It took me a bit to pick this book up, but once I did, I sped through it. I really enjoyed the loving familes and supporting characters. The main characters were so easy to cheer for. It was a great modern day adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

“To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect.” – Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

When done well, there’s nothing better than a smart spin on a Jane Austen classic, and Sonali Dev is a master at this craft. I gobbled up every morsel of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion, so of course I had high hopes when I heard that the third book in her Rajes series was inspired by Austen’s first novel—and my personal favorite—Sense and Sensibility. My expectations were already astronomical, and Incense and Sensibility exceeded them.

Incense and Sensibility gives us a front-row view into the life of Yash Raje, California’s first Indian American gubernatorial candidate. A treasured oldest son and lifelong overachiever, Yash has always known what his goals are and exactly what it takes to achieve them, even if it means keeping his emotions in check. When a hate crime triggers anxiety attacks that threaten his ability to get back on the campaign trail, his family turns to a trusted source: India Dashwood, his sisters’ friend and the foremost stress management coach in the Bay area. While the grounded India is used to helping clients from all walks of life connect with their innermost selves, Yash’s reticence and reservations about opening up pose a challenge—and there’s also the matter of the magical spark that ignited between them all too briefly a decade ago.

Much like the work it’s drawn from, Incense and Sensibility is at its core a novel of emotions—the ones we restrain, the ones we give too willingly, and the ones we can’t help but follow. Yash and India are the perfect pair of protagonists, crackling with electricity at every turn, and both their individual paths and the journey they take together left me besotted. With each chapter, I fell for them more and more, and by the final pages, I was breathless. As with the previous books in this series, this story and its characters stand firmly on their own, wholly original from the Austen classic, but fans of Sense and Sensibility will treasure the brilliant links to the source material. The fresh spin on the Marianne-Willoughby-Colonel Brandon triangle had me squealing with delight, and I also loved Dev’s take on Lucy Steele.

While you don’t have to read all of the books in the Rajes series in order to enjoy this one, you’ll love it all the more if you do. Not only was it so fun to catch up with my favorite characters from the earlier novels, getting to know the real Yash and tap into all of his complicated layers after seeing him as the polished and infallible older brother was so rewarding. All of these pieces blended together to make this book my favorite of the series so far.

If you love Jane Austen, this book is for you. If you love compelling romance, this book is for you. If you love family stories, complex characters, or tales about the importance of being true to who you really are, this book is for you. Oh, and one more thing.

Yash Raje for Governor!

Incense and Sensibility is available now wherever books are sold! Pick up your copy from Bookshop.org, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or wherever you buy your books. For more on Sonali Dev and her wonderful books, visit sonalidev.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Incense and Sensibility is fantastic! Sonali Dev does it again! Just love the characters in this series especially Yash! There is romance but a lot of important issues involved too! What a great modern twist on a classic everyone knows about. A summer must read!

I really enjoyed both Pride, Prejudice & Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion, so I was looking forward to Yash’s book. But this one just didn’t quite work for me. I really wasn’t a huge fan of Yash’s behavior in this novel (particularly since he was in a relationship for part of it) and I just never really felt the chemistry between him and India.

Incense & Sensibility is a bit more serious than the other two books, but it also lacked a lot of the heart and humor that made me love this series. There are plenty of good moments in this book (particularly with the secondary characters!), although they’re found in between the moments of angst + general lack of honest communication, which is why I gave it three stars. Overall, I think some readers will enjoy this one, but it wasn’t the book for me.

3.5/5 rating for me. This was my first book of Ms. Dev and I enjoyed it enough to want to go back and read her first two novels to learn more about the interesting Raje family.
The main characters, India and Yash, have a very brief history and haven’t seen each other in a long time until an assassination attempt brings them together. Yes…an assassination attempt. They’re very different - Yash is in a close race to be Governor of California. India runs her family’s yoga studio, teaches yoga and meditation, and is a trained yoga therapist/stress management expert. Their subsequent journey has its ups and downs but is quite entertaining.
It has been ages since I read Sense and Sensibility, but themes and characters came back to me very quickly. I liked the updated take on the novel but found the romantic anguish (India and Yash, China and Song, and Chutney the dog with everyone) was a bit over the top for me.
Thanks to the Book Club Girl Early Read Program, Harper Collins and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Incense and Sensibility in exchange for an honest review.

Incense and Sensibility is the third book in The Rajes series and I think this one is my favorite. Sonali Dev has a way of drawing you into her stories that makes you feel like you are right there with the characters. I want to be friends with these characters! As I came to the end of this story, I felt hopeful and it gave me faith to believe that there is good out in the world and honest people who truly want to help each other.

OH MY!! This series just keeps getting better with each book! I’ve adored all of Sonali Dev books that I’ve read and have to say this might be my favorite. This is a second chance love story about family, responsibility, and power of choice. I thought it was great and the characters were so well developed. I can't wait to read more of her future books!

Sonali Dev's books are always a delight to read. Full of heart and loveable characters, it's easy to fall into her beautiful stories and never want to leave.

Lies and truth!

What a tangled, complicated web Dev has woven here. And didn’t I just LOVE this addition to the Rajes series. It’s brilliant, a ruby contribution to this series, shining warmth and love across deflection, hate and lies. (I didn’t use a diamond analogy ‘cause that’s way to glittery and harsh.) This is the story of love sidelined by circumstances and choice. Although those reasons are not all bad, for Yash Raje they’ve become a stranglehold.
Yash is running for the California Governorship and is shot at by a racially motivated individual at a rally. He’s fine but his friend and bodyguard is in hospital in a coma. This causes Yash to have panic attacks, and in turn to question many aspects of his life.
His family (no pressure there!) ask a family friend and stress management coach India Dashwood to help.
The thing no one knows but these two, is that they have a history. That’s complicated!
There’s a host of strong secondary characters who contribute so much to the story
A wonderful read, bringing to the fore many issues—family relationships, personal relationships, health and well being, racial tensions, community and political pressures.

A William Morrow and Custom House ARC via NetGalley

I am loving Sonali Dev’s Jane Austen-inspired series about the Raje family despite, blasphemy for an English major, never having read any of Austen’s novels. Commence the shaming! I am sure I would only enjoy these novels more if I had read Austen’s novels. INCENSE AND SENSIBILITY is Yash Raje’s story. Groomed for big things since he was a child, he overcame a devastating childhood accident and is on the verge of becoming California’s first Indian (American) governor when an act of hateful violence lands his best friend and bodyguard in the ICU, Yash finds himself unable to take the stage for his events. Enter India Dashwood, family friends, yoga instructor, and therapist that helps people control their anxiety. India will help Yash as a friend, but their past and family connections make her hesitant to officially take him on as a client.
Yash and India people that care about others, though Yash seems to have lost his way, with fear of the past and present, clouding his vision and manifesting in his anxiety, but spending time with India makes him feel happier and more himself than he has in the past 10 years…since the magical night they met.
Dev has created a family with characters that readers will not only love but root for them to find their way. I also enjoy her writing style and story development (even though I am Austen-challenged). If you have not read the previous two novels, you won’t be lost if you start with this one. Don’t miss this stellar read (and series) by Sonali Dev.
#IncenseandSensibility #SonaliDev #TheRajes #WilliamMorrowandCustomHouse #TallPoppyWriters #BloomReads #BookClubGirl #TallPoppyBlogger #NetGalley

This is the third volume of Sonali Dev's "The Rajes" series and is loosely based on Elinor and Edward's story in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Having read the other novels in this series, I can honestly say that this is my favorite. Ms. Dev bases her characters on Austen but modernizes them and makes them more complicated. I loved getting to know Yash Raje better in this novel. In the first two books, he seemed to be so successful and confident, and it was great to see the anxiety and layers beneath the surface in this book. I also really loved India, who is so self-sacrificing for her family. I also really appreciated the focus on how Yash's race influences his political career, since that felt very real, given the current political climate.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

This novel was truly a revelation - a love story brews between two polar opposites, but in a manner that ends up making perfect sense to even the most demanding reader. The relationship progressed from a point in which they come together as a means of crisis management, to a sweet and real crescendo.

The story flowed well, the characters were likable, and everything wrapped up with a giant bow. Great romance. I didn’t realize it was part of a series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Incense and Sensibility is the third book in The Rajs series. It is a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility. This contemporary novel involves a really slow burn romance and dives into life in politics, family dynamics, anxiety issues, and choices. Note this novel has some heavy subjects that deals with assassination attempt, past trauma, and anxiety. Overall, this book wasn’t my cup of tea. A couple of aspects I liked about this book were the premise and the characters. However, I felt that the pacing for this book was off and longer than it should be. The romance between Yash and India seemed completely off to me and the dialogue was pretty stilted. However if you liked the previous books in this series, you may enjoy this one.

Thank you for the ARC!

If I hadn't read the first two books in the series, I think I would have thought the plot was all over the place. However, I was committed to finishing since I enjoyed the other books. The romance was just okay for me, but I did enjoy the characters overall.

Truly delightful, another hit in this series from Sonali Dev. Of the three books I did enjoy the stories about the girls a bit more than Yashe's story. That is more personal preference of reading about female main characters than a reflection of the book.

This was one of my most anticipated books this summer and it did not disappoint. I wish I could give it more than five stars! While I've seen that you can read this as a standalone, I would definitely recommend reading the previous two books (especially the first one- Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors) prior to this one. It will allow you to get to know the rest of Yash's family and explore some of his backstory.

Each book in this series is inspired by a book by Jane Austen. While I don't remember the details, I do remember the feeling of reading the originals and believe those lovely, heartfelt feelings are captured by the books in this series.

This particular book evokes a strong sense of longing combined with equally strong self-restraint. Yash Raje, a gubernatorial candidate, and India Dashwood, a yoga teacher and renowned stress management coach, met ten years ago and experienced a magical connection and evening. Instead of pursuing that connection, Yash chose a different path. However, they are meeting again as Yash needs India's unique skill set to heal from a recent traumatic event. Their magical connection is still there. Their story is lovely. Yash and India's mutual longing combined with the belief that their own joy is not as important as the commitments they've made to others was a heady combination for me. I loved watching them navigate each other and the families as they re-experienced their intense connection and slowly figured out what was next for them. I loved Yash, India, and their story. This will be one of my top reads of the year.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

candidate) and his bodyguard are shot at a rally, Yash finds himself unable to get back on the campaign trail. His sisters suggest he go see yoga teacher and stress management coach, India Dashwood, for help. The problem? Yash and India shared one magical night ten years ago. Their connection is still there, but being together will threaten Yash’s chance at being governor.

I have loved all three books in The Rajes Series! I loved this look at California politics and the world of yoga. Yash and India had chemistry, and I enjoyed their love story. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version because it was so good!

Thanks to @NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for my ARC!

After one brief, disappointing romantic encounter, two dutiful, put together people go on with their set paths until unforeseen circumstances make them take stock and also bring them back together for a possible second chance. The Raje family stories are a heartwarming encounter with Austen in a modern Indian American family.

Incense and Sensibility is the third of the standalone romances in a series of modern retellings of Austen’s novels. They are connected by family, but work just fine out of order. This latest is flavored by Sense and Sensibility which the reader does not need to have read to appreciate this fresh new tale.

Yash Raje is the shining star in the Raje family as he has risen in politics to be a strong runner for California’s race for governor. But, then his latest rally is disrupted by an attempt on his life and he finds himself struggling with fear to go before a crowd, survivor’s guilt, and a shake-up to his life priorities. At the same time, India Dashwood, who lives a lifestyle that follows her adopted mom’s yoga teachings, with her goal to keep their newly-renovated yoga center going and find a way to care for her mom and the mounting health bills. Her sister, China, has always lived a very different lifestyle embraces her emotions and taking life’s chances especially with love.

I was very taken with these two people who seem to love what they do even though they are nearly rigid in responsibility to family, duty and careers. It was interesting seeing them both go through things that shook them up and forced them to contemplate other paths in their lives and figure out what they really want. The surrounding group of family and, in Yash’s case, a girlfriend of convenience who turns out to have her own agenda, are as well-developed as the main pair.

There are a lot of real life complications in this one due to Yash’s involvement in politics, their race, their culture, India’s yogi lifestyle, family expectation, and more. But, I was glad that front and foremost, the new chance at a relationship is strongest. The biggest conflict was setting aside what they thought they should do and other people’s influences to reach for what they really wanted. I really wanted him to deep six the pretend girlfriend much sooner and couldn’t figure out why everyone was buying what she was selling for so long. It was a well-plotted second chance in that they weren’t right for each other the first time and had to get to where they are for them to make sense and stand a chance.

Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is at the heart of the story and is there, but I would say it influenced this story more than drove it. The author’s own voice and story are strongest.

All in all, it was a heartwarming, sometimes wry, and character-driven second chance. Those who want romance with modern problems and thinking set against a colorful Indian American backdrop, do pick up this book/series.

This is certainly a well-timed book. and a great example of what we wish politicians were like. Were they ever honest and honorable? Did they ever really want to help their constituents? Not so any more. I love this author's voice.