Aahliya is turning 30 in a couple of months. The big day will be celebrated in style with friends, family and hopefully a boyfriend she loves. It comes as an unpleasant reminder which seems more like a shock when months before the birthday her family stages an intervention. Shock as it was unexpected and unpleasant as they chose her sister's memorial day to do it on.
Suddenly her hand is forced and she needs to find a boyfriend she wants to marry and get her family off her back. She has most of the summer to find the One, the only issue with the plan is she doesn't like or particularly want to date. Aahliya wants to skip to the good part and already be in a relationship, a boyfriend ready for her birthday party.
Of course, you might say she's too wishful or very delusional. That's how she comes across when we get to know her especially when we witness the dates she goes on. Aahliya with encouragement from best friends decides to date and heads to her first blind date. As luck would have it she's stood up. Bartender Ahmad comes to the rescue, he convinces her to sign up for online dating. Plus he offers to be her wingman, she can meet her dates at his bar and he'll have her back. And so starts a summer of Aahliya's dating experiments.
She hits it off more with Ahmad the bartender while her dates run out quicker than she can finish her drinks. All, of course, not due to her fault or so she thinks right up to the end. Why I say this, she is very picky and for some reason, every man she meets is simply the opposite of what she wants in a man, even after she's had fairly decent and promising conversations with them before their in-person dates. Every time she circles back to Ahmad the bartender, her friend whom she can't fall for. Phew, it was one hell of a time seeing Aahliya's dates with men she met on the dating app. Somehow she ends up with all duds. It was frustrating to witness and I can't but help think, girl something is not working here. Worry not about her time, the actual non-dates with Ahmad are where the story shines bright. Their banter starts off with a bang and it progresses brilliantly. You'll love Ahmad.
Aaliyah on the other hand is a bit of a slow burn, you will not immediately warm to her. She is a successful professional, though some of her reactions and dating disasters made me stop in my tracks. It felt if I were to criticise her it would feel anti-feminist or something like that. Though you'll realise it's more to do with the hand she's dealt with than it being her personality.
I wish the author would've made her more relatable than the whiny, exacting type she comes across in places. She goes on dates with strangers which will make you wary. The time she spends with Ahmad is fun, playful, and sweet...something we wish we would have. It pales in comparison to the dates happening during the summer.
To round off the summer, the birthday surprise she gets is hot, thoughtful and nothing less of a grand gesture. So, two things I like about the story and you will too, is the chemistry between the couple and the date; both will grab and keep your attention.
Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Survival of the Thickest in Danielle Allen’s CURVY GIRL SUMMER, a smoking-hot, hilarious novel about the perils of online dating.
“There’s got to be an easier way than dating. I want the shortcut. I just want to find my person and start our lives together.” After a one-night stand with her clingy ex, Aaliyah James has an epiphany: this ain’t it. She knows what she wants, and she’s ready to move past casual hookups, flings, and situationships.
But for her family, the clock is ticking—after all, she’s almost thirty. And when they imply that her personality (and her body) might be too big to land a man, she lets them know they’ve gone too far—and her (nonexistent) man loves her curves, thank you very much. Now, she has seven weeks to find the perfect boyfriend to rub in their faces at the big, fancy birthday celebration she’s been planning.
After her first blind date goes wrong, charming local bartender Ahmad Williamson consoles her with a drink and some playful banter. Aaliyah takes him up on his suggestion to use a dating app—but the more she sees of his warm, funny, and easygoing nature, the less she wants to check her DMs. Will her next swipe bring her closer to true love—or is her real match closer than she thinks?
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