I didn’t dislike Tastes Like Shakkar, but there were a few things that kept this from being a 5 star read for me. First of all, I really adored Benjamin and Bobbi and the fantastic love letter to Indian Culture in Tastes Like Shakkar! It was such a beautiful ode to desi culture and I adored reading about the food, the clothing, the wedding rituals, and the deep appreciation for Indian culture. Bobbi and Benjamin had a great dynamic, but I wish we had a bit more focus on them together. Their relationship starts as dislike and ends as lovers and I adored that aspect. But there are SO many characters that I don’t think we actually got a lot of relationship development. Or at least not as much as these two really needed. The pacing was…not terrible, but it bounced from really fast paced to really slow lulls and it made it hard to find a groove in the story while reading. The humor is a little more slap-stick than Dating Dr. Dil and I wasn’t expecting it so the comedy aspect didn’t always land for me. The Aunties were GREAT and I loved that Bobbi was plus sized and confident! I just wish some of the story aspects had been a little more evenly paced and better developed.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for an e-arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

4 Stars Tastes Like Shakkar is a perfect follow-up to the first in Nisha Sharma's If Shakespeare was an Auntie series, Dating Dr. Dil. It's an enemies-to-lovers romance with some wedding intrigue thrown in, too.

Wedding planner Bobbi Kaur has hated Benjamin "Bunty" Padda since he turned her down a year ago--both in a romantic sense and a professional sense since he refused to even meet with her clients interested in him catering their wedding. Now, Bobbi and Benjamin are tasked with working together on their best friends Kareena and Prem's wedding, which pulls them even closer since they have to call a temporary truce in order to stop someone from derailing the wedding. The shaadi saboteur is no match for Bobbi, who will do anything for Kareena and to prove to her uncle that she's ready to take over his wedding planning business. Will this temporary truce have Bobbi and Benjamin rethinking their feelings towards each other?

Much like how Dating Dr. Dil was based on the Taming of the Shrew, this novel was a modern take on Much Ado About Nothing and it was perfect! Also like the first novel, the descriptions of the food had my mouth watering. Unlike the first novel, Nisha Sharma really amped up the spice, including some exploration of kinks. It was unexpected but very enjoyable to read. The characters and their banter were hilarious, and the mystery of the shaadi saboteur was fun. If you loved Dating Dr. Dil, you are going to love this one!

Thank you Avon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Wow wow wow wow. This is not the first time I've gotten a later on book in a series from NetGalley and been thrilled to discover there are more - and furious at myself for not knowing about it earlier. Great boo, great characters, can't wait for what's next.

I picked up this book when no other one seemed to hold my attention probably because it’s a stressful time of the year for me. I never wanted it to stop. I’m sad it ended and I can’t just dive into the next book. There were a couple aspects of this books that were different than I expected. I liked it. It was perfectly steamy. I enjoyed the big themes of family and friendship in this world. I’m patiently-ish waiting for the next book.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

After reading Dating Dr. Dil early last year, I knew I was going to have to read 1. this entire series, and 2. everything Nisha Sharma has ever written. Since then, I have been able to read a few books from Nisha, but this truly has been my most anticipated read from her. And this did NOT disappoint! I absolutely loved Bobbi and Bunty's relationship - it was clear they were obsessed with each other, and watching them get together was so satisfying and fun. (you weren't wondering, but yes, I cried twice). I loved watching them overcome hardships both alone and together. While Dating Dr. Dil will always hold a special place in my heart, this book was an amazing follow-up. I can't wait for book 3 (AKA I READ THE VEERA'S POV EPILOGUE AND I SCREAMED).

Also the Prem/Kareena easter eggs in here? PRICELESS.
"Are you ready to marry her?" "I've been ready since I first laid eyes on her." I'm screaming.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Collins Canada for the free e-ARC to read and review. Wow wow wow. I gobvled This up so so fast. Dating Dr. Dil was previously my FAVORITE Nisha Sharma book but this one has taken a HUGE lead. I related to the story as my husband is half west indian and many of his family traditions with marriage and the meddling auntie. I absolutely need a physical copy to tab and highlihht and hug. The spice in this book was inferno hot. Wondering which clothing line for the comfy traditional clothing and which book FMC had the MMC read.

Omg I had such a good time reading this book. Nisha Sharma did it again. Absolutely loved it!! One of the best romcoms ever!!

I received an advance copy of Tastes Like Shakkar, the latest addition to Nisha Sharma's If Shakespeare Was an Aunty series, courtesy of Avon. As a fan of the author's previous works, I was thrilled to delve into this book and discover what kind of mischief the beloved aunties and their favorite young couple were up to this time around.

From the very first page, I was captivated. The chemistry between Benjamin "Bunty" Padda and Bobbi Kaur leaped off the page, and their witty banter had me grinning from ear to ear. As they joined forces to plan Prem and Kareena's wedding and hunt down the Shaadi saboteur, I found myself becoming increasingly invested in their journey.

One of the things I admire most about Nisha Sharma's writing is her ability to depict the complexities of family dynamics. In Tastes Like Shakkar, she explores toxic family relationships and the pressures of being the eldest child in a way that is both authentic and empathetic. And, of course, the meddling aunties added their unique brand of chaos to the mix, resulting in some truly hilarious scenes.

However, the true highlight for me was the romance. Without giving too much away, I must say that the steamy scenes in this book were perfect. I also appreciated how the author tackled issues such as cultural identity and expectations in a manner that felt natural to the story and characters.

Overall, I cherished Tastes Like Shakkar. Nisha Sharma has a remarkable talent for blending comedy, romance, and mystery into a delectable treat that left me feeling both fulfilled and eager for more. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series to discover Veera and Deepak's story!

Nisha Sharma has truly become one of my favorite romance writers. I recently read Tastes Like Shakkar, the second installment of the If Shakespeare Was an Auntie trilogy, and it was an absolute delight! Nisha has an exceptional ability to craft characters with a remarkable level of depth and personality, making it impossible not to fall in love with them, despite their flaws. I was particularly thrilled to see glimpses of Kareena and Prem from Dating Dr. Dil, as well as the infamous Aunties.

As someone who adores wedding and food-centered romances, this book was a perfect fit for me. Our heroine, Bobbi, is a wedding planner, while our hero, Benjamin, is a talented chef. One of the things I appreciated the most was the fact that Bobbi was a curvy heroine - we definitely need more representation like this in the romance community. Moreover, the spice level in this book was simply phenomenal - it was top-tier, and I only wished there was more of it!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Tastes Like Shakkar, and I am eagerly awaiting the third and final book in this trilogy. I have no doubt that it will be just as captivating as its predecessors.

Summary:
Wedding planner Bobbi Kaur is determined to make sure her friends Kareena and Prem's wedding goes off without a hitch, even if it means working with popular chef Benjamin 'Bunty' Padda. Bobbi and Benjamin may not have gotten off to a great start, but doesn't stop their mutual attraction. As they try to solve the mystery of who's sabotaging the wedding, they quickly fall into a relationship even as they know there's a deadline approaching...

My review:
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I was expecting based on some of Nisha Sharma's earlier books that I've read including Dating Dr. Dil, the book prior to Tastes Like Shakkar. I thought Benjamin and Bobbi were solid characters individually, I bought their chemistry, and I really liked the background cast of their friends and The Aunties.

I'm not going to lie, I initially thought a "shaadi saboteur" would make for a really hokey plot, but I was invested because I was firmly on Bobbi and Benjamin's side and rooting for their success. I think that conflict's resolution might have been a bit rushed and contrived, but until then, it worked. Also, Nisha mentioned in her acknowledgements that she wanted to explore the concept of "family managers" in Indian culture namely, when children feel like their value to the family is conflated with the help the provide which is... so so accurate. The shaadi saboteur plot really pushed that idea to the forefront of my mind while I was reading, because Bobbi was determined to prove to her value to her family and her friend whose wedding she's planning to the extent where she thinks that's all she's worth. Benjamin had a similar conflict with his own dad who, get this, runs a frozen naan empire.

Regarding Bobbi and Benjamin's relationship, the blurb pushes the "enemies" aspect of their relationship but in actuality, they know pretty early on that they have sexual chemistry, and after the first time they have sex, they're basically in a relationship. And that's pretty early on in the story. And I actually really liked that. The plot took the time to explore their growing relationship and you could understand what drew them to each other, and perhaps more importantly what kept them together which, in my opinion, might have been how they handled the long-distance aspect of their relationship.

I love how Nisha wrote the long-distance relationship in an epistolary format, like, that's what convinced me they should stay together. There were texts, cute little notes, checking in on each other, Benjamin ordered Bobbi food when he knew she'd forget, and of course, there had to be phone sex. Which I thought was pretty solid all things considered. Speaking of sex—

The sex:
Here's my thing: Authors can sometimes get weird about people of color and sex, and even moreso about people of color and kink. I think it's this paranoia about how they're depicting their sexuality and their bodies and how "correct" they're being about the sex (oh and some strange detours into dirty talk in different languages in a way that fetishizes the language) that gets in the way of writing sex scenes that are actually... sexy. But I thought Nisha handled this really well here. The fact that Bobbi isn't conventionally skinny? It's touched upon just the right amount and her body is described during sex, but Nisha never harps on it. The fact that Benjamin enjoys bondage during sex? He explained it to Bobbi frankly, checked in with her, but otherwise it was no big deal. Their desire for one another was frank and explicit. There was no place for coyness here. I only wished some the scenes themselves could be a little longer.

Stand-out moments include:

a) First sex scene was at the 44% mark and that made me happy. It was a storage room oral moment on those decorative throne things they make South Asian brides and grooms sit on during their wedding reception which I thought was hilarious

b) A surprising blowjob during which she was laying down and he like, actually straddled her chest and went for it.

c) At one point during sex they were looking at themselves in a mirror and Bobbi likened herself to those women in old Indian paintings with their hips and stomachs out and I just thought that was really beautiful.

Overall:
This might be one of the best rom-coms I've read in a long time. It accomplished exactly what it set out to do: You got that desi rep (specifically that Jersey desi rep— iykyk) with a solid cast of Indian characters, a great romance that's probably as hot as any rom-com will ever get, and plot that was funny and sweet in equal measure. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who's remotely interested in this genre.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I zoomed through this book in the best way! And somehow enjoyed it even more than the first one in this series. So much fun and hijinks! 5/5 and I can't wait to read the next one!

I’ll be the first to admit that Dating Dr. Dil was not my thing. Tastes Like Shakkar however? I am very much here for. Firstly, it was funny. Like genuinely, laugh out loud funny. Especially Kareena’s aunts. Also Bobbi, my queen. She’s a plus sized woman who loves her career, her friends, and her body and she does not apologize for that. Plus her wit was top tier. And the chemistry between Bobbi and Bunty was truly something else. Ya girl was blushing.

If you, like me weren’t totally sold on the first book in this series, I still highly encourage to still give this a try. And if you loved Dating Dr. Dil, I’m sure you’re love this just as much, if not more. 4.5 stars.

I enjoyed the rich cultural depth of this book and was rooting for Bobbi and Benjamin! I appreciated the tension between serving their families and following their own dreams. I somehow missed that it was based on “Much Ado About Nothing” and the shaadi saboteur part felt pretty unnecessary and like it took time away from Bobbi/Benjamin until the part during the wedding weekend. Overall the number of characters and relationships to follow felt overwhelming and I was pretty consistently trying to remember how someone was connected to the protagonists. I know there was a character list at the beginning but I didn’t end up referring to it. I understand that have a big family and community is important but I wonder if there’s a way to focus more on fewer family members/friends.

5 million ⭐️

I loved this book so much and it lived up to all of my expectations and then some. The banter, build, the way Benjamin fell, the family dynamics and culture, humor, spice and add in the plus size FMC rep. Just yes yes yes!

Bobbi and Benjamin have to team up and work together to help plan Kareena and Prem’s wedding (from Dating Dr. Dil) and In the process have to call it quits on fighting until the wedding is over. They deal with someone trying to sabotage the wedding and their fighting each other changes to fighting the attraction.

Loved everything about this book including the fat rep. It’s very fat positive and the descriptions are just perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced earc to read and review!

Second verse better than the first.

I loved this book! I liked it much better than the first book in this series, which was good but not something I'd reread. But this probably boils down to personal tastes and preferences because I just found Bobbi more likeable than Kareena, or at the very least she was way less frustrating a character.

Bobbi & Ben's chemistry was also explosive, it was can't-look-away and keep-your-eyes-glued-to-the-page fantastic. They were both so realistic and mature about their responses to one another, even after their disastrous first meeting.

In the midst of all the chaos of their lives and the main plot they stand in the center anchoring themselves, each other, and their friends. Loved this, will reread it soon - 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Oh. My. GODS!!! Literally NO ONE does enemies to lovers like Nisha Sharma!!
I thought there was no way she could top Dating Dr Dil. Well, guess what?? I was most definitely wrong! Tastes Like Shakkar is such a fun, sexy, mysterious take on such a classic story. And, WHOOH! Benjamin Padda is most definitely my new Book Boyfriend!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this before it comes out, I’ll DEFINITELY be buying a copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for giving me an ARC of this. I found this book to be cute. Initially, I went in with a lot of excitement and I was really liking it a lot but the momentum slowed down for me because I personally didn’t feel the romantic tension and stakes the same way that I felt the sexual tension. I definitely will be recommending this to others and I found this book to be fun but ultimately, I wanted to feel more out of the romance and it just wasn’t there for me. I wasn’t exactly convinced.

Nisha DID IT AGAIN. This is truly an amazing book. I love a Shakespeare retelling/inspired read and Nisha never disappoints. She weaves a tale that is infused with banter, wit, and angst. I really think Nisha is skilled at creating a book that pulls you in and never lets you go—even after you finish the book, you still want to read more. Her writing is well-developed, the characters are likeable and personable, and the storytelling is unique. I cannot recommend Nisha’s work enough—this book is a must-read.

“Love is always better with cheese.” Ain’t that the truth! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved Dating Dr. Dil, so I was was PUMPED to see the next installment, Tastes Like Shakkar, on NetGalley. It did not disappoint! I think I might even love it more than Dr. Dil 😊

Everyone’s back together to plan Kareena and Prem’s wedding. I was so happy to see all the Aunties again. (Plus, I read the Acks and realized Nisha must have named the Aunties after some of her real life author friends, some of whom’s books I’ve read, so I love them even more!)

Bobbi and Benjamin (Bunty) had a sort of meet disaster last year with a healthy dose of misunderstanding that results in a year of heated bickering (read: sizzling). But when their best friends are getting married, Bobbi is planning the wedding, and Bunty is involved in the menu, they’re forced to work together. Enter: the Shaadi Saboteur. Someone is trying to sabotage the wedding, and they’re determined to solve the mystery without Kareena and Prem knowing about it. The Aunties are brought it which brings in the best amount of chaos and shenanigans. (I will say I had my suspicions about the saboteur, and while I was on the right track, I didn’t quite solve it.) Of course, all of this forced collaboration and proximity forces Bobbi and Bunty to address the chemistry between them. There’s banter and teasing and spice and swoon. Both characters grow. Bobbi realizes it’s okay to ask for help. Bunty has some revelations around familial expectations and his happiness.

I always am pleasantly surprised by how much I love epistolary writing, and this delivered with text messages, WhatsApp conversations, love notes about food, interstitials with Indians Abroad News Relationship Column.

I saw Nisha’s post about the Eras Tour and knew she was a Swiftie, but I wasn’t expecting a bachelor/ette party with custom t shirts for each person as a different era… or Prem dropping a Vigilante Shit reference??? I ate that up.

Finally, I loved all of the little hints and reveals about Veera and Deepak, and I can’t wait for their story!

Another great book by Nisha Sharma. I can't imagine how difficult it is to follow up a huge smash hit book like Dating Dr. Dil. I loved seeing more about Prem and Kareena's relationship and pending nuptials, even if it wasn't supposed to be their love story.

Bobbi and Benjamin definitely have chemistry, but a miscommunication triggers Bobbi's insecurities and causes a years-long rift between them. When they are forced to work together, it's not always a smooth ride. Benjamin certainly comes around first and really tries, but Bobbi is quite the grudge holder and doesn't make a ton of effort to reciprocate. Her struggles with her weight overshadowed a lot of their romance, which is certainly something that happens in real life. I have definitely seen how people sabotage relationships because of their insecurities, it was just hard to read when it was so obvious how great they could be together.

This felt like a book more focused on Bobbi's personal journey working through her insecurities and feelings about her family issues as the primary story with the secondary story being her and Benjamin bumbling their way from enemies to lovers and learning how to give love a chance.