite his decades in the public eye. As with Jia, his family is important to him, but it’s a complicated relationship with the spectre of past abandonment, conflicting values, and a confusing cocktail of grief, guilt and anger in the aftermath of his brother’s death. Despite the ambiguity of his feelings toward his family at large, he’s devoted to parenting his newly orphaned teen niece, Luna, with the help of his maternal uncle Adil. The loving interactions amongst them and the earnestness with which Dev approaches parenting make up some of my favorite moments in the book and show Dev at his very best. There’s a great deal of charm in his constant willingness to put others first, but his tendency to subordinate so much of himself to his overactive sense of responsibility is also a barrier to intimacy and self-knowledge. It’s a relief, then, that he feels safe enough with Jia to let his guard down, indulge his silly side, and begin to explore deeper truths about where his personal and professional fulfillment lie.

For the majority of the book, Dev and Jia are pretty restrained in their physical interactions, but their mutual attraction is made obvious in admiring thoughts from both POVs. Jia, especially, has a thirsty inner monologue when it comes to Dev. There’s rare nuance in the way her explicit desire is written alongside her identity as a demisexual and a practicing Muslim American of Pakistani descent. Her work to honor her own desire, her family culture, and her faith based intention to abstain from premarital sex is illuminated with care and sensitivity. When Jia and Dev do eventually develop a physical relationship that’s in alignment with their values, their combination of forthright enthusiasm and self-conscious inexperience feels completely in character. However, arising as it does in the last 10% of the book, the juxtaposition of explicit communication with hesitancy and withholding during their most intimate moments creates a tension I would have liked given more time to resolve.

While there are well intentioned missteps and misunderstandings to untangle, the book is firmly low angst, dodging predictable blow ups and resolving conflicts before they get too uncomfortable. Dev and Jia’s shared values around kinship and domesticity, ability to take a long view of the relationship, and obvious commitment to growth make for a promising partnership. Though I would have loved to read a bit more about their joined lives in the larger context so important to both of them, Dev and Jia’s romance makes for heartwarming reading that’s easy to enjoy.

Rating: Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️