[Book Review] His Accidental Princess (The Royal Guard #1) by Kyra Seth

Front cover

Genre: Romance, Action & Adventure

Publication date: Dec 9, 2021

Length: 205 pages

Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3pOuFlR

Amazon India – https://www.amazon.in/His-Accidental-Princess-Passionate-Bodyguard-ebook/dp/B09LTDY8YQ

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My Review of His Accidental Princess

His Accidental Princess is as addictive as it is surprising. The mix of characters is quite unusual with bodyguards, waitresses, and royals finding themselves thrown together.

The element that surprised me the most was the prominent role of a cat in building the relationship (or forced companionship) between Sona and Samar.

Also, Sona manages to keep up a thriving blog in between working shifts waitressing at a restaurant. Determined is not a strong enough word to describe her.

Take a sprinkling of royals, add a dash of drug addicts, some warm and welcoming friends, two troubled (but mighty attractive) protagonists, and the world’s grumpiest cat — that makes up the heady cocktail of His Accidental Princess.

It’s the type of book that you can’t put down because the action keeps coming thick and fast. You’re pulled into the storm of forbidden attraction, life-altering discoveries, and crazy villains who don’t think twice before taking a life.

The author writes with great wit and control over her scenes. There’s plenty of weeping by assorted characters, but the story does not drag neither does it go over the top. Told alternately between Sona and Samar’s point of view, we are given a ringside view of the vulnerabilities of the characters and the demons that plague them.

The settings and references are contemporary with a few hilarious exchanges between Sona and Samar where they can’t seem to get along yet desperately want to.

I loved the way the author handled the issue of the abusive boyfriend (for which Sona blames herself). It’s time women stopped having to take on the burden of reforming wayward men. Or of enduring abuse for the sake of societal approval or honor.

Even though the end is slightly predictable, I enjoyed His Accidental Princess immensely. The author’s deft handling of action and emotion makes this story a joy to read. What a smashing debut this is!

(I received a free copy of the book with a request for an honest review.)

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Blurb

A reluctant princess and a cranky bodyguard…

All that Sona Singh has ever wanted was a family of her own.
Abandoned as a baby, raised in an orphanage, she wants roots. All she gets is a grumpy cat.

All that Maj. Samar Deshmukh has ever wanted was redemption.
A chance to break free of the memories that still hold him prisoner. What he gets is having to babysit an accidental princess and her man-eating cat.

Sona believes that her life can’t get worse than it already is. And then, she discovers that she is the long-lost princess of Nagaur. Which would be a good thing, if not for the fact that someone is trying to kill her.

In this incomprehensible world of snooty royals and their stuffy protocol, Samar is Sona’s only link to reality. And safety.

But when she falls head over heels in lust with the surly ex-commando, she realizes that a threat to her life might be the least of her problems.

Can Sona ever find happiness with a man who refuses to love her for fear of losing her?

His Accidental Princess is an exciting, passionate, and funny royal romantic suspense about love and redemption.

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[Book Review] Royals of Rajasthan by Dr. Amrita Basu

Front cover

Genre: Mystery

Publication date: 10 Aug 2021

Length: 19 pages

Age: 9-12 years

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58808323-royals-of-rajasthan-adventure-series

Healthwealthbridge: https://healthwealthbridge.com/book/royals-of-rajasthan-childrens-adventure-ashwin-rashi-mystery/

Solve the Mystery with Ashwin and Rashi.
Ashwin’s little sister Rashi is plain annoying. She’s decided to follow Ashwin around everywhere. While visiting Rajasthan, Ashwin starts seeing things, and Rashi smells a mystery. But is Ashwin faking it, or are his visions true?

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My Review of Royals of Rajasthan

Royals of Rajasthan reminded me of Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), a Feluda mystery. In fact, the author’s note does mention Feluda as one of her writing influences.

A family vacation in Rajasthan snowballs into a serious problem when Ashwin has an odd experience. His parents are worried enough to seek help.

The hand-drawn illustrations are the best part of the book. They add a personal touch to the story. The author has drawn them herself. (How talented can one person be?)

Children will love the drama and the suspense of this quick read. The author does a good job of describing a typical family vacation with shopping, food, and sightseeing.

I can barely wait to know what happens in the next book.

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[Book Review] Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth by Aruna Nambiar

Genre: Contemporary fiction, humour

Set in small-town Kerala of the 1980s, Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth is part coming-of-age story, part social satire and part comedy of errors. Geetha, elevenish, is off for the annual family vacation in Kerala and is looking forward to all the fun with her cousins – visits to the beach and trips to the market to buy glass bangles and kites and shuttlecocks, evenings in the veranda listening to her grandfather’s ridiculous ghost stories which he swears are all true, marathon card games and ferocious boys-versus-girls battles with the bristles of brooms made from coconut fibre…

But as the summer unfolds, Geetha finds herself spending more time instead at the back of the house with the free-spirited cook, the hypochondriac cleaner, the virile gardener, a cheeky helper girl… …And Babu, son of Koovait Kannan, the bumbling plumber who made good. Babu’s family is immersed, meanwhile, in the wedding preparations for Babu’s sister, who is marrying the most eligible bachelor in the neighbourhood: Constable Venu, an expert thrasher of suspects and son of that wealthy black-marketer of supplies, Ration Raaman. But Babu’s mind is otherwise occupied… with thoughts of a face as rounded as a Malgova mango, of an oiled plait as thick as the ropes used to tie the fishing boats, of eyes that sparkle like the sea on a sunlit morn…

As Geetha and Babu’s closely linked but widely divergent lives intersect, both are about to lose some of the blissful ignorance and innocence of childhood. Charmingly quirky and often laugh-out-loud hilarious, Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth gently explores the themes of growing up, loss of innocence and the intimate yet aloof nature of upstairs-downstairs relationships.

Buy here: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00GPI01CI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Goodreads:

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My Review of Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth

I took my time to write my review of Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth because I wasn’t sure how I felt about the book. I have mixed feelings because I loved the writing style, the subtle humor, and the theme of 80s nostalgia but I could not wrap my head around the open ending.

Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth has two storylines that move parallel to each other in the beginning until they merge into one story.

• There’s Geetha, the teenager who visits her grandparents during the summer vacations and gets embroiled in a power play with her cousins.

• And then there’s Koovaith Kannan, the driver whose rags-to-riches story is the envy of his little village in Kerala–where Geetha’s grandparents live.

These lives of these very different characters intertwine in a way that shows how the relationship between master and servant evolves with time and circumstances.

In the beginning, it feels like you’ve been thrown amongst a whole bunch of characters. It takes a bit of time to get everyone straight. The author has helpfully supplied us with a family tree in the beginning, though (that I ignored because I was eager to start reading).

I don’t know Malayalam so terms like “ammayi,””ammooma,” “chukku vellam,” “eerkillu,” “kattan kaapi,” “neyappam,” “parippu,” and so on are new to me. There’s a glossary at the end but I did not refer to it. I like to deduce the meaning of the words from the context in which it is used. I also think that it is these words and expressions that give the story its distinct flavor. English translations would be a poor substitute.

The characters and incidents are described from Geetha’s point of view and it is this bit that I enjoyed the most. It brought back happy memories of my own summer vacations spent at my grandparent’s house.

Geetha’s analysis of her relatives and the dynamics between them is funny in a way only children’s thoughts can be. The author has done an excellent job of capturing events from the lens of a child’s eye. Geetha is left out of activities by her older cousins so she seeks companionship in the kitchen where the helpers of the house meet to carry out daily tasks.

At first, I could not understand why Koovaith Kannan’s story (a good-for-nothing boy who became a driver in Kuwait) was so elaborately described. His wife has an especially rancorous relationship with Devaki amma, Geetha’s grandmother. However, through Kannan’s life, we see how societal expectations push people to behave in a certain way.

Kannan’s children are also subject to scrutiny by relatives and neighbors, especially after he gets a well-paid job. Babu, Kannan’s son, who is smug in the belief that his father’s money will look after him has a life-altering realization after a dalliance with an older woman. Kannan’s daughter is conditioned to seek a “good” match as befitting her newly-acquired “elevated” status. The story of how her marriage is fixed and a dowry is agreed upon is a dispassionate look at one of the most deep-seated evils in India.

The author describes the failings and quirks of society without passing judgement and with a certain quiet humor that I greatly appreciated. She writes with such restraint and polish that it feels like I’m reading an opinion piece in a prestigious publication.

Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth ends on an unusual note. Geetha’s innocence is marred by an incident that affected me, too, because it was so different in tone to the story thus far. It felt like I had landed into a separate book.

I also want to say (without giving much away) that the lack of closure was jarring. Perhaps I have trouble processing abrupt endings.

And finally, you may ask – why “Mango Cheeks, Metal Teeth?” The title refers to two characters in the book whose actions affect Geetha deeply and change her perspective on life.

Pick up this book for the sheer reading pleasure this off-beat story gives you. I believe people from Kerala will enjoy the story all the more for its familiarity and nostalgia.

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(This post is part of Blogchatter Half Marathon Aug ’21.)

Book Review | Vignettes of Life by Sujit Dutta

Book details

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories

Publication date: March 11, 2020

Publisher: Evincepub Publishing

Amazon India (Kindle version): https://amzn.to/2VlMvxd

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Synopsis

Myriad vicissitudes in people’s lives has been lovingly woven into a collection of 14 short stories between the covers of “Vignettes of Life”. These stories revolve around human emotions and real life experiences laced with liberal dose of fictionalization. Each story encapsulates the eternal truth of life, that “Hope and Human Spirit triumphs, always and every time”.

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My Thoughts

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The 14 short stories in this collection span the length and breadth of the country, and even feature other countries like Sri Lanka, Australia, and Canada. It is perhaps a testament to the comprehensive life experiences of the author.

No story is like another–the wide variety of themes is mind-boggling. You will read about love, separation, terrorism, supernatural encounters, natural calamities, death, familial ties, addiction, and so much more.

The language is simple and easy to understand. The beauty of the tales lie in the simplicity of their storytelling. As you read each story, it seems like the author is sitting in front of you, recounting his experiences while you listen in rapt attention.

I particularly liked the attractive and polished cover art. The whole look gels very well with the contents of the book. Also, the selection of typography is excellent–it makes the stories all the more readable.

My favorite stories are And Time Stood Still (which deals with past life reincarnation and memories) and The Princess of Mekchok (about a Ladakhi girl, Sonam, and the calamity that befell her village).

[I was offered a copy of the book by Literoma Publishing Services in exchange for an honest review.]

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About the Author

Sujit Dutta is presently the Director of schools and colleges of the Army Welfare Education Society (Eastern region). After graduating from the National Defence Academy in 1979, he was commissioned in the Indian Army in December 1980. He took premature retirement in 2008 as Colonel and made his second career in the field of Human Resources in the corporate offices of Mumbai until 2018.

Vignettes of Life is his debut book.

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Book Review: Golden Wings by Srijoy Mitra

Rating: 4/5

Some stories hold your attention with their fast-paced narrative, whereas others capture the senses with the musicality of their language. Mitra succeeds in bewitching the reader solely with the powerful imagery evoked by his descriptions. Every character, every situation, and every emotion is painted in detail using a wide palette of colourful language. It is hard not to form a parallel storyline in one’s head while reading the book—sort of a movie going on up there—while flipping through the chapters.

The vivid description of the preparation Anicetus goes through to get into the prestigious school that holds the promise of transforming his very life is immensely relatable. The pressure to study and secure admission to the school, egged on by his lawyer father, nearly drives Anicetus crazy.

However, securing admission isn’t the end of the torture. In fact, it’s just the beginning. It is disheartening to see the way Anicetus loses touch with his old friends because of the inhuman pressures of schoolwork and soccer practice as well as peer pressure to hang out only with “cool” people. But one mustn’t judge Anicetus harshly—he does visit the “slum” to reunite with his friend who couldn’t make it to the prestigious school.

The visit turns out to be momentous—in a different way. Anicetus meets the love of his life in the “forbidden zone”, albeit clothed in rags with free, wild hair and flashing black eyes. She’s a spunky girl who can beat him hands down at a game of soccer, something Anicetus finds hard to digest because he’s the one who got into the “cool” school after all with its champion soccer team. He’s begun to navigate the world of prom queens and entitled females at his school, but this slum girl is literally a class apart.

The setting of the story also appears to be somewhat futuristic since the protagonist cannot believe that food comes from trees instead of factories. It’s unfortunate, but full marks to the author for envisioning an all-too-real future.

This is not a quick thrilling read by any means so prepare to spend a good many hours in the company of this imagery-heavy book. I won’t give away any more of the storyline—that’s for you to discover. Mitra has poured out his innermost thoughts on various topics in the guise of a narrative, and I find that I agree with him on most fronts.

What I loved best about Mitra’s work was the vivid wordplay that gave every emotion, event, and movement a definite form. I’d say the book defies categorization, although I do have it from the author (read his author interview) that the narrative is largely autobiographical.

Enjoy!

(This book was purchased on amazon.in and recommended by Literoma Publishing Services.)