Love at First Fight - Sandhya Menon

 

Title: Love at First Fight 
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Ebook
Rating: 3.5 Stars

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Ashish Patel has never considered himself a hopeless romantic. But now that he’s found his other half, Sweetie Nair, there’s nothing he wants more than to celebrate love in all its forms. So when Valentine’s Day rolls around and he hears about a romance-themed escape room, he knows it’s the perfect opportunity to bring together Sweetie along with his newly engaged brother and sister-in-law-to-be, Rishi Patel and Dimple Shah.

On their way to the escape room, the group runs into Pinky Kumar and Samir Jha—both friends to Ashish but nemeses to each other. Despite Pinky’s kneejerk reaction to the cheesy theme (which gets her a high-five from Dimple), the two of them agree to join the group.

The escape room is as insufferably saccharine as Pinky feared, but even she is surprised when she and Samir actually…work well together. Samir embodies everything Pinky despises—following rules, having no fun, consuming single-use plastics. Getting along with someone like him—a shiny Volvo when she’s so used to junkers—sends Pinky into a tailspin.

Sparks are definitely flying, but it’s unclear if that’s a good thing. Could this be love at first fight?

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Love At First Fight is a smooshy novella by the author of When Dimple Met Rishi - Sandhya Menon.  Her cute romantic comedy books have easily become some of my favorite YA romance books. 

This book was definitely a cute, smooshy read just like the other books in the Dimpleverse.  It was a very quick read (it took me a bout an hour to get through) and was honestly the perfect thing to read on a lazy afternoon.

This book takes place in an escape room that two couples and their friends go to as a date night.  Samir and Pinky object to it being called a date, of course, because in this book they are still not dating EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD BE!  

Love At First Fight is full of Menon's trademark witty humor and sweet moments. The characters play off each other well, and the story flows nicely from beginning to end.  

Because this was a book that took place over the span of like two hours, there really wasn't the chance for character development or inflection.  However, you could tell that the two established couples, Dimple and Rishi and Ashish and Sweetie, really played well off each other.  Reading the book was a reminder of what great couples they both are and how good they are for each other. We also got a chance to see that Pinky and Samir are definitely attracted to each other, and watching them try to hide it is just hilarious.

If you want a lighthearted, quick, funny read, you need to get your hands on this delightful ebook. 

If you've already read this book, drop a comment below and let me know what you thought of it!

Of Curses and Kisses - Sandhya Menon

Title: Of Curses and Kisses
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4.5 Stars

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Will the princess save the beast?

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending… Right?

His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life. Sparkling and elegant, Jaya’s unlike anyone Grey has ever met. Still, he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…

As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.

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Hi reader friends - you're in for a real treat today: A review by upcoming book Of Curses and Kisses, by one of my favorite YA authors - Sandhya Menon, as well as who I'd pick to play some of my favorite characters from the book!  

Let's start off with my review.  I loved this book so much.  It was, by far, my favorite beauty and the beast retelling I've read!  

The story follows Jaya Rao as she travels to St. Rosetta's for school, mostly with the intention of sort of exacting revenge against one Grey Emerson because of a family curse that dates back before they were born. 

This story has all the mystery and intrigue you'd expect from a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. From the first meeting between Jaya and Grey(when she didn't even know it was him until later) to the end, there are plenty of twists to keep you hooked throughout the story. 

The characters in this book were wonderful.  Even though Jaya started out as a character that some people could view as a bit frustrating, she had so much character development throughout the book, and I would say that she was my favorite character.  She really showed a lot of growth and willingness to change and become a better person throughout the book as well, and I loved that.  Her sister Isha would come in a close second. Isha was, from what I gathered, sort of an object of the presses fancy, and the press tried to paint a really terrible picture of her, even with the fun she has out and about.  But I enjoyed her and think she was misunderstood.

I enjoyed the romance, and the slow development of that romance, throughout this story. There was obvious chemistry between Jaya and Grey, but there was also the tension from Jaya wanting revenge for the curse, so the romance between them built up slowly throughout this story, and it worked so, so well. 

The development of the story worked very well - there was enough back story given that we know why Jaya was so upset with the Emerson family, but not so much delving into the past that we get bored.

When you finish this book, you can definitely tell it's the first in a series, and I am so excited to read future books as they come out.  If you like romance, a little revenge, and great relationship/friendships between the characters, this is a book you have to get your hands on.  If you've been a fan of Sandhya Menon's other books, you will love this one just as much. 

Now, the moment I know you'll love: My Character Movie Picks.  

If I were casting a movie of this book, this is who I would pick to play the following characters: 

Jaya - Digangana Suryavanshi

Emerson - Felix Mallard

Isha -  Jannat Zubair Rahmani  

Leo - Abraham Attah

Daphne - Veronika Bonell

Rahul - Aarav Kumar

Alaric - Emjay Anthony

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Author bio: Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi, Of Curses and Kisses, and many other novels that also feature lots of kissing, girl power, and swoony boys. Her books have been included in several cool places, including the Today show, Teen Vogue, NPR, BuzzFeed, and Seventeen. A full-time dog servant and part-time writer, she makes her home in the foggy mountains of Colorado. Visit her online at SandhyaMenon.com, on Twitter @smenonbooks or on Instagram @sandhyamenonbooks.

Buy links: Amazon | B&N | Indies  

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If you feel like following the blog tour for Of Curses and Kisses, here is a nice list of previous and upcoming posts for this book, created by Rube of Bookish Owl Reviews.

February 4th

BookishOwl Reviews – Q&A, Playlist, Favourite Quotes

trishajennreads – Review

February 5th

The Heart of a Book Blogger – Q&A

February 6th

Star is All Booked Up – Review, Mood Board

The Book Nerd – Review/Movie Casting

February 10th

Brooke Reviews and Sweeps – Review

February 11th

Not Just Fiction – Q&A

Emma Must Read – Q&A, Playlist

February 12th

Subtlebookish – Q&A

Kirsty’s Book Reviews – Review

Stagey Bookish – TBD

February 13th

A Court of Books and Magic  – Review

Books. Libraries. Also, cats. – Books to read if you liked OCAK

February 14th

Magical Reads – Playlist

Living Life the Write Way – Review

Flipping Through the Pages – Review, Mood Board

February 15th

Naija Book Bae – Review, Excerpt

February 16th

New Chicks On The Block – Review, Excerpt

Open Pages – TBD

February 17th

Quintessentially Bookish – Review

My World of Books – Review

New Chicks On The Block – Review, Excerpt

February 18th

Quintessentially Bookish – Review

Scorpio Book Dreams  – Review

Novels and Nebulas – Review

New Chicks On The Block – Review, Excerpt

February 19th

Bohemian Bibliophile – Review

Stagey Bookish – TBD

New Chicks On The Block – Review, Excerpt

February 20th

New Chicks On The Block – Review, Excerpt

BookCrushin – Feature Post

The Baroness of Books – Mood Board

Open Pages – Playlist, Review

February 23rd

Velarisreads – Review

February 24th

Emma Must Read – Q&A, Playlist

February 25th

Bookish Girl Magic – Review, Reaction

Deckled Edges – TBD

Book Lover’s Book Reviews – Q&A, Review

February 26th

Brunette Bibliophile – OCAK controls what I eat for 24 hours

Disclaimer: I read this book as an ARC.  All thoughts and opinions on this book are my own.

There's Something About Sweetie - Sandhya Menon

Title: There's Something About Sweetie
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Hardcover
Rating 5 Stars

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Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After he’s dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

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Hi reader friends!  Let's talk about Sweetie and Ashish. 

If you've read When Dimple Met Rishi, you are already slightly familiar with Rishi's younger brother Ashish Patel.  Ashish is as different from Rishi as you could possibly imagine.  He's not as traditional as his older brother, he's into sports - specifically basketball, he (until recently) never wanted to follow his parents or brothers lead and date Indian-American girls.  BUT, then he met Sweetie. 

Sweetie is a wonderful, charming young woman who also happens to be fat - and is growing up with a mother who really wants her to lose weight and be skinny.  Her mom is so convinced that there is something wrong with Sweetie that she even goes so far as to tell Ashish's parents that Sweetie can't date him because she's not good enough for Ashish and won't be until she's skinny. 

Anyway - long story short - Ashish and Sweetie do go on dates together, as you can tell from the description.  Now of course, Sweetie's parents don't know - and normally I'd be against kids dating without their parents knowledge, but in this case, it works and I'm here for it.

Let's break down the love here now!

There is a great, wonderful cast of characters in this book.  I think every single character adds so much to this story - even when they just have small part to play in where the story is going.  Each character has such a well developed and distinct personality. The author does a great job of creating characters that are well written, with their own distinct personalities, who work well with each other.  Even the characters who's personalities were a bit much (Tina auntie, and Samir in the beginning of the novel) were so well done!  You will love these characters.  (Watch out for Pinky - she's great and so fun!)

I think there is also a lot of chemistry between Sweetie and Ashish.  They have the physical attraction to each other, and they learn that they have enough in common with each other as well to have a real, good relationship.  I love what they have together.

This story is a total cute, fun read.  The story is well developed, and there are so many fun and funny moments that just make it even more worth reading.  I love that each moment in this book feels perfect and fits with the book as a whole.

Sandhya Menon's books are well written as always - and I love that she manages to not only write her stories well, but to weave in so many important things to her books as well. 

Are you surprised that Sandhya Menon has supernatural references in her book?!  I'm not!  I love that she loves Supernatural as much as I do, and weaves that in to her writing.  So - let's have some of my favorite Supernatural memes and gifs to end this post: 

I want to actually end by saying that this book does deal with fat teens and the way that fat people can often be treated like they are less than because they are fat.  I want you to know, from one fat person to another, if you are struggling, know you are worth it. You have value even if other people claim you don't.  You will find yourself in Sweetie, and I hope you know there are other people out there who are in your corner and who love and accept you just the way you are!  Now go read this fabulous book, and when you're done, come back here and talk to me about it.  I want to know what you think! 

From Twinkle, With Love - Sandhya Menon

Title: From Twinkle, With Love
Author: Sandhya Menon
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 Stars

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Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?

Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

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Having just finished From Twinkle, With Love this morning, I feel everything so much still.  So, let me tell you all the things while they're still floating around fresh in my brain.

1. I LOVE THE SUPERNATURAL REFERENCES!  Seriously, I have just like a deep seated love for those Winchester boys, Castiel, the Wayward sisters, all the demon and ghost hunting, everything!  I mean, it's like:

2. I liked the development of the romance between Twinkle and Sahil.  It was slow, because Twinkle had a crush on Sahil's twin brother Neil.  However, Neil is secondary in this book - he's only in a small portion of the book, so it gave Sahil plenty of time to show why he really was a better match for Twinkle (and he really was - they both love movies, for one thing!)

3. There was some good character development with Sahil and Twinkle - they both changed and grew by the end of the book.  Twinkle especially was able to make some changes that were important for her.  She saw herself making some choices that weren't so flattering, then changed that attitude and worked to stop making such crappy choices.

4.  There was enough tension throughout the story that it made me want to keep reading.  I also liked the story enough that I wanted to find out what happened at the end - especially with Twinkle's secret email admirer!  The story flowed well and everything worked together well.

5. Draculass!  I loved the feminist changes to a patriarchal industry in this book!  See awesome gif above.

The only thing - and it's not really much of a thing - is that there always seems to be some drama in YA books.  HOWEVER, I think it works, because the drama wasn't really drama per se.  It was more just teenage stuff that seems to happen because teens are going through all sorts of weird shit anyway.  It was just teenagers trying to develop and learn and understand or misunderstand - and things worked out in the end.

I would recommend this book to any teen or YA lit lover who wants to read a fun lighthearted romance filled with Dracula, Supernatural references, and so much cuteness!