Tastes Like Shakkar follows Bobbi as she plans her best friend’s wedding and find love on the way. I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy reading about other cultures, especially their wedding traditions. While the family happiness vs personal happiness issue is unfamiliar to me, I realize that it is a very big and tough issue for immigrant American families. I would recommend this book to friends.

I think this one was about 3.5 stars, rounded up. I love the premise, just like the first, where it’s based on Shakespeare. I will say I got a bit less of Much Ado About Nothing from this one than I did Taming of the Shrew from the first. There was more toward the end but I guess it felt like a stretch? Also the aunties were not in this one enough and I missed them.

As with the first one I love how Sharma addresses problems in her culture that the next generation is working on healing, while at the same time celebrating family and community strength and all of the wonderful things about it too. I have no doubt her desi readers are delighted to feel like she understands them so well. And I love the glimpse into and the education on everything India and India’s diaspora.

As far as the romance goes, I did like these two together. But I didn’t love them, I guess. I’m not sure if it was their dynamic or the way Sharma diffused the tension too soon rather than letting it build more slowly and gently, that made me not feel as invested in them as a couple. I loved Bobbi, I have to say. But Bunty irritated me.

All in all, I do love the series, and I must add that the pacing in this was excellent, quick and forward and a fast read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Tastes Like Shakkar is the second in Nisha Sharma’s If Shakespeare Was an Auntie series. It can be read as a standalone, but I do recommend the first one, because the supporting cast, from the aunties to the group of friends, make the series a lot of fun. I particularly liked the little interstitials from the aunties this time around.
While I was initially skeptical of the premise, this book ended up making it work for me, in terms of actually understanding what makes enemies-to-lovers work. Benjamin and Bobbi had an unfortunate, awkward encounter that set the tone of animosity for their relationship going forward, in spite of them having mutual friends who end up together (the couple from the last book). But while they got off on the wrong foot, it was very much a case of “right person, wrong time,” as well as a bit of initial misconceptions that got in the way. Benjamin and Bobbi are actually very similar, especially in their loyalty to their friends, as well as their vulnerabilities, like Bobbi being a bit of a perfectionist to a fault and Benjamin struggling to put himself first every once in a while. Also, props to Sharma for the depiction of a plus-size desi girl!
I really enjoyed this one, and I’m excited for what’s to come for Veera with the next book! I’d recommend this if you enjoy multicultural contemporary romances.

A great continuation to the "If Shakespeare was an Auntie" series!

The book begins with some absolutely incredible banter. Bobbi and Bunty do NOT get along but are forced to work together for the best friends' (main couple from book one) wedding. Bobbi is a wedding planner desperate to prove herself and take over the company when her uncle is ready to step down. Bunty is a chef and owner of Indian restaurants.

But even if they work through their differences and admit to their mutual attraction, wedding planning won't go smoothly. Someone is sabotaging it left and right. Of course, they enlist the help of the notorious aunties to help catch the saboteur.

I loved all the chaos, however, as I'm going through a stressful time at work right now, Bobbi's work stress really hit hard and made the book harder to read. I generally prefer contemporary rom-coms to focus less on work, so that could be a me thing. I loved Bobbi and Bunty as a couple and their chemistry. Honestly could've used more banter. And I'm absolutely flabbergasted by how many times characters would book last minute flights. Like who can afford that? Overall, an engaging plot, lovable characters, and some spice.

I don’t know what it is about this series but I love it. Bobbi and Benjamin’s love/hate relationship was such a fun dynamic and I love how they knew that had to come together for their friends. I also loved the “mystery” of the saboteur. I am also still loving the Aunties and their involvement, you can tell while they are nosy they truly do have the best intentions. I do also love the text conversations.

I liked the connection that Bunty and Bobbi had, it felt real. However, I wanted to see it a bit more. I loved all of their text conversations, it was nice to see them becoming friends. I think that the ending really suits them but I want a bonus chapter possibly about him proposing.

I received an arc thorough netgalley.

Tastes Like Shakkar is a charming romcom set in the same world as the author's previous book, Dating Dr. Dil. While I personally enjoyed reading Dating Dr. Dil first, it is not necessary to enjoy and follow this story.
Right off the bat our two main characters are attracted to one another. After a conversation, their first impressions of each other are lacking. They are then looped into helping plan their best friends' wedding and they can't fight their attraction. There is a lot of banter in this hate to love romance. I enjoyed the focus on their careers and the build up of their relationship. The spicier scenes were also well written. I look forward to reading more by Nisha Sharma.

Tastes Like Shakkar is the second book in the If Shakespeare was an Auntie series. Dating Dr. Dil was the first book. This can be read as a stand alone even though the time line picks up after the events of Dating Dr. Dil.

Our couple is Benjamin and Bobbi - best friends of Kareena and Prem. The book starts off with how they first met 10 months earlier - both were definitely attracted to each other but Benjamin says something without thinking that leads to Bobbi to not like him. Later they find themselves working together on planning Kareena and Prem’s wedding and trying to figure out who is trying to sabotage the wedding plans.

I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed Dating Dr. Dil, maybe even more! Benjamin and Bobbi are great together and so similar - work is their primary focus and they tend to put other people’s needs first. Watching them work through that and a long distance relationship was really sweet. And the epilogue sets up the next book in the series, which I am looking forward to reading!

I recommend this for readers that enjoy:

💚 Enemies to lovers
💚 Long distance relationship
💚 Found family
💚 Open door romance

Tastes Like Shakkar is out on August 1! Thanks NetGalley and Avon for the advance readers copy. All thoughts are my own.

Tastes Like Shakkar is a sweet rom com based on Much Ado About Nothing. Although, I hadn't read Dating Dr. Dil, it was easy enough to go into this book blind. The story focuses on the best friends of the MCs in Dating Dr. Dil. Bobbi and Benjamin have had terrible first impressions of each other and their contention has only escalated over time. They get looped into working together to help with wedding preparations of their best friends.

Bobbi is a wedding planner and Benjamin (Bunty) is a restaurant owner and chef. They are both deeply committed to their careers and quite successful. At first, it was hard to like Bobbi and Benjamin, but they both grew on me. It was clearer why they both had put up walls or previously acted in a prickly manner. There was a big focus on their careers. The wedding and food descriptions were sumptuous, but I could've used less. It was pretty spicy at parts. I enjoyed the build up of their relationship, the ancillary characters, and the hijinks. It ended up being a super fun and sweet read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

3.75 ⭐️ So much fun!! This book had me hooked from the start!

”There isn't a single dish that I could create that would taste as good as the both of us together.”

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ modern spin on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
✨ indian wedding planning
✨ punjabi main characters
✨ she's a loyal, controlling wedding planner trying to plan her best friend’s wedding
✨ he's an egotistical and irritatingly sexy chef who's supposed to help her with the menu since he’s the groom’s best friend
✨ first impression gone wrong
✨ hate to love (on her side)
✨ forced proximity
✨ similars attracts: stubborn, workaholics who don't want a relationship
✨ "you make me crazy"
✨ amazing banter
✨ he falls first
✨ found family
✨ plus size fmc
✨ 2.5/5 spice
✨ kinks: praise, bondage, cl*t slapping, minor exhibitionism, toys
✨ taylor swift references


My Thoughts:

Okay, so I liked this book! I really did. Especially the first half!

We start off with a bang in the prologue where Benjamin and Bobbi meet 10 months ago. There's so much sexual tension between the two and they share an almost kiss! But thanks to four stupid words (said by Benjamin, of course), Bobbi currently hates him. This is a hate to love (on Bobbi's end) romance, where no matter how hard Benjamin tries, he can't seem to do anything but piss her off. I LOVED their vexing banter and how hard they fight their attraction to one another. But thanks to their friends forcing them to work together, they are unable to resist.

Benjamin and Bobbi were also extremely likable and very similar characters! Bobbi is such a loving and loyal friend. She does everything with 100% of her entire heart and won't stop until it's done to perfection. That's what also makes her an incredible successful wedding planner. I also appreciated that she was plus size and extremely confident in herself! And we were able to learn a bit more about perceptions of being plus size not only by American standards but those of Punjabi men and women.

Benjamin is also an incredibly kind and loyal friend. He is extremely confident and straightforward, but plays mediator for his family, which tends to pull him between his passions and 'responsibilities'. Throughout the book, Benjamin realizes he needs to prioritize himself and his happiness instead of being manipulated and controlled by his family. Watching him grow and go through this journey was a very cathartic experience for me.

On a side note, one of the main themes of this book is community whether it be your friends or family and I love that!

I also really enjoyed that the non-romance plot was centered around Prem and Kareena's wedding! These two are just the cutest! Seeing their love story unfold in Dating Dr. Dil was a delight, so to see their wedding play out was a special treat. Maybe in the next book, we'll see them having kids. 😍

So why am I giving this book 3.75 stars?

I did not vibe with the spice AT ALL. The dirty talk was not my jam. The writing felt really formulaic and just didn't suck me in. I'm also not a huge fan of the endearment 'my queen,' so that gave me the ick. And my biggest issue - the bondage. It felt like it was randomly thrown in. It wasn't introduced in a realistic way, so these scenes didn't quite make sense from a character perspective. You're telling me that the first time Benjamin and Bobby really have the chance for some p&v penetration, he's bringing ropes, explains bondage to her, and then ties her up and face f*cks her instead of giving her pleasure first? It felt like he was just taking the entire scene and gave me the ick. I mean, sure, they've done other stuff before and had phone sex, but this is the very first time they're meeting in person in a not-quickie situation, and instead of either going fast and hard or slow and deliberate, his first move is to face f*ck her. I just couldn't believe it. There should have been one scene before this where they come together where it's just them. Oh, and then, he has an entire flask of whiskey that he pours all over her body and licks it up slowly. Again, just not my thing, and the way it was written didn't convince me it could be.

Also, once they're officially together, things moved a little slow and I lost a little interest. It wasn't horribly slow but enough that around 75% I skimmed a bit of non-dialogue to figure out the wedding mystery drama.

Overall, this was a fun addition to the If Shakespeare was an Auntie series and I cannot wait for Veera's (and presumably Deepak's) story!

Tastes like Shakkar by: Nisha Sharma
4/5 stars

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity

Bobbi and Benjamin (aka Bunty) are one of the best book couples I’ve read this year.
Bobbi is a wedding planner, with a near-perfect execution record. Benjamin is a chef trying to break out of his father’s traditional clutches.
A year after an almost-sexy encounter, they’re consistently at each other’s throats. But they have to put aside their not-so-differences to plan their best friends’ wedding in four months - which someone is actively trying to sabotage.
Their bickering had me laughing out loud throughout the whole book. The entire spectrum of emotions was there, honesty. Leg-kicking, chef-kissing(no pun intended), and stomach-clenching.
The story/plot itself came together perfectly and I was right there with the characters, hanging onto every word as I read.

This book goes above and beyond for representation. Nisha keeps improving with each book, and the care she puts into her art form is evident. I loved every page of this book -- from Bunty's very real and relatable struggle with his parents and cultural expectations, to Bobbi's fierce independence, I loved the dynamic between the two characters. Additionally, having the other cast members in the book was like revisiting an old friend. I really enjoyed it, and diverse stories must be prioritized!

This book was amazing!! It gave me those same vibes that i loved in dating dr. dil but a bit more spice!! Bobbi and Ben strongly dislike eachother and constantly banter when they are by each other after a run-in they had with each other. It gives this enemies to lovers vibe that has great banter and it gives the reader this great experience to see that banter's nature evolve throughout the book. We also get some forced proximity with them having to work together on Karenna and Prem's wedding. And lastly some bondage kinks that were very well executed! Ben and Bobbi are two independently strong characters and it was beautiful to see them change throughout the book together. They both definitely were working through their own things and learned a lot about themselves with the help of the other. I am also just obsessed with the aunties and their personalities. Also the way they care for everyone and really how everyone cares for each other. It what keeps bringing me back to these books and these characters. I cannot wait for the next one!!

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “You know what would improve Much Ado About Nothing? Spicy scenes.” then Tastes Like Shakkar is extremely for you!

The second book in Nisha Sharma’s If Shakespeare Was An Auntie series of interconnected standalones (you don’t have to have read the first book, Dating Dr. Dil, which is a reimagining of The Taming of the Shrew, but it helps a bit with establishing some of the minor characters), this story follows Bobbi, an in-demand wedding planner, and Benjamin, a popular chef, who run in the same friend group and *cannot* stand each other in the most electric way, but who have to work together to plan their mutual best friends’ wedding.

In true Beatrice and Benedick fashion, the tension between these two basically lights the pages on fire as you read, but there are also big emotional arcs here that center around family, career, and how to balance everything when love is in the mix.

Here’s what else to expect:

🔥intense dislike to lovers
👩‍❤️‍👨 characters in their 30s
💋 curvy FMC
✈️ some angst
🪢 ropes
💒 a wedding mystery

All in all, Tastes Like Shakkar is a fun, fast, and spicy read – I had a great time with it, and am looking very forward to the next installment in the series!

Two things immediately drew me to wanting to read this Tastes Like Shakkar: Nisha Sharma’s first book, Dating Dr. Dil, was SO GOOD, and Tastes Like Shakkar was influced by my favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado about Nothing.

The book follows the journey of a talented wedding planner, Bobbi Kaur, and up-and-coming restauranteur, Benjamin “Bunty” Padda. Through mutual friends, Bobbi and Benjamin have met before, and circumstances didn’t make for the best of introductions, leaving the two with a strong mutual distaste for one another. When friends Prem and Kareena get engaged and enlist Bobbi to make their wedding dreams come true, Bobbi and Benjamin find themselves crossing paths more and more. When an unknown individual begins to sabotage elements of the wedding, Bobbi and Benjamin are forced to work together along with the Aunties to discover who the “shaadi saboteur” is. In true Enemies-to-Lovers fashion, Bobbi and Benjamin find themselves with more common ground and admiration for one another as the story moves forward.

Tastes Like Shakkar DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I’m not even going to apologize for yelling in all-caps because that’s how much I loved the book. Bobbi is a plus size woman who is openly confident in her body, and as a plus size woman myself, I loved reading about a plus size character who wasn’t trying to diet or felt unworthy because of her size. Bobbi was sexy and flirty, and exactly the kind of plus size representation we need in books! There is also some kink representation in this book (bondage) that was written beautifully without feeling like it was just tossed in for the sake of being there. The couple talked through their scenes, and enthusiastic consent was provided.

And the spicy scenes as a whole?!? Wowza! They were the perfect balance for the book—enough to get you engaged but not too much that it distracted from the plot. I’d say a solid 2-3 chili peppers on the spice scale.
I would gladly read this book again, and I look forward to hopefully grabbing the audiobook performance once it’s available! Tastes Like Shakkar will have you feeling all of your feels, including wanderlust for traveling to India and trying all the incredible food and fashion from the country.

An ARC was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book. Thank you!

Tastes Like Shakkar is a fun story with great chemistry between Bobbi a wedding planner and Benjamin a Chef. There is mystery and complicated family dynamics. It’s an overall fun read and definitely worth checking out.

I liked Prem & Kareena but I LOVE Bobbi & Bunty!
This book is a great example of how to do the miscommunication trope right!
Bunty inadvertently hurt Bobbi personally and cost her an opportunity to impress her boss. Can he convince her he’s not an a$$hole? Will he realize how much she means to him in time?
Bobbi thinks Bunty is a dick. A hot one who can cook, but a dick. Can she put aside her complicated feelings for him to give her best friend the wedding she deserves? Will she win back her bosses high regards?
There should have been too much going on here… A romance. A shady saboteur. A wedding. Family drama. Interfering aunties. Spicy open door scenes. And more… BUT I loved every minute of this wild wedding whirlwind! It left me hungry and hot under the collar. Can’t wait for the next installment in the Shakespearean Aunties series.

An absolutely fantastic follow up to Dating Dr Dil!

Tastes like Shakkar gives us the frienemies to lovers story of Bobbi and Bunti, whose chemistry is explosive! This book packs heart AND heat! The spice is definitely kicked up a notch in this one, exploring kink, and with amazing fat representation!

This is the second book in the if Shakespeare was Aunitie Series, by Nisha Sharma. It is as delightful as the first book and it was so much fun to see more from characters that we met in the first book. Kareena and Prem are now getting married with Kareena’s friend Bobbi as the wedding planner. Bobbi is expected to work with Benjamin, Bunty, who is a restaurant tour and one of Prem’s best friends. Of course both Bobbi and Buntyare attracted to one another. They both are also dealing with family issues because of their family businesses. On top of that there is a saboteur who is trying to mess with Kareena and Prem’s wedding. As there are more wedding activities and they work together to both find the saboteur and plan a perfect wedding for their friends Monty and Bobby start to act on their attraction. I found the chemistry between Bobbi and Bunty to be amazing and I was along for the ride when it came to their relationship . I loved the backdrop of trying to find out the person who was trying to wreck the wedding. I love the fact that not only do we see the female friendships, but also how strong the male friendships are as well. Also, I love that the aunties are back, and as usual, have inserted themselves into everything. it’s a perfect romcom for me because there is plenty of romance along with shenanigans. I found myself entertained from beginning to end, and cannot wait until the next book.

Book Name: Tastes Like Shakkar
Author: Nisha Sharma

ARC
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an ARC of ****Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma****

Stars: 4.25
Spice: 4

Book 2 of the Character Anthology Series:
(don’t need to read Dating Dr. Dill to enjoy)
Fast Paced
Dual POV
Contemporary Romance
Indian Representation

- Topics
- Body positivity
- Racism
- Worth and Work
- Much Ado About Nothing Retelling
- Tropes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Pride and Prejudice Vibes
- Insults as a Love Language
- Miscommunication
- Sabotage
- Fight the Feelings
- Mystery
- Enemy of my Enemy is my Lover?
- Thoughts.
- Dressing Room Scene
- Cooking Lessons😍
- Comedy of Errors.
- Ropes
- So Good
- Perfect End of Summer Read