First Comes Like

Beauty influencer Jia Ahmed flies to a Los Angeles party to meet the actor she believes has been messaging her for months, only to learn that Dev Dixit never sent a word. Someone else has been running his accounts. Before the confusion settles, photographs of the two together go viral and her family, who have always wanted to see her settled, announce they are coming to meet the boyfriend. Too embarrassed to admit she was catfished, Jia asks Dev to play the part.

Dev has troubles of his own. A newcomer to Hollywood from a famous Bollywood family, he is raising his young niece and has reasons to want a partner on paper. Pretending to date turns into learning each other for real, and the performance starts to feel like the relationship neither of them planned.

A warm, funny contemporary romance about family expectations, online personas and the gap between the person you present and the person you are. Third in Alisha Rai's Modern Love series, and readable on its own.