Book Review: Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2) by Sonali Dev
Happy Release Day to Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev. Read the blurb, my favourite quotes, buy links and Njkinny’s Book Review of Recipe for Persuasion in this post.
Also Released today is Hideaway by Nora Roberts. Read more about this book by clicking Book Blitz: Hideaway by Nora Roberts
About Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev:
Title and Author: Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
No. of Pages: 464
Series: The Rajes #2
Publication Date: May 26th 2020 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Second Chance Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Jane Austen Classic Retelling
Blurb:
From the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors comes another , clever, deeply layered, and heartwarming romantic comedy that follows in the Jane Austen tradition—this time, with a twist on Persuasion.
Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn’t a complete screw up? When she’s asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She’s a chef, what’s the worst that could happen?
Rico Silva, that’s what.
Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.
FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn’t too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he’s definitely over her.
But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce…and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion…?
In Recipe for Persuasion, Sonali Dev once again takes readers on an unforgettable adventure in this fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy.
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev Review
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev is the second book in “The Rajes” series. A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic, “Persuasion“, Recipe for Persuasion is the standalone story of Ashna Raje and Rico Silva. Just like in “Persuasion”, here too, Ashna ended her relationship with Rico Silva under the persuasion of her father. Now years later, she still regrets letting the man she loved go. She gets a second-chance with Rico when she participates in a celebrity cooking show where he is her partner.
After reading Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, the first book in “The Rajes” series that is based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice“, I was eager to read about Ashna and jumped at the chance to read Recipe for Persuasion.
The lively and beautiful cover combined with the intriguing blurb are sure to attract readers. However, the blurb feels misleading to me because it portrays Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev as a “fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy” but this one is not a light romantic comedy. This is a book that deals with heavy topics like child neglect, PTSD, suicide, alcoholism, marital rape and the social indifference towards victims. While it touches on serious topics, there are still moments of levity and fun, just not that many that it can be labelled a romantic comedy.
Sonali Dev is a master at delving into the depths of human emotions and this book is another great product of her skill at making the readers feel and experience each and every emotion, whether light or ugly, felt by her characters.
In my opinion, relationships are the highlight of this book. Ashna’s carer relationship with her alcoholic father, her indifferent and neglected relationship with her mother, her loving relationship with the Rajes and her soul-deep connection with Rico are all splendidly examined and developed in this book.
I felt sorry for Ashna who is stuck in a dark pit of guilt and unhappiness. Even with so many loving people surrounding her with love and support, in her efforts to safeguard them from her unhappiness, shame and failure, she has built walls around her. I have seen so many people doing this and it is so easy for an outsider to pass judgement about why they don’t just share their problems with their loved ones, only the victims know how difficult it is to break down the walls.
Her life is all glossy on the outside with her perfect beauty, her royal pedigree, ownership of an old but respected restaurant and part of the influential Raje family but on the inside, she is broken. Faced with panic attacks, nervous jitters and with an old and crumbling restaurant on the verge of closure, Ashna’s life is anything but glossy.
Rico has come a long way from being the poor immigrant. He is now a famous football player with millions of fans. However, despite all his professional success, he is still alone and in love with the one woman who broke his heart all those years ago.
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev is a story that touched my heart. I had a strong urge to go make things right for Ashna and Rico. With so many things left unsaid and misunderstandings standing in their way, it seemed a daunting journey to reconciliation and I enjoyed each second spent watching them overcome every obstacle to find a happy end.
All those years ago when we were together, I used to wonder what might happen if you left me. I used to have nightmares…I imagined each day to be hell…having no way out. But I had no idea. I didn’t know then that hell would be in the littlest of things- in meeting a perfectly lovely person and having my heart yearn for you, in touching someone else and wanting to feel you. My heart held you up like a mirror, a line on a wall where the height of my feelings would never again be as tall…After all those years of forcing myself not to give in search for you, it was the best thing I ever did, because it led me back to you, back to the me I had lost. I don’t know how to be me without you…”
Quote from Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
Ashna’s overachieving mother started out as a hated character for me but then she was given a voice and everything changed. A victim to circumstance and in trying to make things easy for her only child, she nevertheless lost her daughter. Through her Sonali Dev successfully showed that no person is either good or bad. Everyone is victim to the choices they make in life. I cried and my heart hurt when I read about the difficulties she faced and rooted for a happy ending for her too.
I love you more than anything, you have to know that. This, this having you look at me as though I am not the most painful thing in your life, I would sell my soul to never let this go. Just remember that…”
Quotes from Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
When we first met, he was the only person I knew who wanted me to be me. By the time we found our way back to each other, I had become a person who could only be me, no matter what anyone else wanted. Maybe that’s the big love story. Finding that.”
Quotes from Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
I enjoyed meeting the Rajes again. Trisha and DJ from Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors so happy together had me smiling. Meeting Aji, Esha, Nisha, Yash, Nina, Neel and Mishka again felt like reuniting with beloved relations. I am hoping we get Yash’s or Esha’s story next. I am intrigued by Esha with her penchant for predicting the future and by Yash who is running for Governor.
All in all, Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev is an entertaining contemporary romance that had me engrossed right till the end. I felt emotionally raw yet happily content when the end came. This is one of those books that leave you thinking and re-evaluating your life, inspiring you to make better life decisions so you don’t make the same mistakes the book characters made.
A definite improvement over the previous book, that thought entertaining had me losing interest at places, I give Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev 4 out of 5 stars. Had the book not been marketed as a rom-com, I would have given it 5 out of 5 shiny stars. But for now, I am taking away one star for this.
Njkinny recommends this romance to all lovers of Jane Austen and people looking for honest, inspiring and realistic love stories that have all the mistakes real people often make but the happy ending we all crave for.
I received an ARC from the publishers, William Morrow Books to read and review and I am very thankful to them. The above is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Buy Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev From:
The Rajes Series by Sonali Dev:
Book 1:
Book 2:
Also Read:
- Book Review: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) by Sonali Dev
- ARC Book Review: The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev
- Top 10 New Releases of 2020 to read like now!
- ARC Book Review: A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev
- Stacking the Shelves: 10 Must-Read New and Upcoming Releases of 2020
- ARC Book Review: A Distant Heart by Sonali Dev
- Bollywood Series by Sonali Dev Book List
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