Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Mira, 29, is a pain management therapist living in Naperville, Chicago. She is of Indian descent, and like all first-generation immigrants, her parents held her and her twin brother Rumi to impossibly high standards. She is supposed to do extremely well to justify the sacrifices her parents made for her, fulfil their dreams and never disappoint them and their narrow view on what a good life constitutes. When Rumi confesses he is gay, he is immediately disowned, teaching the siblings that love is conditional to them.

Mira has reacted by trying to be a good daughter and keeping the peace, especially after some initially undisclosed trauma when she was 17 and for which she was unfairly punished. She has managed to secure fiancé Druv, an ever so handsome and busy orthopedic surgeon, and preparations for the wedding in four months' time are in full swing.

When Druv is too busy to make their "engagement moon" to NYC, he suggests she go on her own. From the reactions of her parents one could think she'd left him and eloped, but Mira goes anyway, because her estranged brother lives there with his lovely fiancé Saket, and she wants to see him again and make up, even though her horrible, controlling parents try to forbid it.

On her way to the Empire State Building to relive a scene from Sleepless in Seattle, she falls and finds a ring on a broken chain, lost underneath a park bench. So begins an adventure spanning two continents and a lot of discoveries, trying to reunite the ring with its owner and learn its story. She is helped by Krish who got in touch after her social media appeal, and who seems to have a secret private reason for getting so involved and unlock secrets that have been kept for 40 years.

In interspersed chapters, we get a beautiful and sensitively handled lesbian love story via 40 year old letters, that is connected to the ring which is one of an interlocking pair. Suru and Vasu lived in India, and homophobia was (still is?) very strong. I was soon rooting for those two to escape their narrow lives and disapproving, violent families.

The topic of "not having the life you wanted to have" is strong, whether it's because of frowned upon love, adoption or your own cowardice. Krish has been adopted 38 years ago in India, and he was taken out of his culture by a well-meaning white couple and transplanted into New York. His struggles with a feeling of abandonment and his loss of culture are evident. The search for the ring owner is very personal to him, and we find out why during the course of the search.

We learn a lot about Indian culture as well. I never knew how opulent weddings can be and how many clothes and bridal gowns are needed! The road trip through rural India is adventurous, and shows a real contrast to the diamond-encrusted opulence of wedding planning.

I thought this would be a light romance but it was so much more. It touched me deeply and I couldn't stop reading until I had finished this, until deep into the night. I loved Suru and Vasu and their heartrending letters, I loved Mira and her attempts to stand up to her parents, reunite with her deeply hurt brother and find out what she wants in life and going for it, and I loved Krish, trying to make sense of his beginnings and his feelings. Rumi was harder to love, as he lashed out when Mira tried to reconcile, but it was borne out of grief for the loss of his family.

I have to say I struggled to find much fault in Druv other than he's a workaholic, but he seemed to be patient, kind and understanding. Mira could have done a lot worse but it's not always about that. Sometimes you just want the grumpy journalist who doesn't even know his own culture and grapples with deep-seated feelings of abandonment, who takes you on a motorbike tour of New York, opens MoMa for you after hours and really SEES you.

“If returning to your old life will make you happy, I will be okay. As long as you feel seen and cared for, I’ll be okay. As long as no one makes you feel like you’re lucky to have them, I will be okay. As long as you promise to never put yourself away again, I will be okay....As long as I know you’re happy, I will be okay.”

However, I found the gay relationships portrayed with more conviction and feelings - Mira and Krish had a slow and kind of tame coming together, which was nice but it didn't convince quite in the same way as Suru and Vasu did.

Whoever designed the blue cover should be proud of themselves - the two rings and the couple on the motorbike riding through New York are spot on and very atmospheric. Such gorgeous artwork!

This is my first book by Sonali Dev but it won't be my last. If you are after a "brown" desi culture romance with depth, mystery, secrets, adventure and queer representation, this is for you. This book needs to have an LGBTQIA+ tag!