Top Ten Tuesday #62

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: 

Top Ten Wishes we'd ask the Book Genie to grant us:

I have 5 in my case-

1. Dear Book Genie- Please let me own ALL of Nalini Singh's books in hard cover and paperbacks.

2. Dear Book Genie- I'd LOVE it if I got the chance to meet some of my favourite authors like Nalini Singh, Jill Shalvis, Julie James, Lisa Kleypas...

3. Dear Book Genie- I'd love to own all the pretty and cute bookmarks to go with my books.

4. Dear Book Genie- I would love to have a room full of books or better yet, a library would do.

5. Dear Book Genie- I'd love the real world to go away so I can read as much as I want without any pesky disturbances like work and studies.

I think I'd probably die happy if these wishes came true.

What are on your list? :)

Review- Dark Temptations: The Naughty Proposal! by Shanaya Taneja

Goodreads Summary:

Tara: "I'm not interested in getting involved with a nice guy. No more serious relationships! I just want to enjoy. This time it's going to be my rules, my way."

Sneha: "Who cares whether he is a nice guy or a bad guy. As long as he is a guy, you need to enjoy him and move on. At least, that's what I do." 

Dheeraj: "This can just be our way to fulfil our dark temptations. Is that what you wanted to hear? So you just take care of the time we plan to share, and leave the rest to a rich rascal like me." 

Abhimanyu: "Let's enjoy every moment." 

A wild night of pleasure and passion brings up The Naughty Proposal! that takes them on a bumpy ride from one bed to another. A proposal which involves sinful delight, amorous games, and unbridled passion, where pleasure is the ultimate prize. Or is the prize something else?

REVIEW:

I usually don't read erotica much, but I decided to give Dark Temptations: The Naughty Proposal! a shot anyway as it was a quick read. What I liked most about the story was its ending. What happened at the end, I saw that coming, but knowing books, you know it never goes that way you see it in your head. So while the twist was very interesting, it wasn't new for me because I predicted that something of the sort would happen. Nonetheless, I was just glad that the story didn't end in a traditional way. 

The Naughty Proposal! is the story of four people: Sneha, Tara, Abhimanyu and Dheeraj. All of them are portrayed as independent people looking for a good time. The story starts out at amazing party host, Sneha's house. Sneha finds herself hooking up with the very hot Abhimanyu and she tries her best to convince her friend Tara to hook up with another hottie, Dheeraj. While things don't go as planned, they eventually end up going on a very predictable path. 

The Naughty Proposal! goes from the point of view of all the characters, but mostly from Tara and Dheeraj's points of views in third person. There was hardly a time when we go into Abhimanyu's head, which was odd, because every other character got some say. Then again, at the same time, I feel a lack of his point of view was needed to keep the story slightly mysterious. Like I said at the very beginning, the end of the book was quite the surprise and ended up making the book a quick and decent read. 

*A copy of Dark Temptations: The Naughty Proposal! by Shanaya Taneja was provided by Quickies- Srishti Publishers and Distributors in exchange for an honest review. We thank them for the book. 

RATING:

Feature Follow Friday #66

Feature and Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

This week's question is: 

If you could have any super power, what would it be? – Suggested by Jess Time to Read.

My answer-

This one's easy. Teleportation. I think it would be really cool to go anywhere you want within seconds. 

What's your answer?

Happy Friday, everybody! :)

Review- VoiceMates by Anamika Mishra

Summary-

Tulip Hill is an obedient and intelligent daughter to her disciplinarian parents. She has been a topper throughout her school, because her parents wanted her to be. Now, they want her to enroll in one of the best colleges. But Tulip harbors the desire to become a singer, for music is her only passion that helps her see through life's miseries.

Then there is Sam - witty, easy-going and flirty. Both Tulip and Sam share their love for music. Yet, both dream of a different life.
What are those dreams? What happens when they meet and enter the biggest duet competition together? Will their love blossom during this emotional roller-coaster? 

Join the VoiceMates in their musical journey to know more!

Review-

Voicemates looked like a really cute and sweet read and that is one of the reasons I wanted to read it. Plus I had the pleasure of meeting the author, Anamika Mishra, in person and I have to say that she is very sweet and down to earth as a person. I think anyone who enjoys reading a light read which is Indian fiction would enjoy reading VoiceMates.

VoiceMates is the story of Tulip. Tulip was a really sweet heroine. She was so innocent and naive and it was a nice change reading about such a character. Tulip has a passion for music but she is too scared of her parents and society in general to go ahead and do anything with her beautiful voice. That is until she meets Sam.

Sam is the one who encourages Tulip to take part in the VoiceMates competition. I didn't like Sam very much as I thought that his mood swings were really weird. He didn't really give reasons for his behaviour and I found him a bit irritating. But more than Sam the book is Tulip's journey towards discovering herself and gaining confidence in herself.

The entire book takes us through the reality show which is VoiceMates. I have seen a few singing shows on TV so it was easy for me to imagine what it would be like for Tulip and Sam and the entire cast and crew of VoiceMates. It was an emotional ride with the drama and the ups and downs.

Surprisingly, for me, the ending was the best part even though it is not what you would have expected. I loved the little twist we got and how the book ended with hope. Life is not full of roses and Tulip learns that by the end and she still believes that she'll be okay by the end of it. I think that's what was important and what mattered the most. VoiceMates was a sweet read for me.

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

Release Day Blitz- Coke by Barun Chanda

About the Book:

“Can you help me, please?”
Pradipta wheeled around.
Standing behind was an unusually attractive lady. She wore a dark blue, chiffon saree which set off her fair complexion even more. Other than a thin gold chain with a tear-drop pearl pendant on her neck, she wore no jewelery. Her lips were pale pink, with no lipstick. Only the dark make-up on her eyes made her look even more unfathomable.
 “You’re talking to me?”
Thus begins Coke, with this chance encounter at Kathmandu airport. But the plot thickens when the lady requests him to include her suitcase as part of his checked in baggage and then does a vanishing act, once the aircraft lands in Calcutta. What follows is a riveting page-turner, replete with unexpected twists as you encounter gangs warring over narcotics, policemen, functionaries, and a sinister master-mind who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The furiously paced narrative takes you from the sleepy airport of Kathmandu to the packed streets of Calcutta, a mysterious mansion on the outskirts of town and an unforgettable chase-sequence through New Market.
From the author of the acclaimed Bengali novels ‘Kidnap’, ‘ShaaperJhaanpi’ and ‘Robibar’ comes a high-octane thriller that’s seriously addictive and keeps you hooked till the end.

Read an Excerpt:

At the first ring, Rustam picked up his mobile. It showed Bob’s number on the screen. He put the mobile to his ear and listened.
“I’m speaking from the loo…there’s news for you.”
“Why from the toilet?”
“Because no other place in the house is safe to talk to you,” Bob whispered back.
“When can we meet, then?”
“In the evening, after my duty’s over.”
“Didn’t you say you have day-night duties from now on?”
“They are letting me go for now in the evenings. But not at your place. It’s too risky.”
“Okay. So, where and when?”
“Hello, someone seems to be knocking at the door.”
The phone call ended with the roar of the flushing toilet.

At eight-thirty sharp, Rustam met Bob at Girish Park.
“Why didn’t you get in touch with me the last three days?”
Rustam looked sharply at Bob.
“There were problems.” Bob let out a thick cloud of cigarette smoke.
“It’s getting increasingly risky to come out and meet you like this.”
Though they stood in close proximity, their faces looked away in diametrically opposite directions. Unless you looked carefully, it was difficult to make out they were actually talking to each other.
Rustam idly looked at the snarling evening traffic, his hands on the railing of the park.
“So, what’s the news?”
On a bench inside the park, a young couple took advantage of the darkness to get cozy with each other. Bob simply couldn’t take his eyes off them.
“The red suitcase…” 
Bob’s voice trailed off as his eyes were riveted on the frenetic activities of the couple on the bench, their bodies wrapped under a shawl. 
“Yes, what about the red suitcase?”
Rustam cast one sharp glance at Bob, before looking away.
“I know where it is.”
Bob’s face got hidden in a cloud of smoke.
“Good.” Rustam’s voice sounded relieved. “In which room?”
“Upstairs, in boss’s bed room.”
“What makes you so sure?” Rustam’s eyes narrowed as he watched Bob’s face intently. For some inexplicable reason, he had never been able to fully trust Bob right from the beginning.
“One of the middle rooms on the first floor…was kept under lock and key all this while.”
Bob’s eyes were still very much on the couple on the bench.
“Bob…why aren’t you saying anything?”
Rustam’s voice sounded impatient.
The couple’s bodies were locked in a tight clinch under the shawl.
“Bob?”
“I saw one of the sentries take the suitcase away from the middle room to boss’s bedroom.”
Rustam kept his eyes on the Central Avenue. A traffic jam was forming near the crossing, adjacent to the park. An eccentric man, with a wooden stick in his hand, was trying to regulate the traffic, in the process, making things much worse for everyone.
“Did you get to see where he hid it inside the bed room?”
“No.”
Bob watched fascinated what the couple was doing on the bench, underneath the shawl.
“Niyogi shut the door after entering boss’s bed room.”
For a while both stood facing away from each other, in silence.
At long last, a cop appeared on the road and was seen trying to control the traffic. Inside the park, the couple was still locked in a tight embrace. Bob puffed at his cigarette and blew another cloud of smoke from his mouth. Rustam fanned with his hand irritably, trying hard to keep the smoke away from his face.
“Anything else?”
“Yes, there is.”
Bob looked directly at Rustam for the first time in the evening.
“I think Harry is going out of town very shortly.”
“Outside Calcutta, or outside India?”
“How should I know that?” Bob answered irritably.
“Somebody came from a travel agency with a sealed envelope. I signed and received it.”
The traffic at the crossing had eased by now. The couple on the bench sat still, exhausted.
Rustam noticed Bob smiling at them. 
“What are you smiling at?”
“Nothing.”
 Bob took one last puff from the cigarette, flicked the butt end casually towards the footpath and walked away. After a while Rustam came and sat at the bench in the park.   The couple got up from the bench and walked away, each in a different direction. Rustam watched them leave, took out the mobile from his pocket and started speaking into it in a low voice.

About the Author:

In so far as the pursuit of any true vocation is a life in itself, Barun Chanda – advertising guru, actor and writer, may be said to have had three. Born in Dhaka, he did his Masters in English at Jadavpur University. Following a brief stint as a lecturer in English, he embarked upon a career in the creative department of advertising that spanned more than 30 years, won him numerous awards and culminated in his tenure as Creative Director at Clarion McCann.

Acting occupies the second of his three worlds. In 1971, he scorched the big screen as a high-flying executive, playing the protagonist in Satyajit Ray’s ‘Seemabaddha’, and winning a special President of India Award for his performance. After a hiatus that lasted over two decades, he returned to the screen during the 90’s, and has since then acted in numerous TV series and more than 35 movies. Tackling Bollywood and Tollywood roles with equal aplomb, he has distinguished himself in films such as Lootera, Roy, Chotushkone, Aborto, MIshorRohoshyo, Nayanchampa-r Dinraatri , Bela Sheshe and Jogajog. Chorabaali, where where once again he plays the protagonist, is his latest venture.

Barun’s third passion is writing. A regular film reviewer and contributor of articles to major dailies, in the last eight years he has published four highly acclaimed and successful novels in Bengali. His work has played a major role in establishing the adult thriller genre in Bengali literature.

Coke is his first novel in English.

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Thank you for stopping by, and happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday #61

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: 

top ten author duos we'd love to see write a book together

I would LOVE to read books by these author duos. They are some of my very favourite authors and I'll read anything by them. My picks in no particular order are-

1. Jill Shalvis and Lisa Kleypas- I'd be in romance heaven!

  

2. Nalini Singh and Jeaniene Frost- I can only imagine what they'll come up with together. Maybe a combination of Lucas and Bones? ;)

  

3. John Green and David Levithan- I know they already have Will Grayson, Will Grayson but I want MORE.

4. Elle Kennedy and Kristen Callihan- I love their NA series so it would be exciting if they wrote something together!

  

5. Rebecca Zanetti and Cynthia Eden- There would make an amazing romantic suspense combo!

  

Those are my 5 pairs of author duos. Have you read any of them before?

What are your picks? :)

Review- One by Sarah Crossan

Goodreads Summary:

Grace and Tippi are twins – conjoined twins.

And their lives are about to change.

No longer able to afford homeschooling, they must venture into the world – a world of stares, sneers and cruelty. Will they find more than that at school? Can they find real friends? And what about love?

But what neither Grace or Tippi realises is that a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead. A decision that could tear them apart. One that will change their lives even more than they ever imagined…

From Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this moving and beautifully crafted novel about identity, sisterhood and love ultimately asks one question: what does it mean to want and have a soulmate?

REVIEW:

How do I review a book that is one of a kind? 

How do I review a book that is so rare? 

How do I review a book that is such a gem? 

How do I review a book that developed in me, feelings that I have never felt before? 

How do I review a book that isn't anything like what I've read before? 

How do I review a book that played like a movie in my dreams once I finished it? 

How do I review a book that had such a huge impact on me? 

Basically, how do I review this precious, poetic and painful book called One? 

How, how, how? 

I know how. 

Buy, beg, borrow or steal. 

I don't care what you do. 

Just. Read. This. Book. 

Two reasons to read One: 

It will make you wish people were better towards other people. In free verse. 

It will make you want to be better towards other people. In free verse. 

One reason to read One: 

It will melt your heart. If you are lucky enough to have one, that is. 

Thank you, Sarah Crossan.

*A copy of One by Sarah Crossan was provided by Bloomsbury India in exchange for an honest review. We thank them for the book. 

RATING: