When Dimple Met Rishi

(Dimple and Rishi #1, By: Sandhya Menon)

SUMMARY:

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?
Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.
The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?
Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.
Published May 30th 2017 by Simon Pulse

REVIEW:

I gave this book 2 stars. While it had a sweet innocence to the romance, it read much younger than it should have. There was something pure about the young emotions with which the main characters fell in love - but too much of their story was extremely cheesy and stunted to me.

Menon did a good job at writing scenes that made mundane acts (like sitting close to someone) seem romantic in the hyper aware way you experience as a teenager. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Dimple as a young female who is career driven in a technical field (while leaving Rishi, the young male, to be the hopeless romantic). Finally, the exposure to Indian culture was fun, although a bit generic at times.

Despite several redeeming qualities, I struggled with the overall writing style. The plot was lacking - with a lot of events happening, but nothing really building. The dialog was so corny it was comical at times, and there was very little character depth (which I’ve come to expect out of characters their age). Ultimately, while there was potential with the premise, this book was a flop.