Award-winning author Sonali Dev writes Bollywood-style love stories that let her explore issues faced by women around the world while still indulging her faith in a happily ever after. Sonali's novels have been named best books of the year by NPR, Library Journal, the Washington Post, and Kirkus Reviews, and they regularly garner multiple starred reviews. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband, two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world's most perfect dog.
Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy to save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn't a complete screw-up. When she's asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She's a chef, what's the worst that could happen? Rico Silva, that's what. Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love only proves what Ashna has always believes: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster. World Cup-winning star Rico Silva isn't too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago was . . . complicated. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to himself that he's over her. But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce . . . and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will giving in to their intense connection again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion?
I've read Persuasion by Jane Austen twice before—and I have to say that, while it is critics' favorite of her novels, it probably is my least favorite of Austen's works. For those unfamiliar with Persuasion, it is not like Pride and Prejudice, in the sense that it's not a fun, lighter read. Persuasion is heavier, and deals with more mature themes—which Recipe for Persuasion does, too. Recipe for Persuasion is a loose retelling of Persuasion: the only major plot item it borrows is the old lovers reuniting trope, and the themes it takes on are heavier and the style of the novel deals heavily with balancing between the past and the present. However, after that, all bets are off, as Dev makes the rest of this story entirely her own. The contemporary setting and Dev's ability to concisely write her characters' feelings and experiences makes Ashna, Shobi, and Rico easier to relate to than Anne and Wentworth from Persuasion. This is also due to the fact that Dev incorporates multiple POVs between these three main characters, in their pasts as well as in the present, too. It makes the miscommunication and the different feelings easier to understand, which builds the tension right from the first few chapters.
Speaking of tensions, the best written one in the novel is the strife between Ashna and her mother, Shobi. While at first it seems like a typical "mother and daughter not seeing eye-to-eye" it becomes deeper as Dev reveals more information about Shobi's and Ashna's pasts. Dev takes a deep dive into how someone's culture can affect their relationships, and how someone's past can be built into their DNA with Shobi's story; and with Ashna's, we see how her relationship with her mother, father, and her culture has built her up into someone who can make the choices she does throughout the novel. There is an intricate web here that Dev has to balance throughout the book, at times making these characters say heartbreaking things, and at other times giving us hope that they might connect despite all of their differences. By including Shobi's point of view, we as readers have the ability to examine how culture affects attitude and choices (or understand why there is a lack of choices), and we also understand just how important Ashna's missed connection with Shobi is as Ashna's missed connection with Rico. Both are relevant to Ashna, and thus both are important to make the story well-rounded and complete.
Recipe for Persuasion is part of a series by Dev called The Rajes, following a family of Indian royalty after they've moved from India to California. This is something I hadn't been aware of when I picked Recipe for Persuasion (the second novel in the series) off the shelves and started reading. If you, like me, didn't notice this, you might feel like there's a little bit of extra focus on side characters that don't do much in the long run for this specific story—and that's because Dev is dropping hints from her other novels in the series, books that follow these side characters as their main characters. Dev is not the only romance writer writing in a series like this—Jasmine Guillory, my favorite romance novelist, has built an entire web of novels from the characters in her first novel, The Wedding Date. I highly recommend reading The Rajes books in order, just so that you can really fall in love with Dev's characters and get invested in the little cameos they make throughout the rest of the series—I wish I had read them in order, but even so, I can't wait to read the next books in the series!
Recipe for Persuasion is preceded by Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors and succeeded by Dev's newest release Incense and Sensibility. If you're a fan of Jane Austen, or really love Dev's writing style, go check those out! I know I will be!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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