Farah Heron Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Farah Heron is a Canadian author of young adult and contemporary romance books filled with South Asian families, delicious Asian foods and people falling madly in love. She is a resident of Toronto where she lives with her husband, their two children and a pet rabbit nicknamed Strawberry. Farah’s debut novel, The Chai Factor was listed as one of the best books by The Globe and Mail, and received critically acclaimed by Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Book Riot, Bustle among others. Her second book, Accidentally Engaged was chosen as the best book of 2021 in USA Today, Kobo, Entertainment Weekly, CBC Books, NPR, and more.

In her debut novel Accidentally Engaged, Farah Heron introduces us to Reena Manji who is instantly hooked to Nadim Remtulla upon seeing him enter his apartment. Coincidentally, Nadim asks her out just minutes after their first interaction which sends her heart soaring high only to plummet back seconds later. The moment Nadim discovers her name, he informs her something that’s quite embarrassing for both of them. Its soon revealed that Nadim is to be Reena’s fiancé, an engagement planned by her parents without her consent. But since Reena is not ready for marriage, especially given the fact that is a marriage organized by her parents, she tells Nadim point blank that there’s no way she will ever marry him and keeps her distance from him, hoping that he will back off.

But Accidentally Engaged being a romance book, doesn’t work the way Reena wants. One night she is locked out of her apartment and Nadim arrives at the right time to save the day. Seeing the beautiful woman in distress, he doesn’t hesitate but invites her to stay in his apartment as she waits for her friend who has spare key. They have supper together and become much more open to one another while drunk than they would be sober. Reena’s desire to win a local culinary competition, which would allow her to quit the mundane world of banking and live her happiness as a cookbook author, café owner, or baker, is one of the revelations that are disclosed. The only issue is that the program is about family cooking, therefore any submitted audition clip must include an engaged or married couple. This view of family in the 21st century is somewhat limiting, but we live in a world with diverse cultures. Nadim and Reena feel that it would be entertaining to conduct a culinary demonstration together and submit the resulting video to the competition website.

Naturally, their drunk selves have incredible chemistry, and the meal they prepare is flawless. Their video is gold, the producers adore it, and Reena instantly receives an email alerting her that they’ve advanced to the next round, prompting her to ask Nadim for an enormous favor: can he fake to be her boyfriend for the remainder of the competition? Obviously, he says yes. For the sake of the show, the two begin hanging out together, and I’m sure you can guess what happens next.

This novel succeeds due to its great writing and the story’s ability to depict the delight of meeting somebody special and reaching the wonderful, life-altering realization that they are “the one.” Both Reena and Nadim were unfortunate in love before to meeting one another, and they take great joy in discovering how compatible they are. The story does an excellent job of settling the problems within Reena’s family; they love one another but have trouble communicating. As circumstances compel them to begin conversing with one another, as opposed to simply staring at one another, they create the deep, honest connections they’ve always desired.

Another great relationship Farah Heron adds to the novel is that of Reena and her sister. They have a complicated relationship and so is the relationship between Reena and everyone else in the family. Her family can be quite meddlesome and also overbearing and will push her even when she doesn’t need pushing. And besides the loneliness, another important theme highlighted in this book is secrets. Every character seems to have secrets they are trying to hide but they are ultimately revealed at the end of the book. Reena has secrets and so does her parents and her sister. She spends most part of the book trying to keep the secrets hidden, secrets about who she is, who she really loves and who she really loves. She is convinced that revealing her secrets will drive everyone away from her life and the best part of the novel is seeing her journey unfold, as she begins to appreciate herself and finally accept her worth.

Kamila Knows Best is a simple retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma story but with a South Asian twist flavored with a distinctive seasoning. It’s a book that will keep you hooked, laughing, entertained and swooning from the first page to the last. The book features a feisty main character Kamila, with a successful career as an accountant but loves dressing up, and throwing the best Bollywood themed parties, pet parent to a Tiktok famous dog and plays her role perfectly well as a devoted daughter to perfection. The love interest for Kamila is best friend, former childhood crush Rohan, who is handsome, sweet, caring and a perfect book boyfriend material. This is a perfectly crafted friends to lovers’ book, with a slow burn but plenty of chemistry, romantic tension, and plenty of sexy banter that will leave you cracking up multiple times.

The author also incorporates lots of food talk in the best way possible. So, make sure you have plenty of food, sweet and savory snacks before picking up this book to read. Alongside the main storyline are important themes addressed such as the themes of forgiveness, dealing with personal insecurities, overcoming childhood demons, mental health struggles, emotional abuse among others. However, these issues are only lightly discussed and don’t sway the story away from the main plotline. If you are looking for a book full of family friendship, food, plenty of banter, then Kamila Knows Best is a highly recommended read.