LOVE, AGAIN
BY
Sumeetha Manikandan &
Shrruti Patole Clarence
Shrruti Patole Clarence
My
Review
Disclaimer: I received the PDF version of this book
via The Book Club in return for my honest review. I received no monetary
compensation for the same.
The
book consists of two novellas by two authors. Let me deal with them separately.
THESE LINES OF MEHENDI by Sumeetha
Manikandan
This
is a story set in Chennai and is about Lalitha. The story opens with Lalitha
rushing to Bangalore as Suresh, her husband of ten years had committed suicide.
The wonder is that she had separated from him within a couple of months of
marriage. Unfortunately for her, she had not bothered to divorce him. His death
adorns her with the new title of “widow”. This brings her bridal services, at
the beauty parlour she runs, to a standstill. How can a widow be employed to
beautify brides-to-be?
Desperate
to get her business back on its feet, Lalitha agrees to a strange marriage
proposal of convenience, to the USA-based businessman Shrikanth. A sworn
bachelor, he’s left with no choice but to get married when his mother puts him
under pressure. She refuses to travel to the USA for her cancer treatment
unless he gets married. And that is how Lalitha and Shrikanth tie the knot. You
have to read the book to find out if their marriage works.
The
story flows well and brings to the reader the flavours of Chennai as Sumeetha
Manikandan takes you through the traditions and social norms unique to this
area. The book has been written in crisp language and makes for an interesting
read. I, for one, was keen to find out what happens to the protagonists and how
they handle their marriage of convenience.
A
couple of things that could have been better: Many instances and phrases have
been repeated. This could have been avoided to make the book read better. A
number of people with their names as Shrikala, Shrikant and Shrimati made it
difficult to follow. If it was troublesome for the Tamil in me, it could be
worse for people unfamiliar with the territory.
I
would definitely recommend this book for lovers of romance.
A TULIP IN THE DESERT by Shrruti Patole
Clarence
Charmaine
lives with her parents and studies history at Amsterdam University. Her best
friend is Ira. Raj who used to live in India, chooses to study the same subject
at the same university. Whenever Charmaine reads about Cleopatra’s suicide, she
feels herself transported to a different realm. Something resonates deeply
within her. Coincidentally, Raj also feels the same on the subject. So the
author takes the reader on a journey of discovery even as romance blooms
between the two.
I
was excited when I started reading this book. I have always been fascinated
with the paranormal; anything and everything to do with reincarnation.
The
first few chapters have been edited well enough to keep the readers hooked. But
after that, the story meanders in many different directions. It goes back and
forth in flashbacks, making it rather confusing. There’s no delineation between
present and past, especially when Anuj suddenly pops in the picture I couldn’t
quite understand where he fitted in the story. Then there are the roles played
by Charmaine and Raj in the Cleopatra play at university. Their past life
characters and the roles they play don’t match and hence pretty confounding. When
the story goes in flashback to Cleopatra’s era, what I would have liked to see
is the scenes unfolding in the author’s words instead of the history lesson
that I got.
The
author is new and this is her first work. She definitely has a good story to
tell. With the right editor and guidance, this could have been made into a
bestseller. I wish her better luck with her future works.
Blurb
Life is tough, and it becomes tougher when you need to make life changing decisions. Would you dare to love again? Would you allow yourself to be loved and to be cherished again? Many of us turn away from life, thinking that it is not for them but some take a leap of faith rewrite their story for the sake of love?
Love, Again is a double header book bringing you two stories about chancing love again -These Lines of Mehendi by Sumeetha Manikandan and A Tulip in the Desert by Shrruti Patole Clarence.
Buy @
Meet the Authors
Sumeetha Manikandan
Sumeetha Manikandan is a freelance writer and an author who loves to write and base her plots on the tambrahm community of Mylapore, Chennai. She is the author of ‘The Perfect Groom’ that has been a bestselling ebook on the top 50 charts of Amazon India ever since publication.
An avid reader, she loves to read across different genres – romance, historical fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy etc. A history buff to the core,
she is currently translating Ponniyin Selvan – the evergreen tamil classic epic history by Kalki Krishnamurthy into English.
Married to film maker K.S. Manikandan, Sumeetha lives in Chennai, along with her six year old daughter.
Shrruti has been a voracious reader since early years and took to composing poems when she was very young.
An Aviation Manager and 10years with various airlines, she has been on a sabbatical for her two son's aged six years and 1 year respectively.
She enjoys this welcome break from career, to be able to pursue her passion, writing!
She has to her credit 6 short stories featuring in different Anthologies all published this year, one of which will soon be seen as a short movie.
And Love, Again a double header romance Novel publish date 25th May 2015, with her story A Tulip in the Desert will soon be seen on the stands!
Her lyrics feature in the theme song of group Young Indians – an off shoot of CII (Confederation of Indian Industries).
Her poems feature in Zest of Inklings and a Hindi poem in an e-book – Ehsaas, judged by eminent Urdu and Hindi screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright - Javed Siddiqui.
Shrruti is a warm and friendly person who loves music and watching sports when she is not writing.
Shrruti Patole Clarence
An Aviation Manager and 10years with various airlines, she has been on a sabbatical for her two son's aged six years and 1 year respectively.
She enjoys this welcome break from career, to be able to pursue her passion, writing!
She has to her credit 6 short stories featuring in different Anthologies all published this year, one of which will soon be seen as a short movie.
And Love, Again a double header romance Novel publish date 25th May 2015, with her story A Tulip in the Desert will soon be seen on the stands!
Her lyrics feature in the theme song of group Young Indians – an off shoot of CII (Confederation of Indian Industries).
Her poems feature in Zest of Inklings and a Hindi poem in an e-book – Ehsaas, judged by eminent Urdu and Hindi screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright - Javed Siddiqui.
Shrruti is a warm and friendly person who loves music and watching sports when she is not writing.
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These days many foods are touted either as organic or as super food. The market is full of such 'health fads' and we all fall for these gimmicks.
In keeping with our hectic lifestyles, understanding how nutrition is the key to our health is the need of the hour. You don't need exotic fruits and vegetables to get fit. What you need is altering your eating habits with simple food alternatives that have we probably savored in our childhood.
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Thanks Sundari for that lovely review. Will keep your pointers in mind
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