Dina Gets Lucky
Uzma Jalaluddin
Lake Union
It’s tough being the eldest daughter—the intelligent, hardworking daughter who does everything she can to please others. Toronto Lawyer Dina Haq lives in perpetual fear that her parents will find out that her tumultuous marriage to the cheating Arshad is over. They don’t even know it was officially ended six months ago. But now is not the time to tell her family the news that she isn’t the perfect daughter they thought she was since this week is her younger sister’s Hania’s huge Bollywood-inspired wedding.
As an online influencer, Hania is not holding back any, and her parents want to impress her wealthy fiancé Samir’s family, too. Dina makes Arshad promise he won’t tell anyone about their divorce until after the celebrations, so she pretends to be happily married. The Muslim nikah will take place in Toronto and the post-wedding festivities in Chicago at Samir’s family’s mansion. Dina’s worst fears are realized when Samir’s best man arrives in town on the chartered plane along with the groom’s large wedding party.
Easy-going, ever handsome Luqman “Lucky” Latif was Dina’s law school crush. She would have never married the smarmy Arshad if Lucky hadn’t left school early to return to Chicago to help take care of his family’s business. After five years, why hasn’t Lucky reached out to her? Is he angry with her? Arshad had assured Dina that Lucky didn’t returned her feelings all those years ago before Arshad made his move on her and married into her well-connected family’s network and her father’s law firm.
Lucky tries to keep his distance at the various opulent wedding events since Dina is a married woman. It hurts to see her looking so beautiful standing beside Arshad, his treacherous former friend. Arshad swept Dina off her feet while Lucky had to leave law school and take care of his family, his father dying soon after Lucky returned home, leaving them in financial ruin. Lucky has worked hard to establish himself as a successful contractor with Samir’s family’s construction firm, but he has never found another woman to take Dina’s place in his heart. Will he ever love again?
Dina’s old feelings for Lucky grow the more she interacts with him during the wedding festivities. He is as loyal to his family as she is to hers, but dare she open her heart to him and risk getting hurt again? Dare she publicly reveal her divorce so she can be with Lucky without disappointing her parents and ruining her sister’s wedding?
Dina Gets Lucky is the perfect South Asian styled “sweet romance” about two lonely souls getting a second chance at love. The unique settings and customs are fully realized, creating a fascinating look into what life and love is like for an immigrant family in North America. The reader can’t help but cheer Dina and Lucky on as they navigate through the intricate complexities of trying to please their traditional families while being true to their inner selves. It’s a trip worth taking.
