Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh

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This delightful debut rom-com follows the adventures of a woman trying to connect with her South Asian roots and introduces readers to a memorable cast of characters in a veritable feast of food, family traditions, and fun.

Manny Dogra is the beautiful young CEO of Breakup, a highly successful company that helps people manage their relationship breakups. As preoccupied as she is with her business, she’s also planning her wedding to handsome architect Adam Jamieson while dealing with the loss of her beloved parents.

For reasons Manny has never understood, her mother and father, who were both born in India, always wanted her to become an “All-American” girl. So that’s what she did. She knows next to nothing about her South Asian heritage, and that’s never been a problem—until her parents are no longer around, and an image of Manny that’s been Photoshopped to make her skin look more white appears on a major magazine cover. Suddenly, the woman who built an empire encouraging people to be true to themselves is having her own identity crisis.

But when an irritating client named Sammy Patel approaches Manny with an odd breakup request, the perfect solution presents itself: If they both agree to certain terms, he’ll give her a crash course in being “Indian” at his brother’s wedding.

What follows is days of dancing and dal, masala and mehndi as Manny meets the lovable, if endlessly interfering, aunties and uncles of the Patel family, and, along the way, discovers much more than she could ever have anticipated. 

Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for a honest review

As a South Asian who grew up outside of the community and looking to learn about her own roots, Sari, Not Sari's premise spoke to me on a deeply personal level, but that's about as far as it went.

Manny is a successful CEO of Breakup, a company that she built from the ground up. Her expertise is in relationships and specifically how to help people end relationships cordially with minimal damage when those relationships come to the end of the road. It's a lucrative business and people are noticing as evidenced by articles and tv interviews. A recent write up in a high-profile magazine is supposed to catapult the company into the stratosphere, but the excitement is dimmed when Manny sees that they've photoshopped her cover to make her lighter-skinned. Being that her darker skin tone is one of the few things she feels ties her to her Indian heritage, it sends her into a frenzy, and now she wants to find out more about the culture she comes from.

You know, I get all of this because I feel it, too. It's just that I found the way Manny goes about it to be a head scratcher. She agrees to help Sammy, a client and fellow South Indian, with a temporary breakup on the condition that she accompany him to his family's wedding so she can learn all about everything Indian. I have two reactions to this. One, the idea that attending a weeklong wedding celebration is enough to learn all about a culture that's as diverse as the number of dialects within the Indian subcontinent is a faulty one. Two, one of her best friends and colleague, Anjali is Indian so it makes no sense to me that she'd never sought to connect to the culture through their longtime friendship. But going to a wedding with someone she barely knows will solve her identity crisis problem. See? Head scratcher.

Full disclosure - I started Sari, Not Sari with the sincere hope of finding something meaningful for myself through Manny's experience, but it all fell flat from the beginning. I wasn't into their romance, either. I would've liked to see Manny learn about her family's roots and culture through genuine connection outside of a wedding celebration. Instead, she only saw the showy parts, the ostentatious celebratory stuff that's all surface level and part of what she's seeking. It's a small fraction of a rich culture and that's all she takes from it to feel fully Indian. It didn't jibe with me in the least.

What I was hoping for and what I read were two completely different things. Upon reflection, I think I wanted the content of Sari, Not Sari to be more women's fiction, and in a rom-com format there's only so much deep-diving that can happen into a question as loaded as "What does being Indian mean?". I'm disappointed this didn't work out for me but I think this story works for a reader who wants to get lost in the joyful experience of an Indian wedding.

~ Bel

A Lowcountry Bride (Brides of Lowcountry #1) by Preslaysa Williams

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A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry.

Maya Jackson has worked for Laura Whitcomb, Inc, a renowned New York City bridal gown brand, for years and dreams of becoming Head Designer. She has the talent; she just needs a chance to showcase her unique style. Due to an illness, she’s always prioritized her career over her personal life until her father fractures his hip and Maya returns to Charleston, South Carolina. While home for only a few months, she’s thrilled to find an opportunity at the local bridal gown boutique, never expecting sparks to fly with its owner...

A military veteran and widowed father, Derek Sullivan hopes to save Always a Bride from bankruptcy in order to preserve the legacy of his mother. He also wants to reconnect with his estranged, twelve-year-old daughter, who is still recovering from the loss of her mother. The last thing he needs is a relationship with a beautiful, smart, complicated woman who will be leaving soon.

When Derek begins to fall for the lovely Maya, he knows there’s no future. But destiny has its own plans, and these two lonely people with big hearts discover that coming home to love is the best gift life can give.  

Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Preslaysa Williams' debut is about a bridal gown designer, Maya who has high ambitions to become Head Designer at the famous Laura Whitcomb brand she has worked for for years. She's hoping that her eye for detail, her creativity, and her forward-thinking vision will catch the attention and trust of her well-established employer, Laura Whitcomb. No matter how hard she works she seems to always fall just short of what her Laura needs. When Maya finds out her dad is recovering from an injury, she convinces her Laura to let her work remotely and sell her own designs out of one of the bridal gown boutiques they're scouting. The boutique is owned by widower, Derek who's balancing a floundering business and life as a single dad with a daughter who's still mourning the loss of her mother. 

I thought the storyline around Maya's career goal was on point. Every interaction with her condescending boss made me cringe. It was very obvious to me that Laura was taking advantage of her skills while also tempering any hope she might have of upward advancement. It was a lot of promises if she continues to work hard and deliver on time yet now is not a good time to promote you blather that a lot of employers do to their employees. I just didn't get why Maya didn't see that, especially because she's so determined to accomplish so much in a short period of time due to her chronic illness - sickle cell anemia. Maya here chooses to downplay her health issues by not speaking about it much and pushing through her pain whenever an episode occurs. There were times where I didn't know if I should admire her for her stubbornness or be frustrated that she'd let work or anyone come before her health. 

It's while she's staying with her dad and working at Derek's boutique that Maya starts to open her eyes to a different approach to life. Her reason for working so hard is that she wants to fulfill a promise to her mother. Her mother taught her to sew and incorporate her Filipino heritage into her designs. Her work ethic coupled with her mother's keep her motivated. Though she is career-focused, she also can't help but fall a little bit for Derek. He's a devoted father, a caring employer and just an all around decent human. He's suffered his own loss - his wife was killed in a church shooting - and Maya doesn't want to lead him on to think that there's a long future for them because her illness means she's on borrowed time.

Aside from those three biggest issues, there was more packed into this little story. Derek's daughter is resistant to him dating Maya initially but does have a change of heart eventually. At the beginning, in a conversation with Laura about working from Charleston, the conversation runs in to racist territory when Laura mentions the proximity of an African-American history museum in the vicinity of the bridal boutique is, how it's not good for the are or the business, and the possibility that the museum will be closed. Laura's flippant view of the museum, Charleston's history and the history of that particular business district, and dismissal of their importance - all done to Maya's face - is incredibly offensive. However, I did get Maya's stunned reaction and hesitation to speak up or contradict her boss. This is an area where Maya does develop a strong backbone and finally stands up to Laura. 

I thought A Lowcountry Bride was good overall but I have mixed feelings about it. I appreciated much about the characters individually but thrown all together I felt something was off. The romance didn't grab me, and I think there was a lot in the story that weighed it down. If you're looking for a romantic escape from reality (kind of what the cover implies, and the blurb downplays her illness), then this may not be the best choice. On the flip side, it is wonderful to see a character who has a chronic illness get her HFN. 

~ Bel

Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick

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THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK

When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy.

After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn’t? When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing, Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual?

This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Prince Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven. 

Source: ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Playing the Palace is a fun rom-com that's sorely needed by anyone who's craving shenanigans and absurdity. Believe me, anything than can go wrong, will go wrong is the modus operandi here.

Carter's still smarting a little bit after his breakup (even though it happened a while ago). Every so often he still yearns for his ex. But his ridiculously fun job as an event planner leads him to the most unexpected meeting of his life - face-to-face with the dashing and handsome Prince Edgar of England. I swear this is the cutest of meet-cutes that one can ever encounter! Sparks flying. The guys being bashful. That instant I-get-you-already connection. It was all I could do not to squeal in excitement for them. And then they do start hanging out together and while it's fun, it's also just nonsensical.

As much as I enjoyed many parts of the story such as when Carter and Edgar get emotionally intimate and honest with each other, I felt like everything else happening around them was just too much. When something's going just right, it inevitably gets derailed by something else and it's usually because of some absurd thing, reason or person. Carter and Edgar are so normal and chill compared to everyone else in their lives and this includes their families. All other characters aside from these two are so extreme in personalities and mannerisms and that felt overdone to me. I also began to feel that Carter was turned into some ineffectual, haphazard influence for comedy's sake and that just didn't feel right. All the successive oopses just snowballed and became an utter mess. 

The plus side of Playing the Palace is that it's a joy to read someone of Edgar's pedigree and high-profile position be accepted by the public. He still has to walk a fine line knowing that there are some out there who find fault with his sexuality and lifestyle, but it seems less harrowing at this point in his life as he's figured out how he wants to lead his life.

Circle back to the start, you want the ridiculous, the absurd, and laugh at physical comedy, this is the rom-com for you!

~ Bel

Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick

We're excited to feature Playing the Palace, the newest release from Paul Rudnick. We have a special excerpt, too. You're just going to swoon all over this meet-cute between the Prince Edgar and Carter!

THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK

When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy.

After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn’t? When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing, Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual?

This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Prince Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven.

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Excerpt 

Edgar had a bit of that abashed schoolboy look, but the years were lending him a man’s seriousness. When he smiled, all this fell away, and he became pure joy, maybe because he didn’t do it that often, and he surprised himself. His smile had a recklessness to it, which was why he held it in check. I’d made him smile, which was maybe the sexiest thing ever. 

“Your Highness?” I asked, and as I was saying it, I felt like a cartoon mouse dressed as a footman in a Disney animated classic. 

“Yes?” he said, as I climbed the stairs and approached him. 

“May I?” I asked, reaching toward his head. “You look great, and even more adorable than in those pictures where you’re feeding a tiger cub at the London Zoo, which made the entire world go ‘Awww’ and then donate to Save the Tigers. But you’ve got a flyaway—you know, a few strands of hair that might catch the light and mess up the video. So if I could just . . .” 

I reached out and adjusted his naturally wavy, reddish brown hair, and while trying to stay professional, I thought, “I’m touching Prince Edgar’s hair and it feels like cashmere and he’s got a few freckles across the bridge of his nose and eyelashes for days and Carter, do not even look at his lips or you’ll be arrested.” 

“There. Much better. Media-ready.” 

As I said this, Prince Edgar was reaching toward my own hair, and I flinched. 

“I’m so sorry. I was just . . . you have very nice hair as well. But I had no right, I don’t know what came over me . . .” 

Our eyes locked and I couldn’t breathe and I wanted to die because my life was peaking, but on the other hand I couldn’t wait to see what might happen next. 

My phone pinged; I’d meant to silence it and now I was shoving my hand in my pocket to find it, which never looks graceful, but as I yanked the phone free, it rang. 

“Please, take it, it might be critical,” Edgar said, with genuine kindness. 

It was my sister, Abby, who’s about to get married and calls me thirty-eight times a day for monogrammed water bottle consultations and meltdown management, which I usually love doing, only now I told her, “Abbs? I can’t talk, can I call you in just a bit?” 

“But I just texted you,” Abby insisted, “and you didn’t text me back and I’m having an epic gift bag issue—” 

“Which we will totally discuss and examine in depth,” I assured her, “but right now—” 

Edgar was smiling at me, which almost made me drop my phone as Abby yelled, “WHAT? What are you doing that’s so important you can’t help me choose between miniature foil-wrapped chocolate champagne bottles and Lucite boxes of breath mints in my signature colors—” 

“I’m . . . I’m . . .” I sputtered, “I’m at work. I love you and I think you should go with both the bottles and the mints and think about temporary tattoos of the bride’s and groom’s faces but I have to go. I’m sorry!” 

I hung up and told Edgar, “My sister.” 

“Ah. I know the dilemma. I have a brother.” 

Oh my God. Oh my God. He wasn’t politely excusing himself or summoning a security guard. In fact, he kept going, asking, “Is it just the two of you?” 

“Yes. And I adore her, but sometimes she’s, you know, a lot.” 

“As is my brother.” 

“Can I tell you something?” I said, my event-savvy instincts returning. “The way you’re talking to me right now, it’s so easy and appealing, and that’s how you should give your speech. In fact, let’s not call it a speech at all. Just make it a conversation, and pretend the audience is just a batch of friends, hanging out in your . . . castle. And remember to smile. Because your smile, oh my God . . .” 

“What?” Prince Edgar asked. “What about my smile? I think it comes across as mechanical, like I’m pretending to be attentive and fulfill my duties while really I’m just activating a royal reflex or downloading my official mindless smile function. I hate my smile.” 

He hates his smile? Is he out of his mind? If I could smile like that, I’d spend all day looking in the mirror, smiling and sending myself selfies and begging for a date. 

 

About the Author

Source: Goodreads

Paul M. Rudnick is an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. His plays include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla and The New Century. He also wrote for Premiere magazine under the pseudonym Libby Gelman-Waxner. He is openly gay.

(Source: Goodreads bio)