Tag: Sonali Dev

This Chick Read: Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) by Sonali Dev

India Dashwood has been raised in a family of yoga teachers and is now one of the most sought after stress management coaches. Yash Rajes is the first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate and after is friend and body guard, Abdul, gets shot at a rally he starts having panic attacks and is questioning his life quest. Needing to regain control he seeks out his sister’s friend to help him manage his stress. First on the list is revealing the stress filled things he has buried through his entire night, including a magical night with India 10 years ago. Yash has always been the golden boy, his dream to create change for the people of California but after seeing India again his dreams have changed and include her in them, but their relationship may threaten the thing he wants most.

Another wonderful novel by Sonali Dev! Based loosely upon Jane Austen’s work, Sense and Sensibility, full of color and passion, and I’ll be honest it’s also a bit easier to read. India Dashwood as a very zen Elizabeth Bennett, is the responsible female in her family. Her mother is not annoying like Elizabeth’s own mother was, but she is a bit of a dreamer letting her insurance lapse just as she needs it, so India has filled the family matriarch shoes. Her younger sister China has found love, albeit one that seems requited only when convenient and doomed for heartbreak. India’s duty is to figure out how to pay the bills and keep her family together. When Yash, the man she has loved for the last 10 years, asks for her help, despite her misgivings she does the responsible thing and offers her help. She coaches Yash in yoga practices, helping him get through the pain and guilt of seeing his friend shot. At the same time they both have those same feelings they did so long ago.

I loved how calm and rational India was during every dramatic and heartbreaking scene. She felt so deeply yet carried on without wailing and crying like her younger sister despite having those same feelings inside. She truly was someone to emulate and didn’t get the credit she deserved. It’s no wonder Yash, who outside was the epitome of solidity but inside was a mush pot, needed India’s depth of character as his chosen mate. I could totally see her in the Governor’s mansion giving yoga instruction to her staff at daybreak.

Usually I get impatient for the couple to get together in a romance novel, but for some reason in Incense and Sensibility I had a well of patience. Maybe it was because Yash needed to work through so many different things and India would stay steadfast. I’m not sure. I am glad I had that patience because when he was finally ready his actions had so much more impact. The pace of this novel was absolutely perfect.

If you love this series, then like me, I think this may be your new favorite (I say that after reading every one of them!). Novels are a wonderful peek into different cultures and lifestyles and Sonali Dev packs her novels with a richness of scene as well as character. Your emotions will make you fall in love with the Rajes, India, and the rest of the characters in this story. You may also want to start taking up yoga. Hey, it could happen! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Incense and Sensibility: A Novel (The Rajes Series, 3)

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes Series #2) by Sonali Dev

Chef Ashna Raje is struggling to keep her restaurant open when her cousin approaches her to fill in as a celebrity chef on a new reality show called Cooking With The Stars. Ashna loves her cousin, but her panic attacks make starring on this show an impossibility. It isn’t until her mother, whom she has a difficult relationship, tries to get her to come to India and Ashna uses the reality show as an excuse that she makes the commitment, for better or worse. The first day of filming is when she meets the celebrity she gets paired with…. her secret high school boyfriend, FIFA winning soccer star, Rico Silva. When their meeting goes viral they become immediate fan favorites and are almost guaranteed a place in the final. Recipe for Persuasion is a rom-com loosely based upon Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion, and as with that original plot, this book has fun dialog, dramatic misunderstandings, and a joyful union.

Recipe for Persuasion is the first novel I’ve read by Sonali Dev and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed her writing style. She enwraps her main character Ashna with the flavors of her culture and boy, all of the dishes they cook really made me want to run out and stock up on my Indian and South American spices. Not only is the story filled with the color and flavor of Ashna and Rico’s cultures but their language and life experiences also helped make this story unique.

The use of flashbacks into Rico and Ash’s love story as well as Ashna’s mother Shobi’s own relationship with Ashna’s father could have been confusing but instead created emotions that really helped tie the two stories together. Not only does the love story play out, but Ashna’s conflicted feelings for her mother and father are explained and when the story concludes, despite previous misgivings, you feel like her character can finally be happy.

As with most Jane Austen re-tellings miscommunication and misdirection play a big part in how the heroine acts and reacts during the story. This novel used those same tools but you really had the feeling that Ashna wanted to work on the why’s and wherefore’s which made me like her character a lot more than I did many of Jane Austen’s. Also, the peak into why her relationship with her mother fell apart was a lot more than Ms. Austen gave her readers and was most likely why I connected with Ashna in a way I couldn’t with Jane Austen’s heroines. If you like your senses overwhelmed by the cultures of other lands and you like your stories filled with emotional growth then I think you should read this novel. Yes, it’s a rom-com, of sorts, but it’s also deftly written and you may be surprised at the emotions the story brings forth as I was. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase!* Recipe for Persuasion: A Novel

Copyright 2020 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you should purchase this novel through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads