Jazz just wants to be a normal teen that makes her own mistakes on her own terms....which is exactly what she does. She is Punjabi and Sikh. Her parents are pretty strict and want her to live a life of a good Indian girl. In other words...don't embarrass them. So far Jazz has made her parents proud but when she first lays eyes on Tyler R. at school all of that goes out of the window. She decides she'll do whatever it takes to have him.
There's also the story of her Aunt Kinder who has been abused by her ex-husband who's now trying to take her daughter away. Apparently her parents had arranged that marriage after seeing her in a "compromising position" with who she felt was her soulmate. Jazz finds this story heartbreaking and devotes her time and a chunk of this book trying to get them two together.

After being seen hugging her good friend Jeeves, Jazz' parents decide to arrange a guided dating plan. This pretty much involves them setting her up with suitable Indian guys. When she gets set up with Mit, it's not exactly love at first sight but works for the both of them. This leaves her more time to devote to Tyler R. There were many time I wanted to grab Jazz and just shake her because she was doing some crazy things that made me gasp.

It also brought up some underlying issues regarding Indians and West Indians that I didn't even know existed. The rules for the Punjabi girls/women were also put out there. I can imagine it must be pretty difficult to live the life of a typical American teenage girl with all of these rules you have to follow.

This was a refreshing book to read. There were no drugs or poverty issues involved therefore giving us a different story. One that makes me smile instead of cringe. ( )

Jazz In Love was one of the first books I read this year, and honestly set the tone for me for the rest of my reads. It is a light, fun read that really opens your eyes into the Indian culture. Honestly, to dive into a culturally driven book that wasn't about an immigrant or about fighting blatant racism was really refreshing. It's not that I dislike books like that, not at all really. It's just nice to have a light and fun read about a girl who comes from another background. I fell in love with Jazz, and the rest was history.

Jazz, or Jasbir, is one of those characters that is so easy to relate to. Growing up in a very strict Punjabi family means Jazz isn't allowed to hug a boy in public, much less actually be attracted to one. Her future husband, because that's what she should be looking for, needs to meet all the requirements that her mom sets forth in the "Guided Dating Plan". After all, Jazz needs to have the structured life that her family sets forth. Right? Not according to Jazz. With heaping helping of wise-cracking and lots of sneaking around, Jazz is determined to live her own life. When Jazz sets her sights on the very UNsuitable hottie, I think that was my favorite part! Watching her grow and change was fabulous.

There are a lot of underlying messages in this story. Of course on the surface we watch Jazz as she learns to deal with (and bend) her parents very strict rules. She tackles figuring out what parts of what they say she should follow, and which parts she needs to forge her own opinion on. However there is also commentary on friendship here, as well as that battle that all adolescents fight: what is love? Jazz goes through what every teen girl or boy has at some point. An endless crush that seems like the real thing, but is it?

Honestly I loved every single part of Jazz In Love! I wish I could share more, but I failed to write my review right after I read the book and that book is on a tour. Yes my friends, I'm going off of pure memory right here. I can tell you that watching Jazz navigate her love life, her home life, and just the pitfalls of being a teenager was so much fun! I found myself completely in love with all the characters and their lives. This is one of those books that is so much fun to read that you'll breeze right through it! Quick, refreshingly sweet and amazing. Enjoy! ( )

I was so happy to read this book. There aren’t many YA authors painting stories with the color brown, and this author has clearly increased in confidence and skill with this book.

Jazz, short for Jasbir, is seventeen, and despondent because her strict Punjabi Sikh parents want to start the process of fixing her up with a “suitable boy” as determined by family matchmakers. Jazz, however, is an all-American girl, and wants to date, and have boyfriends, and then fall madly in love, like in the bodice-ripper romances she is so fond of reading.

She gets lucky when one of her aunts proposes a young handsome boy from Canada who comes down to meet Jazz. He confides in her that he is gay, and suggests they pretend to like each other so that their respective parents will leave them alone. In time, Jazz and “Mit” become good friends, and the ruse seems to be working.

Meanwhile, Jazz, her best friend Cindy, and her childhood friend Jeevan (“Jeeves”), all members of the Future Stars and Leaders (FSL) Program at their high school, scheme to help find true love for Jazz’s Auntie Kinder.

When both Jazz and Mit become smitten for real, however, all the deceptions implode and seem to lead to disasters. Jazz’s parents threaten to send her to India, and Jazz isn’t sure anymore what love really is:

“Was I too busy looking for the giant, all-consuming love I’d read about; the one that woke sleeping beauties out of eternal sleep and whisked lovely maidens away from their wicked stepmothers, transforming them into princesses in glittering ball gowns? A love that sent my heart racing and made my tongue go numb; that made an FSL – Future Star and Leader – student like me do stupid things despite knowing better?

…What if Love wasn’t all that? What if it was quieter, like a whisper on a breeze that you had to listen real hard for? Or smaller, like a cardamom seed that’s soothing and pungent and explosive all at once?....”

Evaluation: In some ways, this story is similar to others involving high school girls finding out about the realities of romance. But it mixes in the wonderful flavor of Indian Punjabi culture to distinguish it from that and other YA books. The teens are basically good kids: they want to make their parents proud, but they want to be true to themselves as well. This book is charming and funny and poignant, and gets high school talk absolutely perfect. I definitely recommend this enjoyable read. ( )