by Nicola Marsh
Published December 6th 2011 by Entangled Publishing
Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.
Life is less complicated in New York.
Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?
Our Review:
The book begins with best friends Shari and Amrita plotting to end Amrita's arranged marriage by sending Shari to India in her place to meet her fiancé and his family.
When Shari gets to India, she stays with Amrita's auntie and is overwhelmed by the heat, the chaotic traffic, the lack of mojitos (or any alcoholic drink, for that matter), the loudness and amount of people, and, specially, the high-calory, mouth-watering Indian sweets.
Shari attends a party at the Rama's house and meets Amrita's fiancée, Rakesh Rama, and is very surprised to find out that he already knows she's not Amrita and that he wants a chance to meet her in person in New York. Later at the party, Shari meets Drew, Rakesh's partner, who is not only rude to her, but also mistakes her for a famous actress and invites her to audition for a movie he's sponsoring.
Apart from the knowledge of Indian cultural aspects, the book is filled with clichés and becomes very tiresome to read right after the 4th chapter, in which a conversation between Rakesh and Shari leads to an inquiry about favorite movies. (her favorite movie is Dirty Dancing and the fake fiancée shows to be very in touch with his feelings and emotions by saying his favorite one is Casablanca).
As the book develops, there is the constant bickering and teasing between Shari and Drew that makes for the well-know chick-lit formula... and there's nothing wrong with that formula, except that in this case we don't get to see much depth from the characters, which makes for a so-so read, filled with superficial relationships. And it took a lot of the fun out of the "fights filled with sexual tension".
This is a great book for lovers of the exotic Indian culture, with its endless mention of Indian sweets, drinks and tourists spots. Really, the foods described will fatten you up just by reading about them! The book could also be taken as a tribute to Bollywood movies and their stars. In fact, the author quotes many of their names and even makes the heroine be stalked by a guy who mistakes her for no one less than Aishwarya Rai.
If you're looking for a quick, light, fun chick-lit for your vacation, this is may be your book. ;)
*eARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Reviewed by:
Amebugi
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to read what you have to say. :)