Received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book!

Recommended. Touches on a lot of topics - love, marriage, family, first generation immigrant experience, the desi experience, finding oneself - that doesn't do it justice, though.

Sonali Dev is a gifted storyteller. Her books always feel like basking in the warm sun while still challenging me to think and feel differently. There's Something About Mira is a great book about identity, love, family, culture, community, and so much more. Dev tells Mira's coming of age story with kindness and wraps the entire thing up in a cozy mystery that I just needed to solve. I adored the way in which Dev brings the humanity forward with each character that appears on page. I will read anything she writes.

This captivating story still has a hold on my heart. The heroine, Mira, is a devoted daughter, saying and doing all the right things. This includes her engagement to Dr Druv, the match of her parents' dreams. However, a solo trip to New York due to unforeseen circumstances, finds Mira partnering up with a journalist, Krish, to locate the owner of a lost ring. Along the way a forbidden love story is revealed that catapults Krish and Mira into the fray.
Secrets are best left to be discovered when reading this beautiful tale. Ms Dev's writing was lush, lyrical, and poignant. My senses came alive during the many adventures in New York and especially India. So many emotions were evoked that caused a few tears and also several cheers. I highly recommend!

4.5 stars
Once again, Sonali Dev delivers. I absolutely love the way she writes- the characters are SO REAL and are in actual real-life scenarios, and I appreciate any author who can do that. The story itself was very interesting and kept me engaged throughout. I finished this entire book in two sittings because I simply could not put it down.
I will definitely be recommending this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC!

Sonali Dev is a Must Read Author for me and this latest book just solidifies that!

There's Something About Mira is full of complex family relations and expectations, and an emotional journey that Dev writes so well.
I was a little slow at the start and as soon as the plot thickened, I really appreciated Mira's growth and Krish's part in it. Not everything is as perfect as it seems while Mira is getting ready for her wedding in a few short months and it was so impactful to read as she is coming to her own realizations instead of trying to stay in the small boxes her parents need her to be in. I was a little worried towards the end and yet the epilogue had me tearing up in the best way.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lake Union for an eARC in exchange for a review!

There’s Something About Mira tells the story of Mira who seems to have everything in perfect order, but who realises her life just masks herself. Over the course of the book she finds out who she is and who she wants to be. Part of the book is set in India, which I loved.

Nevertheless, I’ve got mixed feelings about this book. It does a few things I don’t really like, but Sonali Dev is of course a very skilled writer so I can mostly go past them. Mira is an interesting, layered character and I liked how the journey to finding the owner of the ring leads to finding herself. I also appreciated how complicated family relationships were portrayed. But at the same time, some of it was resolved very easily at the end of the book. The homophobia (not from the MCs) was painful to read, and while Rumi has a HEA, I feel there should have been a queer relationship without any issues in the book as well.
The book also included some adventure and I’m not sure that was entirely necessary, although it showed of course the difference between Krish and Mira’s teenage experience. The main aspect of the book that didn’t quite work for me is the idea that everything surrounding the ring was meant to be.
But as I said, I think Sonali Dev is an amazing writer. One of the little things I absolutely loved was one of the characters asking Mira if she was forced into her marriage, adding that force can come in many forms. This is so true, and often ignored.
So yes, mixed feelings. I realise that the issues I have with the book are very much me so other readers may completely fall in love with the book.

I enjoyed this sweet romance that was equal parts coming of age and finding out who you are and solving a mystery and reuniting loved ones.

This was a nice story though it end up being more adventurous than I thought. However, I wish they had focused on Mira's journey of self discovery more than the romance by the end. Krish was a nice character but they had no chemistry. I did like Dhruv and wish there could have been a twist of sorts where she does end up with him instead of the usual it's not your, it's me speech

Mira Salvi is a medical professional engaged to be married to a surgeon. Her parents are very strict, Indian nationals who came to the USA. Because of an incident in her past, Mira has spent her entire adulthood bending over backwards to please her parents/do everything they tell her to do, even after they ostracise her twin brother when they discover he is gay.

Mira and her fiancé were due to spend an engagement moon (never heard of the idea before) in New York but yet again he is too busy with work and she decides to go alone - something that would normally be way outside of her comfort zone. While in New York, Mira falls over and finds an unusual ring on the street, threaded on a chain. Something about the ring speaks to Mira and she is determined to find its owner, so she does what every young person these days would do - she uploads a video to social media. Her brother's fiancé's family run a chain of high end jewellery stores and he quickly identifies that the ring is Indian in origin, made of the highest quality gold and was one of an interlinking pair.

A journalist, Krish Hale, contacts Mira through a vague connection to her brother's fiancé who he met at a wedding. Krish offers to help Mira find the ring's owner if she lets him write a story about their search. Mira finds Krish obnoxious at first, and puzzling because despite his name and his colouring he doesn't appear to know anything about being Indian.

Their search takes them across New York and eventually to India where they discover the sad secret behind the interlinking rings.

I just loved this, TBH I don't think anything was a great surprise, Mira's secret, Krish's secret, the story behind the rings, but it was all done very well and without anyone drastically changing personality.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

“There’s Something About Mira” by Sonali Dev is an engaging blend of enemies to lovers and self-discovery. Mira embarks on a journey to return a lost ring, which takes her from New York to India. The story is filled with mystery and adventure, especially as Mira, Krish, Rumi, and their partner reluctantly team up.

The FMC and her sibling, who come from a South Asian household, learned to break the negative patterns stemming from their parental trauma. If you appreciate cultural connections and Asian weddings, this story offers a behind-the-scenes look at Indian weddings. The exploration of love beyond the physical is vividly explained in the relationship between Vasu and Reva.

I am a long time Sonali Dev fan, and this book was beyond beautiful.

I loved this, absolutely loved it. The story flows, it’s emotional, I found Mira relatable due to parental manipulation and guilting (certain types of parents transcend nationality), and I loved her journey to her true self.

Writing anything else feels too spoil-ery, so I will simply implore you to read this - it’s a gorgeous story of finding (and claiming) yourself, finding love, and finding home - and so much more ❤️❤️

Stunning and absolutely recommended.



Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC

Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.

While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira does: journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story. As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life.

Beautifully written story that weaves history and romance into a powerful narrative about finding yourself and learning to stand up for yourself. I also appreciate how Sonali Dev always incorporates South Asian culture into her books. Pick this one up. You won't regret it! 5⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

I’m a huge Sonali Dev fan, so it’s no surprise that this was a five star read for me. Dev writes closed door romance with such good character and plot development that I never miss the spice. In There’s Something About Mira, Dev explores tender topics like sexuality, family estrangement, and forbidden love with an almost reverent sense of care and wonder. I love the way Dev writes multigenerational stories. A decades old forbidden love affair and a lost ring lead Mira and Krish on one heck of an adventure that spans from NYC to India. It’s incredibly moving, heartbreakingly beautiful, and oh so tender. It’s easily in my top 3 romances of the year.

Thanks to Netgalley & Lake Union Publishing for access to this E-ARC! Really enjoyed this. Liked the characters & the writing style. Will definitely try The Rajes series by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Mira, 29, is a pain management therapist living in Naperville, Chicago. She is of Indian descent, and like all first-generation immigrants, her parents held her and her twin brother Rumi to impossibly high standards. She is supposed to do extremely well to justify the sacrifices her parents made for her, fulfil their dreams and never disappoint them and their narrow view on what a good life constitutes. When Rumi confesses he is gay, he is immediately disowned, teaching the siblings that love is conditional to them.

Mira has reacted by trying to be a good daughter and keeping the peace, especially after some initially undisclosed trauma when she was 17 and for which she was unfairly punished. She has managed to secure fiancé Druv, an ever so handsome and busy orthopedic surgeon, and preparations for the wedding in four months' time are in full swing.

When Druv is too busy to make their "engagement moon" to NYC, he suggests she go on her own. From the reactions of her parents one could think she'd left him and eloped, but Mira goes anyway, because her estranged brother lives there with his lovely fiancé Saket, and she wants to see him again and make up, even though her horrible, controlling parents try to forbid it.

On her way to the Empire State Building to relive a scene from Sleepless in Seattle, she falls and finds a ring on a broken chain, lost underneath a park bench. So begins an adventure spanning two continents and a lot of discoveries, trying to reunite the ring with its owner and learn its story. She is helped by Krish who got in touch after her social media appeal, and who seems to have a secret private reason for getting so involved and unlock secrets that have been kept for 40 years.

In interspersed chapters, we get a beautiful and sensitively handled lesbian love story via 40 year old letters, that is connected to the ring which is one of an interlocking pair. Suru and Vasu lived in India, and homophobia was (still is?) very strong. I was soon rooting for those two to escape their narrow lives and disapproving, violent families.

The topic of "not having the life you wanted to have" is strong, whether it's because of frowned upon love, adoption or your own cowardice. Krish has been adopted 38 years ago in India, and he was taken out of his culture by a well-meaning white couple and transplanted into New York. His struggles with a feeling of abandonment and his loss of culture are evident. The search for the ring owner is very personal to him, and we find out why during the course of the search.

We learn a lot about Indian culture as well. I never knew how opulent weddings can be and how many clothes and bridal gowns are needed! The road trip through rural India is adventurous, and shows a real contrast to the diamond-encrusted opulence of wedding planning.

I thought this would be a light romance but it was so much more. It touched me deeply and I couldn't stop reading until I had finished this, until deep into the night. I loved Suru and Vasu and their heartrending letters, I loved Mira and her attempts to stand up to her parents, reunite with her deeply hurt brother and find out what she wants in life and going for it, and I loved Krish, trying to make sense of his beginnings and his feelings. Rumi was harder to love, as he lashed out when Mira tried to reconcile, but it was borne out of grief for the loss of his family.

I have to say I struggled to find much fault in Druv other than he's a workaholic, but he seemed to be patient, kind and understanding. Mira could have done a lot worse but it's not always about that. Sometimes you just want the grumpy journalist who doesn't even know his own culture and grapples with deep-seated feelings of abandonment, who takes you on a motorbike tour of New York, opens MoMa for you after hours and really SEES you.

“If returning to your old life will make you happy, I will be okay. As long as you feel seen and cared for, I’ll be okay. As long as no one makes you feel like you’re lucky to have them, I will be okay. As long as you promise to never put yourself away again, I will be okay....As long as I know you’re happy, I will be okay.”

However, I found the gay relationships portrayed with more conviction and feelings - Mira and Krish had a slow and kind of tame coming together, which was nice but it didn't convince quite in the same way as Suru and Vasu did.

Whoever designed the blue cover should be proud of themselves - the two rings and the couple on the motorbike riding through New York are spot on and very atmospheric. Such gorgeous artwork!

This is my first book by Sonali Dev but it won't be my last. If you are after a "brown" desi culture romance with depth, mystery, secrets, adventure and queer representation, this is for you. This book needs to have an LGBTQIA+ tag!

Mira Salvi thinks she is lucky to be engaged to Dr. Druv Kalra. When he is too busy doing surgeries to go on their twice postponed "engagement-moon" to NYC, Mira decides to go alone (the trip is non-refundable after all). As she looks up at the Empire State Building with visions of Deborah Kerr and Meg Ryan dancing through her head, Mira is literally knocked off her feet and finds an unusual ring. Something about this ring speaks to Mira and she becomes determined to reunite it with it's owner. Her social media post to locate it's owner goes viral and she finds herself quite alone in navigating the devious nature of the internet (and the world at large). Her brother's fiancé helps her connect with moody investigative journalist Krish Hale. The journey to find the ring's owner leads them both on a surprising journey of self-discovery.

I really enjoyed this book. Sonali Dev has a lyrical writing style that is engaging and smart. Mira is an understandable heroine and her character is fully explored and developed as you progress through the story. I enjoyed Mira's stubborn determination to help reunite the ring with it's owner. Mira is struggling with several demon's, a big one being navigating being born in America to immigrant south Asian parents. The juxtaposition of her experience as a "brown" person vs. Krish's experience adds an interesting extra dimension to the story.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I found it a bit predictable. I'm always hoping a book will surprise me, take a twist that I wasn't expecting. As enjoyable as this book was, the story beats went exactly as I anticipated, which left me the teeniest bit disappointed.

There is a a lot of depth to this story; it is definitely not a rom-com! I would recommend this heartfelt, endearing book to anyone who loves a heroine with inner turmoil who finds herself through a scavenger hunt/mystery.

I appreciated the South Asian representation in Sonali Dev novels! Besides that I thought it was just an average read. I found the characters to be OK and the plot line to be lacking...it felt very YA and that was not what this novel was advertised as.

Thank you to the publisher, Sonali Dev, and Net Galley for the ARC!

This is one of Sonali's best. No question. I was lost in the story and in each character, who were so nuanced, human, and relatable (even the infuriating ones!). The pacing, story, and magic in it were captured so beautifully.

This book grew on me very quickly! At first, it felt kind of slow, but it quickly picked up with the action and character development. The plot driven romance and various twists were captivating. Mira’s growth, her complex immigrant family dynamics, and the romance were very realistic.

Join the journey of Mira Salvi as she reluctantly teams up with local journalist Krish Hale, in order to return a lost ring to it’s rightful owner during her ‘engagement-moon’ trip to New York City.

Mira’s perfect fiancé is unable to head to New York with Mira, and encourages her to go alone to fulfil her dream of seeing the city. What follows is a voyage of discovery, not only of the lost ring and her new acquaintance Krish, but also of herself, her reconnection with twin brother Rumi, and of her complex family relationships.

In addition to this, there are some lovely flashbacks to 1983 so the reader can uncover the origins of the lost ring as Mira pursues her quest.

There are themes of cultural awareness and homophobia throughout this book.

It did take me a while to get into this book, but it was an enjoyable read when I did. 3.5/5.0

Thanks to NetGalley for this electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.