Incense and Sensibility

A Novel

By: Sonali Dev

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

"Incense and Sensibility is a tender, well-crafted novel, as much about finding purpose as it is about falling in love. Dev writes with such rare empathy and humor that I often found myself holding my breath on one page only to be giggling by the next. This is the kind of book you finish with a whole-body, happy sigh and a warm ache in your chest where the characters will live on. Yash and India’s story will stick with me for a long time." (Emily Henry, New York Times best-selling author of Beach Read)

Yash Raje, California’s first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate, has always known exactly what he wants - and how to use his privileged background to get it. He attributes his success to a simple mantra: control your feelings and you can control the world. But when a hate crime at a rally critically injures his friend, Yash’s easy life suddenly feels like a lie, his control an illusion. When he tries to get back on the campaign trail, he blacks out with panic.

Desperate to keep Yash’s condition from leaking to the media, his family turns to the one person they trust - his sister’s best friend, India Dashwood, California’s foremost stress management coach. Raised by a family of yoga teachers, India has helped San Francisco’s high strung overachievers for a decade without so much as altering her breath. But this man - with his boundless ambition, simmering intensity, and absolute faith in his political beliefs - is like no other.

Yash has spent a lifetime repressing everything to succeed, including their one magical night ten years ago - a too brief, too bright passion that if rekindled threatens to destroy the dream he’s willingly shouldered for his family and communit...until now.

©2021 Sonali Dev (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Best one yet!

There are not enough heart eyes for this series. This book. OMG THIS BOOK. I have always had a soft spot for Sense and Sensibility in the Austen pantheon. The moment I started relating more to Elinor rather than Marianne was one of my personal metrics of "I am a grownup". This Indian American retelling is SO FREAKING GOOD. Sonali Dev's prose is just gorgeous, and each installment of the series is better and better. Full of emotion and truth, I can't WAIT for book 4!

Just a hint of Austen

I love this series! A modern multicultural romance series with just a hint of Austen. I appreciate the attention to mental health in some of the stories. These characters are deep and beautiful and I look forward to the next in the series. Soneela Nankani narrates beautifully.

Great series

If you love Jane Austen, you’ll love this series. Sonali Dev does a great job adapting P&P, Persuasion, & Sense and Sensibility.

Great Read

I really enjoyed this book. I can not wait to see what the Raje’s will do next.

Another great listen!

Sonali Dev has done it again! I love this series so very much. It’s everything—well written, thoughtful, dynamic, optimistic, and romantic. I absolutely adore this author.

Lovely

I loved this love story! The people drew me in and kept me captivated! Such a beautiful dream.

Love this series!

Such clever takes on Austen. I think I love each book more than the one before.

Beautiful book

As always the author spins romance with emotion beautifully. Parts of this book however felt a little forced and redundant. China’s side story with Seoung - I couldn’t really relate to it or find any depth or connection between them - but it dragged on.
Yash x India was written beautifully though.

So much fun!

if fun is reading Austin like fan fiction where if everyone would just TAlK we wouldn't have a story! I am invested in these characters, so off to book 4!

Choosing between duty and love

Yash has it all, a rising campaign and a best friend arrangement that keeps both their parents out of their personal lives. After an assassination trip turns his world upside down, he is forced to seek help to rejoin his campaign. India has the skills to help him face his anxiety, but is also the only woman who ever made him feel.

This is the third in a series and I read it out of order for a book club. I immediately started the first and am looking forward to the rest of the series. This book stood alone well but would fit nicely in the published order as well.