Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma

 

While dancing at the International Katahk Classics dance semifinals in London, Radha overhears two other contestants gossiping that Radha only wins competitions because her mother (a former dancer herself) offers sexual favors to key judges. While Radha is upset, because she works extremely hard on her dancing, she also begins to question some of her mother's strange behavior lately, and wonders if she really COULD be cheating. Radha feels herself begin to have a panic attack, and decides to leave the dance competition. She is stopped on the way out by her angry mother, whom Radha confronts about the allegations, which she does not deny. 

7 months later, and Radha's parents have separated and she and her mother have moved from Chicago to New Jersey, where Radha plans to attend an arts school, but no longer focus on dancing as a potential career. Her father, who owns an Indian restaurant back in Chicago, sends her a recipe notebook belonging to her grandfather, along with a letter telling Radha he hopes she might take an interest in cooking, and thereby connect more to his side of the family. 

Radha has made a deal with her mother that if she attends this school for one year, she can then choose to never dance again AND her mother will pay her full college tuition regardless of what she chooses to study.  Radha has been suffering from panic attacks every time she has tried to perform since the Katahk Classics. Unfortunately, in order to get INTO the new school, Radha must perform at an audition. Fortunately, she is able to overcome her fear just long enough to make it into the school. After the audition, Radha runs into a (super hot) boy named Jai, who is a fellow dancer and captain of the school Bollywood Dance Team. 

Jai, it runs out, is very close with the school's Director, who is concerned that he has not done anything to prepare for college. Jai is valedictorian, and wants to be a doctor, but his family struggles financially and Jai feels he needs to stay home and work to help them instead of spending money they don't really have on college. He hopes to at least make a good final impression at school by winning the annual dance showcase, but learns his choreographer has moved to India so he is in trouble if he doesn't find a replacement soon, especially because wining the showcase would earn his team a spot a the regional competition, and the winners of THAT get a cash prize which could help Jai pay for school. 

One day, while having lunch at school, Radha and Jai begin sharing their life stories. Jai tells Radha he works at his family store because his father was badly injured after being hit by a car and can no longer work. Radha shares that she has been learning to cook through video calls with her dad, and that their relationship, which had always been awkward, has greatly improved because of it, and that she is discovering food as a new passion. It is also during this conversation that Radha learns she MUST perform in the Winter Showcase in order to graduate, which triggers a panic attack. 

During a class dance-off a few days later, Radha makes friends with the rest of Jai's Bollywood team, and she hits on the idea that maybe, if she agrees to choreograph their showcase routine, the Director might count that as her final grade and she would not have to actually perform. 

Through Radha's exploration of her family's recipes, Radha begins making contact with family members she has not spoken to in years. One of her cousins tells her that Radha's father wanted to stay in India, especially after his father died and he inherited half the family business. However, Radha's mother wanted to move to Chicago, so he traded his half of the business for the notebook he gave to Radha, in the hope that some day he could share those recipes with her. This revelation makes Radha even more upset at her mother, while reinforcing her want to connect to her father and his family more. 

Despite Jai's growing feelings for Radha, he begins to pull back from her after one of his brothers meets her and warns Jai that because she comes from a rich family and has no need for money, a relationship with her could leave him devastated, as she has more opportunities in her future and is likely to leave him behind. 

At a Diwali celebration things come to a head when Trish, Jai's ex girlfriend, who is also a dancer and knows people from Chicago, blurts out to everyone that Radha quit dancing because of her mother's affair. Embarrassed, and assuming Jai will ask her to quit her choreographer gig, Radha runs away, but Jai catches up to her They both confess to having feelings for each other, and share a kiss. Radha runs away again, and suffers one of the worst panic attacks of her life. She makes it home, where her mother helps her through it, and Radha asks her mother to make her an appointment with a therapist. She also makes plans to visit her dad in Chicago over Christmas, against her mother's wishes. 

Jai and Radha start dating. They also stage a dress rehearsal of the dance for the Director, and Radha has to step in for part of the performance when Shakti, the lead dancer finds it too difficult to finish the piece. The Director pulls Jai aside and tells him they will never win the showcase or regionals unless they replace Shakti with Radha, who is simply a better dancer. She tells Jai she will speak to Radha about it, but will give him a chance to speak to her first, since he is team captain.

Later, the team travels to New York City to watch a Bollywood dance showcase for inspiration, where Radha runs into one of her former teachers, a world-famous performer, who basically tells her she is a coward for quitting performance all because of jealous competitors. Radha has another panic attack, but Jai helps her through. 

Radha spends Thanksgiving with Jai's family, and Christmas break with her dad, cooking and connecting on an even deeper level. Jai, though, cannot find the courage to tell Radha the Director's opinion about their dance, and it takes him so long to speak to the team that the Director steps in and does it for him, upsetting the team and most of all Radha, who all feel they cannot trust him. This causes a huge fight and Jai and Radha break up. 

Jai feels terrible about the entire thing, but through a talk with his dad, he realizes not only that he needs to apologize to Radha, but also that he is actually hurting his family by not at least applying to colleges, so he submits his application to Columbia, his dream school. At the same time, Radha realizes that in order for her team to have the best chance at not only winning he showcase but also potentially be scouted by other schools or employers, she HAS to dance in the showcase. 

Radha and Jai talk and make up, and the showcase goes on with Radha as the lead. The team does incredibly well, but as soon as they go off stage they are called to the Director's office where they are told several parents have complained because the teacher Radha spoke to in New York is one of the 4 judges, and they may be disqualified. Radha, who had no idea her old teacher was a judge asks that those scores be thrown out, and that the team be judged using only the other 3 judges scores. The team wins the showcase.

A short epilogue tells us Radha got into NYU though she is still undecided on a major, and Jai got into Columbia and plans to attend in the fall. The book ends with Jai prom-posing to Rahda with a Bollywood flashmob.