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Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma combines food and dance in this comforting story about finding yourself. With mouthwatering descriptions of food, exciting dance scenes, and two complex main characters, this book checks many boxes for me. I especially enjoyed the realistic family dynamics and both Radha’s and Jai’s grapple with family expectations. This is an entertaining read that is filled with culture and charm.
Title: Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance Author: Nisha Sharma
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Publication Date: July 31, 2021
Rating:
To All the Boys I Loved Before meets World of Dance in this delectable love story that combines food, dance, and a hint of drama to cook up the perfect romance.
Radha is on the verge of becoming one of the greatest Kathak dancers in the world . . . until a family betrayal costs her the biggest competition of her life. Now, she has left her Chicago home behind to follow her stage mom to New Jersey. At the Princeton Academy of the Arts, Radha is determined to leave performing in her past, and reinvent herself from scratch.
Jai is captain of the Bollywood Beats dance team, ranked first in his class, and an overachiever with no college plans. Tight family funds means medical school is a pipe dream, which is why he wants to make the most out of high school. When Radha enters his life, he realizes she's the exact ingredient he needs for a show-stopping senior year.
With careful choreography, both Radha and Jai will need to face their fears (and their families) if they want a taste of a happily ever after.
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma
One of the greatest Kathak dancers in the world, Radha has always found joy through dance. However, when she learns that her mother played a role in some of her competition wins, Radha quits dance and transfers to a new school, searching for a new beginning. At the Princeton Academy of the Arts, she meets Jai, the captain of Bollywood Beats, a dance team urgently in need of a new choreographer, and if Radha agrees to choreograph for them, she’ll have a way out of performing. However, as the school’s showcase draws near, both Radha and Jai must face their fears in order to find true happiness.
❀ Realistic Main Characters
Both Radha and Jai are realistic characters, and their internal conflicts are well-written. I really felt for Radha as she loses both her love for dance and her confidence in the face of her mother’s betrayal. Healing from this is not easy, but I was touched by her search for happiness in other places, like cooking, and her slow rediscovery of her joy for dance. While Radha struggles to find her passion again, Jai is hesitant to chase his own dream of med school as his family is unable to afford college. As both characters work to create a show stopping performance, they slowly start to fall in love and trust each other, and I loved watching them find happiness together.
❀ Strong Family Theme
One of my favourite parts about this book is the theme of family. As Radha finds a new hobby in cooking, she starts to reconnect with her father and other relatives, and I adored the author’s emphasis on both food and dance as a means of bringing people together. Jai’s dynamic with his family is also complex, and I really empathized with him as he feels guilty about wanting to go to college. As his family needs his help running their store, his decision to leave is not an easy one, and he insists that he is happy to stay at home even if it means putting his dream on hold. I always enjoy reading about family, so I was happy to see two different and well-written family dynamics in this book.
❀ Inspiring Story
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma is an inspiring story about family and following your dreams. I loved the blend of dancing and cooking, and both main characters are complex. The family dynamics are especially well-developed, making this a great read for those looking for a feel-good read with realistic family relationships.
About Nisha Sharma
Nisha Sharma grew up on Bollywood movies, eighties classics, and romance novels, so it comes as no surprise that her first novel My So-Called Bollywood Life (Crown 2018) , features all three.
Nisha credits her father for her multiple graduate degrees, and her mother for her love of Shah Rukh Khan and Jane Austen. She lives in Pennsylvania with her cat Lizzie Bennett and her dog Nancey Drew. You can find her online at nisha-sharma.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @nishawrites.
About The Candid Cover
Olivia ❀ Canadian YA book blogger, Starbucks lover, & professional bibliophile.
Great review, Olivia! I love that the characters are realistic and that the conflicts are well-written. It’s not something you can find in every book you read.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: 365 Days of Gutsy Women by Rosemary Roenfanz
So true! 🙂
I totally believe that food brings us together and is an important element of family and culture, so that aspect of the book is really interesting to me!
I couldn’t agree more! 🙂
Love this review! I love books, also, that have a strong family theme. I enjoy romance–but when there’s family that supports the main characters–I LOVE that!
Thanks, Christine! I think so, too! 🙂
OMG I need that book now! Dance, food , bollywood star. Yes please!
HA! You will love it, Sophie! 🙂
This book wasn’t even on my radar until I read this review. I’m loving all the dynamics and complexities you talked about in it. Realistic characters and conflicts are always a plus.
There’s a lot to love about this one! I hope that you enjoy it if you give it a try! 🙂
Thanks for the great review! I’m putting this on my reading list.
Yay!! I hope that you love it! 🙂
Great review! It sounds like a really interesting and inspiring story.
Thank you! It sure is! 🙂
I enjoyed reading this review. This book sounds like a fun read and the cover is great.
I love that cover so much! 🙂
The book cover looks nice, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Cute cover
I agree! 🙂
Looks like a good book for Spring reading.
Thanks for the review.
It is perfect for a spring TBR! 🙂
This sounds absolutely lovely! I love that the characters have so much depth to them!
It is a wonderful book! 🙂
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance sounds like a book my granddaughter will enjoy! Thanks for sharing your review and have a super day!
Thanks, Eva! 🙂
I always enjoy Sharma’s books because they are set in the area where I live, but also because of that focus on family and friendship, and in this case, food and dance.
So many great aspects to this one! 🙂
Sounds like a nice book
sounds fun
This one sounds so good! Any book with food in it is a winner for me usually. Great review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Review: With This Fling (Summersweet Island #5) by Tara Sivec
I love foodie books, too! 🙂
this looks and sounds so sweet! will love to learn about the food too