Spotlight & Giveaway: Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Alina Khawaja to HJ!

Hi Alina and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Maya’s Laws of Love!

 
Hi! Thanks so much for having me here.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

My debut romance novel Maya’s Laws of Love follows a. young woman who has always been unlucky in love who may have finally met the man of her dreams… on the way to her own wedding.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

When he looks at me, a swoosh crashes against my chest, gripping it tight and shaking me with a realization I’ve never let myself think too long about.
He’s beautiful.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The K-drama Crash Landing on You is a big part of the novel.
• It’s inspired by a lot of my favourite Bollywood movies (and it has a few parallels to them!)
• I had a pretty diverse playlist! A few songs: Tum Se Hi (from Jab We Met), But It’s Destiny (from Crash Landing on You), Jikan Yo Tomare (from the anime Itazura Na Kiss).
• Maya taught in South Korea because that’s where I would have liked to go if I was able to teach abroad!

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Maya’s optimism is what attracts Sarfaraz to her; as someone who has a Sad Backstory™ (which you’ll find out when you read the book!), it’s hard for him to see the good in life. But when he meets Maya and sees that she’s also been through a lot but chooses to be happy instead, it really inspires him. And for Maya, it’s Sarfaraz’s kindness/concern. She didn’t have the great first impression of him, but through his actions she got to see more of his true self, and she really liked how protective he could be.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

A scene that made me laugh while writing was the scene on the airplane right before it took off for Pakistan. Here’s a snippet!

“The Jerk has been silent this entire time. Suddenly, he opens his mouth. “You know, it’s not polite to talk about people in another language,” he says in completely flawless Urdu.
My stomach sinks. Urdu? Did he just speak Urdu? Slowly, I look at him. “I’m sorry?” I say in English.
“Just because I appear white doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’re saying,” he goes on. He doesn’t even break his focus from his screen; he continues to type away. “You assumed I didn’t know how to speak Urdu, so you said whatever you wanted about me. You also assumed I’m not Muslim or Pakistani, but I am.” He drags his attention away from his screen long enough to flash me a look of disapproval. “I’m half-Pakistani, and you shouldn’t judge people based on their outward appearance.”
I love this scene because it’s a classy reminder for people who choose to speak in another language about someone else when they’re right there to not automatically assume they don’t know what you’re saying!

Readers should read this book….

If they love Bollywood movies and K-dramas, road trips, forced proximity, and annoyance to lovers. And a big healthy dose of mess and drama!!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

My next adult rom-com, Stranger Than Fiction, comes out next year! I can’t speak too much about it yet, but I can say it’s about a young woman who decides to give up on her dreams of publishing when she’s visited by the physical manifestation of her writing muse who must convince her to keep going. It’s the wildest concept I could have ever come up with, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone soon!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: (1) A print copy of MAYA’S LAWS OF LOVE by Alina Khawaja

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your favourite romance trope and why?

 
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Excerpt from Maya’s Laws of Love:

He frowns. “When did you pick up umbrellas?”
“I got them in Zurich. I bought one because I needed it, and then I bought the second in case something happened to the first, which, in my experience, is something very likely to happen.” I hold it out. “Take it or get wet. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“No, I want it!” Sarfaraz insists. He takes it from me and opens it, smiling when the pellets hit the umbrella panel instead of his head. He smirks and looks back to me. “Maybe you’re not so unlucky, after all.”
I smirk and unwrap my own umbrella. I stuff the cover back into my backpack, then press the button that’s supposed to open the umbrella. “Yeah, maybe not—”
I cut myself off as the runner goes up way too far. There’s none of the usual resistance. Instead, the stretcher snaps, and the jagged tip of the metal goes straight through the outer canopy, shredding the material. I gape at the broken umbrella, ignoring the rain splattering against my bare arms. “What the hell?” I groan. I shake the umbrella in my hands. The broken pieces just flop around, the metal bits inside scraping against each other. I know it’s useless, but better for me to take my anger out on this stupid umbrella than something else. “This was like fifteen bucks!”
“Sarfaraz’s eye twitches, as does the corner of his mouth. I glare at him. “If you laugh, I will beat you with this umbrella.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an umbrella anymore,” he says evenly, though a small chuckle underlines his tone. He presses his mouth into a firm line, but I can see it wobble.
I’m about to hurl more insults at him when the corners of his lips gently turn up. “Here.” Sarfaraz closes my mess of an umbrella as best as he can, and then opens my backpack so he can shove it inside. Once he zips the bag closed, he circles back to my side, but instead of continuing forward, he wraps his arm around my back, his fingers grazing my arm. He huddles closer to me, holding his umbrella over both our heads the best he can.
I stare up at him, but the kind smile stays on his face as we continue down the path from the bridge. His hand is gentle against my arm, and somehow the left side of my body fits well against the right side of his.
I face forward, crossing my arms over my chest and enjoying the pitter-patter of rain against the umbrella.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A bride-to-be convinced she’s cursed in romance finds her luck changing—at exactly the wrong time.
Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…
Maya’s Law #1: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except…
Law #4: When you think you’re lucky, think again.
From the start, Maya’s journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections.
Law #6: Trips are never smooth sailing.
And before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune—finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret.
Law #18: If you’re overtired, you’ll always spill your guts.​
But maybe, if she’s willing to bend some laws, this detour could take her somewhere totally—and wonderfully—unexpected.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | kobo |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Alina Khawaja is a Canadian-Pakistani author. A graduate from the University of Toronto with a BA in English, History and Creative Writing and from Toronto Metropolitan University with an MA in the Literatures of Modernity, it’s been clear from day one that the only thing Alina could be is a storyteller. Alina lives in Ontario, Canada, where she spends the summer at theme parks and the winter cozying up inside with a ridiculously expensive coffee. When she’s not writing, she’s either reading or trying to keep up with her endless list of k-dramas.
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