In this second chance romance, the food is more memorable than the love story. After reading First Love, Take Two, I was left feeling vaguely annoyed at the happy couple. But I also wanted to eat my way through Houston.

Daniel and Preeti were each other’s first loves, until she let his wealthy Black parents, and her prejudiced Desi aunties, break them up. Preeti has weathered the ostracism and gossip in her close-knit Hindu community in Houston, and now she’s intent on marrying Yuvan, a self-important man her family loves. But Daniel is back in town, and Preeti, who stayed friends with his sister, accidentally ends up subletting the same apartment as him. There’s only one bed. And Daniel is just as caring, and competent as Preeti remembered.

Hello, sparks!

As Daniel smolders around their apartment, half naked, the comparison between her chemistry with him versus her boring fiance couldn’t be more stark. Only one of these men knows how to cook her favorite foods, and soothe her when she’s stressed. But is Preeti willing to cause her family pain for a second chance with her first love?

I struggled to get into this book. It’s the sequel to The Trouble with Hating You, which I haven’t read. I had trouble keeping track of the supporting characters, and minor continuing plots, including a sexual assault storyline from book one. I couldn’t keep all of Preeti’s friends straight, because they only appear in the story to cheer for her relationship with Daniel. When everyone’s on the same text thread, all teasing Preeti about when she’s going to sleep with Daniel, how am I supposed to remember who’s who? But once we got in the groove of Preeti and Daniel’s wary reconnection in their cozy apartment, I settled into the book. If you’re already familiar with this sprawling cast of characters, you might find the first couple of chapters to be an easier read.

Preeti and Daniel aren’t exactly enemies, but Daniel is heartbroken and confused since Preeti dumped him without explanation six years ago. She never answered his calls or texts afterward. Most of the plot is about Preeti accepting that she still loves her ex, and two of them learning to reconcile their relationship with their family’s objections. When I first started reading, I thought their whole conflict could have been solved by a single conversation about their breakup. But as the book slowly unfurls the many ways Preeti feels their relationship is impossible, including her aunts’ anti-Blackness, I felt more sympathetic to their layered situation. Still, readers who are looking for characters with strong communications skills will be frustrated. It takes Preeti and Daniel over half the book to have “The Talk,” and when they do, they annoyed me by speaking in circles about their breakup.

Ultimately, Preeti’s character was what drew me into the book, and kept me reading. Preeti can’t cook. She can’t even make rice.

Preeti may be hapless in the kitchen, but she still loves food. It’s so refreshing to have a heroine who doesn’t cook, but isn’t tortured over it. She’s a doctor. Our girl is saving lives, she doesn’t have to be a perfect housewife too! There’s also a TON of food porn in this book, from Daniel’s grandparents’ Southern-inspired dishes, to Preeti’s mom’s Indian cooking. Tex-Mex tacos and Big Red soda make an appearance, too. I really loved the way we get to know characters through food. I could tell Daniel’s grandparents are untraditional and playful because they add tortilla chips to their catfish batter, so it wasn’t a surprise when they mischievously devise opportunities to push Daniel and Preeti together. And it’s clear Preeti’s family has a rebellious streak, when they horrify Yuvan by preferring to eat their pav bhaji with cheese. This book made me very hungry. There’s even a scene where sucking shrimp heads turns sexy.

Preeti is so tightly wound that I often found her exhausting to read. But if you’re looking for a strong mental health rep, this book hits it out of the park with its descriptions of her anxiety and depression, and her path to get help despite the stigma she’s internalized as a doctor. Preeti has touch aversion, which I found very interesting, and unusual in a romance. She craves cuddling with Daniel, and accepts touch from close friends, but she can’t bear to have Yuvan touch her hand, and avoids handshakes with strangers. Preeti struggles with feelings of worthlessness, but I loved that this was balanced by her fierce temper and protectiveness of others.

I did not love that the book kept awkwardly reminding me that Preeti was selfless by, for example, repeatedly referencing her decision to forgo love in order to be a good daughter. Preeti is fabulous at her job, and loved by her friends, even if she’s stressed out most of the time. I didn’t need her to be selfless as well. Preeti is messy, but I was rooting for her.

In comparison, Daniel felt fairly one-dimensional to me. We mostly just know that he’s hot, rich, kind, and very tolerant of Preeti’s inability to know what she wants. Oh, and a great cook. I recreated his chicken pasta dish last weekend. Thanks lover boy!

First Love, Take Two has too much drama to be a relaxing read, but the drama was so predictable that I was never surprised, nor delighted. Both Preeti and Daniel’s parents want them to marry another person. They each have a perfect, culturally similar fiance picked out, and I appreciated that the other people in the love triangles weren’t villains, just a poor match.

The prejudice in both of their communities is heavy handed, and sometimes painful to read, but not unrealistic. Still, this is a couple who have a lot of people in their corner—including Daniel’s grandparents who still treat Preeti like a member of the family, Preeti’s friends, and her parents, whose love and care shine through the book, even when they’re being clueless about her disinterest in Yuvan. This web of support made their HEA believable, even if I was more interested in their secret crab boil recipe.

Readers who like to root for a couple who are up against a closed-minded community, and who sympathize with an anxious, and occasionally strident heroine, would enjoy First Love, Take Two. If you’re looking for a standalone romance, low angst, and a couple with stellar communications skills, this might not be for you. Either way, my fellow foodies will want platters of buttermilk biscuits and tacos at hand while you read.