SONALI DEV
USA Today Bestselling Author
Incense and Sensibility
Yash Raje, California’s first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate, has always known exactly what he wants—and how to use his privileged background to get it. He attributes his success to a simple mantra: If you control your feelings you can control the world. But when a hate crime at a rally critically injures his friend, Yash’s easy life suddenly feels like a lie, his control an illusion. When he tries to get back on the campaign trail, he blacks out with panic.
Desperate to keep Yash’s condition from leaking to the media, his family turns to the one person they trust—his sister’s best friend, India Dashwood, California’s foremost stress management coach. Raised by a family of yoga gurus, India has helped San Francisco’s high strung overachievers for a decade without so much as altering her breath. But this man with his simmering intensity and absolute faith in his political beliefs is like no other.
Yash has spent a lifetime repressing everything to succeed, including their one magical night together ten years ago—a too brief, too bright passion that if rekindled threatens to destroy the dream he’s willingly shouldered for his family and community . . . until now.
“Incense and Sensibility is a tender, well-crafted novel, as much about finding purpose as it is about falling in love. Dev writes with such rare empathy and humor that I often found myself holding my breath on one page only to be giggling by the next. This is the kind of book you finish with a whole-body, happy sigh and a warm ache in your chest where the characters will live on. Yash and India’s story will stick with me for a long time.” -Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read
“The story of trauma and recovery in the face of racist gun violence is timely… emotionally charged… deeply romantic. Dev excels at portraying the fond interconnectedness of the large Raje family… series fans will be happy to revisit the Rajes and be pleased by the sweet love story.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“I ADORED this book. What a polished, sharp, sensual read. I felt each of the characters so deeply. Dev pulled me along by my veins. The writing is so lush and visceral; there are times she describes a feeling or action with such vibrance I had to stop and reread it and think about how she came up with that phrase. WHEW! This book holds a galaxy of depth in its pages; it is powerful and loving, sensual and layered. The writing, as always, is glorious. I’m genuinely so in love with it.” -Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author
“This incredibly romantic, modern re-imagining not only bravely addresses the importance of personal integrity in life (and politics), but also gives readers a hero and heroine they’ll fall madly in love with. Sonali Dev never gives her characters an easy out. In this book, the emotional pay-off for their hard-won journey is perfect.” –Jamie Beck, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
“A deeply emotional story of responsibility and impossible love that will appeal to fans of Austen’s classic. It also provides an incisive look at a current political landscape of division and violence, while adding an ultimately hopeful spin. The book’s subjects are often serious, but its ultimate focus on being true to oneself and one’s principles makes this a satisfying and uplifting romance.” – Library Journal
“Dev masterfully explores the darker moments of being human while leading the reader to a realistic, hard-won romantic ending. Incense and Sensibility shares its source text’s focus on family, but it also launches Austen’s novel into the 21st century with its emotional, complex survey of racial identity in America.”– BookPage