Azere moved to Canada from Nigeria with her family when she was twelve years old. She has spent years adhering to the expectations of her parents to continue to honor her Nigerian heritage as well as become a successful young woman in Canada. Even though she is a hardworking creative director at an ad agency, her mother expects her to get married and start a family, and the promise she made to her father on his deathbed--to marry a Nigerian man and never forget where she came from--has been long looming over her life. Her very traditional mother has set Azere up on many dates with potential husbands, but after a particularly terrible date, she heads to a bar to have a drink alone. But a handsome man named Rafael starts talking to her, one thing leads to another, and they have a hot and heavy one-night stand. . .

A few weeks later, Azere is in a meeting at her company when the newest hire walks in and it’s Rafael. They’re both surprised and pleased to see one another. Assigned to work together on a big project for a new, lucrative client, Azere and Rafael are thrown together and can no longer deny the feelings growing between them. Azere knows her mother would never approve of her relationship with a white man, but she also knows no one had has ever made her feel like she does when she’s with him. And when something happens that brings them closer together, Azere has to figure out how to navigate her new reality, while not forgetting who she is and where she came from. . .

A promising contemporary romance debut! Jane Igharo is an author to watch. TIES THAT TETHER has so many appealing aspects: it’s set in Canada, features two immigrants and their families, has a workplace element, and of course, a heartwarming romance at its core. Azere’s Nigerian roots have defined her life and she wants to hold on to her culture and identity, while also making her own path in life. Rafael’s family is from Spain, and they also have expectations of him but aren’t as strict when compared to Azere’s mother. Rafael has a secret that’s easy to guess but isn’t fully revealed until the end of the novel. His reasons for keeping it are understandable but drawn out a little too long. Azere’s mother, at times, was so tied up in her traditional viewpoint that she felt like a caricature, but she does have a convenient change of heart later in the story that brings her around to Azere’s decisions. Additionally, there is a plot point that happens early on in the book that makes this book profoundly different than what the marketing copy on the back cover explains it to be--some readers may not enjoy this aspect. However, with deft writing, snappy dialogue, rom-com movie references throughout, and a delightful cast of characters, TIES THAT TETHER is a wonderful romance and the start of a long career for Jane Igharo.