Review: First Love, Take Two

Second chance romances are my kryptonite. I'll pretty much always say yes to reviewing them because there's something about that romance trope that I absolutely love. But sometimes, I don't read enough about the book so I don't realize it's part of a series and then a whole bunch of other things let me down and then I don't like a book. *heaves large sigh* It's a sad, sad day when that happens but, unfortunately, it does occur. That was the case with First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel, which just released last week. I wanted to love it. I really did. Alas, it was a struggle to get through.

Here's the book's description:

On the verge of realizing her dream of being a doctor, Preeti Patel should be ecstatic. But between the stress of her residency, trying to find a job, and managing her traditional, no-boundaries family, Preeti's anxiety is through the roof. Relationships and love aren't even an option. Fortunately, Preeti's finally found a new place to stay . . . only to discover that her new roommate is her ex.

Preeti never quite got over Daniel Thompson. Super-hot, plenty of swagger, amazing cook—the guy is practically perfect. And if it weren't for their families, there might have been a happily ever after. But it's hard to keep her sanity and libido in check when the man of her dreams is sleeping mere feet away. Can Preeti and Daniel find a way to stand up and fight for each other one last time . . . before they lose their second chance?

First off, this is the second book in Patel's The Trouble with Hating You series (side note: anyone notice that a lot of rom com series just get named after the first book?). Normally, it's not a huge deal to have not read the previous book in a series like this. They're (supposed to be) more of a companion novel where each book is about a different friend/family member and there are small references to the previous story but nothing that would confuse the reader. I didn't get that with this book. Something MAJOR happened with Liya in the first book and I couldn't really get a good sense of it - it was like it was just alluded to and I was expected to know and Patel wasn't giving any extra info to those who hadn't read the first book. Because of this, I couldn't understand some of the feelings and motivations the characters had in the second book. 

Because I was annoyed at this being a second book and feeling like I wasn't getting all the information I should have, it took longer than I'd like to admit to get used to reading about a culture outside of my own. Normally, this isn't much of an issue for me. I always have to shift my mindset but I'm never outright annoyed like I almost was this time. It can be hard for me, a white, non-religious person, to understand a culture that is based around prayer and respecting elders no matter how terrible they may be. And some of the elders in Preeti's life were horrendous and were acting like catty high school girls. Not a good look. But again, they were being atrocious, in part, because of whatever had happened to Liya so I was a bit lost (but no less furious on Preeti's behalf, I'll say that). 

As for the romance...Preeti spent so much time fighting her feelings and avoiding even talking to Daniel that I wasn't really sure why they had been together in the first place. Did they actually love each other? Does she even like him or just feel like jumping into bed with him? Can they actually talk to each other for crying out loud and discuss why Preeti left? There were SO MANY things they were both keeping hidden and it was infuriating as they just ignored the elephant in the room and didn't address the why of their break up and tried to move past it. Spoiler alert: you have to address all issues before you can have your Happily Ever After.

So...no. First Love, Take Two was not a winner for me. There was too much that just didn't work for me in Sajni Patel's latest novel that meant I couldn't enjoy reading it. I don't think I'll be picking up anything she writes next but I know many others love her books. To each their own, I say!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, HBG Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*