Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words follows Kiran, who finds an old bucket list she made in college with her friends. While her friends have ticked off a lot of the things they had put on their list, Kiran realizes she’s spent the last decade so focused on being the perfect daughter for her parents that she hasn’t had the time to do things for herself. When she meets Nash, she inspires him to make his own list, and they begin to tackle their lists together. As Kiran begins to fall for Nash, she’s torn between following the part of her heart that yearns for love and the part of her heart that wants to be a good traditional daughter and not disappoint her parents.

I think I liked everything in the book except for the romance. I didn’t see the chemistry between Kiran and Nash, and I found Nash to be a little bland. He seemed so white to the point of uneducated about things like Indian food or white privilege, which didn’t make a lot of sense considering he grew up in a fairly big city. I also found that his backstory wasn’t too well developed, and most of his growth seemed to be “culturing himself” by way of hanging out with Kiran.

I really liked everything else. I loved the friendship between Kiran and her friends, I loved how the story articulated the struggles that come with being an immigrant and being a South Asian girl from a traditional home. I loved how Desi it was — everything from Kiran’s intricate chai recipe to her recalling her village in India, South Asian culture and clothes — it brought a wave of nostalgia and familiarity for me. A lot of my experiences on those fronts are really similar to Kiran’s, and I thought her journey of learning to choose herself for once was beautiful.

Kiran Mathur has always followed the rules her parents set down for her. Falling in love, especially after watching how her sister was thrown out of her family for following her heart, is not in the books. Nash Hawthorne has gotten used to abandonment. When the two become neighbors, they both end up questioning their beliefs.

I loved the CMC - especially having Kiran as an Indian from India, Akash and Sonam as Indian American, and Payal as British-Indian was also cool to see how they contrasted with each other. This steady friendship that Kiran has as a family away from her family is one of the highlights of the book. Each member of the CMC is a fun, fleshed-out character.

As a rom-com, this book checks off so many of the romance tropes and I enjoyed reading all the cute scenes between the two of them. I also loved how this book was a bit of a love letter to New York City, and I loved reading about all these things they were doing even though I'm not familiar with NYC.

There are many pretty heavy topics that get discussed - parental abandonment, drug abuse, racism, casteism, emotional abuse/ emotional blackmail, acid attack, xenophobia, death of a parent. Both of our main characters have a lot of baggage when it comes to their family and upbringing, and their baggage understandably clashes in this story.

I'm not Indian, so I can't comment on how good the representation was in this story. I just think that if there were such a line that Kiran was not willing to cross when it came to her family, why did she not draw the line with Nash way before their relationship had started to bloom when it did? Nash was even angry that she had not told him earlier when she finally did confess. They clearly were having moments before their first kiss, so she clearly knew that this was where their relationship was going. I also didn't really like the almost-white-savior vibes that I got from some of the things Nash said or did, which was at the very least, incredibly ignorant. I appreciated that much of it was called out by Kiran, but I found that what Nash did in the climax to be very uncomfortable, and it was built out to be romantic, but I expected (given the way that the parents had verbally abused Kiran and emotionally blackmailed her with her decision to date Nash), that it would go very poorly overall. It left me feeling very torn when I was trying to reconcile the conclusion of the book with all the nasty confrontations that happened between Kiran and her parents.

Finally, there were a few small things that made me uncomfortable. I was a bit taken aback at the mentions of the pandemic, and how it was already post-pandemic life. It felt weird to read for me, especially since cases are still incredibly bad in the US, not to mention other parts of the world. Secondly, there were many mentions of Harry Potter throughout the book, which, given the fact that this book also mentioned the pandemic, I know this book was written relatively recently, makes me a bit sad that Harry Potter was chosen to be mentioned. I was prepared to forgive the first mention, but then both characters mentioned it multiple times, and it was never brought forth as some sort of thing they had in common or anything of that sort - it easily could've been written as another book series or fandom and given all the harm that JK Rowling has done to the trans community, I was a bit shocked to see it mentioned so many times.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book made me want to scream and throw my Kindle at a wall and not in a good way. I was so frustrated and annoyed when I really don't think that was the intention. It wasn't all bad so I'm going with 2 stars but really, this wasn't for me.

Let's start off with the good, I really got into the beginning of this book quickly. I sat down to start it by reading a little one night and somehow read almost 100 pages without realizing it. The beginning was good, I liked the CMC, the Indian rep was great, and the playfulness between Kiran and Nash was fun. My only issue in the beginning was a few random references to a post-COVID world that seemed thrown in to make the book seem recent, it wasn't carried through the book or explored at all and will forever date the book while adding nothing to the story.

Kiran and Nash seemed like pretty good characters to begin with. They had a little chemistry to start (unfortunately never really grew). For once, a romance book had MCs that seemed like real people who actually had real jobs that you saw them go to and they scheduled their meetings around work. I really appreciated this.

After the first 100 pages or so, this book turned into a slog. It took me way too long to read and multiple days I just didn't pick it up. It turned into a really angsty story in an attempt at a star-crossed lovers storyline. I'm really struggling with getting my thoughts on this into words because there's such a fine line between my disappointment in how this story played out and my frustration that a culture could exist where women are forced to marry someone their family will approve of or risk an honor killing or being ostracized from their family forever. If that bothers you, just don't pick up this book. The characters accept this entirely as the way the culture is and the only person who ever questions it (although he doesn't really do it in a good way which seemed contrived to not really have this conversation about whether this is right or is just the way it is and Kiran needs to accept it regardless) is called a bigot.

Setting aside my issues with this, I don't understand how it is used in this story. Kiran explains at the very beginning of the book that this is the way things are and she plans to stay in line. Then she falls for Nash, breaks his heart because her family tells her to (while saying truly terrible things to her), and acts like this is some big surprise. It's written like I should pity her but really, this is all self-inflicted and just made me fell sorry for Nash that she led him on. I don't like insta-love but this storyline may have made more sense with that trope. This really slow burn romance where her friends are urging Kiran to take the next step (those same friends who later on tell her she needs to dump him) just doesn't make sense if Kiran truly believes she can't be with him and never would be. They literally mentioned they had months of meetups on weekends before they even kiss. She led him on and this story never needed to happen.

The end of the book is pretty predictable and so sappy. After the rest of the story I had endured, it didn't make a lot of sense and was just too convenient. It made the middle even more frustrating. I won't go into details because of spoilers but oh boy, I could rant for a while about this.

Overall, I really didn't like the way this story unfolded. It's an interesting topic and made me think but if the goal was to explore this part of Indian culture, this was not the way to do it. Trying to mix this heavy topic with a romance novel and a character who really didn't handle things well just didn't work.

*I was given a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kiran Mathur has traveled from India to the US for college and a successful job and be the dutiful daughter. She does everything she is told but when a new neighbor gets locked out and looks as lost as she felt she invites him in. And so starts a whirlwind courtship that can never be or can it. 
She has a bucket list that she is tasked by her friends to finish and Nash her neighbor, starts ticking them off with her. Nash a transplant from a different state with his own list.

I find it sad that Nash had never tasted Indian food before he met Kiran. Omg we love Indian food! I think I drooled all over when they listed what she brought to their date for him to try. Can I just have paneer in everything?  I am a cheese all day person. I will eat it any way it is served, give it to me! We have food trucks that park in front of our building every Friday and the Samosa truck is so good! #california

This was a friends to lovers, closed room, delightful bucket list romance mixed in with some heavy familial struggles and oppositions.

Definitely enjoyed this one! I want to visit NY again!!

Thank you sourcebookscasa and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved reading this account of what it's like to be Indian in America, and I liked the diversity within the Indian characters, with Akash and Sonam being Indian-American, Payal being British-Indian, and Kiran being from India. I also liked that the book chose to center Kiran's perspective, as she grew up in a lower-income household and in a village unlike the wealthier Indian-American characters that are usually centered in this genre. Nash also felt realistic, as I've had white friends who started with a similar level of ignorance regarding Indian culture but were open to learning from me in the same way that he learnt from Kiran while they were still friends.

That being said, I'm always wary of Indian love stories that center white men as the love interest. While I appreciate this account of what it's like to interact with someone different from you and have to explain your culture to them, I personally wasn't looking for that in a contemporary romance where I'd usually expect happy escapism. I liked Nash and Kiran's friendship a lot, because I could relate to it, but as the book developed into a romance, I found myself more and more frustrated by his ignorance and his self-imposed obligation to call out the injustices in Kiran's life. It wasn't the most white-saviory story I've ever read, but he definitely did give that energy off sometimes. Also, while I'm Indian-American and can't speak to the experiences of Indian-born immigrants, I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the country was portrayed. It definitely felt like the author took on some of the most common stereotypes of India (extremely strict parents, emphasis on arranged marriage, the country itself being very run-down) and ran with it. There was also a lot of casual casteism in the book, which raised some red flags.

Overall, I appreciated this OwnVoices story for the fresh perspective it brought to the growing presence of Indian contemporary romances, but I had some issues with the portrayal of India and the love story itself. That being said, this won't be my first and last Annika Sharma book -- I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the rest of the Chai Masala Club's love stories play out (especially Akash. I love him already)!

I am a little conflicted on this one. I loved the different representation and learning more about a culture different from my own. I struggled with the connection between Kiran and her parents. The expectations, the vile things they said to her and yet she still felt obligation to them. I appreciated some of the conversations between Kiran and Nash regarding disparaging comments about her name.

With Kiran and Nash I really enjoyed their connection and the trips they took to cross off items on her bucket list. There was a push and pull due to Kiran feeling like she needed to have her parents arrange a marriage for him with someone they chose after they have already disowned her older sister for choosing a love connection with someone of a lower class.

I liked to see that towards the end they made some strides to bring the family back together and Nash made a grand gesture to show Kiran how much he cared about her.

The romance itself was pretty fade to black - closed door romance, but it was sweet. The cultural representation was big, and I really loved the friendships between Kiran and her three friends who played a big part in the story and I would loved to see them get their stories. Having grown up in America it was hard for me to relate to the parental connection and obligations. However, I am sure others will have a stronger connection with the story.

What a lovely, emotional novel by Annika Sharma! I loved the elements of: multicultural romance, strong emphasis on family and friend relationships, well developed characters, vivid descriptions of Indian customs and food as well New York City, and the tender, swoonworthy romance. This was a fun, touching and moving story about the power of love in healing and overcoming past traumas and the importance of family you are born with but also the family you choose.

Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words is a closed door romance. I loved how Sharma examined what it was like when two cultures meet and mingle. After reading this book I wanted a big cup of chai and for the next book in the series to be out already!

This heartwarming Own Voices rom-com features an Indian protagonist who determines whether to listen to her heart or follow her parents wants. I enjoy reading romance novels that feature South Asian women as the main character and delve into serious topics such as toxic cultural traits parents try to pass down to their children

In short: 2 neighbors from opposite worlds, Kiran and Nash, meet and fall in love while working on a New York bucket list.

What to expect:
*Neighbors/Friends to Lovers
*Closed door
*Multi-cultural relationships
*Strong sense of family
*Friends that are family & friends

From the publisher: Kiran was the good daughter. When her sister disobeyed her family's plan and brought them shame, she was there to pick up the pieces. She vowed she wouldn't make the same mistakes. She'd be twice the daughter her parents needed, to make up for the one they lost.

Nash never had a family. The parents who were supposed to raise him were completely absent. Now as a psychologist, he sees the same pattern happening to the kids he works with. So he turns away from love and family. After all, abandonment is in his genes, isn't it?

If she follows the rules, Kiran will marry an Indian man. If he follows his fears, Nash will wind up alone. But what if they follow their hearts?

My thoughts: I loved this book so much! I read and savored every word. This book made me laugh, made me cry and made me fall in love with the characters and their stories. The instant connection and friendship Kiran and Nash had at the beginning of this book was serendipitous. I absolutely loved the bucket lists that they worked on to explore and experience New York and that through these adventures they fall in love. Outside of the bucket lists both characters are dealing with family issues; Nash’s absent father has reached out for the first time and Kiran is dealing with the struggle of family duty and Indian expectations. How these things were resolved made my heart soar.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It all you want in a happy ever after, but involves adventure, laughs and a great look at Indian culture.

CONTENT WARNING: mention of addiction, death of a parent, racial slur, racism, xenophobia, acid attack, classism

This was the cutest, sweetest romance that was combined with an unexpectedly fresh love letter to NYC. But it also addressed some very heavy issues that I wasn’t expecting to see, for some reason.

The first thing that I noticed was how beautiful it was to see NYC through the eyes of an immigrant. Neither character is from NYC, but both Kiran and Nash chose to move there, and basically live each day as if it is an adventure, exploring and sightseeing in their own city. I loved watching the two of them experience the various places in the city, and it makes me want to just take off and wander around the city. There honestly isn’t anyplace like it in the world.

Nash has some serious issues when it comes to family. After a less than ideal upbringing, he’s made a successful way for himself in the world. But the kind of start that he got makes it difficult to trust, open up, and engage in healthy relationships. Meeting Kiran wasn’t quite in the cards, but things change when they hit it off.

Kiran is straddling two very different worlds, with ideals that aren’t always compatible. She has a successful career, takes care of her parents in India, and is a dutiful daughter. But living in America and meeting Nash makes her think about taking a different path in life — a path determined by what she wants, rather than what her parents expect of her, which is an Indian man belonging to her own caste. Her support group of friends (the Chai Masala Club) was so important to her well-being, even if they didn’t even fully understand her struggle, since they were more Westernized having grown up in the US or Britain rather than in India like Kiran.

I think my favorite part of this was watching the relationship between Kiran and Nash develop. It wasn’t fast, and was more of a friends to lovers progression that occurred over months. Nash was easy to talk to, and understanding, while Kiran gave him the space and freedom to open up slowly. In addition, it was so clear that not everything was perfect. The clash between cultures was evident at times, but Kiran and Nash navigated it to the best of their abilities, and both were willing to learn about and from each other.

This book made me laugh quite a few times, and made me cry more than once as well. There were so many wonderful and joyful moments, but there were also some truly heartbreaking parts. It was written in such a way that was easy to empathize with the characters and also celebrated the richly beautiful Indian culture and traditions. I loved reading this book, and will be impatiently waiting for the rest of the CMC books to come out, because I absolutely need more. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a cup of chai calling my name.

This was an extremely touching story about family, friendships, love, and self. I was blown away by how much page space the author dedicated to identity and concepts related to otherness in this beautiful romance about two people from vastly different cultures and realities who found each other.

Kiran who comes from an extremely traditional family who believe in arranged marriage, has been living and working successfully in the US for about a decade. When we meet her she is fully on board with honoring her families wishes but as the story unfolds she begins to question her decision and her ownership of her own agency and how that can affect her relationship with her family. This author did an amazing job of helping the reader see more than one side of her relationship with her family and the struggle they shared. I could feel her turmoil and was very much team Kiran all the way.

Nash is a white man who moves to NYC to start his professional life as a children’s psychologist when he meets Kiran and they strike up a friendship that slowly evolves. Their story was sweet, tentative, and emotional. I definitely wanted to hug him more than once and adored his story as much as Kiran’s.

The slow burn sweet romance was extremely endearing and fun. I also loved seeing a joyful post pandemic New York City.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I loved the concept of this book and I was looking forward to reading a book where there is such a huge emphasis & explanation of Indian culture, which I have not experienced before. I found myself learning a lot about Indian village life experiences, and I found myself having to check myself for biases that I held against people & culture I didn't understand because I didn't grow up with it - a lot like Nash had to in this book. I found myself extremely frustrated at times with Kiran for not acting in certain ways, but then I had to remind myself that I have never lived her experience, and this was a great opportunity for me to learn about another type of experience. I enjoyed the back and forth switching of perspectives between Kiran and Nash with each chapter, and both of their friend groups/support networks were amazing. I have a feeling that the rest of the CMC are getting their own books as well, and if that is the case I am especially excited for Payal's story. This was overall a bit of a difficult read for me, because I wanted tp escape into a world and this world kept bringing me back to the realities of culture clashes and what society dictates - all extremely important things, just not necessarily what I was going for at this exact moment. I think if you want a romance and want to learn about other culture at the same time, this is a great way to do so.

***As I am not of Indian/South Asian descent at all, I have no ability to speak as to the accuracy of this writing, and so I am going to leave the door open for anyone to tell me that this is an incredibly inaccurate description of things. This did give me starting points to find out new information, and it made me check some of my own biases which is important I think, whether or not this is the true experience of everyone should not be the takeaway. It might be the experience for one or two people, but I don't know for how many others. I look forward to learning more and listening to more original voices.

What would you do if you were told that you couldn't be with your soulmate because they weren't the right ethnicity? Would you desert your family and love them anyways or would you stay loyal to your family and your parents?
This is the choice that Kiran has to make when she meets Nash. Her parents have already lost a daughter this way, and they don't want to lose another by her disobeying them. As soon as Kiran tells her parents about Nash, the American she fell in love with, they tell her she needs to break it off, but, the heart wants what the heart wants and saying she will is easier than actually doing it.
Nash didn't think he would find love in a new city. He moved to NYC from Nashville and knows pretty much no one, so on the first day when he is locked out of his apartment and meets a beautiful Indian girl who takes him in for a cup of chai, he knows there's something about her he won't forget.
I loved the friendship these two forged and how the love grew from there. It broke my heart when her parents told her that they didn't approve of this relationship. We work so hard to find the right person for us, and to be told he wasn't because of his skin color and background is just devastating. There were lots of things that were explained in this book and it was eye opening for me to read.
Thank you to Sourcebooks, Netgalley and Annika Sharma for an early copy.

This book is a good multicultural read for anyone interested in the South Asian/SA multicultural experience.

Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words by Annika Sharma is a romance novel following Kiran, a woman who has received messaging from her family to be a respectable woman and marry a nice Indian man. However, Kiran soon meets Nash, a man who could care less about impressing his family and instead directs his energy towards helping children as a mentor. Soon Kiran and Nash develop a friendship that may be developing into a bitt more. But will their different approaches to life pull them apart?

First, this cover is absolutely adorable! However underneath the cover there is so much more! The book includes a diverse cast of characters with different skin tones, background, and experiences to bring to the story. I really enjoyed seeing the influences from Kiran's Indian background and how that blended with her experience as an American. It was also fantastic to see her friends who also brought rich diversity in the Chai Masala Club. It is so clear how these women help bring Kiran up and vice versa.

What was so fantastic about this novel was the conflict in kiran as she struggled with her family's expectations on what her partner should be and look like and her growing attraction to Nash. Nash also has his own inner struggles with the concept of settling down in a relationship after his experience as a child to parents who made some mistakes in their relationship. This romance was a slow-burn and perfectly fit the story as each character had to carefully work through their own inner thoughts and beliefs. In the end, this madde the romance totally worth it!

Overall I recommend this book for those looking for a sweet , slow-burn romance with a lovely and diverse cast.

Many thanks to the publisher Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a really sweet romance! Filled with great friendships, a friends-to-lovers romance, the NYC atmosphere, and the importance of family, it's got a little bit of everything. We follow Kiran and Nash who begin as neighbors, start to become friends and, eventually, more. Their romance was sweet and progressed nicely, I just struggle with the friends-to-lovers trope because most of the time I don't really feel the chemistry, they seem like they should stay friends, ya know? Very rarely do I find a friends-to-lovers romance that I'm a sucker for so it's truly just an individual preference in that regard. Other elements of the book I really liked: the friendships! There's a group of four (including Kiran) who meet for chai and talk about everything and are so supportive which I just loved to see! Nash also had a friend he frequently discussed life with and I just love seeing friendships in romance novels. I also really liked the NYC atmosphere, Nash is new to the city and Kiran shows him around and I loved tagging along on their day trips. Kiran was also born and raised in India which was really great representation to see. The author really fleshes out her past and discusses a lot about the culture as a whole but also just tidbits about Kiran's life which really aided her character development. There's a good bit of family drama from both characters' sides with things like long-lost sisters, death of a parent, drug abuse, an absent father, etc., so while this is overall on the lighter side, there are more serious tones, especially toward the end. This did fall lackluster for me in some ways, though. There was quite a bit of dialogue that felt immature for the characters and jokes that, in my opinion, didn't land the way they were supposed to. I also didn't love the way either of the characters acted in the climax of the story, I didn't think it aligned with how they'd acted throughout the rest of the novel and it just spiraled unnecessarily. Overall though, this is a really clean, satisfying contemporary romance that I'd recommend!

Wow wow wow, I loved this book. This was the kind of book that goes so quickly because before you know it you've been sitting there for over an hour and are so invested you don't even realize you've read half of the book already (I know I can't be the only one this happened to).

Kiran does everything she can to be the perfect daughter. She went to a good college, got a good job in NYC and sends money home to support her family back in India. But when she meets Nash, a white American boy and develops feelings for him, her relationship with her parents is threatened. She is expected to marry an Indian man that they approve of. Will she leave Nash to continue to be the perfect daughter? Or will she go against her family to be with the man she loves?

First of all, the friendship among the CMC was everything - can I join their group? I want friends like that in my life. I loved how deeply they cared for each other and how much fun they had together. Seriously #friemdshipgoals. The romance between Nash and Kiran was sweet and I loved following all of their adventures around the city, especially those involving amazing food descriptions. I adored Kiran as a main character and appreciated seeing how torn she was between her home culture and American culture in many ways. Her experiences as an immigrant were eye-opening, and while I can't speak for how realistic her experiences were I felt like I learned a lot about the immigrant experience and aspects of Indian culture, which I appreciated. While this is a romance, much of this book focused on identity and family and to me those were the most powerful parts.

I am so looking forward to reading more from this series!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for generously providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

To start of this review, I'd like to let readers know that this isn't the normal type of romance books I generally read. Although there is romance, it focuses more on women's fiction than romance itself.

I actually did enjoy this book to a certain extent. It was a cute, interracial romance between a white boy, Nash and a South Asian girl, Kiran. They start of as friends, knowing that they can't be anything more than that.

This novel was cute, but I did feel that it was lacking in certain areas. The characters weren't very unforgettable, their development wasn't satisfactory. The romance aspect of this book was focused more in the first half of the book whereas it wasn't exactly evident in the second half. The conflict resolution was not satisfactory, nor did it even make sense to me. The romance in here could have been so much better. I hate when the main characters have long periods of no dialogue with each other. Why? How does it make sense to do that? They're the main characters. They're the stars of the show. They're why we're here.

All in all, there were good parts and there were parts that made me want to stop reading altogether.

Kiran is making her Indian parents proud with a thriving career in NYC. She is a good daughter who obeys her parents and is sure she won't make the same mistakes as her older sister who brought shame upon the family. On the other hand, Nash has never had a family, having had absent parents, and has major abandonment issues. Either Kiran will disappoint her parents, or Nash will wind up alone. But what if they both follow their hearts?

I LOVED this book!!!!! It made me feel all the feels - which is one of my main criteria for a five star book. I smiled, laughed and cried with these characters and was able to really connect with them. Kiran comes from a really traditional family and while I do not, I know of friends who have similar situations and Sharma does a great job telling the story while helping the reader understand the cultural nuance.

Picking it up, I would have thought it's a typical rom-com but it is so much more than that. There are so many deeper and complex issues that are shared, and it is really educational on some aspects of the South Asian culture. We get #ownvoices perspectives for Kiran's friends who are from an Indian background, but born/raised in the Western world, and also Kiran who grew up in India.

I recommend this book to everyone!! Regardless of your taste in books, you will learn something or feel something while reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.