Once Upon a Crush by Kiran Manral | A Book Review

Once Upon a Crush by Kiran Manral 
#BookReview

The first thing that catches your attention about the book - Once Upon a Crush by Kiran Manral, is the book cover. It is so girly; I quite liked it!

Meet Rayna De - an independent career Bong woman, who is stuck in a job with a boss from hell. She is still going to turn thirty soon and is pestered by her parents to meet suitable guys of their choice to get settled in life. Needless to mention she has zero love life. Her life consists of all the mundane things – go to the office, work, sleep and office again. Things slightly perk up in the office when Deven Ahuja – the handsome guy at work seems to be falling for her. But, when things are about Rayna, nothing happens the way you expect them to.

Even though he seems interested in her, there are other rumours circulating about him. To top this Rayna boss is making her life difficult in the office. Out of the blue, her best friend lands up in Mumbai and takes shelter in her house indefinitely! Hows Rayna is going to deal with the things happening in her life? Is she going to find the love of her life? Is she going to succumb to the pressure of her parent and her demanding boss? Well, these are the things to read in the novel.

Once Upon a Crush by Kiran Manral, is a quick and entertaining read that comes with a liberal dose of witty and humorous dialogues. It has all the masala of a Bollywood movie. The author has a humorous way to describing each and every character in the novel right from the lady herself to her melodramatic friend Pixie, her irritable office colleague Mathur, her boss Aparajita and of course, the office hunk Deven Ahuja. There are several twists and turns in the plot that can keep the readers engaged. I did enjoy reading it. However, I must say that I found the way the novel ended quite predictable.

If you are looking for a quick read, then you can pick this book for sure.

About the Author:  Kiran Manral has worked with some of the leading media houses in India as a features writer and journalist. Her debut novel, The Reluctant Detective, was published in 2012. She lives in Mumbai with her family and puts her job definition down as school gate mom.

I received the book from Leadstart Publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.

Untruly Yours by Smita Shetty

Untruly Yours by Smita Shetty

"To some Natasha Iyer has it all - living the life of an affluent NRI, wife of a prominent psychologist and mother to a cheeky 11 years old. However, behind closed doors, cracks are beginning to appear in her seemingly comfortable relationship with her professionally consumed husband , Rakesh.

Although Rakesh seems content with his alpha neatness- fetish , melodramatic wife and bright son; Natasha yearns for romance, passion and excitement. Ironically, the psychologist husband fails to read between the lines and Natasha is left to her own devices to deal with her unresolved emotions.

An unexpected call from India takes her through a journey of self discovery with her devastatingly handsome work colleague, Steve. She uncovers in some aspects urban India has changed considerably but equally, deep rooted social issues still prevail in the so called modern, educated, changing society. A chance encounter with her blast from the past - Veer, adds to the emotional roller coaster ride. Her one-man - women status of many years has failed to equip her with vital tools to deal with the unanticipated surge of attention from Steve and Veer.

As she attempts to master the finer points of courtship, flirtation and seduction; her life spirals out of control. Natasha is compelled to make tough decisions about her love,friendship, marriage and parenthood."

Untruly Yours is the debut novel of the author - Smita Shetty. The story line is obvious from the blurb. In the 150 pages of this fast paced chic-lit novel, the author tells the story of Natasha who seems to feel that the spark in her relationship with her husband has vanished. She is restless and yearns for some excitement in her life. If you look a delve a little more deeply into the character of Natasha, you will discover that there is a bit of Natasha in most women. Sometimes, the zeal of life is lost in the daily mundane chores, one feels people takes you for granted and it brings a feeling of love-less-ness and loneliness. Many a times it is far from the truth and it is just a passing phase. The author has told the story of a woman passing through this phase of life and how she copes with it.

The strength of the novel are it's character - entirely believable and relatable. In particular the author's description of Natasha' s MIL as Godzilla of Godzilla as hilarious. The story is packed with a lot of drama and has a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. I thoroughly enjoyed turning pages after pages, only that there weren't too many of them. I think the author could have done with another 50 pages towards the end. I felt the ending was quickly wrapped up. A special mention for the cover of the book, I loved it. It is chic and stylish and catches your attention. At least, it was so in my case.

If you are looking for a quick, light read go for this book for sure. I am sure most of my female friends will be able to relate to at least something in the novel.

I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange of an unbiased review.

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