Read if you love: epistolary novels, star-crossed lovers, and sassy South Asians!

Studious freshman Jessie meets nepo baby Ravi and he immediately gets under her skin. When a prank leaves them locked together in an abandoned section of the library, they find old letters that they think are connected to an old campus legend...

Another gem from Nisha Sharma! I love how this book complicates common stereotypes of South Asian American families, not just in the ways people defy them, but also the ways that people choose to lean into them. I’m not usually a fan of the innocent girl/bad boy trope, but Jessie and Ravi managed to crack through my skepticism with their snark and sweetness. I wish I’d had this book as a young adult!

Overall: 4
Spice: 1

It wasn't a true YA book, but not a full adult book either. It was a great palette cleanser, wholesome and a great way to start the month. Both the FMC & MMC are trying to find their way while meeting their family expectations. In doing a class project the develop a friendship that turns into a relationship by exploring the relationship of past students at their university. I love the diversity this author can write while staying true to their culture and readers.

I’ve yet to read anything from Nisha that’s a miss for me. While I still enjoyed this one, I’m not entirely sure I was the target age range/demographic for it and that made it a little harder for me to stick with and get through with my ongoing reading slump. The mystery and plot line for the letters was a little too sparse for my liking but overall I did still find this a delightful romance and enjoyed reading.

Thank you so so much to Nisha Sharma and team for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of The Letters We Keep!

WOW - this book is SO GOOD!!!!

Jessie is in her freshman year of college when she meets Ravi, a junior. Jessie doesn’t realize at first that she’s run into the son of a tech genius. Jessie is pursuing becoming an engineer like her parents, while Ravi is looking to carve his own path, one different from what his family imagined for him. These two end up competing for the same study room, one that escalates into a dare to enter the Davidson Tower. In the tour is where these two come across letters they believe are tied to an old campus legend associated with the tower.

You’ll love watching the relationship develop between these two, including the ways that they support, inspire and challenge each other. I simply love how the letters drive the mystery as well as parallels with our two main characters. The mystery will keep you questioning until the end which is the best kind of mystery! It’s such a great build up from beginning to end and if not for spoilers, there’s multiple moments in roughly the last third of the book I so wish I could mention.

And also, the ending!!! This is Nisha Sharma’s first new adult novel and it is fantastic!

Nisha truly has a way with words and her stories are one-of-a-kind and utterly captivating. The Letters We Keep is about love, loss, growth, and a SpOoKy tower filled with old books, love letters, and secrets. I devoured this book in one sitting and immediately pre-ordered a physical copy.

Thank you, Skyscape for my early copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.
This was a fun read for me. A lot of parallels between our two main characters Jessie and Ravi and the research found letters from the 70s between two people Christian and Divya.
A unique romance story about standing up for what you want, what you believe in and refusing to conform to cultural expectations.

Another winner by Nisha Sharma!

The premise with the haunted tower and letters was so cute and I loved how it played into Ravi and Jessie’s story! Nisha is always great at writing about Desi experiences and struggles in all of her books. This rings true here as well! She did a great job incorporating generational differences of immigrants; those that have been in the US for a few generations vs first generation as a well as family expectations. A quick and easy read! Check it out when it publishes on May 1!

Big thank you to Nisha and her team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review 🩷

Sweet romance in an academic setting with a mystery thread. The Characters in this book are endearing. The romance takes the spotlight and I feel like the mystery could have been fleshed out more to add to the story. However I don’t know how they could go through the letters so slowly, my curiosity could never! You get a conclusion to the mystery but lots of details I’m left questioning like why they were left where they were found. That just left the story lacking although the concept is intriguing and the writing is good it wasn’t satisfying. I didn’t like the one slightly spicy scene. I like a spicy book but this was one scene that wasn’t spicy, and the way Jessie’s virginity was handled I didn’t like, a fad to black would have fit the story way better.

I loved this so much! Books with letters always hit different.

Jessie and Ravi are from two different worlds - Ravi is a "nepo baby" while Jessie is more "normal." At first, they kind of butt heads but come together when they find these hidden letters from forbidden lovers from their college campus in the 70s. The letters and the present-day story are woven together beautifully. Also, as a South Asian myself, I found Ravi's and Jessie's frames of mind super relatable - they were balancing expectations and their actual wants/needs which I think many people in the diaspora can relate to.

I found that the main characters were maybe described a bit toooo stereotypically at the beginning but I understood why more and more as I kept reading. I also think that maybe the romance happened toooo fast for my taste, but also there were so many other things happening so I was okay with it in this book.

Overall I really liked this, Nisha Sharma does not miss!

I loved this book so much! It was so sweet and loved reading about their college romance. Needing to find out what happened and what was in the letters made me finish this book in one sitting.

It's so nice to read books by Indian authors because I find myself connecting with the characters and their struggles so much and I loved Jessie and Ravi together. Highly reccomend giving this a read, it's so cute and well written.


Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. I received a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review

I have only read Nisha Sharma's adult romance books before, so I was excited to try out a different genre and style. This was such an intriguing, interesting concept and I really enjoyed the parallels of the past mystery and the current events in the book. The characters were realistic, problematic and loveable all at once. I enjoyed the dual point of views between Ravi and Jessie, the glimpse into their families and the difference in their social status. I enjoyed the side friendships with the other characters and how they fit into the story and plot line as well.

This review is written in exchange for an ARC from Netgalley

Thank you to Netgalley and Nisha Sharma for this ARC. It was my first Nisha Sharma book and the premise of letter writing and dual stories over a dual timeline had me sold!

I enjoyed the romance blossoming as the letters, and their story, were uncovered. I do wish there was MORE. More letters, more story, it feels a little unfinished but the plot and elements were all there.

It was a quick read but I would not have minded more, to flesh out both of their motivations as well as the romance.

I love that the authors mothers and grandmothers letters were the inspiration behind it - I do love a real element influencing the written story.

I think this would appeal to a younger audience more so than me but enjoyable nonetheless.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a college romance between Jessie, the ambitious and serious student who is on scholarship, and Ravi, the equally ambitious writer who doesn’t want to work in the family business. They have a not-so-meet-cute and end up working together on a project for class.

Things I enjoyed about this book:
I really loved the letters and the history of the romance. I thought the letters were so interesting and the mystery of what happened to the writers was so intriguing.
I loved how the letters were hidden in the tower at the school.
The female friendships in this book were really good.
I thought a lot of the characters kept it real.
I loved finding out bits and pieces of the history of the letters throughout the book.
The happily ever after was sweet.

Don’t miss the author’s note at the end.

This had a very cool trope - two college students bonding over the letters of a legendary doomed (or was it?) love story of two college students from many, many years ago. The present and the past romances mirrored each other in many ways, and the author has done such a good job of creating good resolutions for both of them <3

TWs - pressure from family to conform to certain lifestyles or careers

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Nisha Sharma has the most incredible ability to make you feel what her characters are experiencing in a visceral way. This book was an invigorating cross between an innocent and precious romance and important discussion of inequities that impact how relationships are forged.

Absolutely loved this novel and cannot wait for more! Thank you to NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this advanced reader copy.

Thank you to Nisha Sharma for sending me an early look at her new book!

The Letters We Keep is officially her first New Adult novel. Her writing is different here than in her previous adult books, but I still enjoyed the personal touches she added throughout the story. It's a contemporary romance about two love stories happening in different time periods. The main characters, Ravi and Jessie, stumble upon love letters from the 1970s and a famous campus legend, and they try to figure out what happened. I was really hooked on the mystery and wished there were even more letters to discover!

I definitely related to the depiction of South Asian families in the book. As an immigrant myself, I could totally understand Jessie's fears and the expectations she felt. I totally got her feelings about Ravi's privileged background too. Their romance was really cute and reminded me of those classic Bollywood movies. Even though the plot might seem a bit cliche with the romance between people from two different socio economic backgrounds, I still appreciated how Nisha Sharma made it unique with her personal touch.

However, the romance did feel a bit lukewarm and I would've liked to see it explored more deeply in both timelines. But overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read for me!

summary: this book features jesse and ravi, and their love story, the backdrop is a college they both go to, mixed in with lost love letters form a fire years ago and the mounting differences between the two.

footnotes: TW: hook up culture, vaping, addiction

this book is dual pov, and also contains some of the letters from the fire in between chapters. this book is one of the shortest i read. (i quite literally got 78% of the way through in one sitting without realizing it.)

thoughts: nisha sharma books are a hit or miss for me. this one was a miss. i truly tried to like it, and in the moment i did, but looking back, this book was not great. firstly the characters, jesse and ravi. ravi comes form a rich family, and succeeds only because of his nepotism. jesse comes from an immigrant family and is poor. that's really all there is to these characters. the topics of money, and nepotism come up so often in this book they take away from the romance. both jesse and ravi felt like means to an end, and i just couldn't like them. race is also a major topic in this book. race is brought up constantly, to the point where it just felt like it was there to add extra fluff. it didn't add anything to the story, and it felt like it was there to give the author brownie points for inclusivity. the plot was also very predictable and bored me to death. i'll give credit for the romance, which was half-hearted at best and gave me some enjoyment. overall, it felt like the author was trying to wrap in so many subtopics together at once that the book fell apart. the sheer ignorance of some of the events were astounding. The romance carried me over, but looking back, this was just another attempt at a social justice warrior book with a little romance to gloss over the edges.

save this for when you are absolutely out of every other romance book you can think of, and then think again, and then maybe read this.

The Letters We Keep is yet another adorable romance from Nisha Sharma! This book is Nisha's first New Adult romance and it was written so well for the demographic. I enjoyed following Jessie and Ravi as they explored the story of an interracial couple at their university from many years ago while also exploring their budding feelings for one another. Their individual arcs as students juggling school, work, and family obligations were also very thoughtfully handled. I do wish we got to see more scenes of them together, especially as they were falling in love. Even an extra 30 pages would have been amazing! Nevertheless, I think that all fans of Nisha's previous novels and romance readers looking for a sweet college NA romance will love this book, especially fans of the popular boy and studious girl trope.

In "The Letters We Keep," college students Jessie and Ravi are navigating complex family histories and societal expectations. Their journey is a rollercoaster of emotions as they confront privilege, class differences, and personal identity. It's not just about a love story; it's about them coming to terms with who they are and where they come from. Through it all, Jessie and Ravi are learning that sometimes you have to dig deep to find the real treasure. Truly love the parallels of past & present throughout.

3.5 Stars
I am new to Nisha Sharma's writing but had heard great things about her books. I decided to give The Letters We Keep a try because I was intrigued those great things and by the blurb. It was a good reading experience but one I thought could have been even better. 

Sharma's writing was strong. The Southeast Asian culture that permeated the story was interesting and entertaining. The present storyline dominated. Jessie and Ravi were strong characters. Despite his "nepo-baby" status Ravi was easy to like, but Jessie took me longer. Her first actions towards Ravi didn't seem to come from anything but her preconceived notions and unwillingness to be kind when it came to him.  My love of their relationship and like of their characters grew right along with them while reading. It was easy to feel the emotions Jessie and Ravi were having and sympathize with them, even when I didn't always like them. 

My main problem with this book revolves around the letters and the mystery they hold. I wish the letters from the past had been a little longer, more detailed, and more frequent. The letters that were their own chapters were sparse. There wasn't enough substance in them to make me curious about what happened to the characters who wrote them. There wasn't anything in them that helped me get to know the characters or feel connected to them. There was a little more substance to the few Jessie and Ravi read in their chapters, but it wasn't enough. Sharma was telling us what happened in the past than showing us. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this book would have felt more complete to me with a dual timeline between the letters and letter writers and Jessie and Ravi.

Overall, this was a good book. I felt it could have been stronger in the mystery and letter but enjoyed the present timeline.