“My sister met her boyfriend on a dating app too,” Hannah added. “And they’ve been together for over a year now.”

“Yeah, but that’s probably because you didn’t set them up,” I retorted, and we all broke into giggles, even Hannah.

“I’ve tried it before too.”

“Tania?!” we all exclaimed. Since the end of her marriage, I had never heard Tania mention being involved in any type of relationship—serious or casual. I figured her ultraconservative upbringing, coupled with her divorce at eighteen, had thwarted her from pursuing other dalliances of the sort. It seemed she was perfectly content on her own without the hassles of rishta aunties, meddling parents, and the temptations of online dating. But I was obviously mistaken. At least about the latter.

“I wanted to see what was out there,” she said nonchalantly. “It’s actually kind of nice.”

I raised my eyebrows, still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Tania on a dating website.

“It gives you access to all these options that you wouldn’t otherwise have in real life.”

“Like what?” I frowned, still feeling slightly skeptical.

“I’m a twenty-five-year-old divorced Muslim woman, Leila,” she said. “Aunties aren’t exactly fighting to set me up with their precious, ‘virgin’ sons, you know.”

I knew exactly what she meant. It didn’t matter that Tania was strikingly beautiful or intelligent or successful; the fact that she had been previously married was reason enough for many Muslim parents to disregard her as a contender for their sons. Although not all Muslim families shared this mentality, Tania had probably encountered enough of them over the years to feel limited by her preferences.

“I have more control,” she continued. “So, for example, I can filter my options to only show me men who have also been divorced. Or who have no issues with women who are divorced. I can hand-select all of the qualities I’m looking for, and it will generate a list of options for me based on my choices. It’s almost like . . . shopping. But instead of pashminas and ankle boots, you’re trying on husbands for size.”

“Huh.” I’d never thought about online dating from that perspective, but Tania’s analogy suddenly made it sound much more appealing. The more my friends talked about scientific data sets, compatibility algorithms, and sepia-tinted profile pictures, the more excited I became.

“So you mean I can choose all the characteristics I’m looking for, match them up to my requirements, and it’ll just generate a bunch of options for me?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Tania said.

“And then you just pick the guy you like best.” Liv smiled.

A vision of my perfect guy on seven napkins suddenly came dancing through my mind. “This almost sounds too easy,” I said, astonished.

“The important thing is that we choose the right website or app, though,” Liv said. “They have something for just about everyone these days.”

“Literally everyone,” emphasized Hannah. “Amish singles. Cat lovers. Biker dudes and dudettes. Big-hearted introverts. Singles with food allergies. I even saw a commercial once for a dating app for vegan dairy farmers.”