Sunday, December 26, 2021

First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel

Welcome Back, Booklovers! December has been such a hectic month. Haven't been able to read as much as I wanted but what I've read this month has been pretty good for the most part. This was one I was gifted the audiobook from Forever and the cover looked pretty so I decided to give it a shot.

Preeti Patel is working long hours at the hospital completing her residency and try to find a full time job. And if that wasn't stressful enough, she also needs to deal with some issues with her family and finding an apartment. Her family is hoping for an engagement with a man from her community but her touch aversion means Preeti can barely stand to be around him let alone get close to him. Then there's still some old feelings for her ex boyfriend, Daniel. 

Daniel is handsome, well educated, comes from a wealthy family, and can cook. So basically the perfect man, right? Well not according to Preeti's family who finds him beneath her because he's Black and not one of the men from their community. 

Preeti's friend let's her move into her apartment while she's working out of town but in an attempt to have them reconnect also offers it to Daniel. It's a small apartment and there's only one bed so it doesn't take long for those old feelings to resurface.

I liked that the couple being of two different races was acknowledged and that both families had their hang ups about it. I expected Preeti's family to have a problem with her dating a Black man and it was nice to see her call out her community for racism and colorism. Daniel's father had an issue with him dating Preeti feeling she was beneath him and wanting him to date an upper class Black woman. I love romance where the family is heavily involved so I liked seeing them interact with different family members. Preeti is friends with Daniel's sister and has a good relationship with his grandparents that she kept in tact despite their split. 

Now I did have a bit of an issue with this book reinforcing the stereotype of the strict Indian aunties that are old and backwards because they practice Hinduism. Often when I read traditionally published romance by Indian authors it feels like everyone but the main heroine is ultra conservative and pushing toxic old ideals. Preeti's parent's actually didn't come across as very conservative so I was confused as to why they were trying to push her into a loveless arranged marriage and refused to stand up to the aunties and uncles slut shaming her. 

One of the issues this book also discussed was breaking the stigmas against mental health. Preeti has anxiety and an aversion to touch that doesn't stem from a traumatic childhood event and she has to navigate with that on a daily basis. 

Even though Preeti's horrible communication skills got on my nerves a bit this was still an enjoyable slow burn romance read. The great narration really helped me feel the chemistry between Preeti and Daniel. I really enjoyed the banter between them as they got comfortable around each other again. Once Preeti gets past her issues and they open up to each other again it's a beautiful thing. I look forward to checking out future books from this author.


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