Romance – as told by zaheerah

Monthly Rewind

Monthly Rewind: December 2025

January 2, 2026by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

B O O K S

In December, I read 11 books!

For transparency, every book marked with * are titles I received for free as I currently work at PRH UK.

Good Spirits

Harriet York finds herself visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, a grumpy Nolan Callahan, who has no idea why he’s haunting the seemingly kind Harriet.

My 2026 reading goal should be to block HarperCollins on TikTok so I can stop lurking on their livestreams and be tempted by their discounts because this is now the 5th book I’ve bought on there and found myself sorely disappointed. I never read seasonally but I thought I would give a Christmas book a chance this time around. The only scene I liked was the mistletoe scene but everything else was such a bore. It started off strong and I liked the head butting between Harriet and Nolan but it went downhill so fast once they immediately became attracted to each other without any sort of development. Their relationship moves too fast to feel remotely satisfying as a reader.

Spoilers!

Soulmates being the answer to everything immediately ruined it for me. All that development and mystery with Nolan and it was as simple as the two of them being soulmates felt SO lacklustre.

Heated Rivalry

I too have joined the Heated Rivalry hype. I thought the book was fun! Nothing too standout but an enjoyable quick read. I do appreciate how well the TV show adapted the book! I know it’s easier with a modern contemporary novel but I’ve been burnt out too many times by adaptations.

A Lonely Broadcast: Book One

Firewatch meets The Magnus Archives! I liked this a lot! The creepy and gory details really made this book. I would’ve loved a bit more characterisation from the main leads. I rarely read horror because I prefer visual horror (like movies, tv and games) but this one had been stuck to my kindle for HOURS.

Game Changer

I loved Shane and Kip’s story so much! I understand why Shane and Ilya are the standout couple of the series but I really appreciated the slower development of Shane and Kip’s story.

Upward Bound*

A tale of community that follows the residents and workers of a day care centre for Los Angeles’s disabled residents. I really enjoyed the different perspectives in this book. I thought it would just stick to just the workers and residents but seeing even chapters from people who are passing by really made this unique! Hearing the different perspectives made this such a immersive story!

Last Breath, Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, Fall of Night, Daylighters (Morganville #11 – 15)

Did I panic and realise that it was already December and I hadn’t finished my Morganville re-read so I read the last 5 books in a month? Why, yes. Yes, I did. Reading the last book 5 in quick succession made me realise how unhinged the last few books in the series was. Especially because it goes from the Draug and Daylighter Foundation as villains in the space of like two books. I loved re-reading the series and I can’t wait to do my re-read of the Great Library series in the new year!

A Lonely Broadcast: Book Two

Such an improvement in Book Two! I felt like the story really grew into its own here! I’m so excited to see what Book Three will have in store! Although I do wish the series was separated by having their own names.

Also, if anything happens to Daniel, I am single-handedly that fuck ass monster in the woods myself.

That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?

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Monthly Rewind

Monthly Rewind: July 2025

August 10, 2025by Zaheerah1 Comment

L I F E

A bit late for this month, partially because I’ve been sick the last week or so! But I’m slowly feeling human again. 😅I had a fun month at work in July as Penguin Random House was celebrating its 90th anniversary! The entire year so far has been filled with numerous events for the occasion, but as July 30th was its official date, a lot was happening at work! I volunteered for the ‘Nothing Like A Book‘ event, which was held at the Truman Brewery on July 19th and 20th, 2025. I volunteered on the 19th at the Book Nook, giving out free books to anyone who stopped by. When I initially volunteered, I wasn’t expecting to be given such a front-facing role. The introvert in me was actually dying the entire time. 😅 But it was so lovely meeting everyone who came by the stall!

I know there isn’t much of an overlap between my audience here and on Twitch but I do like giving updates here when I can. I now officially have a new model that will be used for streams from now onwards. I commissioned a lovely artist called artsy_vii who creates these adorable pixel png models! I’ve been waiting since early this year for their commission list to open up so I could have a new model of my OC, Nara. I will miss the models I created myself but I’ve been wanted a new model for consistency for a while now and I love what I got from Vii!!!

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Monthly Rewind

Monthly Rewind: March 2025

April 7, 2025April 7, 2025by Zaheerah1 Comment

A R T

Okay! So I’m giving you a little snippet of the art that I made for my team’s newsletter at work! Since it hasn’t been released yet, I don’t want to share the full art in case anyone from work is reading this post (if you are, hi 👋🏼) Since this one will be released around the same time of the company’s anniversary, this is a birthday artwork to celebrate Penguin’s 90th year as a company. I was super happy to work on this one especially as I grew up reading books from Penguin and Puffin (which is celebrating it’s 85th year!) so to be able to make a piece of art that will be shared internally was a super proud moment for me!

B O O K S

In March, I read 5 books, 2 short stories and 1 manga volume.

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery

I know F1 romances have been a biiig thing for sports romance readers for a while and I’ll be honest, I have no interest in F1 at all. But something about sports fiction really intrigues me even when I have zero interest in sports. I was browsing the HarperCollins sale and those ladies on their TikTok livestreams do a great job at emptying your wallets because I did end up picking Pole Position. Sadly, I did not enjoy this one at all.

The more I read this book, the more I got annoyed at the characters. It’s a very easy to read book, but that’s the only nice thing I could say about it. It is a romance between two competitive race car drivers, Kian, an industry golden boy, and Harper, a cocky rookie, whose name is more known on the tabloids than it is on the roads. It was just SO bland. All these tropes shoved into one book and it still could not save Kian and Harper. How can you even call this enemies to lovers when the switch up happens in like a second and even then, WHY? Harper is annoying as hell, made even worse with his borderline constant sexual harassment of Kian. And Kian’s not that great either when he helps a drunk Harper and makes a move on him DESPITE his entire internal monologue being like let’s not mess with a drunk guy. *proceeds to mess around with a drunk guy* Why even bother making this an age gap romance when the both of them act much younger than their actual ages. Definitely not the one for me.

The Wizard’s Bakery by Gu Byeong-Mo

A young boy finds refuge in a magical bakery that is open all the time – which creates enchanted baked goods that can have devastating effect on its consumers. I really enjoyed this book but MY GOD, but I feel like I need to warn readers that this book touches about the subject of sexual assault and child abuse. The description and cover presents to you a story that appears to be whimsical and light-hearted. The main character is a young boy who runs away from home following abuse and is taken in by the bakery and in return helps the bakery owner run his online store. Here the boy discovers the devastating effects of magical enchanted goods. Different customers return after their goods fail to act out their wishes and the baker reminds them that magic has a cost and it will not bend to the will of the people who wish in bad faith. I thought the book was fantastic, but a lot darker and sinister than the marketing of this book would have you think.

The Age of Video Games by Jean Zeid & Rouge Emilie

What a lovely way to present and honour the history of video games that really manages to touch up all aspects of the industry! From Pong to even the current day mention of Genshin Impact and the impact of mobile free-to-play games! I wasn’t a fan of the art, but it is quite charming! The text is too much, I thought, some points in the book it just overwhelms the art on the page.

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Monthly Rewind

Monthly Rewind: February 2025

March 4, 2025by Zaheerah1 Comment

A R T

So not much art this month! I’ve been working on some stuff for my work newsletter so that has been taking up a lot of my art time. But a big thing I’m working on is practising the Arcane art style! I’ve been obsessed with show for a while and with the ending of season 2, I’ve been obsessed with practising the style for fun. The character I’ve drawn is one of my OCs, if you watch me over on Twitch, then you’ll have seen her a lot as I use a PNG model of her for streaming!

B O O K S

In February, I read 10 books and 1 graphic novel. I am on a book reading sweep at the moment! Aside from one book this month – I’ve really enjoyed all the books I’ve read this month.

For transparency, books marked with an asterisk (*) signify books I received through work at PRH.

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Books

Review: The Mismatch

May 4, 2021April 20, 2021by ZaheerahLeave a Comment

*I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*

*note: this review is not spoiler-free*

Newly graduated Soraya struggles to balance her family’s expectations and her own, feeling unaccomplished in her young adult life. The idea that she hasn’t been kissed at twenty-one bothers her, so fixing that means everything else should work out. When she decides to make it a reality, Magnus Evans is the answer. Magnus is everything her Muslim parents would disapprove of in a man. Someone she could never see herself with, but this mismatch might be a perfect choice. The longer she gets to know Magnus, the less sure she becomes in her decision to pull away.

The Mismatch was a tricky book for me. Personally, I resonated a lot with Soraya; her trauma and emotions when it came to handling her culture and family felt almost similar to mine. This story is less about the romance, as suggested by the synopsis, and more about her coming to face her Muslim guilt while juggling her culture’s sexist ideas. I won’t lie; I felt like I saw red for much of the scenes because it felt a bit too real. Soraya’s brother is allowed to do whatever without any consequences, while Soraya and her sister quite literally have to fear for their lives to do even do a slither of what he’s able to do. Soraya’s father is abusive and terrible, and the story does a great show of exploring the nuances and how the effects of it resonate throughout the family.

Soraya’s story is not the only one told here. Chapters changed between Soraya and her mother, Neda, whose story pans from her university days in Tehran to her immigration journey to the UK. The real strength in this novel runs in the parallel between Soraya and Neda and their family. Neda is barely out of university, working towards her Masters when she decides to move to the UK with her husband, and they both struggle to adapt to their new life. Soraya’s guilt is rooted in the belief that she is disappointing her mother, who goes through absolute hell, from adapting to a new home to slowly losing her husband to drug addiction.

For a contemporary romance novel, the romance novel was the least of my interest in this story, which is rather strange. Magnus Evans is rather frustrating to the point where I had lost interest in rooting for them to be together. The miscommunication which drives them apart was rather unforgivable, in my opinion. (Spoilers: Soraya discovers that Magnus’s friends began to hold a bet to see how long it would take for him to sleep with Soraya. While Magnus is against the bet, he doesn’t really do much to curry favour because he lets his friends be terrible behind her back. And then dares to compare the bet to Soraya’s plan to make him her first kiss when he is aware of the trauma surrounding why Soraya is scared to be intimate. And not to mention, HE read her journal and then told other people what was in it.) I just wanted to grab Soraya by the shoulders and tell her this white man was NOT worth it.

In the end, The Mismatch wasn’t disappointing, and I enjoyed reading it a lot. However, I wasn’t exactly satisfied with some plot choices. Certain characters weren’t fleshed out enough, almost forgettable, and the romance is sorely disappointing. But the rest of the story that charts Soraya’s family and her desire for fulfilment was hopeful, and I can see this book resonating with other readers; it just missed the mark for me.

Books

Review: Counting Down with You

February 23, 2021by Zaheerah4 Comments

*I received a copy via the publisher and Edelweiss in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*

Karina Ahmed’s plan for success means keeping her head down and getting to medical school. So when her parents go abroad to Bangladesh, she is finally rewarded a month of peace, away from their watchful eyes. That is until her agreement to tutor Ace Clyde turns awry, and now she’s spending her twenty-eight days in a fake-relationship with him. As she counts down her days, Ace Clyde gives her all the reasons to stay and maybe this facade could have a happy ending.

Karina is a high school junior, attending alongside her high-achieving younger brother whose interest in robotics has her parents singing praise while she’s barely keeping afloat. And when her English teacher asks her to tutor ever absent classmate Ace Clyde, she immediately assumes the worst. Aft. They start, and a missed lesson, Ace finally shows up, and he knows exactly how to push Karina’s buttons, tip-toeing over the lines she has made herself. Knowing exactly how her parents would react, she keeps Ace at an arm’s distance until she realises Ace has secrets of his own which is why she agrees to his plans. Keep up this act for three more weeks, and they part ways as unlikely friends. (and for Karina, a handful of books, courtesy of the Bank of Ace Clyde.) As the return of her parents looms overhead, Karina realises that these past days are the happiest she has ever been, and with the support of her grandmother, her best friends, and Ace, maybe she can gather the courage to face her family once and for all.

Counting Down with You is a refreshing and hilarious read. I’m not big on contemporary novels, but I found Bhuiyan’s voice to be outstanding. If anything, I am blown away at how much I could relate to Karina Ahmed. Like Karina, my family had also left Bangladesh in search of a different life. Her traditional parents’ ideals and expectations are all too familiar; their harsh words and criticism almost mirrored my own family, almost word-for-word. Karina’s humour to her anxiety felt all too surreal to read this book and realise the main character is an almost exact copy of yourself at sixteen.

The cast of Counting Down with You are some of the biggest sweethearts you’ll ever meet. Ace Clyde is one of the school’s notorious students, rumours upon rumours piles upon him. His character reminds me of Aiden Thomas’s Julian Diaz (Cemetery Boys). Very understanding and wholesome once you get to know him. Karina’s best friends, Cora and Nandini, are as thick as thieves and supportive as hell. They might not understand her refusal to stand up to her parents, but they’re there for her, no questions asked. It was quite refreshing to see them talk and act like teens; their text conversations were hilarious and realistic. While her parents are away, Karina’s grandmother takes care of her and her younger brother. Her grandmother is pretty much amazing and supportive. Her brother is the best example of a desi little brother who doesn’t realise how easy he has it compared to his sister. Whenever he said something wasn’t deep, I wanted to flick him like he was my own brother. Bhuiyan encapsulates the experience of growing up with traditional parents perfectly. Her parents’ aren’t physically present in most of the novel, but their presence is there in most of Karina’s thoughts, dragging her down both mentally and physically.

Counting Down with You was extremely sweet and immensely relatable. I’m not the type to throw around the phrase “I wish this book existed when I was teen”, but I feel like if this book had existed when I was a teenager and struggling, I would have felt a lot better about myself at sixteen.

GOODREADS | AMA ZON | AUTHOR

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