Review - - Marriage & Masti

Marriage & Masti

by Nisha Sharma

If Shakespeare Were an Auntie - Book 3

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Veera Mathur has been through a lot in the past year. Both of her friends found soul mates, the man she fell in love with got engaged to another woman, and her father fired her before selling the family company. When her twin sister, Sana, tells her there is no way of getting her old life back, Veera feels lost at sea: a single, unemployed mess with a bad tattoo and tons of talent, but nowhere to go.

Deepak Datta hasn’t had the best luck either. To secure enough board votes for the CEO position at his family's company, Illyria Media, he’s ready to marry board member and famous beauty influencer, Olivia Gupta. That is until he wakes up to a get ready with me video announcing their separation. Despite his immediate relief, Deepak needs to do something fast to repair his image.

After a series of convenient mishaps bring them together again—including a literal shipwreck, way too many drinks, and a sunset elopement on the beach—Deepak and Veera realize their accidental wedding might be the solution to their career aspirations. Together, they plot against the very company that ruined their lives in the first place.

As they try to convince the world their friendship was a ruse for romance they’ve felt all along, the line between fake and real begins to blur. Now Veera and Deepak must ask themselves the terrifying question that has haunted them since the first time they met: will love ruin everything?

With her signature humor and heartfelt storytelling, Nisha Sharma writes a messy, spicy romance about identity, family honor, and love. In Marriage & Masti, readers are sure to love the highly anticipated finale of this beloved trilogy.

PJ's Thoughts:

Nisha Sharma hits it out of the park with this final installment in her If Shakespeare Were an Auntie series. I've enjoyed all three books but this one is my favorite. I loved the humor, the heart, the spice, the Indian-American representation, and the generational - and gender - conflicts. Sharma knows of what she writes and conveys the obstacles many first generation Indian-Americans, especially women, face with humor, wit, and clear-eyed truth. It makes this book fun to read while also being thought provoking.

Friendship is a strong thread in this series and it's been enjoyable to watch the six main characters (three women/three men) evolve over the course of the three books as well as their interwoven relationships. It's a relatable reflection of what we all face as friendships transition due to growth, marriage, and other factors in our lives, occasionally leaving some of us on the outside looking in. 

As stated in the book's blurb, the relationship between Veera and Deepak is messy and spicy. It's also funny and endearing. I'm a huge fan of fake relationships in fiction and this one had me laughing, sighing, cringing, and cheering. 

As with the first two books in the series, family and community played huge roles in Deepak's and Veera's journeys. Particular favorites were Deepak's mother and, of course, the Aunties. We should all be so fortunate to have such a group of Aunties in our lives. 

For more information about Dating Dr. Dill (book one) and Tastes Like Shakkar (book two), click on the book titles to read my reviews. While each book stands well on its own, I'm glad I read them order to appreciate the full effect of the evolution of the six main characters, their friendships, and their romantic relationships. I enthusiastically recommend all three books. 

Review - - Tastes Like Shakkar

Tastes Like Shakkar

by Nisha Sharma

If Shakespeare Were An Auntie - Book 2

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: August 1, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

 

Bobbi Kaur is determined to plan a celebration to remember for her best friend’s wedding. But she has two problems that are getting in her way:

1. The egotistical, and irritatingly sexy, chef Benjamin “Bunty” Padda is supposed to help her with the menu since he’s the groom’s best friend, and

2. Someone is trying to sabotage the wedding.

With aspirations of taking over her family’s event planning business, Bobbi knows that one misstep in managing the Kareena Mann and Prem Verma (#Vermann) party, along with the other weddings on her plate, will only give her uncle another reason not to promote her. That means Kareena’s big day and Bobbi's future career are on the line.

Bunty will do anything for his best friend, even though he has his hands full in finding a new location for his next restaurant while also playing mediator between his brother and father, the celebrated Naan King. When Prem asks Bunty to help with the wedding menu, he agrees, especially since it puts him in close proximity to the delicious Bobbi Kaur. When a mystery shaadi saboteur starts leaving threatening notes, and cancelling cake orders, Bunty and Bobbi have no choice but to call a truce and face the volatile attraction they have for each other.

Through masquerade fundraisers and a joint bachelor-bachelorette trip to Vegas, this chef and wedding planner explore their growing connection all while trying to plan a wedding at Messina Vineyards in a time crunch. But once the shaadi saboteur is caught and the wedding is over, will their love story have a happily ever after?

With the return of the meddling aunties (who are scary good at finding information) and a lot of hilarity and hijinks, Bobbi and Bunty’s romance is an event you don’t want to miss.

PJ's Thoughts:

The Aunties are back and funnier - and scarier - than ever. I've decided that if reincarnation is real I want to come back as a South Asian Auntie. Seriously, these women are da bomb!

Nisha Sharma takes readers back into the New Jersey South Asian community she introduced in last year's hilarious Dating Dr. Dil for the second book in her If Shakespeare Were An Auntie series. This time, it's the best friends of Kareena and Prem (heroine/hero of Dating Dr. Dil) who are in the spotlight in an enemies to lovers romcom that kept me laughing, and flipping pages, from start to finish.

This book overflows with snappy dialogue, family dynamics, solid friendships, impeccably placed humor, and some sizzling romance. I really enjoyed Bobbi and Bunty together. Their chemistry is off the charts, even when they don't like each other, and threatens to set the sheets on fire when they do. They test their limits with some bondage that may not be everyone's cup of tea. Easy to skip over that part if it isn't or indulge in a little kink if it is. What I especially enjoyed between these two is (1) the sweetness of Bunty's nurturing side which comes through in his determination to feed Bobbi by leaving her baskets of delicious food with adorable notes and (2) the fact that he loves her curves as he continuously shows her (after they clear up that miscommunication from their first meeting). 

The supporting cast in this book is all that and more, including meddling friends, meddling family, meddling Aunties. Let's face it, everyone's a meddler in this book but it's done with love and I loved it. Well, except for the wedding saboteur. That's done with malice but never fear, the person is finally caught and dished up their just desserts. 

You could read Tastes Like Shakkar as a standalone but I think it's a lot more fun if you've read Dating Dr. Dil first. Whichever order you decide to read these books, they both have my enthusiastic recommendation. I'm already eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. 

Review - - Dating Dr. Dil: A Novel

Dating Dr. Dil: A Novel

by Nisha Sharma

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: March 15, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

Nisha Sharma’s new romantic comedy features enemies to lovers, a cast of best friends, and a gaggle of aunties determined to make a match.

Hi! I’m Kareena Mann. As cheesy as it sounds, I’m looking for my soulmate. In four months. And he must gain the approval of my meddling aunties.

Kareena dreams of having a perfect love story like her parents did. That’s why on the morning of her thirtieth birthday, she’s decided to suit up and enter the dating arena. When her widowed father announces he’s retiring and selling their home after her sister’s engagement party, Kareena makes a deal with him. If she can find her soulmate by the date of the party, he’ll gift her the house, and she’ll be able to keep her mother’s legacy alive.

Hi, I’m Dr. Prem Verma, host of the Dr. Dil Show. Prem means love, Dil means heart, and I’m a cardiologist. Don’t let my name fool you. I only fix broken hearts in the literal sense.

Prem doesn’t have time for romance, which is why it’s no surprise when his first meeting with Kareena goes awry. Their second encounter is worse when their on-air debate about love goes viral. Now Prem’s largest community center donor is backing out because Prem's reputation as a heart-health expert is at risk. To get back in his donor’s good graces, he needs to fix his image fast, and dating Kareena is his only option.

Even though they have warring interests, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he thinks she’s might actually be the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. In this Taming of the Shrew re-imagination, for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.

PJ's Thoughts:

This book! I finished an advance copy of Dating Dr. Dil at 2:00 AM in the morning. These characters absolutely refused to let me sleep until I reached the end of their story. And what a fun, emotional, snarky, steamy, funny, heart-tugging story it was. I couldn't get enough of it. Sharma's Indian-American heritage glowed like a shining star and her well-developed characters leaped from the pages with humor, snappy banter, steamy chemistry, and more than a little friction. The storyline was realistic, the characters were relatable, and the emotions they elicited from me covered the entire spectrum from laughing out loud to sopping up tears.

If you're in the mood for a smartly-written, enemies-to-lovers romcom brimming with cultural richness, ride-or-die friendships, meddling families, a bridezilla younger sister, aunties (OMG, I loved the aunties!), relevant relationship hurdles, and perfectly-pitched humor balanced with poignant emotion, you do not want to miss Nisha Sharma's Dating Dr. Dil. 

As I told a friend the other day, when the first thing you want to do after turning the final page of a book is go back to page one and read it all over again, you know it’s a winner.

Review - - The Legal Affair

The Legal Affair

by Nisha Sharma

The Singh Family - Book 2

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Release Date: August 18, 2020

Reviewed by PJ 

 

Rajneet Hothi built her empire with sweat, blood, and information. She knows everything there is to know about Ajay Singh, the future CEO of Bharat, Inc., as well as how crucial he is in securing her future. But she didn’t expect the passion that burst between them the first time they went head-to-head. She’d never felt anything like it before, especially during her marriage to her soon-to-be-ex-husband. When her company is blamed for her ex’s dirty dealings with Bharat, she’s forced to prove that Ajay is no match for her in the art of business or seduction.

Ajay shouldn’t trust Raj or her company. He’s on the verge of losing everything his family has worked to achieve, but he can’t stop thinking about the breathtaking way Raj opens her mind, body and heart to him. Throwing his infamous caution to the wind, he tempts the gorgeous CEO into his bedroom and boardroom. He soon realizes he wants Raj by his side and he’s willing to fight the people he’s always protected to be with her.

When Raj and Ajay discover the source behind Bharat’s leak, they must trust each other and work together to defy the odds and save the Singh legacy.

PJ's Thoughts:

I waited more than a year for this second book in Nisha Sharma's The Singh Family trilogy. It was so worth the wait. Raj and Ajay are everything I could have hoped for. And more. 

Rajneet Hothi is a strong, independent, successful woman who owns her power, her ambition, and her sexuality. I adored her. She makes this book sing (no pun intended). Ajay Singh is a man striving to make his mark in his family's company. He also is strong, independent, and accomplished but he's also much more than the businessman persona he presents to the world, as one unexpected evening with Raj demonstrates (grab your fans, ladies). When these two mix business with pleasure, with both of their reputations on the line, it creates an explosion of passion, pride, skillful maneuvering, and the possibility of a love of a lifetime...if they can outwit the forces determined to take them down.

As was the case with the first book in this series, The Takeover Effect, once I started reading The Legal Affair I couldn't put it down. Sharma pulls readers into a world of cut-throat business, steamy romance, and legal maneuverings as the Singh family fights to save their business from hostile takeovers. She creates vibrant, realistic, fully-dimensional characters who open a window into the rich cultural heritage and complex dynamics of these Indian-American characters. And the food! Keep your phone handy because if you're like me, you'll be ordering take-out from your nearest Indian restaurant before you're halfway through the book. 

Sharma fills this book with plenty of passion, adversity, and heart, and I am here for all of it. I swooned a bit over Ajay, especially when Sharma shows us the man's heart and vulnerability. Puppies, home-cooked meals, red-hot passion, and respect for, and confidence in, the woman who holds his heart. Enough said. But blended with that is a whole lot of strength and passion. It's only a man with all of those characteristics who could be a match for someone as amazing as Raj and could give her the space to be vulnerable herself while she gives him the safe space to do the same. Speaking of Raj, she brought me to tears a few times too (again with the puppy) but I spent most of the book cheering her on and yelling, "YES! OWN YOUR DESIRES" and "YES! SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS!" Honestly, I'm surprised my condo neighbors didn't start pounding on walls. This character inspired loud, enthusiastic support. 

If you haven't discovered Nisha Sharma's Singh Family yet, I highly recommend giving these books a try. You don't have to read the books in order but I think you'll have a better understanding of the family and the obstacles facing them and their business if you start at the beginning. As for me, I'll probably go back to the beginning and reread both books (a few times) while waiting for the next one in the series.