-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel (Modern Love)
by Alisha Rai
The author of The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral returns with a story about finding love in all the wrong inboxes...
Beauty expert and influencer Jia Ahmed has her eye on the prize: conquering the internet today, the entire makeup industry tomorrow, and finally, finally proving herself to her big opinionated family. She has little time for love, and even less time for the men in her private messages—until the day a certain international superstar slides into her DMs, and she falls hard and fast.
There's just one wrinkle: he has no idea who she is.
The son of a powerful Bollywood family, soap opera star Dev Dixit is used to drama, but a strange woman who accuses him of wooing her online, well, that's a new one. As much as he'd like to focus on his Hollywood fresh start, he can't get Jia out of his head. Especially once he starts to suspect who might have used his famous name to catfish her…
When paparazzi blast their private business into the public eye, Dev is happy to engage in some friendly fake dating to calm the gossips and to dazzle her family. But as the whole world swoons over their relationship, Jia can't help but wonder: Can an online romance-turned-offline-fauxmance ever become love in real life?
"Rai follows up The Right Swipe with a sweet and spicy romance that delves into some deep issues of mental health for both main characters (severe anxiety and PTSD), as well as the effects of social media on people's lives. Essential for public libraries." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Gorgeous romance... Rae handles her characters' mental health issues with incredible care while not shying away from depicting the effects such issues would have on a relationship. Katrina and Jas's loving, mutual support of one another is truly touching. This sensitive and sexy contemporary is sure to be a hit." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"With twists and turns right out of a Bollywood drama ... Another win from this rising romance star." —Booklist
This information about First Comes Like was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alisha Rai is an author and attorney who pens award-winning adult and young adult romances. Her novels have been named Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, NPR, Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Kirkus, and Cosmopolitan magazine. When she's not writing, Alisha loves to spend time with her husband and son. To find out more about her books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit alisharai.com.
If you liked First Comes Like, try these:
by Jade Chang
Published 2026
A deeply moving and often hilarious novel following a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her into fame and influence just as she's finally beginning to reckon with her complicated past.
by Elaine Castillo
Published 2026
A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.
by Rufi Thorpe
Published 2025
A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman's attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world—from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
