This is my first book by Sajni Patel. I love the way she gives you a lot of information about the culture itself and the expectations families in this culture put on their children, which allows you to know only know who the characters are, but why they are the way they are!

Isha is a college graduate (finally! It took a few attempts!) and at 28 is living with her parents again. Her family wants her to follow in the same career path as her father and brother, but Isha has other ideas. She is desperately trying to find her big break as a scriptwriter, feeling her family's disappointment in her every step of the way. She knows she just needs her script to hit the right hands and things will fall into place.

Isha is a bit of a mess, but in an endearing sort of way that had me rooting for her all along, and doesn't always make the best decisions.

I adored her relationship with her cousin, Rohan, and their love and support of each other. They banter like a brother and sister and understand the pressure the other is put under by family. Their relationship was probably my favorite part of the book.

When Rohan invites her along to a local bar for a much needed night out to blow off some steam. He tells her that Matthew McConaughey, her former professor at University of Texas and well ... I mean - Matthew McConaughey, alright, alright, alright - may be there, she decides she is going to get him to read her script no matter what she has to do! With some liquid courage under her belt, Isha takes us on a wild ride as she attempts to do just that.

While at the bar, she also meets bartender Tarik (aka "Thirst Trap"), who catches her eye and turns her head. Let's just say the evening wasn't dull between a clown, a bar fight, and other bizarre drunken moments. I liked that romance was a part of the story but not THE entire story.

I would describe this as more of a personal growth and family growth story, with some romance in the mix! We see Isha be down on herself, and it was enjoyable to watch her try to figure out her path in life and find herself along the way. It's very different from many books I've read and Isha made me feel a range of emotions. I will definitely be checking out more books by this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

From the very beginning, I was drawn in to the backstory and conversational writing. It reads immediately like your best friend telling you how her day went. At 25%, I realized I hadn’t stopped grinning since the book began—and I was both loving the writing and cracking up multiple times. Isha and her life are completely relatable and out of control in the best, most normal way possible. The banter is ::chef’s kiss:: The It references? Love them.

And then…Matthew McConaughey enters the plot. Kind of. Things stay light, but manage to dive into serious topics that so many of us struggle with. Family, mental health, rejection (the fear of), making one’s own way in the world, disappointing others, etc. The author covers all of those with lightheartedness and still manages to give them the respect and weight they deserve.

What a wonderful read. If you enjoy a fast-paced, coming-of-age contemporary novel, pick this one up.

Rating - 3.75 stars

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Isha, who wants to be a screenwriter. She is ambitious, yet she is only a disappointment to her family. One of the main relationships that stand out in the book is between Isha and her cousin, Rohan. Their dynamic was so cute and I loved how supportive they were of each other. There were a lot of relatable moments, especially with the family's expectations of having a stable career. The romance takes a back seat in the story. Tarik was an adorable love interest but I really wished to learn more about him. Isha's drunken shenanigans were fun to read about. I really felt for her when she went into a dark hole after facing failure after failure. It was good to see how she slowly believed in herself and didn't give up on her dreams. Overall, this was a solid rom-com that will surely bring a smile to your face.

I get quite a kick out of this trend with books name dropping celebrities as part of their plot. Isha is trying to run into Matthew McConaughey to get him to back her script. She did take a film class from in college so not as stalker ish as it sounds. Her parents think her life choices are poor and it’s time she gets a real job. He’s her last chance to break into the entertainment industry.

It’s part romance, I think I like “Thirst-trap” her love interest, part life drama, a little bit of a study in Indian families and my favorite part is the Thelma and Louise type friendship of Isha and her younger cousin Rohan. He’s so supportive and willing to do just about anything for her.

I do wish it was a little funnier and a little more focused, but I enjoyed the distraction from the thrillers I so love to read.

4.5 stars. This one just made my heart happy as I saw so much of myself in Isha. This is a book about being a mess but finding beauty and yourself in the chaos which is how I feel my life is. This is one of the most fun non stop rides of a book as Isha chases after Matthew Mcconahey. This truly just feels so cinematic and I just adore this book. Overall I loved this coming of age in a time of chaos and finding yourself. Thank you to Berkley for the arc.

This book was incredible! When I started this, I thought it was YA, but it is one of Sajni Patel's adult novels. This book is all about Isha, who wants to be a screenwriter. She is so ambitious, yet her family is not quite supportive of her career choice because she's lowkey failing at being a screenwriter. I loved how this book explored her "failure" of not being able to sell her script to directors, or even agents at times. This was a book about stuff that many South Asian families don't talk about, but I'm sure many experience.

I stuck with this one until 35%. Isha and I just couldn’t find compatibility.

Well written, with humor and Gen Z characters.

Just not for me.

3.5

There was a lot to like here, but most in the relationship between Isha and her cousin. The romance took a decided back seat to the sometimes too-cringy moments that I think were supposed to be funny. The child of an alcoholic, I don't find drunk-shenanigans at all entertaining, so I guess I should say, "a potentially fun book but not for me."

I didn’t love this one. I felt like this was a YA story but about a 28 year old. Ishas antics were a little much for me. Not a bad book, just not the one for me.

I am loving this recent trend of celebrities who are appearing in romance books. Isha Unscripted immediately made me think of How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days. But back to the book at hand, one of the immediate things I loved was the relationship between Isha and her cousin. The ways in which you'll protect them at all costs and, especially Isha, wonder if you're being a good mentor to them. If you're being someone they can look up to, be themselves around. If you love those kinds of family relationship, a banding of two black sheep together, then you have to read Isha Unscripted.

Their relationship remains close knit and entirely endearing and only becomes even more so as the book continues. But let's talk about Isha. On the one hand, she's having a truly rough go of it. Yet on another, entirely too relatable note, she's struggling. She not only feels the intense disappointment of her parents, but the reality that the dream she has, the things she loves to do, just might not be in the cards for her. As anyone who has had to go through a career change, Isha Unscripted is for you.

This was a quick read when you skim majority of the story as it’s not that compelling. I just cannot get behind this kind of main character, hell I agreed with her parents scolding. Maybe Patel’s sense of humor and Isha’s wacky hijinks will work for other readers but this book wasn’t for me. The romance, a secondary storyline, didn’t work either. How many times did I have to read “thirst trap bartender” - too many.

Thank you Berkeley for the advance reader copy.

Isha wants to be a screenwriter, but her parents are ready for her to pursue a more “real” career. She decides to take one last shot at getting her script out there. But when a meeting with producers goes badly, her cousin Rohan convinces her to give it one more chance. They devise a plan to find Matthew McConaughey, who happened to be one of her professors in college, at a local bar and get him to read her screenplay. However, the plan doesn’t go as planned and turns into more of an adventure than Isha could have ever anticipated.
Being in my early thirties, I can very much remember and relate to those days in my mid-twenties where I had no clue where my life was going and I was just trying to navigate adulting. With this book, Sanji Patel really captured that contradiction of feeling lost in life while also feeling like anything is possible. I loved Isha and Rohan’s relationship and how they unconditionally supported each other. Everyone needs a hype man like Rohan in their lives. Isha’s journey of finding her path, paired with her friendship with Rohan and the sprinkle of romance with a bartender she calls “Thirst Trap” made this book such a fun read.
Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the advance copy and to @berittalksbooks and @dg_reads for the buddy read!

ISHA UNSCRIPTED - SAJNI PATEL
4⭐
PLOT - Isha Patel needs a break. She wants her script to hit the right people but things don't go as planned and only person who doesn't give up on her is her cousin Rohan, esp when her family is behind her to give up her ambition of screen writing and take up any available job.
It's Rohan who helps her to hook up with a pitch session with none other than Matthew McConaughey who taught her at UT. But chasing him isn't easy with lots of unexpected events .But can Isha hold onto her dream or is she ready to face her future and the reality of life?
MY THOUGHTS
This was a fun read with many LOL moments.
I especially enjoyed Isha and Rohans relationship..they truly "got" each other and no matter what had each other's back..a sibling relationship which everyone should have.
Though Isha is 28 her "adult" coming of age ..realising her dream and potential along with how parental expectations esp Indian parents affect their children was quite deftly done.
Being a Gujrati myself ..I enjoyed all the Gujju references namely "Dayo", "Ben" and who can forget DABELI - Indian Street food. ( I actually made DABELI for dinner after reading this one)
Overall I enjoyed this read
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I felt this was more of a YA audience targeted book There was too much focus on drinking and partying and a lot of repetitiveness. . It didn’t work for me.

What fun!!! This is a terrific rom-com with a wonderful premise and utterly charming characters you are rooting for as you race through the pages hoping Isha's dreams come true. This so should be a movie.

At age 28, Isha knows she’s going to get her big break in the movie industry, especially with this amazing script she wrote. But when her pitch falls through the cracks, she finds herself embarking on this journey to connect with her former professor, Matthew McConaughey. Her adventure (or should I say misadventure) leads her to embarrassing moments, unfortunate events, and a blooming romance with the thirst trap bartender. But, what about the familial expectations she also needs to uphold?

Plenty of com, but not enough rom! As a fan of Sajni Patel’s books, I enjoyed her writing, storytelling, but didn’t connect with this one as much as I’d wanted! I loved that Isha had a great, supportive, do-or-die cousin bff and of course loved her interactions with the thirst trap bartender. I was also hoping her family would turn around. Regardless, it was a fun, adventurous, adult coming-of-age story.

Thank you @berkleyromance @prhaudio for a copy of this book. I have mixed emotions on this book.

Here's what I liked:
- how supportive Isha and Rohan was with each other's dreams
- the idea of expectations from your family

Here's what I didn't like:
- Isha just kept making not so smart decisions over and over
- it seems like it was a 90s comedy - drunk people doing stupid things

The romance is pretty light on this and I needed that to be more developed. I can't imagine someone being interested in the other person when all the interactions is when Isha is drunk.

Pub date: 2/14/23
Genre: ownvoices, fiction with romantic elements
Quick summary: Isha's family has never understood her passion for film - and after her latest pitch goes awry, she'll do anything to get her script into local hero Matthew McConaughey's hands.

This book made me laugh, and I found Isha's passion for film really endearing! I think we can all relate to the difficulty associated with going against parental expectations, but Isha's situation was way more difficult. I was expecting more of a romcom, but this story is more about Isha's career and fight for what she wants, however swoonworthy her bartender love interest was.

If you enjoy crazy night out stories and slapstick comedy, this is a fun one to pick up!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and @letstalkbookspromo for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✍️ Book Review ✍️

Thanks to @berkleyromance for early access to this book.

Isha, Unscripted (publishes on Feb 14, 2023) is about Isha trying to figure out her career which feels relatable. I felt like this was more a women's fiction read than romance as the primary focus was on Isha and her career trajectory and the romance was the secondary story.

I loved her relationship with her very supportive cousin and that she had someone to turn to when her parents were less understanding of her life choices.

I loved the love interest here, the bartender who was so capable and steady, a good foil for Isha who was still a work-in-progress.

This book is for folks who love an adventure comedy like Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle of books like How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days. The humor and situations in this book are similarly over the top and outrageous for comedic effect.

For me, this isn't what I look for in a read. I like for comedy in books to be high in witty banter vs zany antics, so this didn't work for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Isha, Unscripted was the perfect read for me at this present moment. I’ve been going through a lot on the personal side of things, and I wanted something a little fun. But it also left me feeling seen, especially in terms of the journey Isha goes through.
Like me, Isha is a writer (albeit in a different field) and she’s really been struggling to make something of her life. She’s also an incredibly chaotic person, and one I couldn’t help but smile and sympathize with as she fumbled through life.
And while I’m not South Asian, the “take any job” convo has absolutely come up with my parents (albeit under different circumstances). And I can totally relate to that feeling of being expected to be an adult, while still being treated like a child by your parents at times.
I also love the general theme of the book being about Isha’s friendship/bond with her cousin Rohan (“Brohan”). I love how both of them don’t really fit the traditional mold, and that they support each other even when others don’t.
The one weak spot is the romance. This book is marketed and categorized as a romance, despite the fact the book focused more on Isha’s own personal arc. There is a romantic subplot, but I can’t tell you very much about Tarik, beyond the fact that he’s generally pretty successful in life, as a contrast to Isha’s constant failures. It was charming that he tended to be present at her lowest moments and was nonetheless interested in her, but I can’t say I was super interested in him in his own right.
Even so, the other aspects were strong enough for me to forgive this one aspect, although I would caution other readers to not go in expecting the romance to be too prominent. With that in mind, if you enjoy diverse contemporaries about finding oneself and navigating familial expectations, I would recommend you give this a try.