I really love reading YA (young adult) books. At least some of them. I don’t really go for the fantasy and vampire books but the ones that are about kids in high school are usually pretty fun and Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Love is no exception. I also love to read about different cultures so this book also satisfied that requirement.
Radha is a very talented Kathak dancer with a very involved (overly involved?) dance mom. At a large international dance competition, she over hears other dancers talking about her and she is horrified and leaves the competition without dancing.
Radha moves to New Jersey where she is given a second chance at finding the “dance joy” that’s been eluding her but she’s unable to perform without having anxiety attacks. At her new school, she meets Jai, the leader of the Bollywood Beats dance group. They are minus one choreographer and have no dance for their winter competition at which scouts will attend and future dance opportunities can be achieved.
Jai and Radha like each other and Radha agrees to choreograph the dance for the group as it will also allow her to graduate without having to be onstage.
During this time, Radha also rekindles her relationship with her father in Chicago. He is a chef in his own restaurant and gives her a notebook of recipes that belongs to her grandfather. She starts learning how to cook the Indian food her grandfather and father cook and discovers a new passion.
I loved reading about the dance competition, the relationship between Radha and Jai, and reading the Indian recipes a lot. This was a fun book and I highly recommend it! In the past I have read My So Called Bollywood Life by this same author, Nisha Sharma, and loved it as well!
