Review- Now I Love You Now I Don't by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

‘Umm, in case you’re wondering if I slept with your husband, no I didn’t,’ Zina offered. ‘He’s not my type.’

Now I Love You, Now I Don’t is the story of two very different women. Anjali is a traditional wife and mother. No one can guess that she and her husband have been estranged for most of their married life, and their reconciliation is a few fragile months old. Zina, on the other hand, is beautiful, ambitious and completely unscrupulous. Out for what she can get, she is perhaps more surprised than anyone else when she falls head over heels in love with a very unlikely young man. Anjali’s and Zina’s lives then get inextricably entangled by a series of events that follow.

Despite their initial dislike for each other, Anjali and Zina pull together when disaster threatens. But will they achieve their own happily ever after? 

Release date: January 1st, 2017

Published by: Rupa Publications India

Page numbers: 154

Review-

I have read many books by Shoma Narayanan and she is one of the few Indian authors I like to keep up with if I can. So when I saw that she had a new book coming out with Rupa Publications I was excited. Now I Love You Now I Don't is the story of two women who are total opposites and how their lives connect and intertwine. I found Now I Love You Now I Don't to be an extremely average read.

Okay so let's start with the first woman, Anjali. Anjali is the quintessential home maker. Taking care of her daughter and father and overall being a good responsible mother. The only thing is that she has been separated from her husband for many years. The sudden reappearance of her husband in her life brings change into both Anjali and her daughter's life.

I liked Anjali and thought she was a nice person in general. Whom I did not like was Anjali's husband, Sushil. I found that Sushil had absolutely no personality. What I also found highly irritating was how casually Sushil's infidelity was taken during the course of their marriage. I despise how it was portrayed as if a man's needs are greater than a woman's and it was perfectly alright to cheat on your wife. What annoyed me even more was that Anjali, who came across as a perfectly intelligent woman otherwise was so comfortable with this situation.

Then talking about the second woman who is Zina. Zina is the flighty and free spirited girl who is unapologetic about her behaviour. Zina actually knows Sushil and soon finds herself going for Hindi classes to Anjali. Now when I think about it I much prefer Zina's character to Anjali's. Yes, she came off as a bit shallow sometimes but all in all her head and heart were in the right place.

Zina's romance with Ishaan was also a good one. What starts as a purely physical relationship turns into caring and soon something more. Yes it was a bit of a cliche but it worked. I also liked the older woman younger man angle going on here. The conflict in Now I Love You Now I Don't was predictable at best. Things were handled a bit childishly I feel and I wanted more depth and reasoning from the characters. I would definitely recommend picking up some other read by Shoma Narayanan over this one.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Rupa Publications in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Review- It's Complex! by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

Jai, an aspiring scriptwriter and Nikita, the consummate modern working woman, live in the same residential high-rise in Mumbai. One night, the two have a dramatic encounter, when Jai rescues Nikita from a near-fatal accident and then offers to moonlight as her driver. Thus begins a tempestuous romance which takes many unexpected twists and turns. Jai, desperate for a break in Bollywood, enters a love-story contest in Nikita’s name. Will this rash act on his part lead to a nasty break-up or will the two let their barriers fall and discover each other anew? 

Find out how the young couple navigates their complicated relationship even as they deal with the many colorful characters that enter their lives. An action-packed urban drama played out in a swanky housing society, its Complex is also a heartfelt story about what happens to seemingly sorted people when they face major choices in life.

Review-

I have read several books by Shoma Narayanan before and I really liked them so I was super excited when I found out that she has a new book out called It's Complex. Unlike all her previous books which were Mills and Boon romances, It's Complex is not exactly a love story but an amalgamation of numerous story lines and characters.

Jai is an aspiring author. He has left his family to pursue his dreams and come to Mumbai. When Jai rescues Nikita, he has no idea how tangled up their lives are gonna get. I liked Jai. He was different and a little bit mysterious in the beginning. I would have loved being more in his head but there were a lot of point of views which didn't give him as much page time. 

Then we have Nikita. She doesn't apologize for being brash and open and that is something I really liked about her. Nikita and Jai can feel the attraction between them but they completely deny it. Also, what the summary doesn't indicate is that there is a parallel story of Shilpa and Anuj going on which is equally important.

Every one of them has something going on in their lives. Mix in nosy relatives, interfering neighbors, unexpected exes and a bunch of other people and things just become more complicated. What I liked about It's Complex was that even though there were a ton of characters, it was easy to keep a track of them. Each one had their own personality and I definitely didn't get confused.

Shoma Narayanan's writing is really engaging and fast paced which made me fly through the book. It is basically just about people figuring out what they want from their lives while trying to keep up with Mumbai. I liked It's Complex!

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Review- Twelve Hours of Temptation by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

The best mistake of his life?

Being chained to her desk is not how copywriter Melissa D'Cruz envisaged spending the night before her first major awards ceremony. No Cinderella moment for this award nominee--instead she's facing a night of deadlines! But Melissa is determined to get to the event...she just has to work out how....

New boss Samir Razdan catches Melissa burning the midnight oil and offers to drive her to the event himself. But the minute they set off Samir knows he's in trouble--because being this close to Melissa is already driving him crazy, and they've got twelve torturous hours of temptation ahead...!

Review-

I have read Shoma Narayanan's books before and I really like her writing style so when I got an opportunity to read and review Twelve Hours of Temptation I couldn't let it pass by. Twelve Hours of Temptation was a cute read but it didn't blow me away.

Melissa is a copywriter who has worked hard to get where she is. Her company has been invited for an Awards ceremony in Goa but her fear of flying keeps her from going until her new boss offers to drive her to the event. Now, let me get one thing out of the way, I first thought this book was a road trip romance but it is not. The road trip is for a very short amount of time and that disappointed me a bit.

I liked Melissa as a character. She was young and hard working and fun in her own way. Though I did find her jumping to conclusions at times. While I liked Melissa I can't say the same for our hero, Samir. Samir is shown as a cold, aloof guy. He was all that but when he was with Melissa he warmed up quite a bit. I thought Samir's character lacked real depth and I would have liked to see his actual thoughts where Melissa was concerned.

The romance was a cute one and though the steamy scenes were all fade to black I enjoyed the rapport between Melissa and Samir. I can defnitely say this was more Melissa's story than Samir's because we get all her background. But where Samir is concerned, I wanted to see more facets to his personality. I wanted more reasoning behind why they fell for each other.

Shoma Naraynan's writing is clean and simple and engaging. The book is a short read which can be enjoyable for a few hours. Twelve Hours of Temptation was a typical Mills and Boon romance so if you're in the mood for one I would say grab it.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by PRPundit in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Review- The One She Was Warned About by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

There's no such thing as a reformed rebel! 

Shweta thought she would have the whole marriage-and-kids thing sorted by now. But she couldn't be more wrong—her love life's a wasteland! So when she bumps into Nikhil, the bad boy from her past who still sets her pulse racing, she can't resist flirting with danger…. 

Nikhil might have gone from zero to hero since they last met—although it's hard to believe from all the gossip about him!—but soon Shweta's hooked on the excitement he injects into her life…and on his spine-tingling touch! Perhaps the rumors are true—Nikhil really is as dangerous as his reputation….

Review-

I enjoy reading Mills and Boon romances from time to time and Shoma Narayanan is a fantastic author. So I was pretty excited to start The One She Was Warned About. I really enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and a few hours well spent.

Shweta has turned thirty. She think her love life should have been sorted by now but the prospects are so not looking good. Then she bumps into Nikhil, the guy she's known through all her childhood. She knows he's a bad boy but she can't resist him. I liked Shweta. She was a typical good girl who cared about others opinions. She was unreasonable at times but that was just how she was.

Nikhil is the bad boy who always got into trouble in school. He would relentlessly tease Shweta about anything under the sun. But years later when he meets her he is pulled into her. I liked Nikhil. He had family issues and not the run of the mill kind. But he was so smitten with Shweta. I loved watching him fall for her.

The romance between Shweta and Nikhil was really nice. What starts as two old friends catching up soon becomes so much more. I loved how in love Shweta was with Nikhil. Though her insecurities did pop up from time to time. I loved how affectionate Nikhil was. He did have his own issues but that didn't stop him from being with Shweta.

Shoma Narayanan writes realistic yet romantic books. The book had a nice pace and I wanted to see Shweta and Nikhil's journey. I flew through the pages within a few hours. The book is slightly predictable but that didn't decrease my enjoyment of it. I liked The One She Was Warned About.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by PRPundit in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Review- Secrets and Saris by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

A secret that could cause scandal!Jilted at the altar, Shefali Khanna should be humiliated. Instead she takes the opportunity to start again. Top of the priority list: do not tumble headfirst into another relationship!

But even moving from the city to the country can't keep Shefali out of trouble—especially when she catches the eye of local celeb Neil Mitra! There is no way she can risk a scandal already! He might be gorgeous, but he's totally off-limits…right?

Extra bonus: included is The Wedding Dress Diaries by Aimee Carson, the prequel to our fab new quartet!

Review-

I haven't read many Harlequin Kiss books, just one in fact and I really enjoyed it so I thought I would give Secrets & Saris a try as well. This is not the first book of author Shoma Narayanan I'd read as well. I had enjoyed Monsoon Wedding Fever so I had some good expectations from Secrets and Saris. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

In spite of the cute cover and fresh look the story line was just way too flaky for me to like it. Shefali Khanna has been jilted at the altar. After facing the humiliation from her friends and family she decides to move to a small town to start things over and sort things out. On her flight there she meets Neil, whom she dismisses as just another hot guy whom she has no use for now.

I just couldn't warm up to Shefali. I get that she was going through a horrible time but she was outright rude to Neil in the beginning. It did change after wards but then her indecisiveness irritated me. She came off as flighty and she herself didn't know what she wanted. The same could be said for Neil. The whole time they're together supposedly having their fling, they both keep changing their minds way too fast for me.

Neil didn't have any special qualities as such. At least none that I could see. He has a daughter who was very sweet. But I hated his whole take on marriage and having more children with Shefali after they got married. It was unfair. I don't think Shefali completely accepted his daughter as her own till the end though she had a good relationship with her. The worst part was that even after the book got over the issues weren't really sorted.

The book was extremely short with the bonus prequel novella taking up 40% of the book. The Wedding Dress Diaries was a cute novella, but again, it was way too short to actually find any satisfaction in it. Still, Shoma Narayanan is a good author so I'd recommend trying her Monsoon Wedding Fever instead of Secrets & Saris. This was an okay read for me.

Review- Monsoon Wedding Fever by Shoma Narayanan

Goodreads Summary:

A match made in Mumbai!
Coming home from a night out, Riya is not expecting to trip over the man who once broke her heart sleeping on her living room floor! He's over for her flatmate's wedding – which means she's got to spend 24/7 with the guy – and the sparks are already flying!
Six years ago Riya fell for him – totally –whereas Dhruv didn’t believe in love. Not then and not now. After all, the other reason he's in India is to consider an arranged marriage! But as the monsoons start Riya and Dhruv are forced to confront what drove them apart back then. Only then does Riya start to hope that this wedding fever could perhaps be...contagious...

REVIEW:

Shoma Narayanan's Monsoon Wedding Fever is an Indian Mills & Boon. The author won a story writing contest and was selected to write the first Indian Mills & Boon novel. I've heard women of all generations swoon over these books. My mom being a huge fan of the most famous romance novels of all time suggested we buy Monsoon Wedding Fever and after both my mom my best friend/fellow blogger Janhvi (two romance fans) said the book was really really good, I thought I should it a try. 

Since I hadn't read any M&B books before (sad, I know), I didn't know what to expect and I didn't have a previous record of read novels to compare it to. Even then, Monsoon Wedding Fever took me by surprise. I enjoyed reading my first ever Mills & Boon novel and what better way to start it off than by an Indian author. 

Okay, I admit I didn't really find anything swoon-worthy, but the story in itself was really good. Riya and Dhruv were really good friends in college and at seventeen, Riya knows she is in love with Dhruv. After a brief make-out session, Dhruv leaves Riya and never looks back. Many years later, things start heating up when Dhruv shows up at Riya's apartment to attend the wedding of his cousin and Riya's flatmate, Gaurav. This grand wedding creates a general romantic atmosphere and Riya and Dhruv find themselves getting way too close. One event leads to another and this heartbreaking, cautious and at times silly journey makes both Riya and Dhruv realise their place in each other's lives. 

As main characters, both Riya and Dhruv are essentially "Indian" and I could easily relate to all the little things that come with being brought up in an Indian family, like meeting relatives at a wedding, having them literally force you to get married (that one's far away for me, but still, I've seen it happen) or even the general family scenario in the life of an Indian. Riya and Dhruv have predominantly "metropolitan" lifestyle, with both of them having studied outside of their respective hometowns, doing a 9 to 5 job and juggling with the daily hassles of life. 
Riya was a sweet girl, though at times she did get on my nerves. Dhruv was handsome and smart, but sometimes his actions also irritated me. Then again, no one is perfect and each person has their own way of dealing with their own life. Once Riya and Dhruv were together, it was hard to miss the sizzling chemistry between them. The light teasing, the slight tension in the air, the nerves, the sexual attraction were hard to miss. Their conversations were mature, thoughtful and enjoyable. 
Shoma Narayanan has written a beautiful story that gives readers a glimpse into the chaotic and incredible Indian lifestyle with it's perks and windfalls. 

A sweet love story, Monsoon Wedding Fever is an enjoyable and beautiful read. I recommend this novel to romance and M&B fans, but I think every woman (even non-readers like my sister) or man (if they really really enjoy romances) will enjoy this short and sweet novel. 

RATING:

X 3.5

Sarika