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A Holly Jolly Diwali
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
21 posts | 21 read | 1 reading | 9 to read
One type-A data analyst discovers her free-spirited side on an impulsive journey from bustling Mumbai to the gorgeous beaches of Goa and finds love waiting for her on Christmas morning. Twenty-nine-year-old Niki Randhawa has always made practical decisions. Despite her love for music and art, she became an analyst for the stability. She's always stuck close to home, in case her family needed her. And she's always dated guys that seem good on paper, rather than the ones who give her butterflies. When she's laid off, Niki realizes that practical hasn't exactly paid off for her. So for the first time ever, she throws caution to the wind and books a last-minute flight for her friend Diyas wedding. Niki arrives in India just in time to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, where she meets London musician Sameer Mukherji. Maybe it's the splendor of Mumbai or the magic of the holiday season, but Niki is immediately drawn to Sam. At the wedding, the champagne flows and their flirtatious banter makes it clear that the attraction is mutual. When Niki and Sam join Diya, her husband and their friends on a group honeymoon, their connection grows deeper. Free-spirited Sam helps Niki get in touch with her passionate and creative side, and with her Indian roots. When she gets a new job offer back home, Niki must decide what she wants out of the next chapter of her lifeto cling to the straight and narrow like always, or to take a leap of faith and live the kind of bold life the old Niki never would have dreamed of.
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review
peanutnine
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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

peanutnine #BookChain longer than last #ISpy City Skyline @TheAromaofBooks 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2mo
46 likes2 comments
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K.Wielechowski
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Mehso-so

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.

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DebinHawaii
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Mehso-so

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.

DebinHawaii Read this one instead for a non-Christmas holiday romance: 1y
57 likes1 comment
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wanderinglynn
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Mehso-so

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

Suet624 Have you tried the tagged book. I liked it a lot. 1y
wanderinglynn @Suet624 I have not. Thanks for the recommendation. 1y
Reggie Also, have you ever read anything by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni? Read Sister of my Heart. So good! 1y
wanderinglynn @Reggie thanks for the suggestion! I‘ll check it out. 1y
77 likes4 comments
blurb
Lauredhel
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Today library haul is a good one! Romance and a graphic novel adaptation I‘ve been looking forward to.

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Shievad
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
Pickpick

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.

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rjsthumbelina
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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

34 likes2 stack adds
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DimeryRene
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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New audiobook. Very cute so far!!

15 likes1 stack add
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bookandbedandtea
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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.

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sebrittainclark
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Jadams89 🥳📚🎅🏻🎉🎄 2y
31 likes1 comment
review
sebrittainclark
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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

Jadams89 🎉🎄📚🎅🏻 2y
47 likes1 comment
blurb
sebrittainclark
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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It's a hot chocolate with fancy marshmallows and audiobook kind of evening.

#selfiescavangerhunt #WinterGames2021 #WinterGames #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

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Karisa
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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

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rachelsbrittain
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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.

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SeaToSkyes
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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A nice holiday-centric romance. Very low on the spice scale; I'd give it a 1/5 in that regard. It was refreshing to read about PoC characters and a different culture for a change. The ending seemed a bit rushed in my opinion, but overall I'd say 4.5/5 stars. #bookreview #WinterGames2021 #WinterGames #TeamGameSleighers #LittenListen

29 likes1 stack add
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Laughterhp
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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

keys_on_fire Fun pic! 2y
ChasingOm Hahaha, THIS one is still on MY list! 😅 2y
TheSpineView Awesome 🤩📖📚 2y
Jadams89 🎉🎅🏻🎄👍🏻 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
70 likes5 comments
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akaGingerK
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick

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.

6 likes1 stack add
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akaGingerK
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Happy Diwali! Let‘s see if I can finish this romance *before* the holiday ends!

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ferskner
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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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

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kimmypete1
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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Pickpick
TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! 2y
17 likes1 comment
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kimmypete1
A Holly Jolly Diwali | Sonya Lalli
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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

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! Thank you for reading with me!!! 2y
12 likes1 stack add1 comment