Enemies to lovers? Rope play kink? And showing care through food? Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma, the second book in the If Shakespeare Was an Auntie series, has it all!

Bobbi and Benjamin start out as enemies because of a misunderstanding. Unfortunately for them their best friends are in love, and that means seeing each other more than they’d like as they both help prepare and plan the wedding events. Throw in a “shaadi saboteur” who sends threatening notes and cancels the cake, and they enlist the help of the Aunties to solve the mystery. Bobbi and Benjamin declare a truce until the wedding is over but the more time they spend together their animosity turns into friendship and then love.

I really identified with Bobbi and Benjamin and their roles as the family managers. It’s tough to be relied upon to help your family while sacrificing your own wants and needs. I’m glad both stood up to their parents and the world didn’t end. Families might not understand their choices but they have to accept them.
Bobbi also is no pushover and feels like she has to do everything herself. When she finally asks for help and receives it, her friends and family step up to show her they care and she’s doesn’t have to carry burdens alone.
It’s so good! Definitely one of my fave reads this year.

- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- moderate steam
- WDTK? chapter 11

Pub date: Aug. 1
eARC provided by Read Now on NetGalley.

I am so happy that I found author Nisha Sharm and her world of If Shakespeare was an Auntie! I am in awe of her ability to bring the reader into her culture with honesty and humor.
Benjamin and Bobbi are characters who are relatable and compelling in every way. The book begins with their meeting months 10 ago and it is evident from that brief encounter that we are going to enjoy an enemies to lovers trope complete with biting banner and simmering attraction. Bobbi is best friends with Kareena and Veera from Nisha's first book, Dating Dr Dil, and has volunteered to be the wedding planner for Kareena and Prem's upcoming wedding. This brings her a situation where she has to work and socialize with Prem's best friends, Deepka and Benjamin. Everyone knows Benjamin and Bobbi get along like oil and water so the two agree to a truce until after the wedding.
There is something for all readers in this book: larger that life Aunties, realistic family drama, deep supportive friendships, an unusual mystery wrapped in hilarious situations and above all an emotional romance between two dynamic characters who are more alike that they could every imagine!
I love reading Nisha' books with the culture and the friendships she brings to her readers. A a newbie, an addition of a chart of Indian words with their meanings would help as I was looking up many of them( can't help it because I am a retired librarian). Tastes like Shakkar was a " couldn't put it down experience" for me and I am looking forward to reading future books Nisha Sharma..
I received a A R C and I am pleased to give an honest review based on my reading experience

A steamy, heart warming story about learning to accept love and help from others and prioritizing yourself.

— dual POV
— 3/5 🌶️
— enemies to lovers
— forced proximity
— chef & wedding planner
— a bit of a mystery/whodunnit sub-plot

*potential spoilers about third act breakup below*

I really loved the themes in this book, as someone who is really bad at asking for help from others, I connected deeply with Bobi.

I also appreciated that the issues the characters experienced in this book were tied to cultural expectations. I’ve read so many books with third act breakups and it starts to feel like the issue is just being thrown in there so that the characters suffer before their happy ending. But I felt like the familial expectations put on Benjamin ‘Bunt’ were believable and realistic.

HOWEVER I didn’t think it was believable that a man who flew across the country just to spend ONE NIGHT with her would then see her world crumbling and be like “mmm yeah I’m so sorry but I really need to go”. He just didn’t seem to struggle with that decision enough. It felt like it would hurt him to see her that way?

The romance is a little insta-lovey, but the chemistry and tension between the characters was so good that I didn’t mind. They had amazing banter!

And the SPICE?! Nisha…I was not ready!!! 🥵

3.5/5

This was a really fun rom-com! I enjoyed it even more than Dating Dr. Dil. Sharma is hilarious and I actually highlighted a few lines that made me laugh out loud. I also love food, so I had a fun time reading about all of Benjamin’s creations in the kitchen.

Bobbi was my favorite! She’s an independent, hard-working woman who is also super fun and has high standards for men. Definite Barbie energy! For some reason I just did not like Benjamin. I think it’s because he came off as really fake to me and his behavior never seemed genuine. I understand men written by women in romance novels are not going to be that realistic, but I think Benjamin was just a stretch too far for me to fully enjoy.

The actual plot remained very light-hearted, but the book did touch on subjects such as family control over your life into adulthood and bias against fat women in the dating world. There are also a lot of supportive female friendships (including the aunties), which I really love to see in a romance book.

Overall, I recommend for anyone looking for a fun (and very spicy - I was unprepared) romance novel!

after reading dating dr dil and it being my favourite read of 2022, I was highly anticipating tastes like shakkar!

the story was entertaining, funny and sexy. the different plot lines gave a fast pace to read the story. but the romance for me was the part that least interested me, I loved Bobbie, but the insta-lust / fast-burn character of their story was not for me, I don’t usually like these trope. but the entirety was enjoyable and I had a lot of fun reading it. I just think that I set high expectation for this book after loving dating dr. Dil so much, but that’s clearly on me. But one thing is nisha knows how to write drama and I love her for that

after reading the epilogue I’m so very excited for
Veera’s story??? the drama that is going to unfold from it??? OH LORD HOW AM I READY FOR IT!!!!! it seems a scandalous book to end the series!

3.75⭐️

What a fun follow up to Dating Dr. Dil! Our favorite east coast friends are back, this time helping Kareena and Prem plan their wedding. Wedding planner Bobbi and restaurant owner Benjamin put their animosity aside to be there every step of the way for their best friends. A misconception is quickly cleared up, and the two soon give in to an undeniable attraction. But busy careers and family obligations, not to mention Benjamin’s west coast responsibilities, conspire to keep them apart just when their feelings start to deepen. Throw in someone trying to sabotage the wedding, and the friends and lovers have to put out one fire after another. Thank goodness the aunties are just a text message away. With them on the case, will the saboteur be uncovered and stopped on time?
Once again, the supporting cast stole the show! This community of family and friends is one of my favorites, and I loved getting to revisit so many familiar characters from Dating Dr. Dil. The mysterious evil villain was a nice twist that pushed the story forward and brought a satisfying conclusion near the end of the book. As for Bobbi and Benjamin’s romance, they went from enemies to lovers very quickly. However, they didn’t actually spend much time together, and most of their relationship develops through text messages and off the page interactions that are briefly referenced or skipped altogether. There were many scenes where I wanted more detail and descriptions, like the weekend in Vegas where we only experienced one day with them. All in all this is a fun book that tackles some grown up issues and I highly recommend it!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Okay, I started off rough with this book and I will say I didn’t feel myself get immediately immersed in the story until about I'd say 35 to 40% of the way through. Don’t get me wrong, this book was amazing and it had some of my favorite tropes like enemies to lovers, forced proximity and we can’t forget about all the yummy food they describe along with the recipes sometimes!! I'm a huge foodie so when there's talk about food in books, I need to be able to read the discretion and imagine the taste and Nisha Sharma did exactly that!! Another fun twist in this story was the little mystery intertwined into their story forcing them to spend more and more time together. Overall, I would rate this book 4 stars because it was delightful after that initial rough start.

Tastes Like Shakkar is the second book of Nisha Sharma’s interconnected standalone series of “If Shakespeare Was An Auntie.” This book an Indian American reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing, starring wedding planner Bobbi Kaur, and all star chef Benjamin “Bunty” Padda. In true enemies to lovers, Bobbi and Bunti get off on the wrong foot, only to find themselves months later working together on a wedding for their best friends, Kareena and Prem. However, while planning the wedding, some mysterious person is trying to sabotage the happy event, so Bobbi and Bunty must unite with a truce in order to deal with the shaadi saboteur.

Tastes Like Shakkar is ultimately the story of two eldest siblings learning to ask for help and rely on other people while grappling with placing their self-worth on what they do for those same people— all while falling in love with each other. Bunty is the bicoastal chef playing family manager between his brother and his father, who wants him back on the West Coast, away from the East Coast where Bobbi lives and where he’s built a life with his best friends. Bobbi is her uncle’s best wedding planner, yet he holds little trust in her with his business, which she’s worked for for ten years. While Bunty learns to let go of his feeling responsible for family, Bobbi learns to let go of being the sole person in control and placing her worth on what she can do for her loved ones. While meddlesome family, friends, communities, can surely be a lot by way of being over-involved, there’s something beautiful about reading and living with those some people acting as pillars and foundation for community care to ensure that no single person ever has to bear too much weight on their own. I absolutely loved the story of how Bobbi’s community shored her up and how Bobbi and Bunti grew towards each other in the tumult of the shaadi saboteur.

Bobbi and Bunty’s story is full of physical comedy that had me actually laughing out loud (which honestly does not often happen for me when reading romantic comedies). And the banter between Bobbi and Bunty and the ways in which they try to get the other, *chef’s kiss.* So much of my highlights are dedicated to what had me kicking my feet from giggling.

Also, miss ma’am, the spice in this book was spicing. I was screaming. Shibari!! In a traditionally published romcom!! Featuring South Asian Americans!!

Also also! I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the fat representation in this book. Bobbi is sexy af. And honestly, she’s probably the sexiest woman that Nisha has written. I absolutely love reading such positive fat representation. A joyful story of a fat woman of color falling in love? Sign me up. Every single time.

While I have no claim on the specificity of living life as a South Asian American, as a different type of Asian American who actively seeks diverse books written by diverse authors, especially with those shared identities, there was something special that Nisha Sharma did in Tastes Like Shakkar. I’m often privy to conversations about stories written and starring minoritized people having to cater “mass audiences” aka white audiences. With google and the internet so readily at the hands of many readers, I’m firmly on the side that states that minoritized authors should not have to delineate every nuance to readers who don’t share their identity. I spent a lot of time googling to understand different aspects of Indian weddings, and I loved it. While no one voice can ever be representative of an entire ethnic/racial experience, Nisha Sharma captures her love for her culture and her people in her writing. There’s something comforting to me that she is writing first and foremost for South Asian readers, and it shows in the care with which she writes her characters and their stories. It gives me hope that publishing is truly changing for the better as more minoritized voices take up space in this dominantly white industry.

I didn’t know that I could love Tastes Like Shakkar even more than Dating Dr. Dil, which was an immediate add to my favorites shelf, but I do. Thank you Avon and Netgalley for the ARC!

“Love is always better with cheese.”

Nisha Sharma has done it again! Dare I say that I loved Bobbi and Bunty even more than Kareena and Prem from Dating Dr. Dil? Dating Dr. Dil was one of my favorites of 2022 and Tastes Like Shakkar did not disappoint as book two in the If Shakespeare was an Auntie series.

Tastes like Shakkar follows Bobbi and Bunty, best friends of Kareena and Prem, as they work together to plan the latter’s wedding. The catch? They kind of hate each other after a meet-disaster nearly a year ago.

I love how Nisha weaves together strong and fierce friendships within this series. The themes of family, friendship, and a bit of mystery with a shaadi sabateur made this such a lovely read. And the romance was wonderful, too - and yes, this book is spicy and has a bit of kink, as well.

I could so relate to Bobbi’s difficulty in asking others for help - “…I’ve always had to do anything that I’ve wanted by myself. And I know if I have complete control, then it’ll be done the right way.”

Thank you Avon books for the advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

Nisha Sharma does it again! I'm really loving this companion series, especially getting to see how past characters are doing and which couple is up next for their HEA. As far as the "let's help our friends get married trope", this has to be the most unique one I've encountered with the mystery element of who's out to sabotage Kareena and Prem's wedding. I enjoyed the chaos and shenanigans of this book a lot, and how Benjamin and Bobbi have to team up to make sure the wedding goes off without a hitch. Their love story was so sweet, I enjoyed watching them bicker and then slowly break each other's walls down and fall for each other. Also, I LOVED the kink in this. It was so unexpected, but I was so here for it. I don't see that a lot in traditionally published romances, and now I want so much more casual kink in my Romance books. Overall, I loved this book a lot and I'm so excited for Deepak and Veera's romance!

Thank you @avonbooks @netgalley for a copy of this book. I loved Dating Dr. Gil and was excited to read Bobbi and Ben's story. This was a total enemies to lovers story at it's finest. I love seeing their relationship shift and all the sweet things that Ben did for Bobbi. There was an element of mystery to the story which was added an interesting subplot. I love the friendships in the story which brought a lot of depth. And be prepared to be hungry while reading this.

This the second book of the series. It was a delight read for me. It was a story about Bunty and Bobbie. I love their chemistry. And I love how Nisha Sharma shows the marriage culture of other southeast asian culture specially the Indian's.
Thank you Netgalley for the Advance Ereaders Copy

Another hilarious book loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing. I enjoyed this romantic tale about the side characters from Dating Dr. Dil.

I’ve only read two Shakespeare plays and “Much Ado About Nothing” is not one of them. Nonetheless I was throughly entertained, the shading saboteur was a highlight. Bobbi and Benjamin were fantastic together, started off as enemies who called a truce in order to work together w their friends wedding.
The writing was so good, very light and buttery to read through. I loved the family dynamics represented, made the story compelling and real. Being a child of immigrant parents is tough, trying to live up to the parents ideals and the pressure is frustrating. Sometimes we tend to lose ourselves to please the parents. Nisha Sharma outdid herself with bringing together Shakespeare, family and romance together.

Absolutely gorgeous
Love the story!!

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I loved learning so much about the chaos of weddings and the South Asian cultures!

Bobbie is set to plan her best friend, Kareena's, wedding and is forced to work with Benjamin - the groom's best friend and the one chef Bobbie cannot get to cater a wedding for her. Amidst all of the chaos of planning the wedding and figuring out her feelings for Benjamin, Bobbie must deal with someone trying to sabotage Kareena's wedding.


It took me a little while to get through this book. Bobbie and Benjamin didn't really have a ton of chemistry (to me) and it felt like the spice was forced. I also have a lot of frustration when grown adults have 1 miscommunication and become enemies, then never try to talk about what happened.


The mystery aspect of who was trying to sabotage the wedding was fun and was one of the biggest reasons I kept reading. I enjoyed the South Asian cultural aspects and the group dynamics that the friends had.

While this one wasn't my favorite, I'm still looking forward to Deepak and Veera!

Thank you to #netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for an #eARC of this book! All opinions are my own!

I am a Much Ado stan, so I knew I would love this. Of course I did. Nisha writes so well and is also genuinely funny. My only complaint is I need y'all to give my girl better covers. It's what she deserves, and I'm trying to sell these books.

I, once again, read a series out of order. This is the second book in a series by Nisha - the first is Dating Dr. Dil which is on my TBR and I keep putting it off but now I have to read about Prem and Kareena because I am all out of order!

In book two, we watch Bobbi Kaur, Kareena’s best friend and wedding planner, and Benjamin Padda (also known as Bunty), Prem’s best friend and a Chef/restaurant owner, become enemies to lovers. Bobbi also represents plus sized South Asian women and her inner monologue frequently refers to how she’s dealt with fat shaming within her culture because she’s not the “traditionally beautiful Desi woman”.

Watching Bobbi and Benjamin’s relationship bloom was fun but honestly the star of this show was the hunt for the shaadi saboteur (I used google translate and I think this is Hindi for wedding saboteur) and the aunties! I have a love for the aunties in South Asian romances. And when I read the acknowledgments (I always read to the very end) and saw that Nisha named the aunties based off of fellow South Asian authors, I immediately had to add them to my list of authors to check out!

This book was a load of fun. I laughed a lot throughout and I loved learning about all the different things that go into planning an Indian wedding. The decorations, the outfits, the traditions, and it lasts for days! It honestly sounds so beautiful and like an experience you would never forget.

I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the advanced copy of Tastes Like Shakkar, for my honest review. Loved the opportunity to read one of the authors on my must read list! Now to finish Nisha’s backlist!

This book is trying to do a LOT. And you know? It mostly succeeds.

[b:Tastes Like Shakkar|62800940] is the follow up to [a:Dating Dr. Dil|57007401]. Wedding planner Bobbi and in-demand chef Benjamin (aka Bunty] are thrown together as they are forced to work together to plan the menu for Kareena and Prem’s nuptials, and not only do they loathe each other (well, Bobbi hates Bunty, but the feeling may <i>not</i> be mutual), everything just seems to go wrong. Could someone be trying to sabotage the wedding?

Sharma pulls from the original enemies-to-lovers, <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> for the second installment of <b>If Shakespeare Was an Auntie</b> (a great concept, if only it didn’t pain me every time because of bad grammar!). Bobbi and Bunty stand in for Beatrice and Benedick, though their bickering, while sharp, isn’t really Bard-worthy. They also lay down their proverbial swords quite early, and the book turns its focus to whether (a) Bunty will choose Bobbi over loyalty to his overbearing father across the country, (b) Bobbi will convince her uncle to trust her with more responsibility at his wedding planning company, (c) they will catch whoever is trying to sabotage the wedding, (d) they’ll get the (maybe) racist event coordinator at the fancy venue to stop undermining the wedding (….yyyeah). Oh, and also, Bunty is into bondage. Whew!

This was a wild ride, if overstuffed. I was drooling every time we got to hear about more of Bunty’s amazing cooking - I’d have loved to hear more, and more about his dreams for expanding his restaurant empire. Nor did we get to spend enough time with Kareena and Prem to truly see their best friendships in action (rather than be merely told). Still, Bobbi and Bunty were a lot of fun together, with super hot chemistry. That will make up for a lot of sins.

[b:Tastes Like Shakkar|62800940] by [a:Nisha Sharma|3003728]
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️💫 3.5 stars rounded up
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ Yeowww I’m never going to look at Indian wedding chairs the same way
🤡 The shaadi Saboteur was seriously cruel to do that… thing with a clown
🫓🥘 Chapti > Roti > Naan
👵🏽 Needed more aunties

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Great!! What a delight. A sweet, sexy, and very funny modern take on Much Ado About Nothing!! The MCs are a wedding planner and chef with great tropes including, light enemies to lovers, forced proximity, found family,