Romance, Sass and Swoony Men // REVIEW: Man Of Her Match by Sakshama Puri Dhariwal

Title: Man of Her Match
Author: Sakshama Puri Dhariwal
Publication Date: July 7th 2017
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: PRH India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || The Book Depository || || Flipkart || Infibeam || Google Books

Blurb Description: Kicked off the team for a series of misdemeanours, Indian cricket’s bad boy Vikram Walia finally has a chance at redemption. The only problem: it involves collaborating with his childhood best friend turned sworn enemy, Nidhi Marwah.
Once a tomboy, now a gorgeous, self-assured marketing professional, Nidhi must put aside her personal dislike of Vikram and leverage his unparalleled fame and poster-boy good looks for her latest campaign.
But the ensuing battle of sardonic jibes and veiled slurs only heightens their blazing chemistry. Soon memories of their past fill their present, pulling them back to that fateful day when a heartless act destroyed their friendship.
Can Vikram and Nidhi put their stormy history behind them? Will their partnership have a second innings?

 

Short and Sweet: Man of her Match is the COMPLETE package filled with romance, sass, great friends and chemistry filled moments that will have you smiling, swooning and waiting for your own Vikramaditya Singh Walia.

Let’s be honest – even though I’m Indian, I haven’t read books from many Indian Authors. I have some authors on my Auto-Buy list (Anuja Chauhan, Nikita Deshpande and Sukanya Venkataraghavan) but you’ll rarely catch me a book other from these three authors in my hands.

I’d heard about Sakshama’s debut novel, The Wedding Photographer, when it released but for some reason, I never got around to reading it. It sounded swoony and perfect but now, I’m SO GLAD that I got the chance to read her sophomore novel, Man of her Match.

Let’s break it down:

IDEA:

I got sucked into this book because of the tropes it was based on. Childhood Sweethearts who broke each other’s hearts, meet twelve years later after one of them has turned into the bad boy of India and is also on the Indian cricket team? Plus, this relationship had all kinds of SASS? SIGN ME UP.

PLOT:

The plot followed your typical romance novel. Boy and girl haven’t met in a while, are shocked when fate throws them together, initially only manage to get on each other’s wrong side until realising that they’re perfect for one another (with some variables and added drama) BUT I LOVED IT ALL ANYWAY. This is probably because from the minute they met, I could feel the PALPABLE CHEMISTRY that surrounded Vikram and Nidhi as well as amazing best friends and I LOVED IT.

WRITING:

I really liked Sakshama’s writing. She managed to capture the essence of two headstrong twenty-something Indians SO WELL and also throw in just the right amount of sass and love in it. I’ll definitely be adding The Wedding Photographer to my TBR and her to my Auto Buy Author list!

CHARACTERS:

One word for our main man: SWOON. (And then swoon some more.) I adored his character from the very beginning – he was just perfect and reckless and your perfect good-bad boy, if you know what I mean. He knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to go after it. AND he was also such a loyal person.

I really liked Nidhi as well – she was headstrong and played sports and well, Vikram and Nidhi really did make a perfect pair.

CONCLUSION:

If you’re looking for Romance, Sass and Swoony Men (and really, who isn’t?), Man Of Her Match should be your next read! 

 Sakshama Puri Dhariwal was born and raised in New Delhi. Before becoming an author, Sakshama

worked as a brand manager for e-commerce, media and telecom companies.

Her favourite authors include Judith McNaught, Julie James, Sarah MacLean, Lauren Layne, Kate Meader (in chronological order of when she discovered them), and of course, Anuja Chauhan.

Sakshama currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. Her first novel was the critically acclaimed romantic comedy 'The Wedding Photographer'. Her new book is a cricket romance titled 'Man of Her Match

 What are some of your favourite romantic/ comedy books? 

Do you play sports? If you could spend a day with one sports star, who would it be? 

I can't wait to hear from you.

REVIEW: Selfienomics: A Seriously Funny Guide To Living The Good Life by Revant Himatsingka

Title: Selfienomics: A Seriously Funny Guide To Living The Good Life

Author: Revant Himatsingka
Publication Date: November 3rd 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam ||

Blurb Description: "Original version of a #selfie: Taking a photo of yourself rather than having someone else take it for you. You try out various filters and select the one that makes you look your best. #Selfienomics version of a #selfie: reflecting on different aspects of your life and taking the initiative to improve so that you can be the best version of yourself." 
And so begins Selfienomics, the first Indian self-help book written for young people by a young entrepreneur who speaks their language. Offering workable, practical advise on how to manage finances, start a business, complete creative projects and how to be a better citizen, Selfienomics is so funny, upbeat and entertaining, it's not just a must-read but also a mast-read.

I bet the MINUTE you read this title, alarm bells went off in your head: NON-FICTION? Really? What was she THINKING?

Don’t worry, I thought the same. Or well, if you gave this book to me six months ago, I would have.

On June 24^th, I walked into freshman orientation at college, and one week later at a Personal Development class I got asked a question: “Why should a company hire YOU? There are over 500 undergraduates in this state doing the same course you are, multiplied by 28 states in the country, multiplied by all the undergrads in the world.”

“So, why should somebody hire YOU?”

Suffice to say, there were nightmares that followed.

I learnt, through the class, that the only way to get hired is to be better than the fray and so when the lovely folks at Bloomsbury India sent over a Guide to Live The Good Life, I thought that it could only help me.

Still, having never read Non-Fiction, the apprehension was omnipresent.

While I won’t say I’ve transformed into a better person magically, I will say that Selfienomics has some GREAT advice for teenagers and young adults, directed towards making you think about your life, money, jobs and relationships and what it means (and how) to be a socially active, financially responsible youngster in the world today.

""If we compare ourselves to anything, it should be to our own potential.""

If you’re a college kid, or working your first job or trying to get out of your first job and move onto something better, this book will probably give you the motivation you need. Whether it’s wasted time or productive doing nothing time, dreaming or visualizing, convenience or logic and morals,  Selfienomics ACTUALLY explains to you (with hashtags and humour) what you COULD be doing wrong, what might be better, but most importantly, encourages you to THINK about it all.

While Selfienomics was certainly a more entertaining read than I expected it to be, and even more helpful than I expected it to be, it’s the kind of book you need to read again and again, at different parts in your life for it to keep striking home.

So, before you write it off as “Oh NONFICTION. Why bother?” maybe consider that something along these lines could be beneficial to where you want to go, and who you want to be.

Selfienomics was a surprisingly fun and helpful read that I would genuinely recommend to all young adults!

Have you read any good non-fiction that you would recommend to all young adults? If you have a job, any tips and tricks?

I would LOVE to hear from you.

Quirky and Hilarious // REVIEW: The Boy Is Back (The Boy, #4) by Meg Cabot

Title: The Boy Is Back (The Boy, #4)

Author: Meg Cabot
Publication Date: October 18th 2016
Publisher: William Morrow (Harper Collins)
Part of a Series?: Yes, book 4/4 of The Boy Series. Can be read as Standalones
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Google Play Books

Blurb Description: In this brand-new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a scandal brings a young man back home to the small town, crazy family, and first love he left behind.
Reed Stewart thought he’d left all his small town troubles—including a broken heart—behind when he ditched tiny Bloomville, Indiana, ten years ago to become rich and famous on the professional golf circuit.  Then one tiny post on the Internet causes all of those troubles to return . . . with a vengeance.
Becky Flowers has worked hard to build her successful senior relocation business, but she’s worked even harder to forget Reed Stewart ever existed. She has absolutely no intention of seeing him when he returns—until his family hires her to save his parents.
Now Reed and Becky can’t avoid one another—or the memories of that one fateful night.  And soon everything they thought they knew about themselves (and each other) has been turned upside down, and they—and the entire town of Bloomville—might never be the same, all because The Boy Is Back.

There’s something so enchanting about reading Meg Cabot books…

It’s like going back to the days you first started reading, and re-experiencing your first love all over again (because if you haven’t read The Princess Diaries, you haven’t truly experienced ANYTHING) and it is beautiful.

While I wasn’t initially excited about The Boy Is Back, I’m only a mere bookworm with no self-restraint (as my bookshelf will clearly show you) and well, I definitely reached the excitement stage, and the MINUTE (okay, the day) after I got the book, I dove in.

The Boy Is Back is a quirky and hilarious, a typical Meg Cabot book that will have you laughing, falling in love and, as always, wondering where your Michael Moscovitz/ Reed Stewart is.

Becky Flowers is the only senior moving consultant in a hundred mile radius, and has stayed in her home town of Bloomville, Indiana when her dad passed away to take over the family business. There’s only one thing that still shadows her – a boy in high school, and a break-up and scandal that involved a pool, liquor, a golf cart, a prom and ten years of no phone calls.

Reed Stewart used to be the number one golf player in the world, and he also used to be the son of a judge and in love with a quirky girl whose last name was flowers’, until he left it all behind.

Ten years later, and a minor scandal involving stamps, major food chains and fraud, Reed Stewart is back in town, and nothing will ever be the same.

There are so many things you that ALL Meg Cabot books contain, that you can’t help but love:

1.      DRAMA

2.       A TAD MORE DRAMA

3.       FAMILY

4.       BEAUTIFUL BOYS that make you want to scream at your love life

5.       AWESOME Best Friends

6.       Siblings (mostly)

7.       Princesses and Genius Scientists that make you swoon

8.       AWKWARDNESS

9.       DRAMA (Wait. Did I say that?)

10.   A WHOLE  LOT OF AWESOME BOOKSIHNESS

And with the exception of number 7, The Boy Is Back has all of them, which just means that you need to buy and start reading this NOW. Told in a text, email and diary format, this book is a fast paced read that will have you smiling, pining and rooting for a fairy-tale ending.

Despite all the cuteness, the only thing I didn’t like was Becky and Reed together. Don’t get me wrong, they were GREAT on paper – cute, wronged lovers that fate threw together again – and their texts and email to and about each other were OH SO CHEMISTRY FILLED, but The Boy Is Back had about FOUR SCENES where they actually spoke to each other, and well, I NEEDED MORE. Reed, though he was portrayed as a ‘bad boy’ really just seemed like an enigmatic rich boy.

I think I just needed MORE of Becky and Reed themselves, ALONG with all the secondary drama for it to have been a great, and not just a good read.

WHAT is your favourite Meg Cabot Book?  WHO is your favourite Meg Cabot Boy?

PLEASE TELL ME YOU'VE READ THE PRINCESS DIARIES (and that Michael is EVERYTHING)

A Deep, Different Novel // Mornings After by Tharun James Jimani

Title: Mornings After

Author: Tharun James Jimani
Publication Date: August 23rd 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Flipkart || Infibeam || 

Blurb Description: On the morning India woke up to the news of the gruesome assault on Nirbhaya, Sonya lay awake coming to terms with a nightmare of her own: If you place your safety in the hands of another, who is to blame for its consequences? Incited by the media post mortem of Nirbhaya that followed, Sonya gives up the security of corporate life and starts a feminist webzine instead. 
When a Bollywood matinee idol –‘Bhai’ to his devotees, and simply ‘The Torso’ to the media – expresses interest in promoting the launch of Sonya’s publication in exchange for a little whitewashing of his latest misogynist transgression, she is faced with the age-old question of just how far can one go till the end stops justifying the means? Thomas, her lover of a mere couple of months, suddenly burdened with contributing to food and lodging and Sonya, unable to apply her political stand to their abusive relationship, negotiate the fluidity and chaos of contemporary urban relationships in ways both familiar and unique. 

It’s really hard to find the right words to describe something out of the box.

It’s also really hard to describe something in a couple hundred words, when you needed to pause on every section of that something to soak it all in.

And by really hard, I mean I’m not sure I can quite capture the essence of Mornings After and deliver it to you, but I’m going to try.

I could give you just three words to describe this novel: intricate, intimate and highly introspective. 

Mornings After is a beautiful piece of literature that takes you deep into the minds of a couple in love, and helps you unravel the threads of thought and the mess of emotions in a highly modernized, free spirited world.

Truth be told, I was already sold when I heard this book was about sexual fluidity, rape and navigating modern relationships, I just didn’t expect Mornings After to also be a journey of two souls, learning to grow up and grow together, to fall in and out of love and most of all, to discover themselves.

Mornings After is a documentation of two souls in Bombay, India, that happened to run into each other. Sonya is a Business School graduate working a standard nine to five job, while Thomas is looking for inspiration. They’re different, and yet, it’s the Potential that attracts them to one another.

As they get to know each other, their relationship becomes something more meaningful and something more toxic, as only the people closest to us have the power to tear us down. They try and see if one will fit in the other’s pre-existing world and also if they can create a new one of their own together.

Then, the rape case that shook India, the Nirbhaya rape case, where a young medical student was brutally gang raped in a moving bus in New Delhi, and her friend severely beaten up as well, just as Sonya has a similar incident of her own sets in motion the need to quit her day job, and just Make a Difference.

Told with a beautiful writing style that I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing before, Mornings After is all about modern relationships, and modern people – how they think, how they live, how they survive – and is also all about getting to know another person intimately. It’s about having the courage to do your own thing, to show the world who you really are, are learning every time you fall.

A Deep, Different Novel that you should be reading.

4 stars.

What was the last contemporary book you read? 

Do you have any recommendations for me that explore the themes that Mornings After does? I would LOVE to check them out. 

If you're looking for something YA, not Adult, I would recommend Louise O'Neill's Asking For It!