Their differences were the spark that started it all
"A rollercoaster of a love story that triumphs over a collision of cultures, family dynamics, an old lover, and new traditions." - Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
"High sense of humour and deep knowledge of the characteristics of Egyptian and Canadian cultures" - Jamal Saeed, author of Yara's Spring and My Road from Damascus
Yousef's aspiration to fit into his new country of Canada is upended by the lies he hears from both sides—his traditional family trying to keep him entrenched in Egyptian Muslim culture and his new motorcycle-riding girlfriend Janelle, who disguises her fear of commitment as a freewheeling lifestyle. Yoga-pant-and-flipflop-wearing Janelle is the living embodiment of the adventurous life that camel-hair-coat-and-shiny-shoes Yousef has long craved. Yet his desire to enjoy life with her can only be realized in the shadows, far from the prying eyes of his scheming family. At the same time, Janelle, too, grapples with her own struggles and undisclosed realities. Will the family intrigue, deception, and the chasm of cultural differences push Yousef and Janelle apart, or can the unbreakable bonds of affection triumph over all obstacles?
If you are looking for an engaging book with excellent character development, this one is well worth your time. There are lots of comedic elements to the meeting and relationship between the two protagonists, and the surrounding characters are well-developed, both in how they're described and also how they create drama for the protagonist couple.
What readers are saying
What drew me to this book was that it was a little different from what I usually read and that the authors live in Kingston, Ontario. I lived in Kingston from 2010 to 2020, so I felt a bit of “home” in this book. This book is fantastic, and I just couldn’t put it down. It had significant character development and made me laugh aloud a few times. I highly recommend it.
A fun romp about romance set against a clash of cultures. Great humour in the book. The characters are very engaging. It is very cinematic. I could totally see it as a movie.
About The AUTHORS
Pamela Paterson founded Writer Types Inc. in 2003. She has been writing poetry and stories since she could hold a pen in her hand, and as a teen was published in the Canadian Authors Association’s Alberta Poetry Yearbook. She spent several years in communications in the federal government writing press releases and editing national publications.
Tarek Hussein co-leads Writer Types Inc. is a pharmacist and writer in Kingston, Ontario, with a lifelong passion for telling stories, writing songs, and taking pictures that capture the essence of life from his native Cairo to several parts of the world that he lived in or visited.
About Us
Writer Types Inc. is a micro-publishing and consulting company founded in 2003 and based in Kingston, Canada. Picturesque Kingston, with its limestone buildings, is situated on Lake Ontario at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River. It is nicknamed “Limestone City” due to its beautiful 19th-century limestone architecture. Kingston was Canada’s first capital.
Land Acknowledgement
Writer Types Inc. acknowledges that we are in the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat, and they have inhabited this land from the beginning.