The Drama, Without the Romance

And of course, next had to be the second Bollywood book, A Bollywood Bride.  Of course, I had high hopes for this one following the first.  But... just going to get right to it, somewhat disappointed.  This one, rather than taking the fan-fiction level romance cue from A Bollywood Affair, took the drama, drama, drama of the hero's damaged childhood and subsequent healing.  This time, it's the heroine who needs some healing - and boy, she does.  Some serious stuff going on there.  Which, in and of itself, not a really a point in favor. But beyond that, what about the romance? Not what I'd call a chic lit romance at all! It wasn't about them discovering feelings for each other, it was about Ria fighting with herself and with Vikram about being together despite all that other stuff.

So yeah... not really romantic.  Lots of drama.  Interesting Indian culture though.  And a romance in the sense that they get together at the end. And he's a great guy.  But still. A disappointment after the first, no question about it.

Verdict: 2.75/5

I Luv Bollywood

And now for something different. Well not that different ;) But new! Over the past years, I have of course seen many recommendations on austenprose, lauren willing, and wherever else. And of course, can't remember most of them, having not written them down. But one recent one that stuck in my head was the recommendation of The Bollywood Affair (or maybe it was for the second novel, which came out more recently).  Lots of positive stuff from the romance club, seemed worth reading. So I picked it up along (both books by the new author, Sonali Dev) on my recent library trip.

Bollywood, for anyone who didn't know, is the Indian film industry. I've only watched a few Bollywood movies (Aisha, based on Emma, and a few on Netflix) but I have *thoroughly* enjoyed what I've seen. Their rom-coms are so unapologetically rom-com.  Chock full of fun scenes and moments and whatnot.  And The Bollywood Affair is really a book version of that. It reads like fan fiction in the setup (arranged marriage, plane crash etc) and in the plot developments (accident + recuperation, wedding, night away together and all that).  It's so much fun, unashamedly. It was substantially less appropriate than the Bollywood films I see (which are squeaky clean) but that didn't bother me (though I honestly, I can do without).  And it didn't rely all on the physical stuff to build the romance - it was maybe a bit Mary Sue-ish in fact, with Mili's various talents and uniquely wonderful soul, and Samir's secret kindness, deep loyalty, and model good looks, but still, there's what to love in both main characters. And as for plot... not much ;) There's a lot of emotional squishiness to untangle (mostly on Samir's side) but easy enough to live with the drama.

This was a thoroughly fun book, most definitely quite close to fan fiction, but eh, not complaining. It was written decently enough and the Indian culture stuff was interesting.  Zipped through it (read instead of my Shabbos nap) and am eager to recommend to others :)

Verdict: 4/5