I’m not a huge romance person but I really enveloped this one! A bit of a Jane Austen riff, well-developed characters that you root foe, humor and taking on some race issues. Well played and look forward to reading the others in the series.

Bought this Kindle book to read for a book club, which had the food theme, and got to know about it through a blog. I don't really read much of romance, but this one I did like, especially since this was a homage to the classic author Jane Austen. It was a smooth read. Page-turner for sure, because this was not just romance... there was also drama involved. And the worldbuilding and the backstories were just brilliant. Every character, even the side-characters, got ample focus and backstories, and the author made me understand the protagonist Trisha's background. Where she comes from, her strengths, her flaws, and the relationship with her family and friends that define her. The protagonist is strong and impulsive, does come across as a snob to a stranger, but since the author does give good reasoning in the narrative, I finally came to understand her. The author covers the male POV as well. DJ Caine is Trisha's love interest... well, actually, it is an enemies to lovers trope. I wouldn't say, enemy. I would say he definitely hates her guts, and he has temper issues that can misunderstand anyone. But why is it that his anger flares up whenever Trisha is around?
Austen's story might be the one influenced this book, but this book is clearly cut out of its own cloth. The gender-swapped roles are what's majorly different, but the storyline veers away differently. I quite identified with the familial roles that were played by the characters.
This is the first book of the Raje Series. I am given to understand there are at least four books, each book concentrating on the POV of a different character. But each character is related to each other, belonging to a royal dysfunctional family: The Rajes.
The author has impressed me with her style and writing. Fluid writing and character development is what made this book great. Hoping her other books share the same caliber. There are a couple of issues with the book (for ex, Trisha proposed out of the blue without any hint in the narrative about her changing feelings, etc) but I am not a romance reader like I said. So maybe that's why. Also, this book is a quintessential Bollywood drama style. More like NRI Bollywood drama. There's drama, there's romance, and there's the hint of a subtle villainy that's set out to destroy a family legacy. A great escape from reality. Definitely recommend reading this book for its elegant writing style, character development, and all the beautiful backstories.

I love this book. I want to say that first, but I had a few issues with 2 things. I love how they tackle a lot of difficult topics in a nuanced way in this book. At the same time I thought it was a bit hypocritical at times. The way Trisha sort of sexualizes DJ by reducing him to his body parts (biceps but still) in her name for him on his phone gave me pause. Particularly when we see that it makes DJ uncomfortable when women do this from his perspective. Second, I enjoyed the story but I’m not fully sure why Trisha fell in love with DJ. To me, it almost seemed like she fell in love with him for his food and good looks. That was described a lot more than why she actually fell in love with him from what I could see. She of course saw that he was a good brother but it wasn’t really described how she saw the things and fell in love with those things enough to me. That being said the writing was well done, I loved getting to know every character and despite the 2 things I mentioned I left happy the couple got together.

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors is the first in Sonali Dev's The Rajes series. The audiobook is narrated by Soneela Nankani ---she is a wonderful voice artist.
This is touted as a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice---and it did not disappoint me in any way. The characters are true to their collective heritages and upbringings. I enjoyed learning about the family and their ties to India; all the children are US born and must contend with their parents ideas of what is appropriate for an Indian child. It is a slow burn, enemies to friends romance, filled with angst, misunderstandings and tender moments. I really liked it.

I received an ARC from HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors is my first Sonali Dev book and I’m absolutely enchanted with her prose. This book is a multicultural retelling of Pride and Prejudice that not only does justice to the timeless classic, but also remains true to the characters Dev created. After having read Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (a Muslim Pride and Prejudice retelling) last year, I am convinced that more authors of colour should write their own unique retelling of this classic. There’s also a delicious twist in Dev’s retelling: gender-swapped Darcy and Elizabeth. FYI this is not a spoiler – it’s obvious from the very beginning, if not from the synopsis. And let me tell you, that first proposal/confession scene is even more mortifying when it’s a female Darcy who’s messing up lol. Trisha embodied Darcy’s awkwardness so well that I died of embarrassment multiple times throughout the story.

Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors is a love story that is intertwined with familial ties in the most heartfelt of ways. DJ Caine – our male version of Elizabeth Bennet – is a chef whose only remaining family is his little sister, Emma. Trisha Raje – our female version of Darcy – is a genius neurosurgeon and DJ’s sister is one of her patients. Both DJ and Trisha have incredibly complicated relationships with their family, which means that they have much more in common than they originally thought. Both are also blinded by pride and prejudice. They’re such complex characters that it was really hard for me to understand if I loved or hated them. My final answer: I enjoyed both DJ and Trisha as characters, but I also wanted to smack them so many times (in the most loving way, of course). They drove me nuts in the best possible way. The moment of beauty: character growth. Both Trisha and DJ experience various moments of epiphany that positively contributed to the richness of their character arc and development.

What I also love about this book is that it's not only the protagonists who go through significant character development – DJ’s sister Emma and key members of Trisha’s family also have their own moment of growth. This is a love story that beautifully intersects with the Raje family and the Caine family and I truly enjoyed immersing myself in both families.

P.S. According to Goodreads, this book might be the first one in a brand new series about the Rajes...I hope that's true because I love that family!!