The whole crew is back in Tastes Like Shakker, and I was so excited to read about them again! This book was a fun continuation of the Dating Dr Dil world, with all the favorite characters again but focusing on Bobbi and Benjamin. While I would’ve loved more of a slow burn, I still loved the chemistry between the two of them. This book takes us through the chaos that ensues from planning Kareena and Prem’s wedding, which someone mysteriously keeps trying to sabotage. The book starts as enemies to lovers but quickly turns into the two navigating their friendships, family dynamics and pressures, and their own relationship while trying to work together. I can’t wait for Veera and Deepak’s story! Thanks for the arc!

I’ve been dying to get my hands on this book since I finished reading Dating Dr. Dil, and it did not disappoint. Bobbi and Bunty who have a sort of arduous relationship that we’re able to see a glimpse on in Dr. Dil, but not the reasoning behind it. The banter in this book was top notch from all characters. I laughed out loud so many times. The development between Kareena, Bobbi, Veera, Prem, Bunty, and Deepak going from 2 threesomes to a found family of 6 was a great development, especially getting to see them all interact together more than we did in Dr. Dil. The Aunties were back with more shenanigans and got to put their meddling to good use.
The romance between Bobbi and Bunty was so sweet but also so HOT as it should be with 2 headstrong characters. Being enemies for a year really built up the sexual tensions. Nisha Sharma has a way with writing take no shit women who know what they deserve and are not willing to compromise to get it and the men who will do absolutely anything for them. I love Desi romance and getting to learn more about other cultures while enjoying a really great book. I didn’t think Nisha could possibly do better than Dating Dr. Dil, THEN SHE DID. The teaser for Veera’s book at the end has me again not able to wait to see what she comes up with next!
thank you to Avon Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review

I devoured this book in less than a day!
It was an amazing story and I adored it just as much as the first book in this series.

Nisha Sharma returns with the second book in her If Shakespeare Was An Auntie Trilogy Tastes Like Shakkar.

This
book reached all my expectations and much more.
Bobbi and Bunty are the absolute best!
The banter between them and between these two was really good!
It had all the vibes of a rom-com, with lots of smiles.
Sharma always has strong characterization with her characters.
And that is exactly what you get with her writing style. Her writing style is fresh, fun, and steamy/sweet.
Her characters feel real and inviting.
I'm always rooting for the couple to stay together in the end and for me that is a sign of a good book.
I also enjoyed the dynamic of the familial, the aunts are just hilarious.
This book was a true masterpiece and such a delight & funny read, Nisha did an amazing job with the plot & characters and basically the whole story as always!
She truly is one of my favorite authors ever because I just know that no matter what, her books are such a comfort & I know I will love them.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

5/5!!!

Nisha Sharma has done it again! I absolutely flew through TLS and I need Deepak's and Veera's book IMMEDIATELY.

My favorite thing about this addition to the series was the continuity - Sharma doesn't introduce characters only to sideline them, and that's what's so delightfully Desi about these books: EVERYONE IS INVOLVED AND IT IS CHAOTIC AND CHARMING ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

I adored that Kareena, Veera, Prem and Deepak all played significant roles in Bunty and Bobbi's installment. I loved the Aunties (even Sonali and her religious self) the humor (Taylor swift jokes anyone?), AND MY GOD THE FOOD??? I was so hungry reading this!

Spice-wise, Nisha kicked it up a notch (hello shibari kink) and I was here for every bit of it. The tension between Bobbi and Bunty was absolutely sizzling and it took me back to the anticipation of 'when will they???' I felt reading Dating Dr. Dil. I need a bonus epilogue of these two because I simply couldn't get enough.

But Sharma doesn't stop there. Without fail, she manages to marry jokes, sexy times, and important family dynamics and issues (especially between the younger and older gens) as the plot moves forward. As always, the character growth is impeccable.

Bunty's feelings of obligation to his family and Bobbi's inability to rely on others were things I wholeheartedly related to, and I loved watching these two overcome their weaknesses to come together to make things work.

Sharma had me in absolute knots. I ached as they missed each other. I ached when they were together but unsure of their futures. What an organically crafted love story!!! (Seriously, it had me by the throat, why did I not savor this???)

Also, y'all, there's a bit of a mystery??? AKA one of my all-time fave genres? There's a shaadi saboteur afoot! Don't miss out on this fantastic second book!!!

I have no notes for Sharma, except, please give me more, faster. I bow to thee, Queen of Desi romances.

Definitely rereading when this is out in August!

Thank you to Netgalley for the Free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Benjamin “Bunty” and Bobbi have a banter-filled relationship and definitely start off on the wrong foot during their initial meeting in Dating Dr Dil. Tastes Like Shakkar takes place after Prem and Kareena, Bunty and Bobbi’s respective friends, get engaged. Bunty is roped into planning the food side of the wedding as a restaurant owner and chef, while Bobbi is a wedding planner by trade and is ecstatic to plan her best friends wedding. As wedding planning progresses, and their relationship develops into something more romantic, a wedding saboteur and mounting family pressures may ruin everything.

I absolutely loved this next installment in the Dating Dr Dil world by Nisha Sharma! Bunty and Bobbi are a couple of headstrong workaholics who both realize they need to take a closer look at their priorities if they’re interested in the possibility of a relationship between them. As with the previous story, the Aunties are quite the hilarious characters providing some comic relief but also a few nudges to our love interests.

Bunty definitely annoyed me a bit but I loved the connections he and Bobbi formed with the similarities between their family situations. Bobbi was certainly a fun character and I appreciated her having the ability to ask for help even though it’s not her first thought.

Book 2 in Nisha Sharma’s Shakespeare inspired novels follow Bobby and Benjamin as they’re forced to work together to pull off their best friend’s wedding events while trying to find out the mystery person set on sabotaging the wedding.

I thought the first book with Prem & Kareena was cute but this one was also so much fun! I loved seeing both Bobby & Benjamin so career driven and passionate. The way he cooks for her and their texts messages??? So cute!!!

One thing about Nisha is she’s going to write incredible descriptions of food into her books that makes your mouth water.

It was funny, fast paced and I loved seeing the whole group together!! I can’t wait for the next couple’s book!!


Thank you Nisha for the ARC!

I could not put this one down. Dating Dr. Dil was one of my favorite reads in 2022 and I was so excited to learn that the series would be continuing. Tastes Like Shakkar is a Much Ado About Nothing modern Indian retelling.

Bobbi and Benjamin have a disaster of a first introduction and then they spend the next year bickering every time they see each other. The main problem? Their best friends are getting married so they see each other often.

Forced to work together to plan the wedding, they can’t deny their attraction. When someone actively goes out of their way to try and ruin the wedding, they have to involve my favorite side characters from Dr. Dil (the aunties) to help make sure their best friends’ wedding goes perfectly.

Nisha Sharma’s writing is phenomenal. She can make me cackle with laughter and sob within a few chapters of each other. I could not put this book down and definitely recommend, especially if you liked Dating Dr. Dil. It’s a delightful mix of slow burn turn super steamy. The banter is fantastic and there’s such a lovely found family aspect to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! I can’t wait to pick up a copy when this comes out on August 1st!

CW: fatphobia, racism, family obligations

For me this was a 3.5 but rounded up for good faith!

I loved the premise of this book and I’m always down for a modern spin on a classic (this is based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing). I really liked how along with the romance, we also get a mystery subplot, so it’s like twofer 😂As someone who is not of the South Asian Diaspora culture, I feel that Nisha Sharma writes in a way that invites others to learn a little about her culture without info dumping explanations for every single word, phrase or cultural nuance, or seeming like she’s pandering to the outsider’s gaze, which I think is great!!

One of my BIGGEST pet peeve’s in romance writing is the miscommunication trope that leads characters to not getting along for an extended period of time over something as simple as “what i meant to say was XYZ”. I sooo wish that Bobbi and Bunty had a more solid reason not to get along in the beginning. This does get cleared up pretty early on in the book so it wasn’t the worst case, I just think the conflict choice could’ve been stronger.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read Dating Doctor Dil so perhaps some of my qualms have to do with a lack of context, but there were certain things that felt brushed over to me, along with the pacing being a little off in some spots. Like rushing through the vegas trip, and then it just feeling kinda slow after that until bobbi and bunty argue and then slow again until the saboteur reveal.

Overall it was a cute story and I would definitely be interested in reading some of this authors other work!

There is nothing about this book that I didn't like. This was a highly anticipated book for me, and it did not disappoint. I think I may have liked this one even more than the first. The relationship between Bunty and his siblings was amazing, I loved the friendships, the family dynamics were on point, and of course, the romance between Bunty and Bobbi had me kicking my feet in the air. Their chemistry was everything and every scene they had together had me absolutely feral.

Nisha Sharma does it again! A romance novel filled with so much culture and love! (and a little kink) Yessss!! SO funny, romantic, and sexy! I loved these characters and Nisha Sharma is easily an auto buy author for me now.

I was so excited to read this book because I read Dating Dr. Dill which is the precursor to this book. I can say same characters, but not the character development as Dr. Dill. The story line is a little far fetched.. I really would have liked more character development between the leads.
The spicy part however were just right. Hopefully if another book written with the third set of friends (Vera and Prem) it will be better.

Oh this was hilarious and I love Bobbi real bad.

This couple had me feeling optimistic that they would come to their senses, and get it together. But Benjamin sure had a way of keeping his foot stuck in his mouth (why must men be this way!?!). They were literally feigning for each other within the first chapter of the book. It also had just the right amount of spice as their relationship developed.

With the fatphobia being mentioned, I wished we saw more of her experience with that in her culture. Everyone loved Bobbi so much & she killed her job as a wedding planner. Benjamin was so caring of her.

I loved the aunties investigation! The saboteurs were unexpected

Dating Dr. Dil is coming off the TBR like tomorrow.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity, all thoughts are my own.

I really liked Sharma's first book in this series, Dating Dr. Dill, so was excited to see the next book in the series. The series, If Shakespeare Was an Auntie, introduced the next story based on Mucho Ado About Nothing. You can definitely see the parallels in the plot, but the story is all its own. The main trope was 'enemies to lovers', which was handled well and believably. I honestly loved the main characters and the romance more in this one, then the first book in the series (though its still one of my favorites). It was great to see the book one main characters again and how their story is going. The end of this book also sets up for the third, and I assume final, book in the trilogy. Which I look forward to reading. Definitely did not want to put this story down and plan to recommend it to fellow Romance fans. (Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for the ARC)

This book had it all — a plus size it girl, friends that feel like family, family drama, a desi wedding, sexual tension and a saboteur.

The banter and dialogue had me laughing and i loooooved how Nisha Sharma turned up the heat in this second installment.

I know I’m going to be re-reading this all the time. Highly recommend. Huge fan!

This was the follow-up to the wildly popular Dating Dr. Dil. I did not like it as well. Bobbi is a great character, and Benjamin is ok. He just isn't my type of character, so I had a hard time relating to the story.

THIS BOOK IS....my god, this book is fire. If you loved Dating Dr. Dil like I did, boy oh boy... are you in for a treat. Nisha Sharma has become one of my top 10 authors. I love everything she puts out and I would read her freaking GROCERY LIST.

3.5 stars but rounded up. We did like this book but definitely not as much as Dating Dr Dil.

Bobbi, a wedding planner, and Benjamin, a chef, had a falling out during the first book apparently when they have a run in and then have to work together to plan both their best friend’s wedding. However someone is trying to sabotage the wedding and they come together to try and figure out who.

It was very easy to figure out who if you paid attention…which we did! We loved when the aunties and Prem’s mother join in for the special body pairing the night before the wedding. The aunties were fun as were the soaring matches when all the friends got together. We really wanted it eat all the food described as well! It sounded so delicious!

We just didn’t get Bobbi and Benjamin together as a couple. It was an opposites attract yet enemies to lovers that felt unfulfilled with quick sex scenes with rope play that weren’t well explained. We also did not appreciate how the plus representation was handled. It written in and a sentence or two about how men had issues with Bobbi’s size but that was it. Definitely needed more there or just leave it out altogether. There were also some pacing issues and unanswered questions/plot points.

Overall though we binged the book. It was fun and we’ll impatiently await the next one but just wasn’t a winner for us.

Y'ALL THIS BOOK WAS ROMCOM PERFECTION, I HAVE NO NOTES.

It's no secret that I absolutely adored Dating Dr. Dil, so going into this book I had very high hopes. Being back in this community of friends and family was such a delight, I missed their chaos so much. Watching Bobbi and Benjamin fall in love while planning Kareena and Prem's wedding was the perfect setting, especially when the mysterious shaadi saboteur is constantly trying to ruin their plans.

The format of this book was great, I loved all the texting, notes, and auntie whatsapp groups. Also let me tell y'all that this is one of the hottest traditionally published books I have read in a while, I was BLUSHING while reading lol. Bobbi is a plus size woman, and I really appreciated how her body was discussed in the book as something that is important simply because it's a part of her, but it is not in any way a plot point. I could tell that Nisha put a lot of care into getting that right and I very much appreciated it.

Definitely add this to your tbr if you like:
-Shakespeare retellings
-enemies to lovers
-constant shenanigans and a fast-paced plot
-meddling friends and family
-great spice
-foody books

One of my fave quotes: "Love is always better with cheese."

I can't wait to reread this on audio once it's released. Thank you so much to Nisha and Avon books for sending me an early copy to review. I am impatiently waiting for Veera's book now, can't wait to see what the aunties get up to next.

My taste in men may be golden retriever energy in real life but in books I love them sassy, snarky, brooding and sarcastic with dirty mouth to spare and maaaan was Bunty everything and more.
I had every hope that I will like this book. Between loving book one and all of the teasers I'm glad to say I LOVE THIS BOOK! Bunty and Bobby are chef's kiss (hehehe, see what I did there?).
Chaos of planing a wedding is already stressful enough but throw in a enemies that turn lovers, shaadi saboteur, auntie brigade and all other amazing, hilarious and beautiful parts of this book and you will get Taste like Shakkar.
Add to it one spicy chef, driven friend, family drama and you get 5 star read that will have you fanning yourself while fantasizing about Bunty feeding you and 😏other things.
Still very much irritated by Kareena's sister and grandmother but no family is perfect.
Excited to see how our Veera and Deepak get their love stories in the next few books.
In conclusion I bow down to the author for a book that went above and beyond all that I look for in a story.

I love Nisha's writing, and it was so fun to be back in this big, entertaining group of friends. Something about this story just didn't *quite* get there for me - this is a 3.5 read rounded up, and usually I'm a real sucker for an enemies to lovers forced proximity for our friends kind of deal. I thought Bunty was a little immature, but Bobbi is the kind of type-A uber-competent kind of person that I aspire to be. Well worth the wait, and I'm so excited for the next book!