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A wonderful debut from a new author, which manages to be sweet, funny, and engaging, while also facing complex issues — grief, family obligations, less than useful coping mechanisms, and trauma — head on.

Laced with a charming romance that is just beginning for long-time friends Simran and Leo, the story captures the tingly, crazy, out-of control feelings of new love, along with the heavier, deeper pull of secrets and shame, on a collision course that cannot be avoided.

When Simran receives an unexpected invite to an extravagant multi-day Indian family wedding, her simmering issues can no longer be simply avoided.

Will Simran manage or even resolve her decades long bottled-up angst, rooted in an estranged family situation which may or may not reflect her best interests at heart? Or will it destroy her (and Leo’s) chance for happiness?

Will Leo manage to meet the deeply embedded traditional expectations of a South Indian family — with both Tamil and Punjabi roots — as they continue to swirl and shape the world-view of Simran, a haze of complex feelings encompassing both family belonging and an always striving need for independence?

A terrific read, I devoured this book and these characters, and the Indian wedding centered plot-line (both madcap and romantic) captured so beautifully by the author.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts provided are my own.