''Love Muffin and Chai Latte'' by Anya Wylde

My rating: ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪  10/10

Cover book rating:  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 5/5

One book in one gif reaction:

I decided to dip my feet in the comedy genre when I found this book and read about how brilliant Anya Wylde is with her writing. Must I say, I was not disappointed! She didn't wait to showcase her magic and immediately had me laughing from the first chapter. The things the main character, Tabby, gets herself into are absolutely hilarious and absurd! She also has a quick sense of humor and is quite clever. 

This is the first book I've read that is written by Anya Wylde and I couldn't put it down. It is a brillant comedy romance novel, with really great humor and less drama. Reading this book was like relaxing and listening to a friend talk about their good times. 

''Love Muffin and Chai Latte'' is one of those books that has a unique charisma and a light aura that makes it such a relaxing read without much suspence.  Or perhaps it just feels different to me because I'm not used to comedy-romance genre minus the mystery or supernatural stuff going on... **shrugs**.

Synopsis 

The last thing Tabitha Lee Timmons (''Tabby'' for her friends) expected while she was waiting in the rain outside after being kicked out from her apartment was a proposal from Chris. She had known and dated Chris for only a year but had grown quite fond of him. She had left her American home to come and live in London in order to leave behind the griefs of being betrayed by her sister and ex-boyrfriend, and the death of her mother of which she could find no closure. Chris is rich, Indian and the ''perfect'' boyfriend, and after getting rid of the shock and doubts, Tabitha accepts. However, she will soon realize that choosing the wedding dress and cake is actually the least of her concerns. It is only the beginning of a whirlwind adventure when Tabitha meets his family and goes to India with them to meet Chris's grandfather and learn more about the traditions and Indian culture. To her surprise, Tabitha doesn't stay a stranger for very long, and she finds the comforts of a home she always wanted in a foreign country among Chris's warm and big family. In the heart of India, she finds the answers to her heart while meeting one trouble after another.

(Discussion + SPOILERS AHEAD!) 

The culture in India is so easily and wonderfully explained that can make people who are not famigliar with it appreciate the values and traditions of the country. Tabby is absolutely enchanted and fascinated by everything she finds, and also feels the pain and helplessness of the poor villagers and children struggling to make a living. Poverty is a very big problem in India along with the scams of religious figures and peope desperate for money. Anya Wylde successfully manages to portray the sad flaws of the place without hindering the beautiful aspects. Just, wow!

First of all, the characters in the story are awesome! Every single one of them, and their character developments are wonderful.

Tabby is such a childish, adorable and immediately likeable character. A sweet and cute walking disaster. She tries to forget the sorrows of her past while at the same time unconsciously grabbing on to it; she always keeps with her something from each one of the people she loves and wears them when she feels lonely. She lives in London, struggling after loosing her job and then her apartment. So when Chris proposes, she initially has trouble believing him. After all, they had only dated for a year, but she accepts, convinces that her feelings for him is really love. Consequently, on a later date she is beyond shocked to find out how little she actually knew about him, his first name for starters! And that is just the beginning of  chain of awkward situations, like when she meets Chris' mother and falls down on top of her, sending her to the hospital. However, nobody holds that against her and because of her caring nature, she is quickly accepted as part of the family, and give her the kind of love she has always longed for from her real family. She even conquers the heart of Chris' hard-to-please and severe grandfather when she bonds with him with their common love for British cheese. 

A few chapters later, she starts wondering if Chris really loves her and, more importantly, if she loves Chris. 

That inner conflict becomes even more confusing when she meets Dev, Chris' charismatic and kind cousin, a journalist with a passion to help the people in rural India and spread awareness of their stories. Chris is an love-sick puppy, while Dev is a man with a big heart and big dreams. The two couldn't be any more different. Tabby couldn't believe it was love at first sight when she first meets him, and she pushes those feelings away for a long time while being faithful to her fiance. 

Maya is Chris' sister, a savvy and modern girl who dreams to be a fashion designer. Maya and Tabby slowly develop a strong friendship. Maya helps her by teaching her the strict Indian rules and how to behave and win the hearts of the family members, even though things with Tabby are always unpredictable. Tabby, Maya and Dev become an inseparable trio while in India and on a mission to help Maya get out of her arranged marriage with the ridiculous and hilariously awful, Cukoo Singh. She knows her grandfather will cut her out of the inheritance if she refuses to go against his wishes and then she will have no financial means of pursuing her dreams. She tries to make Cukoo Singh look bad and call off the wedding himself. In the end, she fails and realizes with the help of Tabby and Maya's mom, that she needs to stop relying on money and get up on her own to fight for a dream she really believes in. I was so cheering for her, because hurray for independent women!! In many patriarchal societies such as that in India, not many women can find an opportunity to do so and stand up so fearlessly as Maya did. 

Like Maya, even Chris relies on money to maintain his future, but unliker her and also Dev, he has no thought and determination to work and earn something for himself. Maya also embraces her indian background and is not ashamed of it like Chris. 

Chris is spoiled by his stinking rich family and the modern and lavish society he hangs out with in London. He is not a bad person for real in the end, but just a boy scared to be left on his own devices without his family's financial support; thus, his quick actions to try and outsmart his grandfather and get the inheritance money. It is unclear if he actually matures by the end of the novel, but he apologizes to Tabby for his mistakes and choose to remain good friends. The love triangle between her, Tabby and Dev is not as cringy as I thought it would be. (I am fed up reading books about love triangles. They always have the same predictable pattern!) 

I am glad to repot that nothing overly drammatic is in this book, but some scenes were quite absurd and funny. Like when Tabby eats the white chocolate muffin where Chris had inserted their engagement ring to surprise her in the first chapter, thus the precious symbolical promise of eternal love earning the name ''Poo ring''. (Side note: I have seen this cliche gestures in countless movies where one lover hides the ring in the wine glass or something edible when they want to propose. I seriously find nothing romantic in that, and thanks to Any Wyle, I am absolutely horrified and pray it never happens to me! I only shiver at the thought. Just what were they thinking?!). 

Tabby gets kidnapped two times and smartly gets out of them as the independent self-hero woman she awesomely is, Maya tries to get Cukoo Singh high with spiked sweets, Dev is confronted by his granfather about the grudge going on between them, 

So yeah, they all live happily ever after. It was such a happy, relaxing read and I really recommend a try at this novel. Do give the first chapter a try though, you won't regret it. Let me know if I have convinced you enough to read it!

^_^

Memorable Quotes

''Why did he stab her?'' 

'' He read Othello and was inspired.''  (Becky, Tabby's psychiatrist best friend, giving advice about love.

''Also, I suspect mother picked you up from a dustbin''  (Maya, the burn-queen, to her brother)

''She tried counting sheep, but the woolly creatures kept running down the hill instead of leaping over the fence, and then she would feel sorry and chase after them to make sure they were all right.''  (Tabby trying to fall asleep)

''It was too early in the morning for such blatant chirpiness.''

''Get in through the kitchen window, like you always do when you come home late from a party,'' Mrs. Mansukhani said. ''You know?'' asked Maya in amazement.'' ''I am your mother,'' Mrs. Mansukhani replied as if that title provided her with superpowers.

''I do love Chris'' 

''You compared his kissed to an electroning toothbrush.'' (Tabby and Becky)

''The moment you stop planning and let life happen, you will start enjoying your stay.''

''How could a man steal your breath and your thoughts just by standing close to you?''

''Oh shut up and live a little,'' Maya dared.

''Keep it for my mental health'' he coaxed. ''At least I won't worry.'' (Dev giving Tabby a pepper spray bottle.)

''I am going ahead. You two follow when your brains catch up with your ages.'' - (All hail Maya!)

''Endorphins were awesome. Either that or she had died and gone to heaven.'' (Tabby, almost in an accident and rescued by Dev.)