Dina Gets Lucky by Uzma Jalaluddin
Publisher: Lake Union
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeAt a sumptuous family wedding, two former friends rediscover their own love story and the lies that tore them apart in a chaotic and swoony second-chance romance by the author of Yours for the Season.
Toronto attorney Dina Haq is looking forward to her influencer sister’s lavish South Asian wedding. She wouldn’t dream of overshadowing the event of the season by revealing her carefully guarded secret: Her own marriage has gone bust. She just needs to make sure her odious ex keeps his mouth shut, too. Complications arise once she discovers that the groom’s best man is none other than Luqman “Lucky” Latif, a law school crush who ghosted her six years ago.
Forced to abandon his lawyerly ambitions to help his struggling family in Chicago, Lucky rebuilt his life, and a successful contracting business, and has moved on from past hurts…or so he thinks. Then he sees Dina again, the woman who not only rejected him but also had the nerve to marry his best friend instead. He’s not sure his heart can survive another encounter.
As the wedding festivities unfold, Dina and Lucky rediscover their connection and begin to unravel the part her manipulative ex-husband played in their almost-love story. The past isn’t quite what they thought, but is it too late to imagine a new future together?
Even etiquette eventually has its limits.
As soon as I met Dina in the first scene, I knew I was going to love her due to her deep connections to her family and community and how much effort she put into maintaining those ties. She was the sort of character who would do anything for a friend or relative in need without hesitation, so I was curious to find out if she’d learn to balance that admirable personality trait with her pressing need to take care of herself as well. Women are so often socialized to put others first, even to their own detriment, that I always cheer on female characters who try to push back on those cultural scripts and think about what they want out of life as well.
It would have been helpful to have more character development in this novel, especially for the antagonist. While there were some revelations about him later on in the plot that softened my opinion of him a little, I still would have liked to see more time spent explaining why he behaved the way he did and what his positive qualities were. Everyone has their own combination of virtuous and destructive traits, after all, and knowing about all of them helps to create a well-rounded characters.
This was such a funny and lighthearted story in general. I adored Dina’s relationships with her relatives and friends, many of whom had heartwarming quirks that made me smile. Given the more serious nature of later chapters, it was also nice to have some comedic breaks now and again as Hania’s wedding approached and then began to be celebrated.
Dina Gets Lucky made me want to read more from Ms. Jalaluddin. What a charming tale!
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