Angie Cox's Reviews > Tastes Like Shakkar

3.75 ⭐️ So much fun!! This book had me hooked from the start!


”There isn't a single dish that I could create that would taste as good as the both of us together.”


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ modern spin on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
✨ indian wedding planning
✨ punjabi main characters
✨ she's a loyal, controlling wedding planner trying to plan her best friend’s wedding
✨ he's an egotistical and irritatingly sexy chef who's supposed to help her with the menu since he’s the groom’s best friend
✨ first impression gone wrong
✨ hate to love (on her side)
✨ forced proximity
✨ similars attracts: stubborn, workaholics who don't want a relationship
✨ "you make me crazy"
✨ amazing banter
✨ he falls first
✨ found family
✨ plus size fmc
✨ 2.5/5 spice
✨ kinks: praise, bondage, cl*t slapping, minor exhibitionism, toys
✨ taylor swift references


My Thoughts:

Okay, so I liked this book! I really did. Especially the first half!

We start off with a bang in the prologue where Benjamin and Bobbi meet 10 months ago. There's so much sexual tension between the two and they share an almost kiss! But thanks to four stupid words (said by Benjamin, of course), Bobbi currently hates him. This is a hate to love (on Bobbi's end) romance, where no matter how hard Benjamin tries, he can't seem to do anything but piss her off. I LOVED their vexing banter and how hard they fight their attraction to one another. But thanks to their friends forcing them to work together, they are unable to resist.

Benjamin and Bobbi were also extremely likable and very similar characters! Bobbi is such a loving and loyal friend. She does everything with 100% of her entire heart and won't stop until it's done to perfection. That's what also makes her an incredible successful wedding planner. I also appreciated that she was plus size and extremely confident in herself! And we were able to learn a bit more about perceptions of being plus size not only by American standards but those of Punjabi men and women.

Benjamin is also an incredibly kind and loyal friend. He is extremely confident and straightforward, but plays mediator for his family, which tends to pull him between his passions and 'responsibilities'. Throughout the book, Benjamin realizes he needs to prioritize himself and his happiness instead of being manipulated and controlled by his family. Watching him grow and go through this journey was a very cathartic experience for me.

On a side note, one of the main themes of this book is community whether it be your friends or family and I love that!

I also really enjoyed that the non-romance plot was centered around Prem and Kareena's wedding! These two are just the cutest! Seeing their love story unfold in Dating Dr. Dil was a delight, so to see their wedding play out was a special treat. Maybe in the next book, we'll see them having kids. 😍

So why am I giving this book 3.5 stars?

I did not vibe with the spice AT ALL. The dirty talk was not my jam. The writing felt really formulaic and just didn't suck me in. I'm also not a huge fan of the endearment 'my queen,' so that gave me the ick. And my biggest issue - the bondage. It felt like it was randomly thrown in. It wasn't introduced in a realistic way, so these scenes didn't quite make sense from a character perspective. You're telling me that the first time Benjamin and Bobby really have the chance for some p&v penetration, he's bringing ropes, explains bondage to her, and then ties her up and face f*cks her instead of giving her pleasure first? It felt like he was just taking the entire scene and gave me the ick. I mean, sure, they've done other stuff before and had phone sex, but this is the very first time they're meeting in person in a not-quickie situation, and instead of either going fast and hard or slow and deliberate, his first move is to face f*ck her. I just couldn't believe it. There should have been one scene before this where they come together where it's just them. Oh, and then, he has an entire flask of whiskey that he pours all over her body and licks it up slowly. Again, just not my thing, and the way it was written didn't convince me it could be.


Also, once they're officially together, things moved a little slow and I lost a little interest. It wasn't horribly slow but enough that around 75% I skimmed a bit of non-dialogue to figure out the wedding mystery drama.


Overall, this was a fun addition to the If Shakespeare was an Auntie series and I cannot wait for Veera's (and presumably Deepak's) story!


Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.