I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents’ rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.

Karina is my girlfriend.

Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.

T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?

Short and Sweet Review

Karina’s plan to get through high school is to keep her head down and follow her parent’s rules. But when her parents leave for four weeks Karina expects some peace, but instead she ends up tangled in a lie. Karina starts to tutor the schools resident bad boy, Ace, and eventually the two start to pretend date. Karina can’t wait until things go back to normal but as time starts to get closer to when her parents get back she wonders if she really wants it to go back to normal.

Karina is a 16-year-old Bangladeshi Muslim who loves to read and write poetry. She wants to study English, but her parents want her to study medicine. There isn’t a lot of room in her life for her to live it the way she wants so when her parents go to Bangladesh for a month, leaving Karina and her brother with their grandmother, Dadu, Karina finally feels free.

Karina is asked to tutor a boy in her English class, Ace, who is struggling in. Karina knows that her parents wouldn’t be to happy with her spending any time with a boy, but Karina agrees because her favorite teacher is asking and it’ll replace the grade for a project that counts for a large portion of her grade. The more Karina gets to know Ace the more her feelings for him begin to complicate. Ace starts to introduce Karina as his girlfriend even though they’re not dating, which makes everything start to fall apart.

During the time that her parents are gone Karina is shown love from the people around her, like her friends and Dadu.

The romance was beautiful and I liked that Ace and Karina were honest with each other and respected boundaries. Ace was everything someone would want in a boyfriend and I just loved their relationship.

The book pulls the reader in and I love how the characters were brought to life! Karina has a lot of love and support from those around her. Counting Down with You is beautiful and raw and it really shows you what it means to follow your own path in life. I highly recommend this book!