Review: Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Girl Gone Viral
(Modern Love #2)
by Alisha Rai
Publisher: Avon
Publication date: April 21, 2020
Genre: Romance
Rating:

In Alisha Rai’s second novel in her Modern Love series, a live-tweet event goes viral for a camera-shy ex-model, shoving her into the spotlight—and into the arms of the bodyguard she’d been pining for.

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings [eyes emoji]

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for…

He’s got a [peach emoji] to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

 

 

I thought that this would be a cute story about Katrina getting her picture taken with a cute guy, being shipped online, and then falling for said guy, but nope. That was not the story at all. In fact, it’s much deeper than that. Katrina has lead a very interesting life. Her father used her to gain money by thrusting her into the spotlight and dictating her life to keep her famous. When she escaped his control and married a wealthy older man, she thought she was finally free. However, her father came sniffing for money and her then husband paid him off with the assumption that they’d never see him again. If that wasn’t bad enough, Katrina was kidnapped for days and used as ransom. So, she’s plagued with anxiety and fear. She doesn’t like to leave the confines of her home, but pushes herself to try new things or have a routine outside outside the house so that she can build up confidence. So, when a cute guy sits down across from her at a local cafe, and some nosy writer takes photos of them and comes up with a fabricated story about them, making their photo and them go viral, it is pretty much a nightmare for Katrina.

Katrina has got a lot of anxiety issues and just about anything could set her off into a panic attack. Thankfully, the head of her security, Jas, knows her very well and has always been by her side since she married her late husband. He’s been her personal body guard since the beginning and has always been there for her when she needs him. So, when this whole cafebae thing gets out of hand, he brings Katrina to his family farm where she can have some solitude and be away from it all. Even though they are there to help make Katrina feel safe, their close proximity to each other and the change in routine has their feelings for each other coming the surface.

Now I won’t lie, I was a little put off at the fact that Jas has been Katrina’s bodyguard since she was married. Katrina’s late husband was a family friend to Jas, so the fact that he was in love with Katrina and she him, kind of felt wrong to me. However, when it’s later revealed that her marriage was just on paper, and that they weren’t actually together, I warmed up a bit to the idea of Jas and Katrina. Mayeb it’s because Katrina has so much going on mentally, and Jas is just so selfless and understanding of her. They just worked really well together.

Girl Gone Viral wasn’t what I was expecting, but in a good way. I really enjoyed this story and all the characters within the pages. The cast is so diverse and I loved that even though this was a romance, we got to meet so many people who were a staple in this story. This is the second book by this author that I’ve read (basically, I’ve only read this series by her), and i have enjoyed them both. I look forward to the next book in the series as well as checking out some of her other work.

 

Previous reviews from Modern Love
Right Swipe

 

 

 

2 Thoughts on “Review: Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

  1. I loved all the pining these two did, and they were so gentle with each other. They really complimented one another, and I also liked that Rai took on how invasive social media can be too.

  2. I struggled with Right Swipe but that was the audio and I do like the authors writing so I think I’m going to give this one a try.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

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