A smart, summery romance, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon has been getting all the buzz lately for being one of the freshest new YA titles to hit the shelves – and I’m here to tell you, it lives up to that hype.
A laugh-out-loud, heartfelt YA romantic comedy, told in alternating perspectives, about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.
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.
Dimple and Rishi make for such endearing characters, with all their personality quirks and faults and passions making them feel oh-so-real. Along with Menon’s carefully crafted supporting characters, they really bring the story to life. The characters are diverse, smart, and realistically flawed in all the most relatable ways. They are a big part of what makes When Dimple Met Rishi so utterly charming.
The story itself is witty and clever, and I loved seeing both characters struggling to figure out what they think they want, versus what they actually want, and how these dual struggles push the narrative forward.
This is the smart, sassy, diverse YA romance you’ve been waiting for. When Dimple Met Rishi is in stores now.
Novel Novice 
I plan on reading this one soon. I put a hold on a library copy that i’m eagerly awaiting. It will be good for my debut author challenge too.