Sonali Dev

Chef reality show gets very REAL!

A very loose nod to Austen's Persuasion. Ashna Raje is trying to hang onto her beloved father's once successful Indian restaurant at all costs. The restaurant is in crisis, millions of dollars were embezzled and now she is doing all she can to lower overheads and rebuild the restaurant, her father's dream. And that's the crux, Ashna needs to discover her own dream.
Her cousin persuades as her to take part in a reality tv cooking show. Grand prize of $100,000 show more
Little did Ashna know that the former love of her life would be her partner. Soccer star Rico Silva has used his influence to ensure this. Being thrown together, in the spotlight and off, forces Rico and Ashna to re-evaluate themselves, their reactions and other aspects of their lives.
Devastating secrets are forced into the open. For Ashna that includes reassessing her relationship with both her mother and her father. Ashna's father was an Indian Prince sent by his family to the United States to build a new life for himself and his family. Her mother had deserted the Prince and Ashna many years before, returning to India to advocate for girls sporting rights that developed into female empowerment in other areas of life. To say Ashna and her mother's relationship is fraught is a massive understatement.
Although Ashna's mother's story raises interesting issues about relationships between generations. Including the idea that current generations accept the status quo of women's rights as they are now without appreciating previous generation's historical situations and the cost to them. Those forgotten battles are the legacy that current generations move forward from.
On the surface this story is a very readable modern love story, but underneath, with its richly woven background, darkness hovers, resentments simmer, and redemption possibilities hide around the corner, if one is brave enough.
I loved the title. Talking, being open, and forgiving are necessary ingredients for persuasion to happen in this situation.
Rethinking this novel, I came to appreciate even more it's depth. I decided this is actually a five star read and not the four star I was originally going with.
There are comic moments, but Recipe for Persuasion is far from a romantic comedy.

A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley show less

*Free e-book ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss/Above the Treeline in exchange for an honest review. No money or other goods were exchanged, and all views are my own.*

Trisha Raje is a successful surgeon who has perfected the art of removing cancer from tricky spots, but she can't quite figure people out, or get over being the black sheep of the family. When the chef at her brother's campaign events just so happens to be DJ Caine, the brother of one of her patients, Trisha is show more suddenly thrown into situations seeing him a bit too much for comfort.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the romances I like best are either by Jane Austen or reference her work. Okay that's a slight exaggeration. All kidding aside, this was an absolutely fantastic story. We get enough of both Trisha and DJ's points of view and backstory to cheer them both on as they start to fall in love and have one misunderstanding after another. Trisha's large family, their drama and dynamics, are endearing and relatable. Dev shows a range of identity and experiences through her culturally diverse cast. And yes, I enjoyed the Austen references. The story was more inspired by than a retelling, but character names and a few situations will have Janeites grinning with anticipation and recognition. Just delightful reading. Now excuse me while I go look up everything Sonali Dev has written. show less

Even if you don’t have a big boner for P&P/Austen retellings like I do, this is a great contemporary romance that should check the boxes for you hate-to-love fans out there (of which I’m one). I immediately loved the overall tone and light humor. DJ and Trisha are great characters – I totally felt for them and was also groaning when they were both being total assholes. But you could understand where their pride in their jobs and the people they’ve become came from and how that leads show more to their misunderstandings. So human! There’s a lady Wickham – a fun spin, I think – and the Wickham arc was modernized well (he’s a tough character to bring to the 21st century!) and convincingly. I only hated that Darcy went by DJ because I kept thinking of DJ as his title – I don’t know why, maybe I’m just an idiot. Anyway, this is one I’ll happily reread! show less

A story about the women we become, the sisters who save us, and the love that survives even the hardest childhoods.

I want to begin by saying that I am not Indian, and while I’ve been close to friends who share elements of Rupi and Simi’s culture, history, religion, and family dynamics, much in this book was new to me. The dramatic pulse at the heart of this story is rooted in cultural heritage and tradition, and I can only imagine the pressures these women navigate — even before the show more specific conflicts of the novel take root.

This story leans far more toward women’s fiction than rom‑com. If you’re looking for a chirpy, lighthearted romance where danger and deep emotion are just window dressing on the way to a bubbly happily‑ever‑after, this may not be that book. But if you’re looking for a story about the power of women to survive, to emerge from less‑than‑ideal childhoods, and to fight their way back to each other as estranged sisters — then this novel delivers beautifully.

There are humorous moments, those flashes where life makes you laugh in spite of itself, and in that release you suddenly see something new. That’s the nuance Sonali Dev brings to this book: the ability to hold pain and humor in the same breath without diminishing either.

At its core, this is a powerful story of sisterhood and love — the kind where you can fight each other, cuss each other out, and still squeeze each other’s hands when the last card is dealt. The kind where, when the final card flips, they’ll cry with you in relief if you’ve won or in sorrow if you’ve lost, because only they know the full stakes of the game and the emotional toll it cost you. They’ll take you to a party while folding you into a hug, and mean both at the same time.

The challenge in reviewing this book is that it’s so finely woven — every emotional beat connected, every reveal earned — that sharing too many specifics risks spoiling the experience. This is a story that needs its reader to become another sister riding shotgun, witnessing the journey as it unfolds. show less