Book Review | Now I Love You, Now I Don’t by Shoma Narayanan

Disclaimer: I received a free paperback of this book from Rizwan Khan of Rupa Publications India and I’d like to thank him for the same. The review is my honest opinion about the book and I have NOT received any monetary compensation for the same.

I’ve read a couple of romance novels by Shoma Narayanan and had liked the easy flow of her writing. I had quite liked how she had paced her stories well; the stories weren’t too fast nor did  they drag. So when I was offered a chance to review Now I Love You, Now I Don’t, I took up the opportunity!

Now I Love You, Now I Don’t is the story of two independent women, Anjali and Zina, who are trying to live their lives on their own terms. The story begins with Zina running away from her wedding, and Anjali getting back with her estranged husband (quite an irony, isn’t it).

Anjali moves with her husband, Sushil, daughter, Gayatri, to a posh locality in Mumbai and does all she can to fit into the lifestyle that is drastically different from the one she is used to in Indore. Zina, meanwhile, is coming to terms with having fallen for a guy, Ishaan, who is too young for her. The women make a lot of choices as they go along in life, some conventional, some unconventional.

There were two more reasons why I chose this book.

One of them was the colorful cover, which I later realized was a very accurate glimpse of the two lead characters of this novel. Here’s an image of the cover, for you to know what I am raving about!

Another one was my craving for a comfort book. I really needed to read a book that I knew was good and was a breezy read; I really was not in for any heavy duty or badly written stuff! This book was a perfect match to all my requirements, and I am glad I picked up this one!

The story moves along well and is peppered with a lot of other characters who come out to be very interesting. Especially, Anjali’s father. You are sure to laugh out loud every time there is a scene involving the man!

The relationship between Anjali and Sushil comes across as very genuine; the way they try to mend their broken relationship is very endearing. What’s also endearing is how Anjali finds a foothold for herself in a strange city, using her skills to establish a career. She makes friends with some unique and slightly weird people, also playing cupid on the way. Add to the mix a teenage daughter who is trying to make her place in a swanky school, and you are in for some entertainment.

Zina’s character is beautiful too, and her relationship with Ishaan can be described as cute. However, I thought I could connect more with Anjali and Sushil than with Zina and Ishaan.

A lovely addition to the reading experience of this book is the letters that Gayatri writes to her grandfather, Anjali’s father. The letters are a beautiful insight into what goes on in the mind of the child when her life changes, even while the adults and their ups and downs take center stage.

My biggest disappointment with this book was the blurb! I thought that the story and the blurb were a little disconnected on one particular bit.

Nonetheless, the book does not disappoint. The story is as colorful as the cover and is well-written in terms of language, vocabulary, and grammar.

My rating:

I’ll give this book a 4/5.

 

Book Review | The Evil Twin? by P. G. Van

For a very long time, after reading Fifty Shades of Grey, I wasn’t able to decide if erotica was a genre I’d like to read a lot of. I’d read another book a little after I read FSOG and, if I had to describe my experience of reading that book in one word, it was nauseating!

(Personal opinion: Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed were far better in my opinion!)

Decidedly, I stayed away from erotica. Until The Book Club (TBC) came up with this book P. G. Van, Destiny Decides. I don’t remember why I took up this book for review, maybe because of the cover, but I sure remember my experience of reading it. The book was unputdownable and the perfect dose of romance. You can read my review of this book here. The lazy me hasn’t gotten around to reading the sequel yet, but it shall do that too, very soon!!!

So, coming back to The Evil Twin? my choice was already made when TBC sent out review forms for this book. And once again, I wasn’t disappointed.

Before I tell you about what works for this book and what doesn’t, take a look at the absolutely scintillating cover of this book!

Too hot, isn’t it?!

The Evil Twin? is the story of Vinnie whose chance encounter of a man becomes life-altering for her. Reyan becomes the knight-in-shining armor for Vinnie and her family, and before she knows it, Vinnie is head-over-heels in love with the man who was a handsome stranger only a short while ago. And then, she comes to know that there is more than meets the eye.

In the middle of all this, Vinnie keeps meeting strangers who come up to her and address her Nandini. Who is Nandini and how is she connected to Vinnie? The answer to this question threatens to throw apart all that Vinnie has believed to be true so far.

The story is about how Vinnie comes to terms with the unexpected turn of events in her life.

The story moves at good pace, becoming a page turner soon enough. The mystery angle of the story has been dealt with well, as is the angle of romance and passion. The passion bit wasn’t overdone in any way, and was in fact a welcome change from the seriousness of the other angles.

The twist in the end justifies the title in a way that I hadn’t imagined and this surprise elements definitely makes every second spent reading this book worthwhile.

The secondary characters in the story are well placed too, and have some fun scenes woven around them.

The language and vocabulary used is good but I thought the book could have been edited a little better.

My Rating:

I’m going to give this book a 4/5!

Disclaimer: I got a review copy of this book from The Book Club and the author as a part of the blog tour for this book, and I’d like to thank them for the same. The views expressed in this post are solely my own; there has been no monetary transaction involved in this.

Book Blitz | A Way Back Into Love (Love, #1) by Veronica Thatcher

It’s been way too long since I did a book blitz! I took a break from doing them because I wanted to give a little bit of a personal  twist, but never got around to thinking of something that I could do. While I am right now thinking about the different ways in which I can make my blog look more alive, among other things, I came across this book, again being hosted by The Book Club.

I am a sucker for breezy, comfort reads, the ones that are often classified as chick-lit or contemporary books (barring the sobby ones, but more on my preferences later). So, well, I read the blurb of this one, and the blurb had an interesting vibe to it!

And here I am doing a book blitz after quite a long time.

(This one’s missing that personal touch, but that’ll be here soon too!)

Here goes, all that you need to read about this book then!

 

 

 

Blurb

 

Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes, uncertain. People, irrational. But love…well, that makes everything complicated. And when you are caught in a tangled web of secrets, lies, and complex affairs, someone is bound to get burned. 

 

Emily Stevens is a spunky, spirited college girl whose life gets turned upside-down when she realizes she’s in love with her best friend of fifteen years, Derek Thorpe. As Emily prepares to confess her feelings to Derek, something happens one night which changes her life forever. Five years later, Emily finds herself in Boston, alone and heartbroken. Will she ever be able to forget the past? And what will she find when she returns home…to the man she left behind? 

 

Grab your copy @

Amazon.in

 

About the author

 

 

Veronica Thatcher is an exciting new contemporary romance author. Ever since she was very young, she’s dreamed of becoming a doctor when she grew up. While still forging ahead with that, majoring in pre-med in college, she unwittingly stumbled upon a new dream—becoming a published author. Some may call her an introvert or a wallflower, but she has always found she could express herself better in written, rather than spoken, words. However, never in her wildest dreams had she envisioned she would pursue writing as a prospective career, not just a hobby. Her love for writing goes hand-in-hand with her love for a good romance novel—whether it be a feel-good, sweet romance or a dark, suspenseful one. 

 

When she’s not studying, reading, or writing, she is usually found blasting her favourite songs, sometimes singing and dancing along to them. She dabbles in a number of activities, including painting, karate, singing and dancing. She is a huge chocoholic – probably the biggest – and she is an ice-cream junkie too. She considers herself technologically handicapped forever and has no shame in admitting that. She also deems chocolates her boyfriend, Patrick Dempsey the love of her life, and Friends her life!

 

Her first book, A Way Back Into Love, is slated for release in February 2017, and she hopes readers will enjoy it as much as she enjoyed writing it. 

 

You can stalk her @ 

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Book Review: 23 Ways To Make A Girl Fall For You (Cyrus Broacha)

Disclaimer: I received a free paperback of this book from Rizwan Khan of Rupa Publications India. The review is my honest opinion about the book and I have NOT received any monetary compensation for the same.

Click here to read the blurb.

23 ½ Ways To Make A Girl Fall For You is Cyrus Broacha’s latest book. This was the first time I was reading a book by CB (as I am going to address him in the rest of my post) and, while it didn’t seem very relevant for me to read a book on this subject, I wanted to give it a try for three reasons:

1. It was written by Cyrus Broacha who is known for his humor, wit, and sarcasm.
2. I was intrigued to know how much CB has really managed to figure out about women.
3. I was curious about that half way.

That the book will be written and edited well was something I had naturally assumed. Sadly though, the book did not live up to my expectations. To say the least, it is drab and difficult to read. The poor edits and awry language further make for a miserable experience.

The book is a collection of the various letters that CB must have received for the agony aunt column he writes for a leading newspaper. Some of the anecdotes and CB’s funny responses to the equally weird questions were good, some even managing to have me in splits. But I thought, in spite of all this, the book was too dry to make an entertaining read; I had to struggle enough to finish reading it.

In my opinion, there is quite a bit that could have been done to make this book a definite entertainer, a perfect dose of humor at the end of a stressful day. But alas, it wasn’t!

My Rating:

I give this book a 2/5.

Book Review: Knitted Tales by Rubina Ramesh

​Disclaimer: If you’ve bought the book, you will know that I am the proofreader of this very amazing anthology. My review, therefore, is based solely on my opinion of the draft I received from Rubina for proofreading.

Rubina Ramesh is a star by herself in the online book marketing world. A lot of best-selling authors, reviewers, and bloggers will swear by her managerial skills and the diligence with which she conducts blog tours and promotes authors. 

So when Rubina Ramesh decides to come out with one of her own works, there sure is a lot of anticipation and excitement in the air. I’m sure that Rubina must’ve felt this to, for I’ve known first hand how concerned she was about meeting the expectations. 

I’ve told this to her in person already and I’m going to shout it out loud if need be, that Rubina Ramesh take a bow for the fabulous job you’ve done. 

When a book is released, it is the product of the cumulative efforts of a lot of people. Being a proofreader, however, is a marvelous opportunity to assess a writer’s individual ability. When I received Rubina’s draft for proofreading, I was absolutely thrilled. It was a breezy task, reminding me why I love proofreading so much. If you read the acknowledgement, Rubina thanks me for burning the midnight lamp. Let me tell you that her writing and sensible use of vocabulary was the fuel that kept my lamp burning. Rubina’s was one of those projects that I thoroughly enjoyed working on. 

Rubina’s way of storytelling is bound to floor you. Every story in her anthology has an unpredictable end that comes as a blow to the reader, taking you by awe. She hits the nail exactly on spot. She knows where to limit her descriptions, where to elaborate, and at which point should her story take that turn. The vocabulary used is a decent balance of simple and complex, just like how I personally prefer it to be. This one’s a certain page-turner!

Every story in this bouquet has its own charm, be it Betrayal, A Secret in their Closet, or Forgive Me, I Have Sinned. But my personal favorite would be The Missing Staircase. That shift in the way you’ve thought of the story all along that happens at the end is mind-blowing.

My Rating:

I am going to give this book a 5/5.

Cover Reveal: Knitted Tales by Rubina Ramesh

Rubina Ramesh is one of my very favorite people in this world. She isn’t just a talented writer but she’s also one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. She’s helped countless authors increase their readership and has given readers all the world a treasure trove of some of the most interesting reads.

And now, this charming lady is coming out with her own collection of short stories that deal with the deepest human emotions. And I can only be glad that she’s chosen me to be one of the people alongwith her on this journey. All the best, Rubina! May this be just the beginning of your glorious innings as a bestselling author!

RELEASING ON THE 10TH OF OCTOBER 

Knitted Tales: A Collection of Emotions 

By 

Rubina Ramesh

 

Every tale has a path to follow to reach its destination.. but it may not exactly be the one we should follow.

 

WHAT IS THE ANTHOLOGY ALL ABOUT?

What forces an innocent girl to become a sex symbol? Her desires? Or cruel fate?

Is a lifetime enough—for avenging a betrayal? How do you hide secrets that never stopped haunting you?

Can vengeance and secrets of your past devastate your present? How can long-buried crimes of yours suddenly raise their head? Can sinning be saving?

Is your spouse your soulmate? What if they never understood your feelings? Can you still live with them?

Lastly, does life give only two options? Live or die? What if there is a third?

In her debut anthology, Rubina Ramesh tries to find answers to these questions that are often from the heart and yet makes the mind ponder over the solution. Or is it the other way round? Either way, Knitted Tales is a bouquet of emotions that is bound to touch both your head and your heart.

 

WHAT INSPIRED ME TO WRITE THIS ANTHOLOGY…

 

Dear Friends and Aspiring Writers,My journey as a writer started after I joined Wrimo India. It’s a group of aspiring authors where all members are challenged to write, by the NaNoWriMo ML for India region and the Founder/Admin of  Wrimo India, Sonia Rao. Along with the other admins, Neel Ina and Dola Basu Singh, she made our lives pretty tough if we did not submit on time.

Our work was critiqued, broken to pieces and then mended again by all the Wrimo members. I laugh now, whenever I reminisce about those days. We writers are so passionate about our work that even a little bit of criticism makes us want to hide our baby. But in this group, we trained ourselves to accept all types of honest criticism. We sculpted our stories and life continued. This happened around 2 years ago.

Then, one fine day I found that I had gathered around 17 stories and forgotten all about them. As I dusted away the layers of neglect, I fell in love with my own stories. I am a narcissist. 🙂  But then, all writers are, aren’t they? I do hope what I have written from my heart, touches you. Here are the stories of a writer who aspires to always write from her heart. With NaNoWriMo just around the corner, here’s raising a toast to inspiration!

 

Releasing on 10th of October 2016

Add 

The Cover of Knitted Tales: 

a collection of emotions 

by 

Rubina Ramesh

to your 

 

Edited by Inderpreet Kaur Uppal

Proofread by Nikita Jhanglani 

Cover Designed by Sachin Venkatesh

About Rubina Ramesh

 Rubina Ramesh is an avid reader, writer, blogger, book reviewer and marketer. She is the founder of The Book Club, an online book publicity group. Her first literary work was published in her school magazine. It gave her immense pride to see her own name at the bottom of the article. She was about 8 years old at that time.  She then went to complete her MBA and after her marriage to her childhood friend, her travel saga started. From The Netherlands to the British Isles she lived her life like an adventure. After a short stint in Malaysia, she finally settled down in the desert state of USA, Arizona.  Living with her DH and two human kids and one doggie kid, Rubina has finally started living the life she had always dreamed about – that of a writer.

Her other published works include

‘Home is where Love is’ a short story in the anthology Writings from the Heart. Ed. by Beth Ann Masarik.

‘You Stole My Heart’ and ‘Let me Go’. Short stories as a part of the anthology ‘Long and Short of It’ by Indireads.

‘Wake Me Up’ as a part of the anthology ‘Marijuana Diaries’ by Fablery Publishers.

You can stalk her @

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Book Review: Cabbing All the Way by Jatin Kuberkar

This book inspired two different thoughts in me. One, in the world that we live in today, anything that saves time and takes away even one of the struggles we deal with everyday is welcomed with open arms. 

Another thing, which I think is the bliss of today’s life, is the strong bonds that develop between strangers-office groups, train groups, gym groups, cab groups are as common as they are endearing.

Jatin takes you on a ride with one such group. The blurb of the book and the cover are both inviting. Jatin’s cab group has twelve people, including him, or twelve minds, as the author prefers to call them, who come together to attempt car pooling as a solution to their exhausting daily commute.

The story is a decent attempt by the author to bring together twelve characters and give each one the same amount of footage; he has done this really well and certainly scores brownie points for it. The story is equally distributed between the twelve characters and, in a way, it is refreshingly different from similar stories belonging to this genre. 

The author’s use of language is good too. He has used some Hyderabad slang here and there, but has also given their English translations/equivalent so that the uninitiated don’t feel left out. 

Another good thing about the story is that it is a short, quick read. It does not unnecessarily drag.
However, there’s one thing that I, as a reader, would’ve liked to see. I would’ve loved to see the author add a little more depth to his characters. Although the story is in first person POV with the author as his namesake, he certainly has done justice in giving space to all his characters. However, I felt that my connect with the rest of characters, as a reader, lacked somewhere. At 150 pages, the story is a short read, so probably adding to it a few more tens would’ve improved the reading experience. 

In all, though, a good debut. If you are looking for a breezy read to accompany that holiday breakfast/brunch or just something that is a companion for your long commute to work, you might want to take a look at this. 

My Rating: I give this one a 3/5.