Book Review: A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

Title: A Bollywood Affair
Author: Sonali Dev
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: October 28, 2014 by Kensington

Mili Rathod hasn’t seen her husband in twenty years—not since she was promised to him at the age of four. Yet marriage has allowed Mili a freedom rarely given to girls in her village. Her grandmother has even allowed her to leave India and study in America for eight months, all to make her the perfect modern wife. Which is exactly what Mili longs to be—if her husband would just come and claim her.

Bollywood’s favorite director, Samir Rathod, has come to Michigan to secure a divorce for his older brother. Persuading a naïve village girl to sign the papers should be easy for someone with Samir’s tabloid-famous charm. But Mili is neither a fool nor a gold-digger. Open-hearted yet complex, she’s trying to reconcile her independence with cherished traditions. And before he can stop himself, Samir is immersed in Mili’s life—cooking her dal and rotis, escorting her to her roommate’s elaborate Indian wedding, and wondering where his loyalties and happiness lie.

Heartfelt, witty, and thoroughly engaging, Sonali Dev’s debut is both a vivid exploration of modern India and a deeply honest story of love, in all its diversity.

Reviewed By: Babs

In a Nutshell: A Bollywood Affair is an incredible book. I didn’t want to put it down to do things like work, sleep, eat.

Why I Read This Book: I heard about A Bollywood Affair on Twitter and jumped on it when I saw it was available on NetGalley.

What I Liked: I loved the view into the Indian culture. The descriptions of the clothes, the food, the different events leading up to a wedding were all so vivid and colorful. I also liked reading about the traditions—some good, some not so good.

I found Samir hard to like at first. I liked his love for his brother but he seemed spoiled and entitled in other aspects of his life. The author did a great job of redeeming him by the end of the story so I wanted him to get his happy ending.

I think a quote that sums up Mili for me is “If you don’t believe in a happy ending, what are you living for?” She’s lived her life up to now banking on a happily-ever-after that has to come but is out of her control. I like her moments of rebellion when she keeps going to school, comes to the United States for graduate school, wears jeans and t-shirts.

I love how Mili knocked Samir’s ego down a bit with their first kiss. I think that served him right. Although it put her in a bad place emotionally.

The ending was fantastic. I love how everything was resolved and who all was involved in the end. A fabulous resolution to the story.

What I Didn’t Like: I can get why Samir wasn’t honest with her—a lot happened when he found her and then he started having feelings for her. I think it went on too long but then we probably wouldn’t get the ensuing heartache and angst if she found out before she did.

Overall Impression: A Bollywood Affair was a fabulous story. I had trouble putting it down—on the one hand I wanted to keep reading to find out how everything turned out and on the other hand I wanted to slow down and savor the story with the lush descriptions and great characters.

Bab’s Rating:

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