Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors: A Novel (The Rajes Series Book 1)

I know, I know. I always think that there can't be a new way to interpret Pride and Prejudice and I'm always proven wrong. This one was definitely a new take and I enjoyed it.Dr. Trisha Raje is a successful neurosurgeon from a wealthy family with no time for romance. She is slightly estranged from her father and brother due to a mistake 15 years ago, but she still loves them desperately and tries to spend time with the extended family.DJ and Emma Caine have worked hard for everything and still have very little. DJ is an incredible chef and Emma is an artist.Emma has a brain tumor that only Dr. Raje can help her with, but with severe consequences.I admit that my preconceived notions left me confused at the beginning of the book. But once I got it, it was really cool. This one touches on race, class, and of course romance. I liked it. This author has done takes on several Austin books and I will definitely read the others.

I consumed this novel with a voracious appetite for reading that I had long since forgotten I was even capable of but Dev resurrected it.

I've got to do this review while it's still fresh in my head. This made such a huge impression on me, yet normally I would sit on the review thinking it through. I wasn't sure that would work for me this time. Oh my gosh. What a story. I know this has been out for awhile and it's certainly been on my radar and on my wish list. But I have been waiting on it to go on sale. The book is worth everything the author can get but I have such a book monkey on my back, I just have to budget.I do not plan on spoilers but a couple may crop up in here. P,P,&OF as you can easily surmise is a contemporary Pride & Prejudice variation and there are many P&P nods, strong ones, but it is such a brilliant original story it stands on its own by its premise, character fleshing out and growth, the entire story arc. It's a 5+++ for me and I will visit it again....when I can get up my courage.There are some great reviews here for complete plots, but I want to keep this shorter than I could if I went down that road. I really just want people to read it! I love so many of these characters. Dev writes the Raje family like she's telling you about her own family, or one she's very close to. There are only a couple members who are there as supporting character types but provide a necessary sweet sigh of relief to the plot. The worst angst in Austen's P&P is tripled in PP&OF. Good grief. I didn't think I could survive it!! My stomach was a mess after 'The Horrible Proposal' in this one. I'm still thinking of it with shock. And the villain? You will hate Wickham here like you never hated that character before.I got this as an audio book from Chirp in a deal I couldn't pass up. The Austen series is narrated by Soneela Nankani was a pleasure to listen to. At some point I want to read this through because it's easier for me to get names in my head while I'm reading (which is why I like to have read the book before I acquire the audio version,) when that name is mentioned again. If there are lots of new characters (new to an Austen variation) I struggle nailing them down in my poor brain. This went smoothly after the first chapter.I Highly Recommend this to anybody. JAFF readers especially. And if your are like me and have to be nudged a great deal to read a contemporary? You will not regret reading this. And btw, if you like Indian food...you'll be starving for it during the whole reading experience.

I admit it, I love Bollywood movies! I also am very picky about Austen variations. Some of them are great, especially if they give reasonable endings for the characters who didn't get a happily ever after. Rewriting Austen is tricky and hard to do well. Sometimes it's irreverent like Clueless and sometimes you get a serious look that mirrors the concepts Austen wrote about like this book and they are very well done. DJ (Darcy James) and Trish flip roles in this telling. Trish is the black sheep of her aristocratic Indian-American family and she is a neurosurgeon. A misunderstanding at the start of her brother's long planned quest to be governor of California causes the difficulties. The villain is Julia Wickham. But even her beloved brother holds her responsible when he was much older than her and had more life experience. Then we get into a serious look at an Indian-American family trying to assimilate in the country they have chosen. HRH, Trish's father, was the younger son of an Indian aristocrat who managed to retain their Title and property whlen the British took over. He went to Medical School and married a Bollywood actress. They build a home and life in America. His older brother was a His Royal Highness and he inherited when his older brother was killed in a plane crash that only their daughter survived. He raised both his older and younger brother's daughters and the cousins are part of an insular family with high expectations.After her college room mate Julia drugs her brother and tapes it, everyone blames Trish. For 15 years she stays away from her family and buries herself in her work. She resents her family's obsession for getting her brother elected and suffers at work from never having to learn to get along with anyone other than her family.DJ has had a totally different experience. His father's early death cause them to be turned out into the streets. He watches the mother of the man they rent rooms from, his sister and goes to school. Aji teaches him the magic of flavors and when his Mom dies, sells her wedding jewels to send him to Paris for cooking school. He has dark skin and in a scene where Trish wants him to break into the car she left her keys in, he comes close to being shot. Trish lives as if she were white, with all the privilege that provides her, but DJ needs her to do a life saving surgery on his sister. The story progresses through mostly fleshed out characters. We get to know their hopes and fears and grow to understand and love them a little, just like an Austen novel.As a woman who grew up in the '60s, I never quite get why everyone defers to HRH, even though that's the way I grew up. I also had a problem with everyone in the family concentrating some much time and energy to her older brother when all of the kids and cousins are exceptional in their own right. I had a great older brother and he never would have let everything fall on my shoulders and go 15 years without speaking.

I have loved Sonali Dev's Bollywood inspired stories, and the Rajes series has been waiting for me to dive in, for a while now.This first book, loosely based around some themes from Austen's Pride and Prejudice, was a great read!Trisha Raje is a surgeon with a plan. She also is part of an Indian royal family. She has ideas that might not always align with those of HRH, or her father. These issues have caused rifts between them.DJ Caine is a British born man of mixed descent, who has seen a tough life, losing his parents, and other loved ones, as well as being threatened with the loss of his only surviving family member, Emma.He's also an incredibly talented chef who has been hired by Trisha's sister, Nisha, to cater for events leading up to the hopeful beginnings of their brother Yash's political career.Secrets.There are always secrets.And being a part of a royal family, (even though the royal part doesn't really exist, anymore), has its own share of burdens.Trisha and DJ clash, but they both need each other, in order to help their family members, and there is a certain chemistry between them, that they are trying hard to deny.Family drama, racial and class prejudices, high jinx briberies, and sizzling hot food, as well as chemistry... what more could you want?

Bought this Kindle book to read for a book club, which had the food theme, and got to know about it through a blog. I don't really read much of romance, but this one I did like, especially since this was a homage to the classic author Jane Austen. It was a smooth read. Page-turner for sure, because this was not just romance... there was also drama involved. And the worldbuilding and the backstories were just brilliant. Every character, even the side-characters, got ample focus and backstories, and the author made me understand the protagonist Trisha's background. Where she comes from, her strengths, her flaws, and the relationship with her family and friends that define her. The protagonist is strong and impulsive, does come across as a snob to a stranger, but since the author does give good reasoning in the narrative, I finally came to understand her. The author covers the male POV as well. DJ Caine is Trisha's love interest... well, actually, it is an enemies to lovers trope. I wouldn't say, enemy. I would say he definitely hates her guts, and he has temper issues that can misunderstand anyone. But why is it that his anger flares up whenever Trisha is around?Austen's story might be the one influenced this book, but this book is clearly cut out of its own cloth. The gender-swapped roles are what's majorly different, but the storyline veers away differently. I quite identified with the familial roles that were played by the characters.This is the first book of the Raje Series. I am given to understand there are at least four books, each book concentrating on the POV of a different character. But each character is related to each other, belonging to a royal dysfunctional family: The Rajes.Sonali Dev has found a fan in me... of her style and writing that is. Fluid writing and character development is what made this book great. Hoping her other books share the same caliber. There are a couple of issues with the book (for ex, Trisha proposed out of the blue without any hint in the narrative about her changing feelings, etc) but I am not a romance reader like I said. So maybe that's why. Also, this book is a quintessential Bollywood drama style. More like NRI Bollywood drama. There's drama, there's romance, and there's the hint of a subtle villainy that's set out to destroy a family legacy. A great escape from reality. Definitely recommend reading this book for its elegant writing style, character development, and all the beautiful backstories.

I loved this book, it was probably the best P&P adaptation I’ve ever read. The flip of the two main characters (the heroine is “Darcy”!) was a wonderful twist and worked so well with the characters and their positions. Everyone was fully realized, and their issues were genuine. I loved the diversity of the characters, and the richness of their backgrounds.I’ll be honest, I had a hard time getting into it at first. It is slow at first, and the initial meetings for each character are difficult to read at first. Then again, it wasn’t easy to read the same of Austen’s original, no matter how it turns out in the end. That is the name of the book, literally. As well, there was a bit of inconsistency with the characters, as if the writer was figuring out who they were for the first few chapters. It did all balance as it went on, and in spite of the foibles, the struggles of the characters are genuine, and realistic. It all works. (Additional note, I really related to the H, though I couldn’t say exactly what drew me in.)I loved the build up, and the last 25% had me tearing up. I just loved it, loved going along for the ride, and am genuinely looking forward to reading more of the series.

Even though this is the first book in the series, it's the third one I read, and aside from some minor details, it made zero difference. All three books are delightful, each one just as good as the next. If you're looking for a fun series to get lost in, this is it.

Book is just so boring..the story line is dragging and does not seem to move at all.. Bought it because I am a big fan of Pride and Prejudice.. This is nowhere close to the original.. The delivery was on time