Review: Tastes Like Shakkar

One of my work colleagues had been raving about Dating Dr. Dil (I work in a library - we do a lot of raving about books) so I finally listened to it earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when I had the chance to read an advanced copy of the second book in Nisha Sharma’s If Shakespeare Was an Auntie series, I jumped at it. I don’t know much about Shakespeare but I do know Tastes Like Shakkar was another great read and one I’d highly recommend to romance lovers.

Here’s the book’s description:

Bobbi Kaur is determined to plan a celebration to remember for her best friend’s wedding. But she has two problems that are getting in her way:
1. The egotistical, and irritatingly sexy, chef Benjamin “Bunty” Padda is supposed to help her with the menu since he’s the groom’s best friend, and
2. Someone is trying to sabotage the wedding.
With aspirations of taking over her family’s event planning business, Bobbi knows that one misstep in managing the Kareena Mann and Prem Verma (#Vermann) party, along with the other weddings on her plate, will only give her uncle another reason not to promote her. That means Kareena’s big day and Bobbi's future career are on the line.
Bunty will do anything for his best friend, even though he has his hands full in finding a new location for his next restaurant while also playing mediator between his brother and father, the celebrated Naan King. When Prem asks Bunty to help with the wedding menu, he agrees, especially since it puts him in close proximity to the delicious Bobbi Kaur. When a mystery shaadi saboteur starts leaving threatening notes, and cancelling cake orders, Bunty and Bobbi have no choice but to call a truce and face the volatile attraction they have for each other.
Through masquerade fundraisers and a joint bachelor-bachelorette trip to Vegas, this chef and wedding planner explore their growing connection all while trying to plan a wedding at Messina Vineyards in a time crunch. But once the shaadi saboteur is caught and the wedding is over, will their love story have a happily ever after
With the return of the meddling aunties (who are scary good at finding information) and a lot of hilarity and hijinks, Bobbi and Bunty’s romance is an event you don’t want to miss.

Those who love enemies to lovers will really enjoy this book. I’m hit and miss with that trope but this one still worked for me. Did I have trouble understanding why Bobbi and Bunty were constantly needling each other instead of working their shit out for the sake of their best friends? Yes, I most definitely did. Could I still tell that the pair would be really great for each other, romantically? Oh, yes. Bobbi and Bunty started to recognize that themselves once they actually started talking to each other (shocking, right?) and reading as the romance heated up was a delight *fans self* (Related: there’s light and explicit bondage sex scenes in this one. They’re done really well but I think it warrants preparation before reading.)

I love that Sharma doesn’t hold back on showcasing her culture and she doesn’t over explain for the reader who isn’t South Asian. I did a lot of Googling! I’d much rather search for a term than have the story reference something and then awkwardly explain it to the (White) reader. By looking things up, I actually learned more while reading and I appreciated that.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. As much as I enjoyed this book, I hated the third act break up. It was so dumb and I was mad at Bobbi and Bunty for being so stupid (Bunty especially). You can’t have a relationship if you don’t talk to each other and if you’re not honest with yourself about what you want, either. Bunty had to decide how he wanted his family and professional lives to work out before he could get his romantic life sorted and he was being a typical boy about it all. Bobbi, for her part, needed to realize that it’s OK to ask for help, whether that’s from your best friends (of which she has two amazing ones) or your partner. And the reader knows that Bobbi and Bunty will make great partners so it was especially frustrating to see them act like boneheads before eventually getting their Happily Ever After.

As an introvert with a small family, the wedding hoopla was exhausting to me BUT it made for the absolute best storyline. I always say romances that have weddings at the centre of them are great because there’s so much built in drama so there doesn’t really need to be any additional nonsense added. And it’s kinda fun to read about a huge wedding celebration full of people who love each other (sort of - there was that whole wedding sabotage issue…) and feel like you’re a part of it.

Speaking of feeling like you’re a part of it, I really loved that there was some overlap in the Bobbi and Kareena’s storylines. We already knew from Dating Dr. Dil that Bobbi and Bunty had met but we hadn’t had their perspective. This book gives us that and we also get to hang out with Kareena and Prem again during the lead up to the wedding. I’m sometimes annoyed with the romance series that are so clearly laid out to feature different friends in each book but this one? I adore how Sharma has set it up. And I cannot wait for the next one!

Romance readers need to pick up Nisha Sharma’s books. Start with Dating Dr. Dil and then you can enjoy Tastes Like Shakkar to its full potential. Sharma has written a romance with a lot of sweetness (sugar is in the title, after all) but with a healthy dose of spice that makes for a well-balanced read. You’ll love the characters and love watching them fall in love. I’m ready for book three now!

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