From the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors comes another , clever, deeply layered, and heartwarming romantic comedy that follows in the Jane Austen tradition—this time, with a twist on Persuasion.
Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn’t a complete screw up? When … that she isn’t a complete screw up? When she’s asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She’s a chef, what’s the worst that could happen?
Rico Silva, that’s what.
Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.
FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn’t too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he’s definitely over her.
But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce…and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion…?
In Recipe for Persuasion, Sonali Dev once again takes readers on an unforgettable adventure in this fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy.
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Since her debut a few years ago, Sonali Dev’s lyrical prose and gift for getting into the reader’s soul have made her a stand-out talent. :Recipe for Persuasion” is a brilliant homage to Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” of young love separated by family strife. In it, Ashna Raje, a grieving daughter, takes over her late father’s restaurant. It’s not a success, despite her best efforts. Enter a Food Network competition, which pairs a chef with a cooking-challenged celebrity. Ashna’s shock is that Rico Silva, the world’s best soccer (sorry…football) player is her partner on the show. Their secret love during high school and wrenching breakup has haunted them both. The brilliant pairing of the fun show with the depth of emotion makes this an absolute powerhouse.
A delight from start to finish, both for Jane Austen fans looking for a fresh take and readers seeking deeply felt relationships and complicated family dynamics. In Dev’s world, the past is alive in the present; I was wholly engrossed and had plenty to think about. At the same time, the reality TV storyline added a thread of pure fun escapism u2060— something all of us need right now.
Master storyteller Sonali Dev pens another fantastic Jane Austen retelling with this intricately layered tale of the complexities of familial and romantic love. Full of yearning and wit — and featuring a delicious hero — this book is not to be missed!
I’m really enjoying this series by Sonali Dev! Recipe for Persuasion is set mainly in the present and centered on a second-chances romance against a reality TV cooking show backdrop, but also includes a secondary storyline from the heroine Ashna’s mother’s point of view that occurs in the present as well as the past. Ashna’s healing in her relationship with her mother adds depth of the story. Recommended!
I feel as if my review needs a disclaimer: I have never read anything by Jane Austin, though after reading this author’s stories, I’m sorely tempted to give her books a try. I absolutely loved RECIPE FOR PERSUASION. Ashna is a chef running her late father’s failing restaurant. She is filled with so many fears and contradictions, all of them honestly earned, that I loved watching her finally discover the woman she was meant to be. And Rico, a world famous soccer star whose career has come to a painful end after an injury on the field is a past secret love of Ashna’s, a young man no one in her family knew of. Theirs was a love that ended badly, yet really hasn’t ended at all for Rico, and in spite of her unwillingness to see the potential that still exists for the two of them, it hasn’t ended for Ashna, either.
Sonali Dev’s writing is just perfect, and with a story that revolves around the two protagonists teamed up for a cooking show, the fact that a file with recipes from the story arrived in my inbox shortly after I finished reading the book was the perfect piece de resistance. The characters in this story are wonderful, a few of them readers will have met in PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS, though it’s not necessary to read that one to enjoy this latest release. I have loved every book Ms. Dev has written, and look forward to what she’ll surprise us with next.
No one writes like Sonali Dev. Recipe for Persuasion is a complex, thoughtful exploration of family dynamics, mothers and daughters, and the sorrows we often endure before we find our true place in life. A rich, delicious tale.
An Indian chef and a Brazilian soccer player are the main characters in this lovely retelling of Persuasion.
As a hard fan of Jane Austen and originally from Brazil, I was immediately hooked by the premise of Recipe for Persuasion. Two high school sweethearts (an Indian chef, and a Brazilian soccer player), separated by family opposition, meet again twelve years later as participants in a culinary reality show.
What at first seemed to be a romantic comedy soon turned out much denser and more complex. The intricacies of Indian culture, especially the role of women and their fight for equal rights, is a big part of the story.
It is not exactly a light read. Ashna (the heroine) suffers from a traumatic childhood. Fruit of a loveless marriage, she was deeply influenced by her parent’s neglect. Alcoholism, verbal abuse, marital rape, child emotional abandonment, and a touch of politics distance the book from the realm of rom-coms.
It was not the escapist reading I was expecting. It was a solid story with very interesting and layered characters.
Ashna is vulnerable and full of doubts, a person haunted by duty and guilt. Frederico, the hero, like his counterpart in Persuasion, is a confident man, but most of all, a very respectful individual. His love for Ash was palpable and beautiful.
Overall, a very engrossing and diverse telling of Persuasion.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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I bought this book on sale after I had already subscribed to Sonali’s newsletter a while ago. I finally picked it up for a summer reading challenge and I am awed by its brilliance. My heart was breaking over and over for Ashna, Rico and Shobi and, at the same time I was hoping for all of them. Highly recommended!
To save her restaurant, Ashna agrees to appear as the master chef on a TV cooking competition show, despite her chronic anxiety. She’s shocked when the celebrity she’s paired up with is her high school boyfriend, soccer star Rico.
After a string of failed relationships, Rico decides to seek closure with the woman who shattered his heart. When he finds out that Ashna is appearing on the TV show, he convinces his agent to book him on it as her partner.
Seeing Rico again forces Ashna to come to terms with the tragedy that led to their breakup. Will the truth finally set them free from their past so they can move forward with a future together?
This stunning romance and family saga is an emotional journey through time and across continents. Scarred and broken by her parents’ tumultuous marriage, Ashna feels unworthy of love. Though resentful at first of how Ashna sent him away, Rico can’t help wondering how the fierce girl he knew has grown into a woman facing debilitating fear. This heart-wrenching novel takes on dark subjects but ends in a spirit of love and hope.
Absolutely loved this book, an adaptation of Austin’s Persuasion updated for today’s world where woman still face many of the same challenges of Austin’s time. The story has many complex layers for the three main characters: Ashna, Rico and Shobi. While its billed as a romantic comedy, the backstories and consequences that follow are too serious to be comedic but are handled such that compels the reader investing to discover more. I hated it to end.
This story made me feel so much. The writing was great and the homage (not really a retelling) to Persuasion was artfully crafted!
I totally appreciated the hard issues she tackled and while it is a romance and so of course love conquers all, the backstory of her parents’ relationship was heartbreaking, infuriating, and yet inspiring. Sonali Dev is a wonderful writer, and I want to read all her books now!
Like the first book in The Rajes series, Recipe for Persuasion weaves serious themes – family trauma, mother-daughter relationships and forgiving oneself – in a seriously sexy love story. Can’t wait to read the third one!
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev, with Soneela Nankani (Narrator) is a general retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I did not find this to be a comedy, yet there were humorous moments. The story explores family relationships–mother/daughter, father/daughter, husband /wife– and contains manipulation, rape, alcoholism, depression, and suicide. On the lighter side, there is a second chance for romance between the two main characters, a deeper understanding of what failed the first time. It was not what I was expecting; it was thought-provoking look into a different culture — it was a good read.
I have read Persuasion by Jane Austen a couple of times. Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth were engaged in their youth and meet again a decade or so later. There is one conversation in particular between Anne and Captain Harville that I loved in the book. In typical Austen fashion, there is a happily ever after ending.
Recipe for Persuasion is a romance novel influenced by Austen’s masterpiece. Ash and Rico are high school sweethearts and meet again a decade or so later. The similarity with Persuasion ends there, and Sonali has made this her own story. It is like an Indian dish, borrowed from several cultures and harmonized into a delightful curry.
I love Ash’s family. Aunt and the cousins add to the richness of the book. Portraying the strong and vibrant Indian family culture is a specialty of the author. Ash’s mother Shobi is a centerpiece to understanding Ash, and the author peels the layers gradually, revealing one thing at a time.
I enjoyed reading Shobi and Mina’s tales, two strong middle-aged women in their own right, and their relationship.
Ash and Rico’s present-day story unfolds through a cooking show contest that would be familiar to viewers of Food Network.
Not a fan of: Rico being completely in the dark about Ash’s father is a plot contrivance and did not seem believable. And while Rico’s feelings for Ash comes across clearly, Ash’s feelings for him are left to the readers’ imagination.
I did not read the first book in the Rajes series and that did not deter me from enjoying this book. I saw hints for the next book – Dashwood?!?
If you are a fan of Austen and the romance genre in general, this book is for you.
This was a really lovely book that was beautifully written, with really thoughtful characters who were unique and full of depth. However, for how much rage Ashna had, she certainly got over it really quickly. It’s hard to think that people have lightbulb moments where they are willing to listen and suddenly everything is better. She really should have sought counseling after such a traumatic childhood. I do want to have a book about Esha, she was really minor but I think would make a fascinating story.
This is the second book based on a Jane Austen novel from Sonali Dev. “Based on” might not be the right term. This author is more like a jazz musician who takes a single line of a melody and then develops their own riff. You’ll recognize the main melody of Jane’s PERSUASION—a couple who once fell in love young, a heroine whose family didn’t think the hero was of the correct social class, and a tense reunion after they’ve spent years remembering one another in terms of betrayal and anger. Sonali’s story, however, is utterly unique. The heroine’s family is from India, the hero from Brazil. The foods of these cultures are significant in the story—indeed, the catalyst that reunites them is a televised cooking competition. Nothing could be more American than competing for fame and fortune, but the book delves into the fascinating and—to me—unfamiliar world of arranged marriages in India, of long-term arrangements with mistresses in Brazil, and the emotional and financial repercussions that affect generations. The hero and heroine are challenged by the intense physical pain of an injury and the intense emotional pain of trauma, and they totally won my heart as they found ways to help one another, even when they’re each still certain they’d been terribly betrayed in the past. All of this leads to a very satisfying happily-ever-after ending. I give this book 10/10, two thumbs up, five stars, and all the rest. Can’t wait to read the next one!
Sonali Dev has created an amazingly heartfelt and beautifully crafted masterpiece. There really are no words. Or there are and Ms. Dev has used them all in perfectly spinning Ashna and Rico’s many layered tale. I was completely captivated from the very first word until the very last, and that doesn’t happen often. I don’t want to say too much, but if you’re looking for an impeccably-written, thoroughly-engaging, Calgon-take-me-away adventure, I strongly recommend a Recipe For Persuasion. It’s got it all: food, fun, family and love. In all their many flavors.
This is a story about second chances, women’s issues, alcoholism, relationships, and Indian culture. All of that with a taste of culinary flair and the thrills of love.
“I’m half agony, half hope.” The greatest love letter in literature! This nod to Persuasion is thoughtful and filled with similar angst and struggles.
Ashna and Frederico are high school sweethearts. Combine the “big misunderstanding” with the insecurities of teenagers and this second chance gives me all the feelings. I want to be friends or adopted into the Raje family.
As with Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors, Sonali’s food descriptions make me salivate and her prose is not an exact retelling (thankfully!), but something innovative and interesting. I love how she weaves in Ashna’s mother’s story for complexity and understanding in to how a family’s history has such great impact on us.
I can’t wait to see what she does in book three!
In short, I loved it, am very hungry, and want #3 asap.
Thank you, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.
OMG I love this series so much. It’s rich and real and heartrending and wonderful. Two thumbs up and I can’t wait until the next installment.