How much do you owe the older sister who raised you and protected you from a harsh, unforgiving childhood? That question lies at the heart of Sonali Dev’s charming romantic comedy How Simi Got Her Groom Back (Lake Union 2026).
Most of us would agree we owe such a sister a great deal—but would we offer her marriage to the man we love so she wouldn’t be deported? That is the impossible choice confronting Simi when her sister Rupi shows up on her doorstep in serious trouble. The novel alternates chapters between Simi’s and Rupi’s viewpoints, providing fuller perspectives and frequent moments of dramatic irony.
The story overflows with lovable characters, beginning with Simi’s boyfriend, Prem Gupta. A nurse, Simi works for Prem’s brother-in-law, Dr. Johnson, and moonlights as a babysitter for Prem’s triplet nieces. Simi and Prem fall in love while caring for the girls, and the entire Gupta family emerges as one hugely huggable clan—the kind of family Simi has always longed for. Her own mother, with her string of abusive boyfriends back in Mumbai, offered nothing like the warmth and stability of the well-off, responsible Guptas. Simi’s shame over her past—and the dark secrets she left behind in Mumbai—keeps her from opening herself fully to Prem. If he really knew her, she fears, he wouldn’t love her at all.
When Rupi, Simi’s tattooed, tattoo-artist sister, arrives in Hochkinsville, Kentucky, desperate for help, Simi cannot turn her away—even though Rupi’s presence threatens to expose the very past Simi hoped to bury. A handsome immigration lawyer with a cold, robotic exterior adds further complication to the plot, though readers can rest assured that his icy shell, like a turtle’s, hides a warmer heart.
Serious issues such as immigration and sex trafficking keep the novel’s lighter romantic elements from becoming cloying. Readers will root for Simi, Rupi, and Prem—and will likely anticipate the outcome long before the characters do. All in all, How Simi Got Her Groom Back is an enjoyable, absorbing read, one that distracts us from current problems even as it gently confronts some of them. That is no easy feat.
Sonali Dev
Sonali Dev’s first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali celebration in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Dev spent the next several decades earning degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, starting a family, and contributing to magazines and websites. Her novels have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, Marie Claire, Bustle, Shondaland, BookRiot, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and more. She has won the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the RT Reviewer Choice Award for best contemporary romance, multiple RT Seals of Excellence, and has been a RITA® finalist. She has also been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Dev lives in Chicagoland with her husband, two visiting adult children, and what she insists is the world’s most perfect dog. Learn more at sonalidev.com.
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