Sugar, Spice, and Can't Play Nice

January 9, 2023
Familial expectations clash with individual goals in Sharma’s charming second Chai Masala Club rom-com (after Love, Chai, and Other Four Letter Words). Fashion designer Payal Mehra has worked hard to create styles that fuse Indian and American aesthetics, and her dreams are about to come true when she launches her own clothing line. So Payal is horrified when her emotionally distant parents make a huge request: put her success on hold and marry their friends’ son to save the family business. If she doesn’t, a pending merger will fall through and her family won’t have the money to support Payal’s new business. Her intended, reputed playboy Ayaan Malhotra, is desperate to regain his family’s confidence after making a huge mistake in his teens. Both London transplants in New York, Payal and Ayaan once had a steamy one-night stand, but neither wants a relationship, let alone marriage. Still, if they play along with their parents and pretend to be engaged, maybe they can both get what they want from the merger. It’s an entertaining premise, and Sharma enhances the goings-on with rich cultural details. Highly expositional and occasionally moralizing dialogue slows the pace, but there’s still plenty to enjoy. Conflict, couture, and courtship make this a pleasure. Agent: Stacey Donaghy, Donaghy Literary.

February 1, 2023

Success is on the horizon for Payal Mehra's New York based fashion brand. However, her family's lifestyle company back in London isn't doing well. In fact, to save the business, they need her to agree to an arranged marriage that will facilitate a merger with another family-owned enterprise. She'll be getting engaged to Ayaan, the fickle second son of the Malhotras who is a marketing expert and also happens to be Payal's most recent one-night stand. After the initial outrage over the news, both she and Ayaan agree to the engagement temporarily for their own career agendas. Ten months should be enough time for each to get what they really want, but they soon discover that what they need is each other. Payal's achievements as a South Asian fashion designer are empowering, and Ayaan's admiration and support for her is wonderful. Both characters deal with complicated, strained family relationships that later have satisfying resolutions. VERDICT A strikingly vibrant love story for modern dreamers and hopeless romantics. Those who've read Sharma's Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words will be happy to see familiar characters return in this follow-up, but newcomers will also be able to enjoy it as a stand-alone.--Hazel Ureta

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March 15, 2023
Two ambitious people enter into an engagement of convenience to secure their family businesses on the way to pursuing their dreams. In New York, Payal Mehra's fashion brand is on the rise, but her family's London-based lifestyle business is struggling. Ayaan Malhotra has always felt overlooked by his parents in favor of his older brother, who can seemingly do no wrong. It also doesn't help that Ayaan is a bit of a wanderer when it comes to making future plans. Still, he's an accomplished marketer who wants a stake in the family business even though his parents are planning to name his brother CEO. Both Payal's and Ayaan's parents have a merger in mind, professionally and personally. If Payal and Ayaan marry, Payal's family will have the cash flow they need to save their business and Ayaan's family will broaden their portfolio. At first, Payal and Ayaan are resistant, having recognized each other from a recent one-night stand, but they soon realize that a quick and secretly temporary engagement could solve their problems. Ayaan bargains with his family: He wants half the shares of the company for going along with their matchmaking. With her own family's financial woes settled, Payal will be better poised to focus on the next steps for her own brand. It's lovely to see Payal and Ayaan bonding over their shared passions for business--watching them collaborate romantically and in relation to their work is the highlight of the novel. Payal is a sex-positive and career-savvy lead who could do with some better boundary-setting. The chip on Ayaan's shoulder, while big enough to sink the Titanic, is understandable. Having to manage their family's financial problems and high expectations gives Payal and Ayaan enough conflict for one book, so some extra hurdles--such as Ayaan's stereotypically jealous ex-girlfriend--could have been left out. A cute romance burdened by family expectations.

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April 15, 2023
In Sharma's smart sequel to Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words (2021), two British Indian entrepreneurs fake an engagement while their family businesses engage in a profitable merger. Fashion designer Payal Mehra agreed to an arranged marriage with Ayaan Malhotra only after her parents begged her to save their London-based family business, but she has no intention of going through with it. Ayaan is a notorious player and a superb salesman who can barely commit to a woman, let alone a marriage/business merger. However, he's determined to prove to his family that he can step up once his father is ready to step down. What their parents don't know is that they already shared a hot night together, and now a misunderstanding makes Payal doubt if Ayaan is trustworthy. They have just ten months left to date and discover if they can even tolerate each other long enough to make this arrangement look real. Sharma's brilliant twist on fake dating and arranged marriage is both culturally sensitive and incredibly sexy as these hardheaded enemies-to-lovers trade barbs as though engaged in foreplay.

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