Sunshine and Spice

Matchmaking, fake dating, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic, and Desi culture: All that and more is in Sunshine and Spice, the debut novel by Aurora Palit. I was first drawn to this book for its cute cover and the title, but the joy only grew as I began reading it. Set in Kelowna, British Columbia, it’s about a Bengali-Canadian named Naomi who recently started her own business as a brand consultant. Her newest client is Gia Mukherjee, also Bengali-Canadian, who is looking to relaunch her store. But Gia is unimpressed by Naomi and her lack of cultural identity. Meanwhile, Gia’s son Dev is in his 30s and still single, which means it’s time for a matchmaker. Dev doesn’t want to be pushed into marriage, and Naomi needs more cultural knowledge to do her job. So Naomi and Dev decide to fake date while he teaches her about Bengali customs. It’s a win-win, right?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:

• Fake dating
• Opposites attract
• Grumpy/sunshine
• Matchmaking hijinks
• Dual third-person POV (Naomi and Dev)

What I Liked:

• Culture and discussions about immigrants and identity. I loved getting to know more about Bengali culture and how it fits within the greater Desi culture. From the food to the community celebrations, it was fun to learn about it as a non-Desi person myself, but also from the perspective of Naomi. She’s Bengali-Canadian, but due to events in her mom’s past, she’s been raised completely outside of that culture. She knows very little about Indian and, more specifically, Bengali customs, yet she longs to learn more. I loved getting to see Naomi’s perspective as being part of yet separate from such a major part of her identity. There are some great examinations of expectations based on immigration and first- or second-generation family.
• Family relationships and disagreements. Speaking of, I loved exploring the various family members on both Dev and Naomi’s sides and the very different attitudes they have. Dev’s mom, Gia, comes at things from the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Naomi’s mom, Sue. Naomi, Dev, and his siblings all fall somewhere in the middle in terms of cultural identity, views on roles within a family, and what kind of marriage makes sense for them.
• Matchmaking! Gia hires a matchmaker for Dev, but he does NOT want to be part of this. Naomi posing as his secret fake girlfriend seems like the perfect solution. He doesn’t want a marriage of any kind, let alone an arranged marriage… yet the more time he spends with Naomi, the less a long-term relationship seems like something to avoid.
• Naomi and Dev’s opposite personalities. She’s sunshine, he’s grumpy. She’s good at talking to people, he tends to put his foot in his mouth. Underneath his rough exterior, Dev is caring and sweet and always helping others, but he’s also afraid to rock the boat. Naomi is independent and curious, but she needs to learn to genuinely open up to others. I enjoyed seeing how they each bring out the best in each other.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Nothing, this was great!

Final Thoughts

Sunshine and Spice is a wonderful debut! I loved all the cultural discussions, the main and secondary characters, and the overall cute vibes. I definitely want to read more from Aurora Palit! And is it just me or was there some setup for a second book? Cynthia and her coworker? Let it be so, because I would love to read that.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House, Berkley, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Sunshine and Spice here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Sunshine and Spice by Aurora Palit
Series	(#1)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Contemporary Romance
Setting	Kelowna, British Columbia
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	September 10, 2024
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

When two complete opposites agree to fake date in order to solve their cultural dilemmas, they find the only force more powerful than an immigrant mother’s matchmaking schemes might just be true love.

Naomi Kelly will do anything to make her new brand consulting business a success. When she lands a career saving contract to rebrand the Mukherjee family’s failing local bazaar, she knows there can be no mistakes. But as the “oops” baby of a free-spirited Bengali mother, Naomi’s lack of connection to her roots represents everything Gia Mukherjee disdains.

Enter, Dev Mukherjee.

Dev knows everything his mother wants…including her wish for him to get married, like, yesterday. When Gia hires a matchmaker (without, you know, asking him), Dev vows to do whatever it takes to avoid ending up in a cold, loveless marriage. When a potential match assumes Naomi is his girlfriend, the solution to both their problems becomes clear: Naomi will pretend to date Dev in order to sabotage his mother’s matchmaking efforts in exchange for lessons in Bengali culture. Flawless plan, right?

But as Naomi and Dev bond over awful dancing at Garba, couples cooking classes, and tackling the rebrand as a team, they start to realize while their relationship may be fake, their feelings for each other are starting to become very real. As the line between reality and rumor blurs, Naomi and Dev must confront what it means to fit the mold, and decide how much they’re willing to risk for love.