Larry Flick from
Billboard magazine viewed the song as "an overlooked pop-treasure", describing it as "cute" and "fun". Chuck Campbell from
Knoxville News Sentinel described it as "Middle Eastern-flavored" and "slow chugging". In his weekly UK chart commentary,
James Masterton wrote, "Her new single goes for the
dance angle, reminiscent of her first hit '
Straight Up' but this time round unlikely to become too big a hit for her." Ian Watson from
Melody Maker felt that "mucho respect" goes to Abdul "for first having the good sense to employ the wailing woman talents of Ofra Haza and then penning a pop song that flirts dangerously with the intense feelings found in the
Arabic music world." A reviewer from
Music Week gave "My Love Is for Real" a score of four out of five, adding, "Smooth, soulful vocals with a funky rhythm and
oriental touches show Abdul back on form." John Perry from
NME named it the "strongest of all" on the album, "mixing Ofra Haza's ethereal vocals over Paula's
Madonna-esque whispering,
almost turning a standard sexy ballad into
Massive Attack's '
Safe from Harm'. Almost." Mark Sutherland from
Smash Hits gave it three out of five, writing, "Nowadays though, she's reduced to copying Madonna with this stab at '
Justify My Love'/'
Confide in Me' eastern-tinged sexiness. A hit the size of a house, but that's hardly the point." ==Chart performance==