I liked the storyline of this book. The romance between Jai and Radha was wholesome.
I also liked the Indian representation in this book. I do recommend it of you are looking for a light hearted book.

I ended up really loving this one even more than I anticipated! Don’t let the cover and title fool you - it’s a lot more than just a romance. While the romance is a central feature, there are also conversations about privilege, poverty, sexuality, parenthood, identity, anxiety, and more. There’s also a really poignant and touching storyline around ill family members. There’s so much to take away from this story, but it’s also paced very well. I would have liked a little more lead up and build into the romantic relationship but given the title, I think it was pretty clear what was going to happen from the get-go, so I don’t necessarily blame the author for moving that storyline forward quickly in favor of other paths throughout the book.

As a white American, I also felt like I learned a lot about Kathak, Bollywood, food, and dance in South Asian culture.

The recipes also had my mouth watering!!!

Would definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 3.5 Stars!

I was very excited to read this title as it had Indian/South Asian reps. When I started reading, I was sort of disappointed because even though the writing was good, it felt as it's too simple or aimed for a much younger audience on the YA spectrum. Having detailed outlines of making a Maggi was quite annoying to read but again Ill let that go because maybe Maggi is a very Indian thing so a large population of international readers may get fascinated by it.

The dance competition and the relationship were predictable and fine. While it most definitely had its own moments where the characters did make me root for them, but for the others, I was not very keen on it. Overall, I would say that if you like reading Indian rep books or just books about dance, music, food and a little bit of romance, then you might just like this!

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance centers Radha, a Kathak dancer with global acclaim. The day of her biggest performance of her life, she overhears her fellow dancers talking about how Radha doesn't have a personality outside of dance, never goes against her mother (an ex-Kathak dancer herself), and only wins competitions because her mother sleeps around with all the judges. Stunned, Radha confronts her mother minutes before she has to be on stage, and when her mom doesn't fully deny it, Radha runs off and doesn't perform, her big moment ruined, her reputation as a renowned Kathak dancer in shambles, and with no intention of ever dancing again.

Almost a year later, Radha moves to Jersey with her mother who is freshly divorced, looking for a fresh start. She applies to transfer into a performing arts high school, where she meets Jai.

Jai's just trying to help his family. He has no intentions of going to college, despite the best efforts and encouragement his family offers. He knows that in order to fulfill his med school dream, he'll have to give up working at his family's convenience store, which is the only source of income supporting their father, who's almost fully paralyzed. On top of that, the choreographer for his Bollywood dance team quits to work on an actual Bollywood movie in India, leaving him without any options for their upcoming winter performance, which his team is relying on for college.

When he runs into Radha on her first day of school, they're instantly attracted to each other.

the romance
I had like zero problems with Radha and Jai's romance, honestly. They were super cute and yeah there were a few communication issues but they resolved them and it's clear that neither of them would ever intentionally hurt each other.

radha
Radha's attempts at a fresh start include trying to do recipes from her grandfather's cookbook, which her father gave her when she shipped herself off to New Jersey. She enjoys the idea of actually having a hobby outside of dance, and maybe distracting herself with cooking. She also reconnects with a cousin she hasn't talked to in a long time. Everything's going perfectly, other than her mother constantly trying to force her to perform again.

jai
Jai's found family of sorts includes the school's director Muza, better known as his Masi, and his adoptive grandfather, Nana, who used to be a doctor, both of whom Jai met when he was 10 and in the hospital after his father has an accident. Jai looks up to Nana and loves spending time with him both in the store but outside of it too, talking about medicine. He's torn between wanting to go to college and wanting to help his family enough that they'll be comfortable instead of struggling.

overall
Overall I loved loved loved this book and I only wish I could read more about Radha and Jai. 5.5.

This was a cute story with some nice characterizations. Radha's anxiety and joy with performing was well done and clear without being over the top. Jai was a likeable character with a lot of kindness in his heart that made the romantic storyline an enjoyable treat. The problem was that there was a little too much happening at once. There is a lot of time spent building up general information for the first half of the book that you are trying to keep track of several "key" pieces of information throughout. It was a great coming of age/end of high school story with a god heart. It just needed a bit more focus.


I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'll be honest, there's a lot to unpack in this book. Because of that, there are trigger warnings for panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder, stroke, anxiety, verbal abuse, rehabilitation and miscommunication. Yes there's a lot in this book that can be tough, but there's also so many positive aspects that I learned in this book especially about Indian foods, dances, and social customs. This also is a great book for teenagers especially with ones that are trying to figure out what to do for their adult lives and deciding whether to follow your dreams or help their family. Overall, it was a profound story and I am curious to see more what this author presents next. Because of these points, I have to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, I thought the story was phenomenal. I loved the familial relationships, the dance plot, the Indian recipes, and the romance. This was an absolutely lovely book. It is so infused with culture and life that every word seems to explode off the page. I really enjoyed reading about the dances, food, and struggles of these two young teens trying to make difficult choices in their lives.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Thank you so much to Random House Children’s Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much. My So-Called Bollywood Life was already a favorite YA contemporary of mine so I had no doubt that I would enjoy this book going into it. Nisha Sharma does an excellent job of encapsulating the experience of being a young Indian-American teen and balancing school, extracurriculars, family life, relationships, all while trying to maintain your culture and heritage in the United States, and Radha’s journey in Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance was no different.

Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is a desi YA rom-com that tells the story of Radha Chopra, an extremely talented Kathak dancer, whose life is uprooted after she discovers a secret about her mother. After leaving her life in Chicago and enrolling in the Princeton Academy of the Arts in New Jersey, she meets Jai Patel, captain of the Bollywood Beats dance team, and the two teens work together to make the most out of their senior year.

Let me first start off by saying that I literally felt like Nisha Sharma stared into my soul when writing Radha’s Kathak journey in this book. The book starts off with a letter to the readers in which Sharma describes how she studied Kathak for over eleven years before getting caught up with other commitments and losing both of her grandfathers. As someone who started learning Kathak in kindergarten and then took a few years off to focus on college applications before getting back into South Asian fusion dance, I greatly regretted having to stop one of the things I loved doing. This book perfectly described how I feel about dancing and feeling that “dance joy,” as Radha describes it, and I absolutely loved reading about Radha’s story as a Kathak dancer. Any mention of the chimes of her ghungroos to the familiar tatkaars made me smile. I also found the arc of Radha’s performance anxiety and the issues her parents were facing to be really refreshing. Familial troubles and mental health are not very popular topics discussed within South Asian communities, and I really admired Sharma for not only including these discussions in the book, but also for hiring sensitivity readers to specifically review the discussion of mental health.

I also really loved reading about Jai’s relationship with his family and Director Muza. At times it was a little confusing to fully understand how exactly Director Muza and Nana Veeru fit into Jai’s family, but it started to make a bit more sense as the story progressed. I do admit that his relationship with Radha kind of resembled the insta-love trope, but their relationship did feel more grounded and realistic, in a sense, than the whimsical love story in My So-Called Bollywood Life, which Sharma mentions in her letter to the readers as well.

And I can’t end this review without mentioning the yummy recipes that were included at the beginning of each of Radha’s chapters! As a college student who's very new at the whole adulting thing, I definitely struggle with properly making South Asian food, but reading Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance makes me want to practice my culinary skills and cook these familiar dishes :)

I highly recommend Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance (and any of Nisha Sharma’s YA books) for any young South Asian teen, for anyone looking for a heartfelt contemporary story, and for any dancer who’s looking for their dance joy.

"An infusion of food and dance, this contemporary romance will have readers ready to dance while craving the savory dishes from Radha's recipes." Cecelia Beckman Sheaf & Ink

Nisha Sharma magically blends food, dance, and culture into this savory romance. She gives us a glimpse into what it’s like to be a competitive dancer and how those pressures can leave scars both on our bodies and minds. Radha is a great dancer. She has mastered over the course of her short life the skills to be legend. Though at a cost. Where at some point dancing no longer brings her joy, but a fear that sets its claws deep into her mind leaving her unable to breath, locked in a state of panic.

But, once she no longer is shackled to the idea of competing, her mother moves to New Jersery for a fresh start.

What I love most about this book is the reconnection Radha has with her father. We can see he’s been an absent presence in her life from the opening pages. Radha’s father is a chef. Upon her departure from Chicago, and after her parents divorce, he gives her his father’s recipe book. And when we get to New Jersey, every chapter there after begins with these deliciously instructed recipes from Radha’s grandfather book. As we move through the story Sharma perfectly gives Radha a chefs hat where she plays around with the recipes, tweaking them to fit the flavor and taste that she finds scrumptious. Further, the moments she has with her father, be it text, facetime, or in person, they make your heart melts at how these two begin to bond over a shared love of cooking.

Now, for the romance…

It’s incredibly sweet.

Radha and Jai both have their struggles to work through. For Radha it’s strengthening her inner joy and finding a way to manage her anxiety and fear of performing. For Jai it’s realizing he can have his dream of becoming a doctor by going to a school of choice while still helping his family. It’s the innerconnections, the links that are weaved between these two as they struggle along on uneaven footing (even though they are brilliant dancers) when it comes to their relationship.

And the ending!!!

Friends, it’s to adorable for words. I was literally pumping my fists ready to join in the merriment and dancing and screaming YES! (You’ll know what I mean when you read it)

With yummy food recipes, a whole lot of dancing, and heartfelt moments, Nisha Sharma’s Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance is charmingly sweet narrative of love and finding your true happiness.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

I enjoyed this YA romance. The protagonists were both likable, and they seemed like a good fit together. I loved the recipes at the start of Radha's chapters. I loved how she was connecting to her father, even across distance, through learning to cook with him using her grandfather's recipes. I loved how she was also starting to create her own recipes, and to be perfectly honest, that sweet potato/marshmallow Thanksgiving samosas sounded really good. I know nothing about Kathak dancing, but Radha's complicated feelings about it and how she both loved it and yet it was also a major source of anxiety for her as well and it caused conflict in her relationship with her mother all felt very real.

This book was so sweet and a quick read. The biggest problem was that it made me SO HUNGRY because the food descriptions were amazing. I ended up watching some videos of kathak because the book made me curious - it's so cool. The interplay between expectations and desires that both Radha and Jai constantly felt never felt forced, just like their relationship. While I think some of the adult characters fell flat, I understand that they weren't the focus. If you want to immerse yourself in dance and descriptions of Indian cooking this is the book for you!

This was a fun story that explored Indian culture in an exciting way! I really liked the Bollywood dance team idea, but it was obviously less involved than in My So-Called Bollywood Life. This book (obviously) featured a lot more cooking, which I personally was not really interested in. There was also heavy element about kathak, which I am unfortunately rather unfamiliar with. Overall, this book was about Radha's complicated relationship with dance, and Radha and Jai's complicated relationships with their families, This book is emotion-heavy, as opposed to plot-heavy. Unfortunately, the writing let me down a bit. My So-Called Bollywood Life got away with the clunky writing becuase it was sweet and funky; that doesn't cut it in a serious and emotional story.
Overall, this was an interesting exploration of two teens working their way through tangled problems, but it didn't quite hit the mark.

Between Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance and My So-Called Bollywood Life, we've established one thing: Nisha Sharma has a knack for writing books that are consistently fluffy and stuffed full of joy! From the food to the dancing - both classical and Bollywood, the dresses, and the sprinklings of Hindi, Gujarati, and Punjabi throughout the work, this book is proudly representative of parts of Desi culture. The romantic aspects - kissing in the rain, breaking into a group dance to Chaiyya Chaiyya on the train, drama at the final dance showcase - all feel bold and cinematic (reminiscent of the grand style of Sharma's debut heroine: Winnie - who, by the way, makes a cameo appearance in this book!). But the book is grounded in its realistic exploration of family, loyalty, anxiety, friendship, and pursuing one's dreams. I greatly appreciated the representation of physical (stroke awareness, quadriplegia) and mental (anxiety) health and how the individual characters and their families are affected by it. I have rarely seen discussions of mental health and therapy appear in a positive light within the South Asian community. Reading Radha's experiences with anxiety and panic attacks and how the book's characters turned to therapy for closure, healing, and understanding were extremely heartwarming.

The contrasting family structures and relationships that Radha and Jai had were quite refreshing - seeing Radha's fraught relationship with her mother grow was especially impactful as it drove home the point of how differently love is expected, shown, and appreciated. I loved the recipes from Dadaji's notebook, and the comments Radha makes in writing and over the phone while talking with her family about cooking and connecting with her culture, captured how food is history and is culture, and spoke to the distinct way in which culture is transmitted across generations, especially among diasporic folks.

Essentially, this is a book about food, family, life, and love, a fun, romantic read that will leave you with a smile on your face and hope in your heart.

This is a book I’d love to add to my classroom. This is a feel good novel that combines love of food and dance. This will appeal to students and I love the different cultures and cuisine in this book.

This young adult romantic comedy is a multicultural delight exploring love. Friendship and passions of dancing. I received this novel as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nisha does it again. On brand! Witty, fast paced romance with loads of page turning gripping moments. Ideally accompanied with chai & fixings. Makes for a great book club read with friends.

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance is such a great, lighthearted read that I cannot recommend enough. A lot of Radha's journey to rediscovering her love for dancing and finding a new passion in cooking as well as Jai's conflict of helping his families business or going to college are both experiences that I could easily relate to. I really enjoyed that this book has romance but doesn't entirely revolve around Radha and Jai's romantic relationship and you get some insight in their relationships with their family. The recipes were a nice touch that help give the book its own personality and made me pretty hungry while reading. Overall, it's a solid 4 star read! The only reason I didn't give it 5 is because the pacing was off for my personal taste but that's pretty particular to me.

this was one of those fluffy feel good books that i love to read. mixed in with it is a story of love and family and food. blending in the culture and stories with the food and it was just wonderful. the descriptions were vivid and and beautiful and easy to picture. this is one of those hugs in a book that are just perfect

Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance will make you want to order takeout and binge watch the best of Bollywood.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.