Only Wheat Not White Review

Only Wheat not White     

Author: Varsha Dixit

Publisher: Penning Publishing

American release date: June 2, 2014

Format/Genre/Length: eBook/romantic comedy/262 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Eila Sood travels from India to New York in order to mend the fences between her family and her estranged older sister, Sheela. Beginning with her flight, anything that can go wrong does. Not to mention she keeps finding herself up against a incredibly good-looking blue-eyed ogre, who sees her at her worst and doesn’t hesitate to make note of her shortcomings.

Sheela has two small boys, Aryan and Adam, whom Eila quickly falls in love with. It’s obvious from the beginning that the relationship between Sheela and her husband, Steve, is strained, which doesn’t exactly endear Steve to Eila. The situation becomes worse when the subject of Sheela’s cooking arises, and Eila wonders if it’s the Indian cuisine that he dislikes… or something else.

Eila has a couple of days before her job starts, so she spends time with Sheela, accompanying her to one of her prayer meetings. At least the food is very good, even if Eila isn’t sure about the rest of it. In navigating the subway to get to her new job, Eila again runs into the ogre! He seems to be everywhere.

Eila takes to her job and makes a friend in Meghan, but an unexpected turn of events causes her position to be downsized, which is bad for the two sisters, as Sheela and Steve have separated, and Eila is determined to make it without his help. Eila takes a second job—at a strip club! Agreeing to a blind date with the son of one of the ladies at Sheela’s prayer meetings, she is amazed to once again run into the ogre!

Can this end well?

I loved the characters in this book, loved watching Eila grow and develop, as well as Sheela. And the blue-eyed ogre—aka Brett Wright—is a hot and sexy man. Ms. Dixit explores cultural differences and miscommunications with ease.  The biggest criticism I can make is that the editing leaves a little something to be desired, and I hope in future she finds a better editor.

Ms. Dixit is a new author to me, but one I would love to read more of. Her story flows well, and I found myself thinking about the characters even when I wasn’t reading. I’m hoping she will continue the story. I want to know what happens next.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance, and watching bad first impressions get turned around!