27 Dec / Incense and Sensibility [The Rajes series, Book 3] by Sonali Dev [in Booklist]
Sonali Dev continues to channel Jane Austen via the Raje family with her third in the series, familiarly, gratefully voiced by Indian American favorite Soneela Nankani. Dev opens with a literal bang: California gubernatorial candidate Yash Raje is shot during a rally. His physical recovery is miraculously quick, but his bodyguard friend lies comatose.
The race must go on despite Yash’s (understandably) debilitating panic attacks. Queue the violins as he’s reunited with India Dashwood, yoga therapist extraordinaire (yep, her family also makes incense) who is Yash’s cousin-raised-as-sister Ashna’s (star of Recipe for Persuasion, 2020) best friend China’s older sister. Got all that?
Yash and India have history (love at first sight, blighted by Yash’s ghosting) and current complications (uhmm … Yash has a long-term girlfriend adored by the public). Hearts are at stake, not to mention high-stakes politics … but Austen aficionados know exactly how this ends.
Dev contemporizes deftly with Very Important Issues, including hate crimes, gun control, religious intolerance, classism, LGBTQIA challenges, healthcare, transracial adoption, and (even!) more. From passive to passion (and everything in between), Nankani never misses a beat.
Review: “Media,” Booklist Online, December 21, 2021
Readers: Adult
Published: 2021