thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book for this honest review!

this was such a cute desi romance!!! radha and jai were both interesting characters individually, and their relationship was super sweet- i liked how they both wanted the best for each other, even when that caused them to make bad decisions. the cooking and dance aspects were also cool, and i appreciated the anxiety rep!

Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance is a wonderful blend of cooking and dance. I especially liked the recipes, and saved a few to try myself.

Radha and Jai each have their own issues. Radha refuses to perform due to an incident at a competition and Jai is refusing to go to college so he can stay home and help the family business.

Radha and her mom had a very destructive relationship, that I'm happy to see was being worked on by the end. But her mom drove me nuts with her controlling nature and threats.

Jai's family situation was a lot different, his dad got severely injured in an accident and that tipped his whole life upside down.

The two of them end up starting something between them as they work on the Bollywood Beats dance team. They were a cute couple, and their teenage drama felt real. It was especially nice to see them try to see where the other person is coming from.

Cute, fun, and heartfelt. Read it!

This was an excellent YA novel, with two great leads! I really loved the ending! Definitely recommend!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This book was a lot of fun to read! I loved the characters. They were all relatable. Nisha Sharma wrote a winning book! Can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read the ARC in enhance for an honest review.

Radha has had a tough time. After learning something chilling at her last dance competition and dropping out, now she’s unable and unwilling to dance. It also doesn’t help that her mother isn’t understanding what Radha wants or needs. And now in a new city where she doesn’t know anyone and her parents’ recently divorced, she has to find a way to make it at her new school after her world was turned upside down.

Then there is Jai. His family runs a store and is looking to open another one, but funds are tight and he’s putting his dreams on hold to make sure his family doesn’t have to sacrifice anything. Or at least no more than they already have. He also happens to be the captain of his dance team at school and if they win, the cash prize could help his family and possibly let him go to medical school.

When he meets Radha, he thinks she can be the answer to his prayers, but once he actually gets to know her and learns the truth of her past, he finds she answers a different kind of prayer for him. She is someone he could easily fall in love with.

And with the way he understands her, Jai is easily someone Radha could fall in love with too.

But with their pasts and the things they have going on in their lives, theirs is not an easy relationship. Each of them challenge each other. Jai on Radha’s refusal to dance and Radha on Jai’s refusal to see that him sacrificing his future is not helping his family at all.

While working together on choreographing Jai’s team’s dance (Radha can choreograph but can’t perform), Radha is also reconnected with her father and her roots via food and learning how to cook. Her father is a chef in Chicago and while they never had a close relationship because of Radha’s dance schedule and her overbearing mother, now that she’s far away, they connect with recipes and talking over the phone and the internet.

This book is as fun as it is emotional. I loved Radha! I loved how complicated she was. She had been through SO. MUCH and yet, she was still willing to help people, still willing to try and find joy in life and friends.

Jai was also so caring and supportive. There were definitely times I wanted to shake some sense into him because COME ON MY DUDE, but I so loved him and Radha together.

I am giving Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma 4 out of 5 stars. The characters, the dancing, the food, it was all beautifully written. If you like YA contemporary romance, this is definitely a book you want to check out.

Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance is available now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

✨ Want to dance off into the sunset with and adorable hero? This book is the next best thing! ✨

This book was such a refreshing romance! Crafted with simplicity and laced with sweetness, this book was such a fun read. I was swept off my feet with this book.

Tropes:
- reverse grump/sunshine-ish
- friends to lovers
- POC characters
- cultural expectations

Summary:
Radha was on the verge of becoming one the best kathak dancers in the world…until a family betrayal costs her the competition and causes her to give up on dancing. That is until the charming Bollywood dance team captain at her new school, Jai, insists she join his team. With careful choreography, Radha and Jai must navigate through the hurdles of the the team, love, high school, and their families to be together.

As a South Asian, Bollywood dancer myself, I can tell you right now dance is such an important part of South Asian culture. It has so much historical, cultural, religious, etc. significance. This book did a wonderful job of modernizing that significance without downplaying it. The Bollywood dance team aspect of the book was absolutely adorable and extremely accurate. The representation and normalization of South Asian culture was absolutely beautiful. Family dynamics, dance, South Asian culture, etc. all were written well. OwnVoices books for the win! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

I normally stray away from YA books as they are sometimes too juvenile for me. This, however, was mature yet young at heart. Radha and Jai’s relationship was emotional and tooth-achingly sweet (in the best way possible) Jai was an adorable hero and I loved watching Radha's struggles and development. Both characters were written really well and were very fun to read. They definitely still had moments where I was reminded they were teenagers, don’t get me wrong 😂

I will say, if you are not in the mood to read a sweet, young romance, this is really not for you. The issues the main characters deal with are very YA-typical. For adult romance readers, this is a wonderful palette cleanser. But if you are in high school and bellow, this book is perfect!

Overall, I really enjoyed myself. This book is super cute and simple 😍 I would recommend this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/ 5 stars | 0.5/ 5 steam (they kiss lol)

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Books, and Nisha Sharma for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️

Thanks to Random House Children's and Negalley for an eARC. Nisha Sharma did a wonderful job in writing this book. The characters of Radha & Jai are so cute together. I loved there chemistry. I loved the food and dancing in this book. It made me want to join in. I'm giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely adored Nisha Sharma’s Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance and had that magic moment where you just click with the author’s voice within the first few paragraphs 😍😍😍

The story just flowed from the very first page and I became very invested in both Radha and Jai as they navigate their final year of high school while also figuring out their personal lives and families as both are at a crossroads. I really enjoyed the MCs as they were just so LIKEABLE! I loved their passion for dance, their protective natures and that both were just intrinsically kind people.

The setting of a dance competition that could change their lives was also so fun! And the cast of secondary characters were engaging and well-developed. I particularly loved Radha’s father and cousin as she learned a different side of herself as she recreates her grandfather’s recipes with their help.

Why you should read this book?
- Amazing desi MCs
- Impeccable Bollywood and Kathak dancing
- ALL THE FOOD PORN
- Sweet sweet friends to lovers
- Mental health rep

This book available now!

Thank you to the author for the arc!!

T/W: anxiety, panic attacks, stroke, emotional manipulation/abuse from parent

Fun, quick, lighthearted contemporary full of culture, food, dance, family, and lots of love. Radha and Jai have instant chemistry from the starts and their arguments and worries with each other and life are real and come from a place of actual fear and concern which is good to show in a YA book. Also appreciated the anxiety representation. Also representation of being caretakers for disabled family members. Overall, this book will make you smile at its cuteness, make you want to get up and dance, also eager to try a bee recipe with all those listed inside. Definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Crown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the eARC to read and review!

What a pleasant surprise this book was! I really enjoyed reading "Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance." Delightful and delicious, this story swept me off my feet.

Radha is a very talented young Kathak dancer who has unfortunately lost her “dance joy” after family secrets and self-doubt turns her world upside down. She struggles to rediscover herself and find what truly makes her as happy as dance used to. Her character development was really good. I found Radha to be super relatable. Some of my favorite scenes were whenever she immersed herself in dance.

Jai is also a very relatable character and a joy to get to know. He’s very smart and clearly has a bright future ahead of him, but he refuses to take that leap out of a sense of family obligation. Jai is more concerned with the happiness of his teams and family that he forgets (dismisses) his own personal desires: med school. I love his sense of duty to his family and family by choice. However, I wanted to hug and yell at him all at once. I also liked how his storyline developed and interwove with Radha’s.

There is much to love about this book. The family dynamics were so well written. I liked learning more about Indian culture, especially through food and dance. What a great idea it was for the author to include a list of ingredients and some notes of the recipes Radha is learning throughout the story. The dance aspect was a lot of fun and Radha and Jai’s super sweet relationship. I really wish there was a video of Bollywood Beats' winter showcase performance!

"Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance" was a great YA read. It really delved deep in relatable topics like self-esteem, senior year, facing one’s fears, and standing up for yourself (especially to one’s family, which can be really difficult to do). And the cover art is just so lovely! I would highly recommend this page-turning novel.

3.5 stars | A book about cooking and dance might seem like an unlikely pairing but Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance totally makes it work. Radha is starting fresh at the Princeton Academy of Arts after the biggest competition of her life as a world-class Kathak dancer ends in disaster. She wants to put her Chicago home and performing days behind her. But her aggressive stage mom and a cute boy named Jai won't let her. Jai is a captain of her new school's Bollywood Beats team and he dreams of becoming a doctor but his family's financial situation makes him feel like it can never happen. When they cross paths, chemistry and their mutual love of dance bring them together and romance ensues.



I had never heard of Kathak before, which is a form of Indian classical dance, but I enjoyed reading about Radha's genuine love and appreciation of this dance form and all dance in general in spite of her history and fears. Radha and Jai have a lot of sweet moments, including a very meet-cute, but what stood out to me about their relationship is how they pushed each other to be better and their straightforward honesty. It was really refreshing. The cooking part of the book comes into play because Radha's father lives back home in Chicago running his restaurant. While she's away at school, he gives her a cookbook of Indian recipes to learn. As she tries each recipe, it opens her up to the realization that she can pick up new hobbies and a closer relationship with her dad. Culture and family play a huge role throughout the book and the author weaved that, plus the romance, in perfectly with Radha's coming-of-age story.



Do I recommend? It's a very cute book! It made me nostalgic for the dance classes I took throughout middle and high school. And the cooking part made me want to cook and eat! I'd recommend borrowing this one from the library.

The best kind of YA - deep into a topic (Kathak and Bollywood dance), complex family issues, and great friends with a swoony love interest. I really liked this book and found myself taking my time with it. Radha's anxiety journey was heartwrenching to read, but I loved how she found peace and happiness in cooking. This is definitely a book that will make you hungry. It also got me curious on the dance styles, so I spent some time looking up videos of Kathak which really brought this book to life. Bonus: if you've read My So-Called Bollywood Life there is a character connection and appearances here!

A wonderful, thoughtful read that I didn't want to rush through, and felt ultimately satisfied when it ended. There are so many scenes here that would be great to see visually in a movie or series.

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance follows Radha as she reclaims her love for dancing, and Jai as he discovers what we wants to do in his life, all while falling in love.
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This is such a heartwarming book! Young adult books always have a set of tropes, and this book managed to subvert quite a few of them and bring something new to the table.
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I loved the inclusion of Indian culture in this book as well! I cannot speak to the validity of the representation, but all of the recipes were so interesting(and made me hungry)!
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Another thing that I loved in this book was the depiction of anxiety. It read so raw and real, and it just was incredible to see how that was represented on the page.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I liked this book because it wasn't just about Bollywood. It highlighted a dance form you won't always hear about if you're not a part of Indian culture. I also liked this book for the recipes included and the fact that it shows the strain on a family relationship when it's the mom who's unfaithful instead of the dad. Finally, I liked the book for showing what it's like to have an anxiety attack. It's something that doesn't get addressed in literature a lot.

This is a very fluffy read with some fun dancing and delicious food. Beware: you'll be hungry after reading this!

After discovering that her success might have some shady connections, Radha quits dancing and moves to New Jersey to attend an art academy. She meets Jai, the leader of a dance group and they have an instant connection. Jai is super cute and I liked that he made Radha smile and helped her remember her love of dance. They made a nice couple and had plenty of sweet moments.

Even though there's some drama in this, I thought it was a bit too fluffy and I didn't really get invested in the story. It was easy to see where the plot was going and was too predictable. I did love the Indian culture being such a big part and the recipes sounded divine.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the copy.

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance is a culturally rich novel that conveys a strong underlying rhythmic beat to its pacing. The dual protagonists learn to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses by their romance with one another. Family is a standout theme in this story, but so are different forms ableism. One main character has specific forms of anxiety and suffers panic attacks at times, and the other has loved ones who are quadriplegic and a stroke survivor. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn about Indian food and dance culture, or even anyone who enjoys a romantic storyline with a balanced, mutually supportive relationship .

I picked this up expecting a fluffy romance featuring food and dancing but, ironically enough, ended up liking everything <i>but</i> the romance.

My main complaint about this book is that it feels too rushed, something that's especially apparent in Radha and Jai's relationship. They went from strangers to boy/girlfriend at such breakneck speed and felt incredibly underdeveloped. It was hard for me to feel invested in it because it seemed like they got together because the other person was attractive and nice. In general, there were some areas where the storytelling could've been smoother. A lot of scenes lacked smooth transitions, and the emails between Jai and the school's director seemed unnecessary.

I was pleasantly surprised by everything else, though. I loved the fact that Rhada and Jai weren't picture perfect and enjoyed seeing the complex relationships they had with their families. The cultural aspects, including the recipes and descriptions of food were fun to read about. Radha's anxiety, love-hate relationship with dance and journey to reconnect with her culture and family through cooking were definitely the highlights of the book. Again, the book was a bit too short for Sharma to do everything she set out to accomplish, and I wish there was more time for them to be developed further, but overall, I appreciated the attempt to tell a very personal story.

Thanks to Random House Children's for providing an early digital proof in exchange for a honest review.

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance creates the perfect Bollywood-dance romance, with a focus on family, Indian food and culture, and pursuing one's dreams. This book also zooms in on the struggle of dealing with anxiety and panic attacks (which Radha has) and highlights how loved ones can be supportive. If you like entertaining YA that addresses plenty of "heart" topics -- with a generous serving of Indian food and dance, this one is up your alley!

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

In this book, we get a dual perspective story following Radha and Jai. Radha is a classically trained kathak dancer who starts a new journey in New Jersey after leaving her dance career in Chicago behind. Jai is the captain of the Bollywood Beats dance group at Radha's new school in New Jersey. He is passionate about biology and would love to apply to Columbia University if he didn't feel obligated to sacrifice college to help his family's business. As the two meet and slowly fall in love, we see a very healthy progression of both characters learning to overcome their fears and accept their mistakes. The characters sometimes had some miscommunication, but overall they were both very open about their feelings and took responsibilities for their actions.

This book is more than just a fluffy romance, although I did get a lot of warm fuzzy feelings while reading this. As Nishi states at the beginning of the book in her author's note, she experienced a lot of insecurity about her own kathak and was manipulated to the point of rejecting kathak as an art form for many years. Radha has a very similar experience that leads her to have many panic attacks and performance anxiety. I appreciated the inclusion of mental health representation and South Asian characters seeking therapy in the book.

As I've mentioned in my review of Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian, the South Asian community has a bad history of disregarding mental health illnesses. In my own life, I've seen how therapy can not only help people with their mental illness, but also help us all have more open and honest conversation. I loved that the characters within this story are willing and able to change. Even Radha's parents, an absentee father and a pushy stage mom, are able to apologize to Radha and make an effort to change. Thank you to Nisha Sharma for giving us this beautiful and vulnerable story that will hopefully encourage more Desi kids and parents to go to therapy and talk about their feelings.