by Anissa Telle
This month’s recommendation from Great Thoughts, Great Readers:
Incense and Sensibility
by Sonali Dev
Incense and Sensibility: A Novel (The Rajes Series Book 3) by Sonali Dev has the perfect balance of dedicated friendships, romance, and personal growth with a fabulous Bollywood spin. The two protagonists are India and Yash. India runs her family’s yoga studio, and Yash is running for governor. They met 10 years before the story starts at Yash’s sister’s wedding. They immediately clicked and ended up sharing a wonderful kiss. In the present day, they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since that night. Yash has a new girlfriend, and India had tried to forget about him.
I will not provide a spoiler, but this book is far from a guaranteed happily ever after. The author seems to throw every obstacle she can in the way of these characters. These speed bumps throughout their relationship make it very relatable. You will not be able to stop turning the pages as these escapades keep you guessing.
“Incense and Sensibility hit all my must haves by making me fear for the characters, keeping me guessing and giving me a huge sense of satisfaction at the conclusion.”
The main characters are wonderful, fully fleshed out people. They seem so realistic, Dev has perfectly imperfect characters that are true to life. The side characters constantly made me smile. Seeing India and Yash’s relationships with their friends and family really brought the book into a whole new dimension and the Indian American twist gave a richness to my reading experience.
The title of this book as well as the authors previous books are puns based on classic literature. They are all remixed versions of those classics for a new audience. I never read Sense and Sensibility, but I might just read it now that I know what the storyline is.
Incense and Sensibility hit all my must haves by making me fear for the characters, keeping me guessing and giving me a huge sense of satisfaction at the conclusion. Highly recommend.
I was provided a free advance reader copy from William Morrow – Harper Collins Publishing in exchange for my honest review. The opinions shared in this review are my own.
About the Author: Sonali Dev
Award winning author, Sonali Dev, writes Bollywood-style love stories that let her explore issues faced by women around the world while still indulging her faith in a happily ever after.
Sonali’s novels have been on Library Journal, NPR, Washington Post and Kirkus Best Books of the year lists. She has won the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the RT Reviewer’s Choice award for best contemporary romance, the RT Seal of Excellence, and is a RITA Finalist.
Learn more about Sonali Dev
Andrea Peskind Katz runs Great Thoughts, Great Readers, a Book Salon presented via her private FB group where approximately 5000 prolific readers and authors interact. She also founded Greatthoughts.com, a lifestyle website blog focusing on Great Books and Great Travel. To quote Robert Frost, she created her “second act” career to “unite my avocation and my vocation”. After 20 years in high pressure sales, Andrea retired to spend time doing what she loves best: hanging with her family, reading good books.
Each month, Andrea chooses a book for 50PlusToday that is either written by or for 50Plus individuals.
Leslie Farin is the Publisher and Founder of 50PlusToday. She is an experienced communications and marketing professional passionate about working with older adults and their families. She works with a team of writers to provide essential and cutting-edge information related to the 50Plus community.