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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Beginning With Forever by Lan LLP : A Promo




 Beginning with Forever
Title and Author: Beginning with Forever by Lan LLP
Publication Date: March 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance


~Synopsis~
Love isn't easy to forget even if you’re determined to never feel it again. It has a way of finding you when all hope is gone, resurfacing tender emotions you've buried deep in your core because the pain of acknowledging them is too much for you to handle.

Carson Bradley, CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical corporation is rich beyond boundaries with a missing soul. His heart faded away fifteen years ago with the death of his first love.He strives every day for the sake of his cancer research because he’s determined to eradicate it forever.

Lillian Ly is a humble, young medical student whose kind and generous heart is as vast as the universe. Being raised poor by a single parent; she matured quickly and respected the sacrifices her mother made for her. Lillian’s determination leads her down a stringent five-year path with no room for love.
When their paths cross at an unlikely place thousands of miles away from home, they both realize that fate has brought them together, and Carson will never let anything or anyone tear them apart. He knows how desolate life is without love and refuses to return to that empty place ever again.

Lillian enters Carson’s world with the purest intention of loving him with all her heart, but discovers that his volatile world will alter her uncomplicated life indefinitely. Regardless of what obstacles are thrown in their path, Lillian and Carson will endure them all to hold onto their forever from the beginning to the end.




~Excerpt~

“Carson, I’m freely offering myself to you right now. Please.” I plead fearlessly. I’m shameless and not above begging for him to take my body. Who is this sex-craved woman anyways?


     “Sweetness, you’re making it very difficult for me to resist you, to control myself.” He lowers himself intimately close to graze his soft, moist lips on my forehead, bridge of my nose and then intensely over my lips. The urgency of his need for me is translated through his kisses. Biting down firmly on his lower lip, it appears that he’s forcing the strength of his will to remain tame. Our eye contact is broken when he seals his shut to blind the temptation lying beneath his body. His hands grip the sheets desperately, clawing and then fisting. I think this is his last hope of hanging onto his dignity. “Goodnight Lily, only offer your body to me when you believe it in your heart,” he murmurs and rolls off me.



~Meet the Cast~


Buy From:
Amazon.com: Kindle Ebook | Paperback
Amazon.in: Kindle Ebook


~Carson & Lillian~



~Meet The Author~
Over a long year ago, I picked up a pen to jot down the first sentence of my vivid imagination. Those initial words were the seeds that grew into my flowering romance book, “Beginning with Forever.” With all my heart, I wrote, rewrote, edited, re-edited and now, I’m finally ready to share it with all of you. My one and only aspiration for this book is to have readers embrace my story and characters with their heart.If I can make someone laugh till their gut hurts, hate the villain with vengeance, cry till their eyes dry out, fall in love all over again, and drool over the hero or feel any other emotions, than I've succeeded my goal.
I’m the sappiest person in the world when it comes to romance. Don’t smirk! I believe in love at first sight, Prince Charming or in my book,Mr. Hot Billionaire, and happy endings. In my heart, every women deserves all three, and they will when they lose themselves in my books. Your fantasy can become a reality with just the flip of a page, so come join me.


Connect with the Author:

Goodreads | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Wattpad | Pinterest



~Tour Wide Giveaway~

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Buy From:
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Amazon.in: Kindle Ebook

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Sunday, August 17, 2014

What If It's Love by Alix Nichols



What If It's Love? by Alix Nichols

 What If It's Love? by Alix Nichols

Series: Bistro La Boheme
Publication Date: June 2014
No. of Pages: 244 Pages
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult

~Synopsis~

Can a Paris bistro heal a broken heart?

Charm, wit and poignancy abound in this gripping contemporary romance.
Introverted heiress Lena moves to Paris to nurse old wounds reopened by her neglectful boyfriend. Enter Rob, a charismatic and handsome Frenchman who waits tables at La Bohème -- a café on Lena’s street -- and has big dreams.
He makes her laugh and forget her insecurities. She stirs something infinitely tender in his soul. Before they know it, they’ve fallen for each other, even though both had good reasons to fight the budding love.
But their passionate romance is cut short when she discovers his dirty secret...


 Add to Goodreads: What If It's Love? by Alix Nichols


~Watch the Trailer~




~Excerpt~

"Can we be friends again?" he asked.

"So you think we were friends?"

He nodded.

She arched her brows. "And you think you can be friends with me and Amanda at the same time?"

"Why not?"

"Can be a health hazard, what with all the sparks that fly."

He grinned. "Never mind Amanda's taunts. She's like that with everyone."

"Nefarious?"

"Spiky. But she's a sweetheart, once you've grown on her."

"I wonder how I could ever accomplish that." Lena smiled, a speck of sadness still lingering in her eyes.

He stared, mesmerized. He could never get enough of that smile.

A cloud hiding the moon must have shifted, because suddenly silver light poured over the terrace turning it into an enchanted place.

Lena gasped. "What happened to your hand?"

He followed her gaze and saw that the knuckles of his right hand were smeared with blood. Shit. He could bet there'd been none after he punched the wall.

He covered the abrasions with his other hand. "It's nothing."

She grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand closer to her face. "Have you disinfected them?"

Rob didn't register her question. He looked at her delicate fingers holding up his hand. Then at her face. She was squinting at his hand, trying to assess the seriousness of his cuts. Her gesture was devoid of any erotic subtext. And yet the contact of her skin scorched him, just like when he held her hand at L'Espace. It stirred an impulse inside him that was both feverishly raw and infinitely gentle. It made his heart bump against his ribcage as if demanding to get out.

He gazed at her hands holding his. The urge to run his fingertips over her skin, from her nails down to her wrist and then inside her palm was too overwhelming to resist. . .

"So have you?" she asked.

Rob blinked and looked up. "Have I what?"

"Disinfected."

"It's just a graze."

"I have a disinfectant in my suitcase," she said. "I can fetch it--"

And release my hand? "Stay," he blurted out. Shit. "I mean, I also brought some, so you don't need to bother. I'll disinfect as soon as I get back to my room. I promise."

"OK," she said softly and let go of him.


~Buying Links~
Amazon.com: Paperback | Kindle Ebook
Amazon.in: Kindle Ebook


~Meet the Author: Alix Nichols~

Alix Nichols is an avid reader of chick lit, romance and fantasy, caffeine addict and a badge-wearing Mr. Darcy / Colin Firth fan.

She lives and works in Paris, France. When not writing, she reads romance (what else?) and spends time with her family.






Social media links:
 Alix on Goodreads Alix's FB Page  Alix on Pinterest  Alix's Website


~Giveaways~

~Tour Wide Giveaway~
-1st Prize: $15 Amazon GC + 1 Ebook of "What If It's Love?" by Alix Nichols
-Runners-up Prizes: 2 Ebooks of "What If It's Love?" by Alix Nichols
-Open World Wide
-Ends September 7th

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~Goodreads Giveaway~
-3 copies of "What If It's Love? by Alix Nichols
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Sunday, August 10, 2014

The Perfect Groom by Sumeetha Manikandan : A Review



BOOK TITLE: The Perfect Groom
ISBN: 978-1-927826-14-0
AUTHOR: Sumeetha Manikandan
GENRE: Fiction/ Indirom
NUMBER OF PAGES: 120
FORMAT: Digital
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank Naheed of Indireads for giving me this book for review.
SUMMARY:
          Very little has gone right in Nithya’s young life. So, when a proposal from a young, handsome NRI comes along, her mother jumps at the opportunity and packs her daughter off to the US with her perfect groom.
          Nithya seems to have settled in with Ashok, ostensibly happy, if as yet childless, in her new life. When an old flame comes back into her life, however, the cracks in her perfect marriage begin to show…
REVIEW:
          Two important notes before I start this review.
1.    As a prelude, read the ‘About the Author’ section of this review to know what this story is about.
2.    Don’t read the summary and form a bad opinion about ‘Nithya’ and her ‘chastity’.
          There, that done, let me start my review. As a chennaite by heart and having grown up in the Metropolis, any book about Chennai will surely pique both my curiosity and a certain amount of dread for the author to get the facts about the city right. No one can write a book based in the city without having experienced it firsthand. As an outsider, the city shows its most welcoming colors to you and makes you feel, if not ‘at home’, at least ‘most welcome’. But to really carry the essence of the city in your writing, you have to live here and enjoy the city at its best and worst. You have to walk its lanes, you have to savour its cuisine, you have to be comfortable with the buses as well as the high end cars that purr through the streets.
          Thankfully, the author (who is from Mylapore, a major area of Chennai famous for its temples) manages to convince the Chennai-vasi (even though only a very few scenes are based in the city, getting one fact wrong would have irked someone like me). When I talk about Mylapore, how could the book not have at least one ‘Brahmin’ character in it? Yes, it has not one, but many characters of that caste, in fact, the story centres around ‘TamBrahms’.
          Enough about the city. I might get carried away. The story starts in US, with Nithya, supposedly happily married to Ashok, organising her house in preparation for the imminent arrival of her mother in law. We are soon introduced to the rift in the married life of Nithya, who is gritting her teeth because she does not want to jeopardise the marriage of her sister and her husband’s sister by going for a divorce. (The reason for the rift, and the social stigma still associated with a divorcee in the family, especially the elder daughter are portrayed in a relatable fashion).
          The apparent façade Nithya has built over her life in the US falls into pieces when she encounters Vasu, a childhood friend who, if destiny had chosen otherwise, she would now be married to. But the expected unrequited love angle does not arrive then, though there is considerable build up of romantic tension. The veneer breaks only when Vasu actually sees Ashok in a place that confirms the reason for the rift in the marriage.
          Vasu confronts Nithya with the truth when she comes to India to attend her sister in law’s marriage and she breaks down with the truth. She endures the torture of her in laws over her apparent infertility and the scenes in the event of marriage. At one breaking point, Nithya opts for a divorce, with Ashok giving his mutual consent. What happens in her life after that and whether or not the divorce comes through forms the rest of the story.
          The story and the plot is a typical Brahmin based plot, but addresses two major issues that are considered a taboo even in this century. Read the book to know more about this. But the author has managed to write about both the issues in a thoroughly acceptable fashion, that leaves the reader nodding their heads in agreement more often than not.
          The book needs to have a few words in the Tamil Brahmin slang to maintain nativity. The author has included an index for reference, which most authors ignore to provide. The plot is unique and deals with some issues that are usually swept under the carpet. Kudos to the author for writing such a thoughtful book.
         
WHAT I LIKED:
          The story and the scenes which are never over the top or larger than life.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
          Though it is a small point not noticeable to anyone, there are a few glaring errors in the use of the slang words, that is, maybe noticeable to only a chennaite or a person belonging to the community portrayed. But these can be overlooked.
VERDICT:
          Go for it. This book might well be a really reflective read, based on your perception.
RATING: 4.3/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Sumeetha Manikandan, a freelance content writer is an English literature graduate with a journalism and mass communication diploma. Married to film director K. S. Manikandan, she lives in Mylapore, Chennai.         After working as a content manager in Sulekha.com and Clickjobs.com for over eight years, she took a break from full-time work when her daughter Rakshah was born.
          While at home, she started writing for various websites and clients. Working on a wide variety of content related projects for international clients, she established herself as a freelance writer.
          She wrote her debut novel, ‘The Perfect Groom’ as a script for a serial. Set against the backdrop of Mylapore’s Brahmin community, she sketches many larger-than-life characters in this novella that will capture your imagination.
          An avid reader, she is never without a book to read. A temperamental writer, she needs a lot of inspiration to write. She loves to watch movies with happy endings, listens to instrumental music and old melodies. A shopaholic, she loves to splurge on books and clothes.

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Digital
PRICE: Rs. 175 for Kindle Edition  


Saturday, August 9, 2014

Unsettled by Neelima Vinod : A Review



BOOK TITLE: Unsettled
ISBN: 978-1-927826-07-2
AUTHOR: Neelima Vinod
GENRE: Fiction/ Indirom
NUMBER OF PAGES: 72
FORMAT: Digital
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: We thank Naheed of Indireads for giving us this copy for review
SUMMARY:  
          The hundred-room house is a rich tapestry of memories and hidden secrets, a dark, forbidding place rumoured to be haunted by a vengeful Yakshi. Propelled by a desire to save their marriage, Divya and Raghav journey to the haunted mansion in search of the mythical Scrolls of Love.
          Written five hundred years ago by the banished court poet Shankara, they are fabled to have the power to heal and reignite lost love. Is this just a legend, or are the couple heading towards a chilling destiny?
REVIEW:
          Unsettled is tagged as ‘A Search for Love and Meaning’. It is a tale that combines a touch of fantasy / history and modern day problems. Divya is a Keralite who has married a Maharashtrian Raghav. She has a happy life until she starts suspecting that her husband is in an affair with his old flame, Anu. Doubt starts eating her mind as she sees Raghav talking with Anu one day, standing close to her.
          Unable to concentrate on her work and feeling bad about her marriage, she consults a psychiatrist who advises her to take a vacation. Divya heeds his advice to spend a few days in her ancestral house in Cherakad, Kerala. But before that, she convinces Raghav to attend one session with her. As the doctor sees Raghav, he pulls him aside and asks a favour from him, to which he agrees.
          Alternate chapters of this story are written in the past, like a legend / myth handed down over centuries. It follows the life of Shankara Sastry, a poet and his life with a yakshi, who lives in the big house in Cherakad (the house of Divya’s grandmother in the present). The Yakshi looks for love, unable to grasp the fact that souls in the spirit world do not merge well with humans with mortal bodies. She traps Shankara in her web and tries to elicit love from him via lust. But Shankara realises his folly after some time and tries to escape the place. But outsmarting him, the Yakshi traps his words and poems in ‘Scrolls of Love’ in the big house, leaving him as a shell of the man he was.
          Raghav and Divya arrive at the big house and are amazed and frightened by its size and wild growth. But once they go inside, they’re entranced by the sheer magic of the house, and are trapped by the Yakshi, who lusts after Raghav. How they escape the house and how they save their failing marriage forms the rest of the story.
          The story and the plot are more a mix of whimsical and fantasy. There are abstract verses, the kind traditional poets wrote. The author has a clear poetic soul, but sometimes, a casual reader finds these not only distracting, but also way out of the necessary parts of the story. The characters are well etched in the present (the final chapter revealing the link of the past/present stories is so sudden). Read this book if you like your romance novels to be slightly exotic and eccentric.
WHAT I LIKED:
          The continuous shift between present and past stories, the descriptive narration
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
          The book comes across as too much into fantasy for a romance novel. Sometimes it makes you wonder if it is for ‘light reading’.
VERDICT:
          If you like your stories to be peppered with the unusual, and can tolerate abstract narratives and hidden meanings in romance, this book is definitely for you.
RATING: 3.4/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Neelima Vinod spent her childhood being schooled in the Persian Gulf and holidaying in the warm, dreamy climes of southern India. Writing about the supernatural is an inevitable outcome of contact with the heritage of the subcontinent. She has acquired her M.Phil. in English literature and worked as editor, teacher and writer. She now lives in Bangalore, India.
          Her current obsessions are her twin sons, the books on her shelf and off it, and her poetry blog.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Digital
PRICE: Rs. 131 for Kindle edition


Friday, August 8, 2014

Seoul Mates by Pamela Q Fernandes : A Review



BOOK TITLE: Seoul-Mates
ISBN: 978-1-927826-12-6
AUTHOR: Pamela Q Fernandes
GENRE: Fiction / Indirom
NUMBER OF PAGES: 90
FORMAT: Digital
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: We thank Naheed of Indireads for sending us this copy in exchange for an honest review.
SUMMARY:
          Jilted by the man she followed to Seoul, Katia has hit rock bottom. But within months, her whirlwind romance and marriage to Jihan has everyone talking.
          Jihan is the heir to the Kwan business empire while Katia is a foreigner, an Anglo-Indian who has no business ensnaring Seoul’s most eligible bachelor. No one knows that their marriage is based on a contract, and that they have come together for their own ulterior motives.
          Together in chic, metropolitan Seoul the two forge a relationship that is tested by intrigue, jilted lovers and a hidden nemesis.

          Can their newfound love survive the forces ranged against them? Or will the vows they took be in vain?
REVIEW:
          Indireads books, (at least those which I have read so far) have certain common features - a strong but clumsily endearing female protagonist, a love angle and a happy ending. When you pick up the books, they are guaranteed to be a happy read with some substance and of course good language. ‘Seoul – Mates’ is no exception.
          The story starts with Katia, who is an Anglo-Indian unable to fit into the Korean society. She finds in Junki, a fellow soul who faces most of the problems she faces. She slowly starts feeling camaraderie and develops feelings for him, right when he deserts her for another woman, the owner of a hospital chain. Katia feels cheated and indulges in drinking. Kwan Jihan, a multi millionaire, sees her plight, is attracted to her and drops her home.
          One thing leads to another and they are married after signing a contract. Katia is in jitters as she walks down the altar (the opening scene of the book). But the members (not to be revealed due to spoilers) of Kwan family do not like the new woman who they feel is not fit to be the daughter in law. Katia faces serious troubles due to her alleged link up with Junki and a major accident, creating problems between Jihan and her.
          How she overcomes these problems and how she makes her contractual marriage succeed forms the rest of the story. The story is written in good language and the plot is tight. Though there are some scenes we feel could have written otherwise, the story in general is readable and clear. The characters are decently etched. Go for this book if you like your romance novel with a twist of thrill.
WHAT I LIKED: The characterisation of Katia and the bittersweet (yeah, right) character of Junki.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: certain scenes could be written better.
VERDICT: Go for it if you like your romance novels with some thrilling moments.
RATING: 3.5/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Pamela Fernandes has been a medical writer for over five years. She made the switch to writing fiction when facts and medicine became more about reporting numbers. As a doctor she has come across various people who fire her imagination. She has travelled extensively and frequently blogs about the places she visits. Her romance novella ‘Seoul-mates’ has been the result of her interactions with many Korean friends over the years. When she’s not writing she’s struggling to learn her violin, rereading Jane Austen classics or baking culinary delights.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Digital
PRICE: Rs. 89 for Kindle Edition