Yup, the second in this series did not disappoint! I loved revisiting the Rajes and learning more about Ash; who will the next one be about???

The story moved quickly and it was great to see it tackle some, sensitive subjects. Yes, it pretty much only mentioned subjects, but 1. I was pretty impressed they even threw it in and 2. I didn’t want a heavy conversation about it anyways; I’m read froth and I don’t want sensitive subjects to harsh my vibe.

The Rajes return in this heartbreaking retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Inter-generational secrets conspire to keep young love apart, but this multilayered and emotional tale blooms with hope.

Sonali Dev does not disappoint in her newest book, Recipe for Persuasion. In this novel you get the point of view of the characters from her previous books, Ashna Raje. This novel is charming and funny. There are some very sad moments as the characters reflect on their pasts but ultimately come to understand each other better. I plan to read this again the next time I need a fun beach read.

I really loved this book - it was one that I found myself telling people about it as I was reading it. I absolutely love Sonali Dev's frame of a Dancing with the Stars-esque cooking competition was such an inspired choice! You really get drawn in to the story right away, and drawn into Ashna's struggle over cooking for so many people, and cooking recipes other than her father's menu. Rico was such a lovely foil for her - daring, charming, and outgoing when she cannot be. However, as the book gets along, there are some darker themes present, and some situations that definitely merit a trigger warning. It didn't affect how much I enjoyed the book, but I can absolutely see how some of those situations could catch someone off guard. All in all, this book kept the pace going, and kept me glued to the pages every step of the way. I'd definitely recommend it for folks who love, Austen, cooking, and family dramas.

Simply charming. Also, and perhaps importantly, it's inspired me to go make myself a curry, so may say has improved dramatically.

I like Sonali Dev's approach to writing Indian families and this book is a classic example of how she manages to capture all the flavors of India as well as integrate it seamlessly into a diverse romance/family drama in an American setting. I loved the second chance romance (even though it's not typically my thing) and the narratives of past & present as well as the history of Ashna, her parents & Rico are captured beautifully through multiple perspectives that adds interest without breaking the flow of the read - I ended up reading it at one shot. The premise of a celebrity cooking show takes backstage to the characters and their motivations and the feelings of the protagonists are vivid. Ashna & Rico grow on you as does Shobhi, as you see their minds & motivations open up. Read it for a well done diverse romance with interesting characters - irrespective of whether or not you are a Jane Austen fan. Now I'm going to go find the author's other books and re-read!

I really loved Recipe for Persuasion! It did a good job of adapting Jane Austen's Persuasion in a modern way. In any adaptation, you already know what's going to happen. Recipe for Persuasion did a great job of keeping things refreshing with the relationship with the mom and the competitions for the TV show. The characters remained true to the original novel. I have already picked up one of Dev's previous books. This is a fabulous book which will please any Jane Austen fan. I think the cover is eye-catching and it jumped out at me.

Sonali Dev has become a "must read" author for me, and I am so enamored with her series honoring Jane Austen with a contemporary spin. A Recipe for Persuasion is delightful for the mind and the palate. You will be hungry while reading this book and will want delicious Indian food.

Chef Ashna Raje and soccer star Rico Silva are high school sweethearts reunited for a reality TV cooking show and their chemistry is sizzling. We are reunited with characters we came to love from Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.

Many thanks to Sonali Dev, William Morrow, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Recipe for Persuasion is a far stronger book than Dev's first title (Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors). Ashna and Rico are much more approachable protagonists, and the jump between the two characters is much smoother than the first. What I love about Dev is how ambitious of a writer she is, from the unapologetic diversity (and South Asian representation) in this series, to how she normalizes the issues most of us face, but never read in our books. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I look forward to her next Austen adaptation.

First of all, I love the cover. I know we cannot judge a book by the cover, but in this case I am glad I did! The premise of the book where celebrities and professional chefs team up to battle on a Food Network show was enough to get me to pick up the book but I was wowed at how the author incorporated so many levels of love and loss in this uplifting romance. I would recommend this title to fans of Jasmine Guillory’s books. As a librarian, I am often asked for books featuring Indian characters and I will definitely recommend this title.

I LOVE Jane Austen retellings… when done well. And Sonali Dev doesn’t just do them well, she does them fantastic.

Recipe for Persuasion is witty and emotional and skillfully layered with bright, complicated characters. I loooved it.

What makes the books in The Rajes series so special is how faithful they are to the spirit of the original stories and how they’re are infused with the beauty and nuance of a variety of vibrant cultures. If you’re someone who avoids “retellings” because they’re too predictable, that’s not an issue here. The stories feel familiar but also brand new. Which is everything you could want in a Jane Austen inspired series. I can’t wait for book three!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recipe for Persuasion is far more than just a second chance romance, I know that it's a modern take on Persuasion by Jane Austen that bills itself as a rom-com, in all honesty, it doesn't feel like there is much about it that's comedy (the original is far more about the family drama). Ashna and Rico's relationship was a big part of the story, but a bigger part of the story was Ashna's broken relationship with her mom and the fall out of her dad's alcoholism even after his death. It took me longer than usual to read this one because it has quite a bit of heavy content. The guilt and baggage that comes with one alcoholic parent and being abandoned by the other parent were extremely accurate, my heart was so incredibly broken for Ashna. While Rico has a rough backstory as well, it didn't stick out quite as much to me, maybe because we see so much more of Ashna's family. I think it's a decent modern-day adaptation, which can be hard to do. If you're a fan of the original you'll definitely enjoy this version.

I liked Sonali Dev's first book in The Rajes series, so I was very excited to get a Netgalley ARC of Recipe for Persuasion. I was not disappointed. I enjoyed getting Shobi's POV as well as Ashna and Rico and learning about her backstory as well as the shared story of our main couple. I also loved the cooking show aspect- as someone who has been watching more cooking shows lately, it was fun to read about one. I appreciate how Dev handled Ashna's panic attacks and how it isn't Rico that magically cures them, but it is Ashna's own self-work that helps her manage them. I think the only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read is that we only really got to see Ashna and Rico's great love there at the end. It was talked about and kind of hedged around throughout the story but we didn't get to actually see very much of it, just memories and ponderings about it

It's another Hit for this author! It was absolutely amazing. Just like Jane Austen's persuasion, I got so frustrated with attitudes of the protagonists not looking at each other and not seeing each other for who they really are, but sometimes misunderstanding deserves a second chance..... and I'm glad the characters got there's.

I really loved Sonali Dev's first book "Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors" and I was very excited to read the next book in the Raje family story. I was not disappointed, this was an outstanding book! It's a loose retelling of the Jane Austen classic "Persuasion".

The story focuses on Ashna, the Raje family cousin and owner/chef of Curried Dreams, the restaurant that her father devoted his life to. Ashna enters a cooking competition to highlight her restaurant and hopefully win enough money to do a restaurant remodel. Unbeknownst to her, the celebrity partner she has to cook with is her old boyfriend Frederico Silva, who is now an international soccer star.

Dev is a fabulous writer, and you can easily imagine her characters as friends. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was work. It was a very heavy story that plodded along at a arduous pace for me. If you're looking for a light-hearted and uplifting romance this is not the book for you.

It IS well written, but just too serious and heavy to be characterized as a "romance". I would call this a heavy drama with a touch of a love story.

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

I really, really like Jane Austen retellings. Particularly if they retain the blend of humor and drama that makes me like Austen in the first place – in the battle of literary ladies, I’m firmly Team Jane. No Bronte sister can breach this fortress of certainty. So getting a new Austen interpretation – of Persuasion, no less, one of the less-tackled plots! – was a delight. Even more delightful is the moment when the book manages to SELF-REFERENCE being a Persuasion retelling without it even being awkward. WELL-PLAYED.

Reading this book feels like wrapping yourself up in one of those extremely plush Sherpa blankets and curling up on a leather couch in a sunroom where the windows look out onto the kind of day that looks absolutely beautiful but is definitely too cold to go out in so you’re making the absolute right choice to stay inside and read. That might be an overly specific metaphor.

But for real, this book is cozy and comfortable to read even when it’s taking on serious stuff – there’s PTSD, there’s neglect, Major Childhood Issues on all sides, plus some of the truly excellent mother-daughter make-you-cry scenes that Sonali Dev is just, like, universally amazing at. Even as the story plunges back and forth in time – in different POVs, even! – it’s still so easy to read. Every setting is so lushly, gorgeously described that it made me feel guilty about my own writing and its inadequacies, but the settings are put together so deftly that you never feel like the narrative voice is lingering on descriptive stuff. This is what literature SHOULD feel like. If Madame Bovary had read like this, my English degree would have been a lot less painful to obtain, is all I’m saying.
Ashna and Rico have careers, backgrounds, and lifestyles that are wildly incomprehensible to yours truly (listen, my suburban stay-at-home ass has no business on a football pitch OR in mountainous palaces OR in LA, let’s be real), but they’re incredibly relatable people. The book starts off with an examination of Ashna’s panic attacks, but we don’t get into their root causes – and neither does Ashna – until some personal growth happens.

My absolute favorite thing about this book is the way that both Rico and Ashna explore their own traumas, willingly or unwillingly. They’ve both had a LOT go on in their lives, and both have reached a point in their adulthood where it’s time for some self-awareness before they can move forward. We get to learn about their past slowly, and the threads of their stories are woven carefully into the entire book. There’s bits that make sense to begin with but make even more sense later – just as they do when you’re exploring your own mental stuff. Watching Ashna, in particular, learn to accommodate her own trauma and gently begin the process of making needed changes in her life was really rewarding. Almost everyone I know in their thirties is going through some self-evaluation, rewriting the mental scripts they thought they understood, and this was a really relatable thing to read.

And of course, you’re not going to get a book review out of me without some squee-ing about family. Ashna’s fam is delightful, her aunt and cousins in particular. They bring a lot of love (and the necessary lighthearted moments) to a story that could be painful if it wasn’t approached with care. And Rico! Let’s talk about Rico and how much he adores Ashna. A really delightful part of this m/f romance is that it doesn’t take very long for Rico to get over himself and acknowledge just how much he is absolutely head over heels for Ashna. And then the WAY that he loves her – understanding what she needs on every level from emotional to physical – is fantastic. He’s a really great guy (and also soccer players have the best butts, it is a truth universally acknowledged, so…).

PS: Is this book perfect? No. There’s almost no resolution to Rico’s own childhood issues, and Ashna is not nearly as good at recognizing their impact on him as he is at dealing with hers. At one point she’s pretty callous about it, actually, and there isn’t any further exploration of it because it’s buried in the resolution of all of their other lingering issues. I do feel confident that it’s something they might conceivably work out later on in their relationship, though – there’s only so much that can fit into one book, and timeline-wise there’s got to be a happy ending to end on, right? There’s also plenty of handwavery covering the reality show and its workings that people who are Big Fans of that sort of thing will probably complain about – I’m not one of them, and frankly for what is supposed to be the central plot device there’s not actually a lot of time spent on the show itself, which is fine by me. The version I read was an ARC – it might be nice to put in some kind of formatting distinction or chapter heading for the chapters that are jumps back in time – I was able to figure it out pretty quickly, but there was always a sense that I was figuring it out, which takes away from the immersion of reading that this book is so, so good at. But I’m not expecting perfection out of the things I read – what I got out of this was enough to write about, which was a sensation of comfort that isn’t always present in the stuff I read, and I really, really liked the feeling.

This Jane Austen inspired contemporary romance novel was a decent, uniquely written diverse-filled read that left me pleasantly surprised on how much I didn't completely hate it. Sure Ashna estranged mother Shobj annoyed me like no other but the rekindle romance between Ansha and Rico made up for it. Overall, it was not a bad read and would definitely keep this author on my radar for future releases.

I don't know why I always forget how angsty Sonali Dev's books are...but I always do. This, however, is not a criticism. Her writing, with its lush voice and rich sensory details, suits the levels of angst her plots provide.

RECIPE is the second book in the Rajes series. Since it's a family saga, it might be a bit better to have read PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS first, but I think it's not necessary. The book stands very well on its own. I am a sucker for a good modern update of classic works, and PERSUASION is my favorite Austen, so this was entirely my catnip. Also, her books will *always* make you hungry with their descriptions of delicious food.

Content warnings: [suicide, marital rape]

As much as I love Pride & Prejudice, the book just doesn't update well. (I'm posting a review soon of a spectacular P&P fail.) So many of the elements of the story don't work out of context. Seduction of underage girls, the importance of one sibling's marriage on the family's fortunes, how many families one dines with, fine eyes... stuff just hits different now.

Persuasion, however, is, in many ways, a much easier tale to update. A young woman too sensitive to her family's censure, a young man whose wounded pride demands satisfaction, and a second chance to regain what they'd once lost. The challenge with Persuasion is to reproduce one of the great, if unsung, romantic heroes. If your Wentworth doesn't make a reader swoon, what even is the point?

All this to say, Sonali Dev gets this one right. I was half in love with both Ashna and Rico by the end of the first quarter.

Ashna Raje, <a href="https://cannonballread.com/2020/01/pride-prejudice-and-other-flavors-jenny-s/">cousin to Trisha Raje</a>, is struggling to save her late father's once glorious restaurant. The shy Ashna is running out of options, so when her friend is looking for a chef to fill in on a pro-am reality cooking show, Ashna goes for it.

Frederico Silva has suffered an IT band injury that has put an end to his outstanding football (soccer, you heathens) career. Casting about for something to do with the rest of his life, he decides it's time to get closure from the girl who broke his teenage heart. What better way to do that than to use his fame to force his way onto the reality show?

Like Anne Eliot before her, Ashna's childhood was anything but happy. Her father was an irresponsible alcoholic prince kicked out of his country for breaking the law too many times. Her ambitious mother chafed at her loveless marriage and abandoned the family when Ashna was young. Throughout the book, Ashna is trying to find a way to heal from these traumas. Rico's return is one more wound on the pile.

Dev tells the story from multiple perspectives, and across the years. We see Ashna as a child, witnessing her parents dysfunctional relationship. Shoban as a young woman forced to marry a spoiled prince, then as an older woman trying to reconcile with the daughter she left behind. Rico gets the short shrift: he still hurts from Ashna's youthful rejection, but the story is less concerned with his past than his present.

If I had a complaint, and I truly don't, it would only be that Rico doesn't write his Wentworth note. However, I don't blame Dev one bit for not wanting to compete with that.

This might be my absolute favorite Austen retelling. It makes me want to re-read both the original and this version. I definitely recommending pre-ordering this to read as soon as it comes out.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.