Blog Tour: ONLY WHEAT NOT WHITE: LOVE OVERCOMES… by Varsha Dixit

Only Wheat Not White 

by 

Varsha Dixit 

MY REVIEW

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this ebook from the author (via Blog Tour hosted by The Book Club) in return for my honest review. I never received any monetary compensation for the same.

Eila Sood is the second Sood daughter from India. She goes to New York, USA to work with OIS Solutions for six months. She plans to stay with her estranged sister Sheela who’s married to an American. Sheela has two adorable sons – Aryan and Adam. Incidentally, her husband’s name is Steve Jobs. That made me smile.

The Sood family had cut off ties with their eldest daughter since she had married a firang. Now you know why the title is what it is.

Warning: Don’t read further if you haven’t read the book. Spoilers galore!

Right from the moment her plane lands in New York, Eila keeps bumping – most times literally – into a blue-eyed ogre. Halfway into the book, we find out that he’s Brett Wright. Despite her mother’s warning to choose “only wheat not white”, Eila finds herself attracted to this restaurateur. Tough times ahead!

Life gets more difficult when Sheela and Steve decide to go separate. Eila carries the burden of the whole family on her slender shoulders, while Sheela wallows in self-pity.

You have to read the full book to find out if a happy ending is possible.

To begin with, I fell in love with the gorgeous cover of Only Wheat Not White.

The story follows Eila’s life along with her sister and her family. It brings to light the lives of NRIs in the USA, especially over the past decade or so when the work scenario has taken a nosedive.

Eila’s character is strongly etched. She’s bold, hard-working and offers a lot of free advice. More than that, it shows how we Indians don’t understand the meaning of “minding our own business” and treat everyone’s problem as our own. She’s an endearing soul and the author has brought that out beautifully in the pages she has penned.

Sheela had obviously started off as a career woman. She marries Steve despite her parents’ strong disapproval because she’s in love. But over the years, despite a loving and helpful mother-in-law and two adorable kids; she falls apart due to her guilt. She feels she has wronged her parents by marrying a firang.

Varsha Dixit subtly brings forth the message about the pressure parents place on their children. The Soods are okay with their daughters going abroad and earning in dollars; living away from them. But they cannot accept an American for a son-in-law.

Steve loves his wife. But he’s unable to accept what she’s become. A realistic situation! I liked the way he patiently waits for his wife to find herself. Lucky Sheela!

All the side characters – Megan, Sandi, Murli, Randall, Cate, Mrs. Das, Judith, Mandy and more – are all well-etched and play their roles to perfection.

I have saved the best for the last – Brett Wright. He’s a hero to die for! A financial whiz turned restaurateur. He surprises himself by falling for this woman who keeps getting under his skin a little more every time they meet; and that’s quite often. The love scenes between Brett and Eila – even the build-up – are truly sizzling; making the reader drool. Kudos to the author!

Having said all that, I do have a couple of peeves about the book. I had to cross at least forty pages before I got absorbed into Eila’s story. Eila appears klutzy in the beginning and the author has used too many incidents to underline this. One or two instances would have sufficed to show the reader this. The book also could have done with a few more rounds of proof-reading to make it read better.

There were a few times I burst out laughing while reading the book. The humour is subtle but very much there. Here are a couple of quotes that made me laugh:

Eila kept frowning at the idiotic smile plastered on Megan’s face. Finally having had enough, Eila sent a message to Megan on the interoffice channel. “Either lose the smile or lose M.” Megan instantly let go of the smile.

“My sister mentioned you are a doctor. What kind?” And ten minutes later Eila realized that was one question she should not have asked. Sameer the neurosurgeon would not shut up. The more he talked, the less Eila listened. Yet she willed her eyes not to stray a millimeter off him. By now the ache had traveled from her cheeks to her neck and the top of her shoulders. By the end of his monologue Eila’s perception of Sameer had completely unraveled. His nose now appeared rather bulbous and his lower lip appeared more bug-bite puffy than sensuous. After hearing him describe what he does in such detail maybe I can actually perform a lumbar puncture.

Verdict: I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romances

The Blurb

What if the one you completely love is the one you simply can't! Twenty-six-year-old Eila Sood moves to America to mend fences with her estranged older sister, Sheela. Eila and the rest of the family in India had cut off ties with Sheela after she married Steve Jacobs, 'out of caste, and out of color'. Elia soon realizes that Sheela's marriage is on the rocks. To help pay Sheela's household bills, Eila takes a second job at an afternoon strip club. When she crosses paths with the owner, the handsome Brett Wright or 'blue-eyed ogre' as Elia calls him, he both infuriates and fascinates her. Brett turns out to be her reluctant and unquestionably sarcastic knight in shining armor. As Eila and Brett spend more time together their desire for each other builds. However, when Brett discovers the true reason for Eila's refusal he storms out of her life, accusing her of being a prejudiced coward. Will Eila find the courage to break stereotypes and embrace her love? Will Brett find solace in the arms of his ex-girlfriend Cate? Will Sheela and Steve divorce? All of these questions and more are answered in Varsha Dixit's latest and humorous and steamy love story.

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Meet the Author

I'm the author of four books and the genre that I write is contemporary romance. Penning stories defines and completes me.I thinks of myself as a borderline obsessive-compulsive dreamer who thinks deep but writes light. A true ‘feel good’ junkie seeking quick fixes, I love a good laugh and a good book. A voracious reader of who dunit mysteries and legal dramas, I did sit down to pen a book on serial killers but finding it impossible to maim or kill anyone, even on paper, I penned a romantic story instead. Thus, I found my true calling – at least for the time being.Even though creativity is gender free, I feel blessed and enriched to be a woman.
Currently, with my family, I'm settled in the US.

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