I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
2.5 stars. This sounded amazing (the title and the cover are on point, and it's not very easy to get that in romance novels) but I was really disappointed.
The writing was extremely repetitive and the plot dragged unnecessarily. I think these 350 pages could have easily been diminished to 200.
The romance was well established and everything had a reason, and that was well explained, but even though it was told many times that there was a lot of chemistry between the couple, I didn't really feel that.
The book had too many indian words and no glossary. Even though the words didn't make it impossible to understand the meaning of the sentences, it still made me lose interest.
Besides all of this I liked the anxiety representation (I have it too, so I felt understood), and the race and racial problems representation (even though I'm white and can't actually say if it was well written or not).

Preeti's history with Daniel intrigued me so much when I read The Trouble With Hating You. So I was really excited to see their story in First Love, Take Two.

It's been six years since Preeti dumped Daniel. Now he's back in Houston, and both of them find the same temporary place to live. It's interesting reading a second chance romance where the POV is entirely from the perspective of the person who was in the wrong and broke both their hearts. I think reading in her voice made it much easier for me to like her and understand her. What I always love about second chance relationships is how we learn about their love and history. Theirs was especially deep.

Preeti has anxiety, and she decides to get treatment for it. The discussion of mental health and the stigma against treatment both in her culture and in her professional community was so powerful. I really appreciated the author's note at the beginning, which included content warnings that I have reproduced below. Forever has always been great about including those on sheets for reviewers, and I am so pleased to see them moving in to the beginning of books as well.

This is such a beautiful and emotional story.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: Anxiety, racism, fetal death

4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you so much to Forever for providing me with an eArc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Book Triggers: Sexual assault (mentioned), racism, anxiety, pregnancy complications, depression, heart attack, cancer

From the minute I read the description, I was extremely excited to read First Love, Take Two. The book is a second-chance romance with the forced proximity trope as well the one bed trope.

Preeti and Daniel's relationship was well written. They represented such a healthy relationship even when they were discussing what happened in the past that led to their abrupt breakup. The healthy relationship being represented is extremely important to me because we often see a lot of toxic relationships in romance books. While I loved reading about their relationship, I loved learning more about Preeti, individually as a character, even more.

Unlike The Trouble With Hating You, this book was written only in Preeti's POV. I loved reading Preeti's character development through the book. Preeti deals with touch aversion, anxiety, and depression. In my opinion, her relationship with herself was better written than her relationship with Daniel. It was amazing to see how she went from being someone who blamed herself when it wasn't herself to standing up to the people who have actually caused problems.

There was so much to love about Daniel Thompson. He has very quickly made into my top love interests I have read. However, I found myself wanting to learn more about him and his character. I do think this stems from the fact that we don't get to see Daniel's POV in the book.

While this book is a romance, there is so much more to it. Something I have always loved about Sajni Patel"s books is how she always addresses problems within the South Asian community. First Love, Take Two not only addresses the stigma around mental health but also deals with the racism and anti-blackness in the community. As I mentioned before Preeti has amazing character development and that relates to the topic of mental health discussed in the book. I loved how Preeti's character went from addressing her own mental health issues to her helping her mother learn that anxiety is nothing to be embarrassed about.

I loved this book, but I did find myself getting bored a little bit through the middle hence the four stars. The other critique I had was that it was sometimes hard to follow what was happening, There was jumping around that didn't necessarily make sense to me. All that aside, I would definitely recommend this book to those who love contemporary romances.

I'm a sucker for a second chance romance, and after reading the first book in this series, I just knew I would love First Love, Take Two.

What I love about Patel's writing style is how she seems to effortlessly balance the good + bad in her character's relationships, making them seem so relatable and realistic to me. After getting glimpses of Preeti and Daniel's story in the first book, The Trouble With Hating You, I could not WAIT for this title!

If I didn't already fall in love with this book, I highly recommend checking out the authors acknowledgements and Q&As, both for readers and questions for her at the back of the book. As someone who strongly believes in connecting with authors beyond the page, the amount of heartwarming LOVE I felt for the creation of this title after reading it was strongly enhanced hearing these answers! What she says, "Racism is reality," had me cheering on Sajni and every PoC author I've ever had the pleasure of reading and getting to know.

How she wove her thoughts and feelings into the story of Daniel and Preeti was inspirational, and I loved that not only did we get to see more of what can be a toxic culture based community, but that ANY of us can be so much more than what we are born into. That hope that LOVE can overcome anything, which I find so important in the romance genre -- this book was a perfect example of a diverse story getting that much deserved happily ever after we're all looking for.

On top of the great story she created, Patel also does something incredible showing us Preeti's struggle with her mental illness, and how Daniel, her friends, family and community impact her everyday. I am SO glad to have read this book, and seen everything portrayed in a way I haven't often seen in other books. Absolutely cannot wait to read even more from her in the future, I'm a forever fan!

First Love, Take Two is a beautiful second chance romance and THE TENSION is unmatched! I really enjoyed how this book touched on so many very real topics that don’t get mentioned a lot. This story touched on mental health/anxiety, racism, cultural differences, and many more and it was done in such an intelligent and compassionate way. Preeti showed so much growth and I am obsessed with everything about this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Sajni Patel, and Forever (Grand Central) Publishing for sending me a free ARC copy of First Love, Take Two in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book by Sajni Patel! I read her work previously with The Trouble With Hating You and was so excited to be approved for the next book in the series. This book follows Preeti and Daniel’s relationship story and their lingering attraction for one another after a bad break-up six years prior. After much time apart, they are thrown together in a complicated living situation and sparks seem to reignite!

The chemistry & banter between Preeti and Daniel was off the charts, however, I would have liked to see a bit more romance. A lot of the focus was on how Preeti and Daniel had grown and current obstacles they were facing rather than on the romantic and steamy scenes, which would have helped to solidify why they were still right for one another after all that time apart. I do think they Patel did a great job with showing us small glimpses of their past relationship, which allowed us to see why they were so in love. I loved that this novel had BIPOC main characters and also touched on the important subjects of racism, sexism, and mental health. The writing was wonderful and overall storyline was solid. Tears were shed and some laughs were had during this read!

I would definitely recommend First Love, Take Two to friends and family. I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first in the series and I can’t wait for the next one!

First Love, Take Two was a book I took a chance on. I normally don’t enjoy second chance romances, but since this had the additional trope of forced proximity, I figured that this might still be a book that I enjoyed. And I’m really glad that I gave this one a chance.

This book follows Preeti,whose roommate just got married, leaving Preeti needing to find a new place to live quickly before her roommate returns from her honeymoon and her new husband moves in to her old place. Unfortunately, she’s out of time and options when a friend offers her place for a few months. There’s just one catch. Preeti’s first love and ex, Daniel, is going to be living there too. Preeti broke his heart six years ago, but Daniel is determined to find out why. And since the two of them are now living together, there’s also the potential for them to get back together, as long as they can ensure that the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated.

Let’s start with what I liked! Firstly, I was very happy to see a woman who loved her career despite the many challenges it presented. Preeti is a doctor, in fact she’s the chief resident at the practice that she works at. She has to deal with crazy hours, heaps of responsibility, and many difficult cases and patients because of this. But despite the toll it takes on her, Preeti never doubts her ability as a doctor, or wishes she had chosen a different career. Many times work is a point of conflict in the book, and while being so busy with her job definitely complicated matters, I appreciated how Preeti’s career was never villainized.

I also greatly appreciated the topics that this book dealt with. Since this book featured an interracial couple from different socioeconomic circles, there were a lot that these two had to contend with. Racism, distrust, unworthiness, all that fun stuff. This was honestly the strongest aspect of the book for me. Neither side was blameless, with cultural clashes from both sides. But eventually these issues were addressed and faced head on and I was very happy that the book never skirted around these issues. Preeti and Daniel may have loved one another, but hate won out the first time they were together. That hatred was very clearly portrayed, and the growth of each character over the past six years that allowed this second chance at a relationship to be possible was clearly there as well.

Mental health was another big aspect in this book. Preeti suffers from anxiety and depression, but is hesitant to get help because of various stigmas from the communities she’s a part of. There was definitely a lot of growth in this area throughout the book, which was fantastic. It also was wonderful to see how Daniel dealt with Preeti’s episodes as it helped to show the care and understanding that he had for her.

However, for the most part I just didn’t feel for the romance. There were a lot of build up moments, but very few cute moments. Usually any tender moments were in the aftermath of something sad or difficult. There were no standalone soft moments that the two of them could fully enjoy together. And for as much as Preeti is thirsting over Daniel and is still in love with him all these years later, I just didn’t understand. It felt very tell not show, especially when it came to the steamy parts. Meaning that there were no steamy parts, because as much as Preeti fantasizes about Daniel , the reader never gets to see that come to fruition. The jokes her friends made were more risqué than anything Preeti and Daniel ever did on page.

And speaking of, while I appreciated that Preeti had such a close group of friends, I didn’t really feel like they were fully fleshed out, and I feel like I would have enjoyed them more if they were. However this was a problem in general for me as I didn’t get attached to any of the characters, even the main characters, which is probably why it was hard to ship the romance with all my heart.

Additionally, there also were some portions where the writing felt a bit disjointed, although of course that could just be the fact that I was reading an ARC and not the final version. However, even despite that I found myself captivated by the story because there was a lot going on, and while this isn’t a new favorite romance, I definitely would recommend reading it for the many other aspects that this book discusses so well.

However, I want to mention that the fact that this was one of the few second chance romances that I felt was handled well. The reason for the separation made sense. The time spent apart from one another helped both characters develop, and they were changed and ready to get back together at the beginning of the story. Normally I can’t forgive whatever pulled the couple apart in the first place, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself still rooting for these two despite the mistakes that were made.

All in all, I gave this books 3.5 stars. I enjoyed my time reading and appreciated the many conversations it had, but it’s not a new favorite. However, if you want to read a book featuring a second chance romance with some forced proximity, that also deals with some more complex topics, this would be a great read for you!

A heartwarming second chance romance that deals with racism, mental health and the stigma around it in desi communities, First Love, Take Two is the story of Daniel and Preeti, two ex lovers who're seeing each other again for the first time in 6 years and find that the spark that existed between them is still there.

I loved the tension between the characters as they see each other again after so long and try to deal with all the emotions that it brings up. Their break up was quite abrupt and a lot was left unexplained and I enjoyed seeing how that played into their current relationship.
The romance was also pretty sweet. There was an obvious connection between the characters and I loved reading about them!

However, I would've wanted some more of the romance and to understand more about why Preeti couldn't move on even 6 years later? It was cute, yes! But I think a bit more would've helped me understand the characters more and in doing so, love the book even more!

I really loved the plot and the pacing of the book. There were a lot of important topics discussed in this book and I loved how they were handled. There was a justifiable reason for the break up which didn't make me hate one person and we can see how the characters have grown in the 6 years and are dealing with issues that had ended up separating them back then.

I love seeing character growth and this is no exception. Even in the duration of the book, we can see how Preeti learns to stand up for herself and those she loves and do what is best for her and get what she wants. She is the kind of desi role model I wish to have and reading about her journey was a great experience!

Overall, this was an enjoyable book which talks about some important topics and I recommend it!

First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel

A complicated past, heartbreak and love that never went away makes staying in an apartment with your ex for 3 weeks not ideal. Preeti broke Daniels heart years ago for reasons she never really explained and he is not over it. I loved their relationship and how it was the kind of love you can’t deny.

This story is not an easy romance. It has a lot of serious and deep issues within it, I was grateful for the trigger warning at the beginning of the book so I was prepared for some hard scenes. The story dives deep into what an interracial relationship can be like when not everyone is in favour of it. Anxiety and touch aversion are also dealt with and explained really well in my opinion.

Thank you to @readforeverpub for my copy! This book is out on September 21st!

#firstlovetaketwo #sajnipatel #sajnipatelbooks #lovetoread #reading #netgalley #ebooks #shuswap #bc #magnabay #anglemont #kindle #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #gifted #readforever #mybooks

Thank you so much for an early copy for an honest review!

This story was a delightful second chance at love, forced proximity love story. Preeti and Daniel are such loveable characters that I was rooting for them both throughout the entire book. Their love for each other is so powerful that I felt it through the pages of the book. I always find that the best love stories are the ones that wrap so tightly around your heart and forces you to ache alongside the characters. I could physically feel their love for each other.

Also, as a woman in STEM, I absolutely loved reading a WOC dominating in her field. I honestly was so worried I wouldn't like this book as much as the first one, but Ms Patel DELIVERS!!

content warnings: racism, late-term miscarriage, anxiety, depression

The second in Sajni Patel's series (though it can be read as a standalone!), First Love, Take Two is a second-chance romance that takes the one-bed trope and manages to (believably!) extend it for an entire novel; if either (or even better, both) of these tropes is your jam, this is the book for you. Patel explores topics of race and colorism, as well as mental health and the taboo of seeking treatment in certain circles and cultures. Lots of suggestive scenes, not quite behind closed doors but close, and interesting and nuanced explorations of the ways that anxiety and depression can show up in individuals. While I devoured this book in just a few days, something about it ultimately fell flat for me; the connection between the two main characters never felt quite fully developed (perhaps because the majority of that relationship happened six years in the past, and this novel centers on their rekindling that old relationship, or perhaps because of strange lack of communication issues?) which made it hard to connect to the story overall.

I loved that this book tackled an interracial relationship and prejudices.

It was a serious topic that was handled well.

The romance was FIRE!!! I loved the tension between the two characters and loved reading the journey of them coming back together. All of the characters were a great and contributed a lot to the story rather than just being there as window dressing.

Rating: 4/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction
Warnings: racism, anxiety, family tensions
Read if you liked: The Trouble Hating You, Accidentally Engaged
Steam: 1/5
Tropes: second chance romance, friends to lovers, forced proximity

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. First Love, Take Two will be published on September 21st.

Okay, so this was a really good book and many people loved it but I can also say this book isn’t for me. I’m going to evaluate the good while also telling why I’m not going to read books like this for a bit.

Things I loved: Preeti and Daniel deeply cared for each other, their kindness showed but also good amount of tension for a closed door/fade-into-black book. I loved the moments with “the girls” and Daniel’s grandparents. Preeti finally standing up for herself was an amazing moment. The house, omg the house. I appreciated the discussion of touch aversion + depression/anxiety, this was really well done.

Things I didn’t care for: I have a lot of trouble reading/enjoying these toxic family and cultural dynamics. Yes, there was resolution but I just read two books where parents did not stand up for their children because of “saving face” or “keeping the peace” and it was toxic to characters mental and physical well being. The slut shaming, the racism, the victim blaming, the backstabbing and the gossip mill, it was all too much. There was so so so much guilt and self sabotage in this book, “oh he can do better than me” or “I did this to my mother, I must protect my parents”. I do not want to judge how this book serves as representation to some groups, which is not and will never be my place. I am simply saying, these types of dynamics do not serve me well. I do really appreciate that the author is trying to show culturally norms that the next generation is fixing, so maybe this is a book I will enjoy in the future.

Wow! This book was fantastic! I loved The Trouble With Hating You, but THIS follow-up was even better. So much tension in this second-chance romance - sexual and otherwise. Preeti and Daniel were a phenomenal couple, both so strong yet so vulnerable. The way Daniel never stopped being there for Preeti or believing in her despite everything that had gone down between them was so flippin' romantic. Some of my favorite scenes involved Preeti telling off her toxic family members. I might have pumped my fist in the air! This contemporary romance was emotional, funny, romantic, sexy, and fully of witty banter. Definitely going in my top romances of 2021 list!

Daniel and Preeti's story is important. Interracial relationships have many faces and facets. This love story shows that and more. Their love is more than physical though it is very present it is warm, comfortable and real. They are two people who genuinely love and know each other and the struggle to be together and the pain that they feel is believable. I love their witty banter and chemistry that pulls them back to each other. The racial issues are real and offer a window in to a world that is very irrelevant. This is a funny and poignant read.

The author did not hold back on the good, the bad, and the real ugly aspects of Preeti’s culture. There are a lot of delicate issues and sensitive subjects that are addressed in this book and I think knowing that prior to reading will help any reader have a better mindset for this story.

I really enjoyed Preeti and Daniel. I wanted more of their interaction throughout this book. You could easily tell how much love these two still shared for one another. They were playful and really sought to bring out the best in one another. They understood each other like no one else could.

I love books that emerge the reader in a specific culture. This author showcases a poignant story about a woman's journey in discovering her place in her culture. And while I enjoyed getting immersed in the culture, I didn’t enjoy how modern women ideals clashed with old cultural traditions. It was interesting to see how modern times shaped strong, independent women, but at times the author created an environment that was too hostile and irritating to enjoy. The outright sexism and blatant disrespect towards women in this culture was hard to swallow and really took away from the overall “romance” of the story. I understand there are a lot of problematic issues the author addressed within Preeti culture but I think there’s a fine line of addressing those issues in a way that doesn’t create a hateful and aggressive story.

I think if the story’s main focus was the romance aspect, I would have enjoyed the book more. The author has a great voice and brings light to such hard topics, but I think for this story it was so heavily focused on the negative and it overshadowed the romance of the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for this ARC

Preeti Patel is on the verge of fulfilling her dream as a doctor, bu between the stress of her residency, her job and her family, Preeti's anxiety is through the roof. Preeti finally finds a place to live ... only to discover that her roommate is her ex. Preeti never quite got over Daniel Thompson and if it weren't for their families there might have been a happily ever after. Will Preeti and Daniel get a second chance at love?

I really liked this book! I enjoyed the angst and the chemistry between the main characters. I enjoyed how the characters understood each other. I enjoyed the history and the flashbacks. I though it was a good interracial relationship rep and it showed what problems some interracial couples still go through today. I also like how it touched on mental health, anxiety and depression and how important it is to get help and have loving friends and family to support you. However, I wish we got to see more of Preeti's and Daniel's present relationship and see how they redeveloped their feelings for each other.

I'm not sure if this is a spoiler, so just stop reading if you want. I didn't like how Preeti was already engaged to somebody else. I think the story would have been more enjoyable if it was an exes-to-lovers story and they were both single.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If you enjoy exes-to-lovers, forced proximity and one bed tropes then you should read this book.

✨ Review ✨
CW: anxiety/depression, late-term miscarriage,
This is the second book in a series (following The Trouble with Hating You), and while you can definitely make sense of it without having read the first book, it does refer back on that first book regularly. Preeti, chief medical resident in a family practice, moves into her friend's apartment temporarily with her ex, Daniel, who she'd broken up with six years ago after incidents of racism, gossip, and health tore them apart. She never explained to Daniel why they broke up, and he spent six years pining for her. They're forced to come to terms with their breakup while also dealing with issues of family, racism, mental health, and more together.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genres: romance, #OwnVoices
Setting: Houston, Texas
Release: Sept 21

What I liked:
**I love that this tackled series issues like race and mental health. I think we often think of biracial couples facing racism from family and community when one member of the couple of is white, but in this case, the South Asian community is discriminating against Daniel, a Black man. Throughout the book, Preeti and her family and friends must also come to terms with efforts to balance etiquette and respect with the need to call out racist and sexist mistreatment. The book also challenges stigmas against silencing mental health issues, and this felt refreshing in this book.

What I didn't like:
**Daniel isn't given much of a voice and we don't really hear his perspective, and so he felt kind of underdeveloped. Without his perspective, he almost seemed sort of naive, pining for six years and quick to forgive. While I was still here for their romance, he seemed almost too lovely to be real.
**There were a lot of references back to the first book, and I was never sure what I missed there vs. what hadn't been revealed yet in this book. This is on me for not reading that first, but I love when romance series books can standalone.

Despite some of these issues, I couldn't put this down - staying up late to finish. It's definitely engaging and worht the read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Sajni Patel and Forever publisher for allowing me to read and review an eARC of First Love, Take Two!

This was the first time I’ve read a book by Sajni Patel and I loved it. I enjoyed learning aspects of the traditional Indian culture, especially the process for marriage. She covered some really great topics such as race, class, the pressures from a traditional family, mental health, and life as a doctor. Daniel Thompson was soo swoon worthy and I love how patient and supportive he was to Preeti. I’m glad Sajni wrote about Daniel’s strained relationship with his Dad and explored how that impacted his life. Although they weren’t in too many scenes in the book, I LOVED Daniel’s grandparents. They were so sweet and welcoming to Preeti even after she and Daniel broke up. All of the characters were well-developed which made it easy to be invested in their decisions/actions. This book broke my heart at times but it was mended back together by the end. Check this book out for a great second chance romance!

I will post the review above to Instagram (Instagram.com/_nighttimereads) later this week.

I have been WAITING for Preeti’s book and it did not disappoint. As with Sajni Patel’s first book in the series, this one dealt with a lot of heavy topics and was such a smart romance. I also loved the tropes featured here and just found the writing so enjoyable. Also can we talk about how beautiful these covers always are?! Highly recommend to all especially for fans who like their love stories with a little something extra.