So I ended up in a bit of a Kathak dancing YouTube hole after reading this book – what a beautiful art form. I love books that introduce me to new things. Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is a lovely YA story about two teens from completely different backgrounds who enjoy dancing. For different reasons, both Radha and Jai are a bit lost and I liked the way this united them if a little unexpectedly. I enjoyed the introduction to a new culture in a similar way to the way I did with A Pho Love Story. If you like YA stories with interesting characters that span outside of the teenagers then you will probably like this too.

At the beginning of the book Radha is on the verge of becoming a world Kathak dancing superstar, but a close family betrayal leads to her dropping out of the competition and becoming an outcast in the USA Kathak community. Moving to New Jersey, she enrols in a new performing art school in hope to escape her past. There she meets Jai, a talented teenager with a passion for dance and medicine – though tight family funds mean medical school isn’t really on the cards for him. There’s a slim chance of winning some money through a regional Bollywood dance competition, but with the loss of the team choreographer it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Jai’s team with qualify…that is until Radha is convinced to choreograph to get her out of performing herself.

I loved the dance elements of this story. It gives me joy to read about characters that have such a passion for their hobbies. Radha has a difficult relationship with dance, mostly because her whole life she has been pushed to be the best by her mother who used to dance Kathak herself. The two have a strained relationship because of it. Radha also suffers from anxiety both due to stress and performing, hence her reluctance to ever perform again after dropping out of the major competition before the finals. Jai wants nothing more than to become a Doctor but his strong loyalty to his family means he is all set on helping them with the family restaurant. Radha’s choreography skills give him a new hope that extra funds might be achievable, but he knows unless she chooses to dance the team isn’t quite good enough. Their teacher has a big impact on both of their lives and it was good to see that she cared about her students. I did think that Jai’s family connection to the Director was a little strange, though.

The book isn’t without its teenage angst, and there was some very realistic drama between its central protagonists. But I liked that it was therapy positive and that both characters went on a little bit of a journey of self-discovery with the help of each other. One of the trickiest themes was the difference in wealth between Radha and Jai but I thought the author addressed it well.

How did I forget to mention the food? Part of Radha’s healing process involves her connecting with her father’s side of the family. She learns to cook with the help of family members she had lost touch with and I really enjoyed this element of the book. The book is integrated with recipes which was such a nice touch.

Overall, Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is a great book with a lot of depth. I enjoyed learning about new cultures throughout. I think if you like YA romance then you’ll really enjoy this story – I found it really touched my heart.

Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance includes:
-punjabi female mc/ gujarati and punjabi male mc
-friends to lovers
-ya romance
-bi side character

Radha is an extremely talented Kathak dancer and she’s been dancing most of her life. However, Radha finds out something devastating on competition day and she starts questioning her passion. She moves to New Jersey and enrols in the Princeton Academy of Arts where she meets the charming Jai Patel who is the captain of the school’s Bollywood dance team.

This book was one of my anticipated reads of this year after first seeing it on tiktok and it was such a delight to read. Both characters had great development and the way Nisha wrote about their experience of being a young Indian-American was so well written. It was very refreshing to see Radha’s journey in discovering herself and falling in love with her passion again. Also, both Radha and Jai were so adorable together, especially seeing them both encouraging each other to pursue their passion and become the best possible version of themselves. I loved how Nisha included the different recipes that Radha made, it made me very hungry and I will be recreating them. If you follow Nisha on TikTok she has posted some recipes of the food Radha makes throughout the book.

I also appreciated how mental health was discussed in this book as it is not a popular topic that is discussed in South Asian communities.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Even though this book dealt with topics such as mental health, grief and familial relationships, this was a such a heartfelt and a great coming of age story. I will also definitely be reading Nisha Sharma’s backlist, I've heard great things about her other books.

This book was nothing like I thought it would be. But in a good way.
The story was brilliantly realistic in a lot of aspects.
The main character Radha has anxiety, and for someone who has anxiety I understand her character and loved how she was working with.
Do give this book a read and you will like it as it has dancing, cooking and swoon worthy main characters.

4.5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this story a lot! It was quite cheesy and fluffy and so cute, and I practically breezed through it. One of the best things about reading this was getting to read some of the descriptions of the food (especially samosa, I love samosa) because they're all things that I eat in my daily life. As someone who's Indian, all the cultural aspects were so familiar and that gave me even more joy while I read this. I think this is a book I certainly would have loved to read a book like this in high school, but I'm glad to have gotten to read it now. Although it felt a little disconnected in some places (there were a lot of scene jumps), I still enjoyed it a lot. I highly recommend this!

Absolutely adorable, Radha and Jai! And the flavour of their recipe for romance! I enjoyed thoroughly and loved the twist to the climax!

Spiced up with the magic of authentic Indian Punjabi recipes RJRR celebrates and swirls to Bollywood dance routines and blends in family, friendship, love, drama and explores differences, traditions, betrayal, trust and self discovery.

Badhai ho Nishaji on your heartfelt accomplishment! And, thank you Little Tiger and Net Galley for the e-ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a lot of fun and had a really cute romance between the two main characters. I loved the focus of this story being on dance and performance and finding the things in life that you are passionate about and being brave enough to go for it!
I really liked that both Radha and Jai were flawed characters who made mistakes and knew what they had to do in order to make the situation right, meaning that I was always rooting for them to find a solution and make it work.
Overall I really enjoyed this story! It was a quick, dual perspective read that made me smile and if you’re looking for a sweet romance, with some added drama I definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved how unapologetically Indian it was. I particularly enjoyed the recipes which honestly sound fantastic. I am now craving all of my comfort Indian foods. I also loved the dancing element as it was clear that Nisha Sharma also loves dancing. The only thing I think that could be improved in this book is the romance development. I just think the pacing of the relationship was a bit odd and it could have done with more scenes developing them as a couple, especially before they got together.

As I was reading Radha & Jai's recipe for romance, I couldn't help but drool over the recipes described in the book. This was such a fun read. The beginning was kind of rocky with some scenes being wrapped up too quickly for my taste. But the story progressed into a much better version. I liked reading about the aspirations and fears Radha and Jai had and how well it was handled. If you are a fan of Bollywood movies with whirlwind romance, random bursts of songs and dances and a happily ever after, you should definitely pick this one up.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting this copy in exchange for an honest review

A compelling story of finding and being true to oneself, Radha and Jai's recipe for Romance is filled with passion for dance and food and a cute romance. Written in a cheesy, fluffy style, you can't help but read ahead as you find out more about Radha and Jai and fall in love with them.

Radha, after having to back out from a competition, is no longer sure about her dancing abilities. Unable to face doing it again only to realise that all her accomplishments were fake, takes on cooking to connect to her dad and also find another passion for herself.

Jai is the leader of the Bollywood Beat's Team at Princeton Academy of the Arts and looking for a choreographer for the end of year dance performance.

Following many interactions and pleading, Radha decides to choreograph for Jai and so begins an epic romance. Together, they face their fears and challenge them to come out on top and in between all of it, fall madly in love with one another.

The book is sweet but also substantial, making Radha and Jai lovable yet flawed characters you can not help but root for. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who is a Bollywood fan or like sweet, cute contemporary romances.