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I wanted this to be a fun Bollywood inspired romance layered with rich descriptions of Diwali & India. But instead I got a surface level romance that never really took off, very brief descriptions of the events & place, & a third act break-up where I didn‘t really care that much if the couple got back together. The grand gesture was cute, but it took too long to get there. The entire Raj storyline was unnecessary.
Skip this one.

Decent romance. Didn't particularly wow me but I didn't hate it. I liked the insight into Indian culture but wished there was more discussion about Diwali itself. Despite being in the title, it felt glossed over. I read this with my irl bookclub, which was interesting since none of my friends generally read romance so it was funny to hear their thoughts on some of the cliches and tropes that I'm more used to as a romance reader

When uptight Niki is laid off, she decides to take her severance and book a last-minute flight to Mumbai for her best friend‘s wedding. There, she meets Sam, a musician who helps her loosen up and be spontaneous.

Niki is described as type-A but that didn‘t really come through. Also, there were nearly a dozen will-they-won‘t-they moments that got to be annoying rather than building the anticipation.

I was looking forward to this (purchased on a Kindle deal) to broaden my non-Christmas holiday reading & optimistic due to how much I liked The MatzahBall (⬇️). Sadly, it wasn‘t for me. The MC was just too immature & she frequently annoyed me, the characters were shallowly drawn & the “love” came on too fast. I did like the scenes in India & learning a bit more about Diwali but I think the author missed an opportunity for that. It just fell flat.

Disappointing. I had expected a rich read full of Indian culture and experiences. Instead, I felt it was very bland and could have been set anywhere in North America. Descriptions and characters were surface-level. The insta-love romance was boring and bland.

Book 17 for #winterreadathon
Holiday other than Christmas for #holidayromancebingo

Today library haul is a good one! Romance and a graphic novel adaptation I‘ve been looking forward to.

Love at first sight romance novel centered around an Indian-American woman, Nikki, who always made the practical choices. I was pleasantly surprised the author brought up themes of class/caste, ethnic identity/labels, immigrant experiences, and the complexity of visiting parents‘ home country for the first time. I think a lot of 1.5 or 2nd generation readers (of varying cultures) will relate to Nikki.

Good brain candy. Great characters, fun exploration of culture, and a great time getting to explore India! And of course, the romance.

This was a cute, quick read. I loved learning more about Diwali & the MCs experiences straddling cultures but it has some definite flaws. The instalove was too much & most of the drama was self created by the MC. Nikki was ready to upend her whole life & move across the world for a guy she'd only known a week! Luckily they cooled off & took time to really think about what they both wanted. It made me research Goa and now I'm dreaming of visiting.

Got my 3rd bingo in #AVeryMerryBingo @Jadams1776

#WinterGames2021 #WinterGames #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

4/5

My last holiday read of the year that includes celebrations of Diwali and Christmas. When Niki's laid off from her job, she decides to be more adventurous and travel to India for her best friend's wedding. She gets more than she bargained for when she meet's her best friend's friend Sam, an attractive musician.

#wgwordsearch - 35
@Jadams1776 #AVeryMerryBingo - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
#TeamGameSleighers #WinterGames2021 @StayCurious

It's a hot chocolate with fancy marshmallows and audiobook kind of evening.

#selfiescavangerhunt #WinterGames2021 #WinterGames #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

Cute winter romcom of a book. I devoured this one in a day and 1/2. Interesting commentary on growing up Punjabi American/straddling cultures. I also appreciated the nods to indie rock and descriptions of the main character‘s travels through the subcontinent.

#WinterGames #TeamMistletoe

A really cute Diwali holiday romance. Niki is a type-A data analyst always trying to be the perfect Indian daughter but when she's fired from her job and decided to make a last minute trip to Mumbai for her best friend's wedding, she meets musician Sam and decides a fling is just what she needs. But it quickly evolved into something more than a fling. Sweet and funny while also touching on identity and colorism and being true to yourself.

I finished this one last night. It‘s a low pick. I wanted to like it more than I did but there wasn‘t a lot of relationship building on the page. I liked reading about Diwali and how she asked everyone why they thought they celebrated it. Overall, they got their HEA, but I would‘ve liked a little more substance.

#WinterGames2021 +26pts #TeamGameSleighers
#BookSpinBingo
#AVeryMerryReadathon
#AVeryMerryBingo
#CosyReadathon
#WrapitupReadathon

A fairly satisfying romance with good supporting characters. I appreciated that the happily ever after required both characters to work on pieces of their lives beyond the relationship itself. This romance bucks the alternating POV trend- we only ever know what Niki is thinking, not Sam.

Happy Diwali! Let‘s see if I can finish this romance *before* the holiday ends!

Not even a super light fluffy novel can keep me awake at this point... It's time to call it for #readathon October 2021! I wasn't able to read as much horror as I normally like for this readathon due to work commitments, but I finished three books and made good progress through three more. This was an almost entirely audio readathon for me and next time I want to do more reading!

@DeweysReadathon

Checking off a book for #Deweys24HourReadathon, #OutstandingOctober and #BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

Happy Birthday @TheAromaofBooks 🎉🎉🎉

I had already planned to take today off because October is a LONG month so I happily got some reading in today. I made progress on Whisper Down the Lane on audio. A perfectly creepy read, though not what I was expecting. Started A Holly Jolly Diwali, which so far is good. Made progress on Neanderthal, so far cute and funny. I also FaceTimed with my niece! #BirthdayBash