Review by: ArcherPoole

Book Cover: The book cover is very simple, yet very elegant. I'm a fan of the white on blue silhouette, instead of the usual black on white/tan/blue. Overall, a very nice cover that is beautiful in its simplicity, and gives me The Princess Bride vibes.

Blurb: The blurb is interesting and attention-grabbing. The thought of both characters giving up their ideas of normality for one another (love makes you do crazy things, after all), is a good one for a Romance / Chick Lit genre story. The only issue I have (which is personal preference) is that the premise feels a bit overdone. As I said, it's interesting, but it feels like stories I've seen in the past just from the blurb.

Chapter 1: This chapter starts off well. I wasn't expecting the story to be in First Person, but I think it fits, and I quite enjoy your writing style. I would say that I would like to see a bit more backstory early on. You tell us that the main character has a unique ability to maintain her own internal peace and calm in tense situations, especially when she was in college, yet we skip over her college life as a whole and get straight into the present, which sort of detracts from the ability you gave her.

"He'd worked his way in like sand in an hourglass - slow, steady, and so natural you wouldn't even think twice about it and before you noticed, descended completely." I love this description. I mean, I absolutely love it. This helps show that Dhruv can fit in naturally with almost any crowd should he wish, which tells a lot about his personality just from one little sentence.

The scene of the pillows being thrown that leads to the inevitable kiss is certainly cheesy (like you even said in that scene), but it's almost necessary for this genre. All good romances in life have some cheesy aspects to them, and it's because people adore those little moments where the world just seems perfect.

Chapter 2: I'm glad to see that this chapter has a bit more dialogue in it, and less descriptive paragraphs. They both have their place in stories (one can't exist without the other), but it's nice to have a change-up instead of being bombarded by one or the other. This also allows for some great character progression.

I love that you describe the bungalow as being painted with off-white paint, instead of a more standard, flat color. Off-white encapsulates quite a few different shades, but everyone can perfectly envision the color without having drastically different views of the house.

I do find myself wishing there was more description of the sarees and ghunghats. As someone from the States (and being admittedly ignorant of other cultures and their fashions), I don't know what either of those things are. A quick Google search will tell me, of course, but you don't want to force your readers to break their stride to search for an unfamiliar term. Small descriptors of these items would help tremendously, and it would be fairly easy to weave them into the paragraph. I do see the note at the bottom of the chapter, but if I stop to search before getting to that note, it becomes superfluous.

Chapter 3: This chapter starts off by giving me a question. This is one that is completely just me being curious and does not detract from the story at all (if anything, it adds to it). Is "Namaste Aunty" a formal greeting that can be used with any elder woman, or is it more informal since it's Dhruv's family at a wedding?

Again, I find my colloquial skills lacking for the region this story is set in, so I find myself desperately wanting descriptors. I don't know what Kaju barfi or kalakand is. If you changed the first sentence from "Aunty came back with three plates full of sweets and handed them to us." to something like "Aunty came back with three plates loaded to the brim with (insert what food items those sweets are made of) and handed them to us.", then it retains the same punch, but lets folks like myself visualize the sweets.

Chapter 4: Honestly, I can't find much fault in this chapter. It's all-around solid and doesn't feel like a filler chapter, which is always good. I do enjoy the dynamic between the main character and Divya, and it certainly feels like I'm watching a real-life scene unfold, as opposed to the often dramatized movie romances we grow accustomed to seeing.

I do really appreciate the drama in this chapter as well. I feel like that has been lacking in the first three, but it's done tastefully here with Divya revealing the circumstances behind her marriage.

Chapter 5: I'm going to be a bit nit-picky here, but only because I can't truly find fault in the chapter. The use of asterisks to separate gaps of time is something that bothers me. It feels disjointed and almost cheap in terms of writing. Using a short paragraph (exactly like the one that follows the asterisks) is more than enough for the reader to figure out that time passed with no more action happening.

Overall: Chick Lit / Romance is not my favored genre by any means, but I really enjoyed these first five chapters. They didn't feel forced to me like some romances have the tendency to do. I would have liked to see a bit more drama in the relationship, just because everything can't always go perfectly, but otherwise, it was great! I would recommend this story to anyone interested in Romance or Chick Lit, especially if they have never read one set in India, as it was easy to follow.