High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that's exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency.
While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she's
not taking any risks. To prove she's definitely over him, she signs herself and
Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories
and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and
improved couple. Instead, she's shocked when MyShaadi's perfect match for her
isn't Neil...it's Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but
ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help
him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper
into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn't so
wrong after all....
Hellie’s Heeds
A very solid debut book with a charming hero, a relatable heroine, and a wily grandmother who I wished for myself, THE SHAADI SET-UP offers laughter, angst, and a little bit of philosophy as the heroine wrestles with the concept of “real love” and what it is and what it isn’t. This story offers up a diverse setting (read: non-white characters) with characters who aren’t suffering from the myriad of things that many times books featuring characters of color tend to do. Nope, these families are happy, healthy, and full of their own everyday drama that every family has, including a meddling grandmother. While there are some familiar tropes of the Indian community, the aunties and mothers conspiring for the perfect marriage, creating “meet-cutes” for their single children, there are more universal themes such as working through a marriage that is on the skids, creating a career for yourself that is both fulfilling and keeps you from living at home with your parents, and learning to communicate with all the loved ones in your life in a constructive way.
I had a few doubts in the beginning because the heroine is dating a guy named Neil. And it’s not because I thought, “Oh, she’s going to cheat on this ‘nice’ boyfriend and that will make her a terrible character.’ It was, ‘OMG, why is she with this guy? And for the love of god, why is she trying to match with him on the MyShaadi app?’ I mean, the author explains; the character seems sufficiently motivated, but this guy was terrible. He has so many red flags, he could have set up a flag store to become a multi-millionaire. I began to question the main character, who would frequently say things like, “He meant well” and “He’s a good guy.” He wasn’t; and you won’t convince me otherwise.
Fortunately by about mid-book, the heroine fixes this problem. But then I began to wonder if this story was one in which a “simple conversation” could fix all the problems. (If you’ve ever gone to a writer’s workshop, you’ll get this lecture about conflict about not making the conflict something that can be easily fixed by a conversation.) There were scenes where I wanted to shake the heroine...and then the hero. But all the while, I thought, this feels real and believable and I am still rooting for them to get together, and hey, isn’t the point of love stories about learning how to effectively communicate, to listen, to make yourself heard? So yeah, this story carried itself.
My minor concerns aside, I loved this book--and
I couldn’t read it fast enough. The zippy banter between the characters, the
slow burn and final “yes they’re doing it!” sexual tension, and the families
playing their parts in various scenes, I just loved it all. I would frequently
laugh or make this cackling squeal sound while reading, and my boyfriend would
go, “What happened now?” and I’d tell him. (That’s how I know it’s a good book
for me: how loudly I’m laughing or gasping in horror at what just happened. I
get very wrapped up in the drama of it all.) I look forward to reading more
books by this author; and I hope romance reader communities looking for more
stories with people of color and/or other cultural identities will find this
story believable and heartwarming. Of course, you don’t need to belong to one
of these communities to enjoy the story--though there’s enough talk about
delicious food that some Indian takeout while you read wouldn’t be amiss.
~~~~~~~~~~
Birthday Giveaway #3:
Do you find yourself drooling over food descriptions in the books you read? Searching Google to locate the nearest restaurant serving the dishes your book characters are enjoying?
Tell me about some of the books that have had your taste buds jumping for joy.
One person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 4 will receive a print copy of The Shaadi Set-Up.
My thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for the giveaway!
*U.S. and Canada only
*Must be 18
*Void where prohibited
Great review! I’ve really been looking forward to this one!
ReplyDeleteI’ve got a major sweet tooth, so a few baking show romcoms I’ve read recently have sent me sprinting to the store to buy desserts — Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall and Battle Royal by Lucy Parker stand out in particular
Every book by Betty Neels and Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
ReplyDeleteNovels with food mentioned makes it come alive and does interest me greatly. The Lost Recipe for happiness, and Good Enough to Eat.
ReplyDeleteThe descriptions in books are so vivid. The Hundred Step Journey was wonderful and filled with luscious food and delicacies.
ReplyDeleteKelly Cain. An Acquired Taste
ReplyDeleteI love books that describe food, especially cuisine that I'm not overly familiar with. Sonali Dev's books come to mind.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I haven't because of covid. we're still not dining out.
ReplyDeleteI can't single out one book, but any food or dish I've read about in a book, I want to try. Even as a little girl, when we'd go out to eat (other than Howard Johnson's) if there was something on the menu I'd read of in a book -- turtle soup, fried frog legs, steak tartare -- I would order it. I was a picky eater and wasted a lot of food so it drove my parents crazy when I did this because all they could think was that the money would be wasted but I always ate those dishes. To this day, one of my favorite foods is Fried Frog Legs.
ReplyDeleteAt times food descriptions make me very interested in finding something to eat. I have become more adventurous in what I eat because of descriptions in books. So, reading about food has been a good thing for me.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a good read. That means a good read is any read which makes people laugh.
Thanks for the review. And thanks for the introduction to a new author.
Hope everyone is well and safe and taking care.
I read a lot of cozy mysteries that have fun recipes at the end!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading books with food especially Italian. Great review!
ReplyDeleteBooks with food are very dangerous to my waistline! Yet, I can't make myself stop reading them.
ReplyDeleteFood in books is my weakness
ReplyDeleteOff hand, I can't think of a specific book that had me wanting what they were serving. I know there were many - bannock, oat cakes, and haggis come to mind - all of which I have now had and enjoyed. I usually hit my cookbooks or google to find a recipe for what they were eating. On a really good day, we might even have it for a meal. I will say that when we travel and are more likely to eat out, I will look for restaurants that have food I have been wanting to try, especially ethnic dishes I am not. really sure how to cook or how it tastes.
ReplyDeleteI read mainly historical romances and there are not too many HR books out that deal that much with food. That said, I have read the occasional book that did have a food with recipe at the beginning of each chapter. Can't remember the title, but it was a yummy way to read!
ReplyDeleteLove books with food!! Sounds like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insightful review! I'm definitely adding this to my wishlist!
ReplyDeleteAs for books about food, I'm a big fan! Erin Nicholas's Hot Cakes series had me testing cookie recipes, big time!