I overall enjoyed this book! It was a well written love story about an inter-racial couple and family dynamics that they encountered along the way. I think that the plot overall was very well done, but I do think that some aspects of the writing and dialogue could have been edited or focused on just a bit more. I am looking forward to reading more books from this author to learn and read more about the rest of the Chai Masala Club members!

3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

An easy and light read about diaspora Indians in the US! I enjoyed it - perfect for a quick plane or train ride! Very excited to see South Asian writers in the forefront and I am here for it :)

I felt conflicted about this review. This book had equally things I enjoyed, and things I disliked.

First, this book has a South Asian MC which I love! It was refreshing to see Indian representation that wasn't centered around Indian-Americans, as it usually is. I loved some more realistic issue that were considered in this book, such as being an immigrant in the USA, the struggle of the lifestyle in the US and the struggle with the culture shock. I also loved how Kiran, the protagonist, had her friend Chai Masala Club be of people who considered themselves Indian. It was refreshing to see the small culture difference (as some of the characters were British-Indian and American-Indian) and still them all be unified in their Indian identity.
Now, for the romance aspect - I disliked the love interest, Nash. He seemed to be just an average white guy and the entire time I was reading, it felt like a mismatch made in editing. Nash was also apparantly oblivious to Indian culture (which doesn't make sense, as he's from New York), which resulted in Kiran having to explain stuff to him over and over again. Nash was sadly giving the "White Savior" vibes and I'm not here for it.
Also, I could've done without the constant mentions of Harry Potter. We get it. It's popular and most readers nowadays have fond memories of the book series from their childhoods. While that is true, there are so many more wonderful series that readers can smile to when mentioned that are not harmful to minorities. I'd appreciate it if books stopped acting like Harry Potter is the best piece of literature to ever exist.
And we definitely don't need it in a book where the protagonist is a POC.

I would love reading the next book in the series as I'm intrigued about the other side characters.

This is a voluntary review. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

While I am always up for a great romance story, especially when it features an interracial relationship, I found this story lacking in many ways.
I enjoyed the cultural part and the friendship they build but apart from that , everything felt just too flat for my liking unfortunately.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

3.5 stars

I waffled between liking and not liking this much while reading. I love Nash and Kiran, how a simple meet cute turns into friendship turns into more.

But with racial distance and familial pressures, there was always this lack of connection too as Kiran is pulled towards or away from her family by making her own romantic choices.

Love their friendships though, his and hers.

Pretty pg and closed door - no steam. Not even really romance or romcom.

- South Asian MC
- Friends in NYC
- “Will they, won’t they?” Trope
- Friends to lovers trope
- Bucket list aspect

Four friends in their 30s are on their individual journeys to find love. There’s great rep delving into the stories of children of immigrants who struggle to keep up with American culture. Kiran & Nash both have their baggage— one who is trying to prove herself to her parents and the other who’s trying to deal with his parents’ absence. There’s a push and pull, an addressing of stigmas, and a sweet chai HEA.

This was such a fun friend! I especially enjoyed the representation and cultural elements.

Kiran Mathur knows firsthand how dangerous love can be. After all, her sister's marriage in India nearly destroyed Kiran's family. So she's decided to redeem romance herself—by not falling for anyone who might disappoint her parents. That is, until she meets her new neighbor Nash Hawthorne.

Nash is a dedicated psychologist and committed to being alone. His family life has taught him the inevitability of abandonment, and he isn't ready to question his beliefs. But in spending time with Kiran, he starts to experience emotion he's never felt before.

For both, love feels like a risk. But when the future only starts to make sense with each other, it might be time to follow their hearts...

I wanted to love this book, I really did! I loved the title, the cover, the plot, they all called to me. However, this one ended up being a DNF for me -- I gave it the good college try, but just couldn't connected with the characters in the way I was hoping to. I struggled to get engaged with the story and the plot, which is always the kiss of death for me.

I DNF'ed this book because it was boring and hyper YA! The description sounded so cute but there were just way too many characters introduced too quickly for me to understand what was going on, so I had to stop reading.

This was just okay read for me. It just didn't hit the bullseye. I want it to love it, but just couldn't.

Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words is more of Kiran's journey to finding love, reuniting her family, and finally finding happiness than an interracial romance. I would call it predominantly women's fiction with some romantic elements in it.

This is an immersive story that left me craving chocolates and chai. Classifying this book into a genre is a bit more complex, as it's certainly romantically inclined but most of it is left up to our imaginations. I'd classify it as women's fiction personally, as we watch Kiran grow into her career and identity.

The relationship between Kiran and Nash progressed nicely as Kiran explored her feelings and the difficulties that would follow. This multicultural, slow-burn, closed-door romance was a sweet read

DNF at 45 %

I'm just really struggling and I don't like Kiran and Nash as a couple enough to continue. They have some cute moments but Nash just bugs me. Maybe it's just the dialogue, or the writing, or maybe just my mood today but I'm just having a not fun time.

I can't speak on any of the rep. Please look to Indian reviewers for that.

I will probably still try the other books when they come out. I'm a sucker for romance series that center around a set group of friends and while this didn't work for me maybe the next one will.

i really wanted to like this book, especially because i think annika sharma is a very cool person. that being said, i give very little tolerance to white boys, especially when this BROWN main character is always bending over backwards to explain her culture to him. bleh. raise the bare minimum for romances with a white love interest, i'm tired.

What a cute novel! This book was super sweet and adorable, and I think a wide variety of readers would enjoy this, event they wouldn't consider themselves romance readers specifically. I think the story followed a very clear and cohesive plot, and the character's each came into their own personalities throughout.

I thought this was a pretty good debut novel, but it was unfortunately one of my least favorite romances I've read. I think the premise of the story was interesting and drew readers in, but I think the romance fell flat to the plot of the story surrounding the family dynamics.

The romance didn't wow me or tug at my heart strings, it was just okay. I really wanted to like this story because premise is what originally drew me in. I thought it was going to be a forbidden romance kind of like "Romeo & Juliet" in the way where their families opposed the romance heavily. It. however, fell flat for me.

I think this novel would have been better advertised as a contemporary story with big family dynamics surrounding culture and duty and THEN had a small side story where the main characters find love and acceptance in each other. I think the discussions of family and duty were very important to discuss but it overshadowed the romance.

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Chai & Other Four Letter Words by Annika Sharma, is the first book in the Chai Masala Club series. A desi, multicultural romance novel set in a city which never sleeps, New York. We see our main characters, Kiran & Nash. Both come with their own set of baggage to carry, but what if they follow their heart?

Kiran, an Indian girl from a village in India goes to New York to study and Nash, who is a psychologist has parental issues, which makes him have commitment issues in the present. Kiran's family being very conservative makes Kiran not fall for any guy which doesn't come in her family's approved list of men (Indian).

So to begin with, Annika Sharma has a lot of potential in writing a good rom-com. I loved the execution of this book as well as author's writing style. What I did not enjoy however, was the way Indian Culture was portrayed. To some levels I feel and do agree to the fact that families and parents being a little conservative as well as a little bit orthodox does happen everywhere and not just in Indian Culture.

I would not want people from other cultures who have read about Indian culture for the first time having such a negative image. The family bonding and Kiran's sisters issues were all somewhere expectable. I liked Akash (Kiran's friend) more than Nash (Main Character), I would love to see a book about him. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with this book.

Nash, to some extend had very limited character development. Nothing about his family and past background was clear since so much focus was given on Kiran's issues and problems with Indian Culture. The friendship of the Chai Masala Club as the only good thing which I genuinely liked and had no baggage to hold.

Loved the glimpses into Indian culture and the dual POV! The strong friendships and family bonds made me miss my far living family. Also, everything happened in NYC, a place I would love to visit on day!
This multicultural romance was really refreshing, but also made me anxious the whole time and I really did root for Kiran!

2.5

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

This story had potential but I think it just didn’t hit me the way I would want a romance to.

First off, the main characters were a little flat for me. I really liked the idea of this multiculturalism with the main character being Indian and the love interest being white and the dynamics that they can bring into relationship (I was in a similar situation in my early 20s) but the romance was very flat and I didn’t feel like there was really any depth to this budding romance. The book really focusses on the build up of their love and it felt very slow and at the same time very fast. It’s a little unrealistic with how the book ended and I find it very weird that the conflict was resolved so easily considering the situation.

There is absolutely no spice in this book. Not that every romance book needs it, I’m just someone who really enjoys a few scenes where things get very detailed. Those romances tend to be more realistic to me. But I understand, there are a lot of readers out there who don’t want to read that stuff in a book and maybe this romance is for you then.

I was just expecting more, I wanted a little more angst and drama in the romance and I didn’t get that in this book.

I loved the Indian representation in this book but to be honest, it left a bad taste in my mouth because of the South Asian pairing with a mediocre white man. Again and again, it was brought up and suggested that Indian culture is so oppressive and it was giving such intense white liberation vibes. This book was not for me.

I was so interested in reading this because I really wanted to expand my horizons and read about someone who has a way different cultural background but I just could not get behind the instalove in this one. I liked the characters well enough and look forward to seeing some of the side characters come to the forefront in what I am assuming will be the next book in this series. There wasn’t anything particularly bad about this book, it just didn’t really do anything different besides having an Indian main character.