Flaming Sun: Sundari Venkatraman (Indie Author): Blog Tour: THE SAME OLD LOVE by M.V. Kasi

THE SAME OLD LOVE
BY
M.V. KASI

My Review

The story is about Mahi (Maha Lakshmi Challuri) from Hyderabad. She’s your typical bad girl who’s the bane of a number of people at her college; more so in the case of the brother-sister duo Samrat and Ananya Reddy. Mahi used to be in love with Sidhu, who was equally in love with her. But to everyone’s surprise, Mahi agrees to an arranged marriage set up by her parents and gets married, without even a by-your-leave from Sidhu, and goes to live in the USA.

Fourteen years later, Mahi’s back in Hyderabad, divorced, having purchased her parents’ old house and comes to live in the neighbourhood, across from Samrat Reddy. Sparks fly as the two clash again, and yet again.

THUMBS UP:

I got hooked into the story from the word ‘go’. I so enjoyed the build up of Mahi’s character and even shed a few tears when I read about how she grew up to become what she is.

Samrat’s character – the quiet, intense hero – has also been well penned.

The other characters – Sidhu, Ananya, Shrishti, Rajeev – all had their roles to play and they did very well.

The love scenes between Mahi and Samrat sizzle through the book and have been well written and fit in nicely with the story.

The dialogues were all interesting and I must congratulate the author on coming up with such a lovely story with well-built characters in her very first book.

THUMBS DOWN:

The story could have a done with a couple of less love scenes as after a point, they seemed to take over the novel and were filling up pages unnecessarily.

There was too much of Ananya’s sob story that didn’t go well with the novel that’s supposed to centre on Mahi. A bit less of it would have worked better.

The end came forty pages too late. The reader keeps traversing the waves, going up and down with Mahi’s and Samrat’s life and emotions, eagerly awaiting closure, when yet another issue comes up at that point. This is one too many and takes away from the reader’s interest in the book.

These are the reasons when a tighter editing (and proofing) would have worked for the better.

VERDICT: All that said, The Same Old Love by first time author M.V. Kasi makes for a lovely romance and is a must read for lovers of the genre.

Disclaimer: I received a PDF version of this novel from the author via The Book Club in return for my honest review.

Blurb

A former bad girl with a past...

Mahi had hit the rock-bottom. All she wanted to do now was to start over and lead an uncomplicated drama free life in her hometown, Hyderabad. But unfortunately, some people never forgive or forget, and hold on to their grudges for a very long time.

A former nerd who hates her and wants her gone...

Samrat, a highly successful entrepreneur was Mahi's former classmate and current neighbor. Mahi had effectively ruined his higher educational prospects with her false allegations. She along with her similarly mean friends had also made his sister Ananya's life miserable during their college days. And to make matters even more complicated, Ananya is married to Mahi's first love, Sidhu, whom Mahi had callously left behind to marry a person of her parent's choice.

Watch the sparks fly...

When Mahi and Samrat butt heads at every turn, they are caught up in a fierce, but unwanted attraction that leads them into an exciting wild fling with no strings attached.

But what would happen when one of them is no longer happy with their arrangement, and begins to demand more, wanting everything...

A humorous, heartwarming, sexy story of redemption, friendship and love.

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Excerpt

Mahi sighed. "Samrat, I've already told you that I'm not that mean and aggressive girl from our college days anymore." Samrat didn't want to agree with her because that would mean that he will have to acknowledge that to himself. "Don't forget rude and immature along with being a liar." Her eyes flared, and she snapped out at him. "You were an arrogant ass, who has always felt superior to me with your holier-than-thou attitude. I would never like someone like you Mahi," she imitated him mockingly from the night fourteen years ago. Samrat was taken aback and a little shocked at the reminder. "But I guess one of things that didn't change about me is that I've still got a temper and some pride left," she said calmly. Samrat felt disgusted at himself for acting like some throwback cultural police. Women's dressing was the last thing he ever bothered with or even cared about. Mahi saw the disgust on his face. And that was her final straw. She began walking determinedly towards the door and then locked it. "What are you doing?" he asked, feeling slightly wary. She watched him, while walking slowly towards him with an exaggerated swing to her hips. "You are right. Maybe, I haven't changed. Maybe you are right to fire me for 'inappropriate behavior'," she whispered sultrily. When she was close enough, she held his shirt collar ends with both her hands, and dragged his head down towards her. Samrat could have easily resisted, but his brain was no longer functioning. He felt hypnotized and was staring at her bright red lips, expecting her to kiss him. But he just felt her nuzzle him around his neck and shoulders. After a few seconds, she pushed him away with a devilish smile on her face. "Now you can fire me. I'm sorry for what I did to you and Ananya all those years ago. But for your behavior towards me in the past three months, you can go to hell and stay there! You're so full of shit with your reasons to find fault with me and to fire me," she hissed and stormed out of the door. Samrat had no clue of what she had done, until he checked himself in the phone camera. He was shocked to see red lipstick kissing marks all over his pristine white collared formal shirt. He had a few meetings coming up in a few minutes and no spare clothes or even a jacket to cover up. He also wouldn't be able to pass through the office spaces without the red lipstick marks showing on him like beacons. He should be outraged, or even furious, but what he felt was something different. He kept telling himself several times that he was simply staying close to Mahi because he was trying to find a reason to fire her, which he now did. But at the back of his mind, even he knew what the real reason was. The signs were there all along, which he had been ignoring. He was slowly getting obsessed with her. With her playfulness, her smiles, and also because of seeing her regularly at his workplace and near his home. He had been going to work regularly, and sitting there thinking about her, wanting to see her all the time. The great inventor and entrepreneur known for his practical and cool headed ways, was almost wild with jealousy over harmless interactions or hugs. And it was jealousy over the woman who had almost ruined his life. Samrat cursed viciously. Again. ***** Mahi was upset and mad when she left the office building. She informed her team that she wasn't feeling well and would take rest of the day off. They would soon know that she was fired for inappropriate behavior. "Maybe, he'll even throw in assault charges. For the dirty sinful slut daring to touch his esteemed holiness," she muttered as she got into her house. She thought she was finally settling into a good schedule. She had a great job that she enjoyed. And after work, she visited her aunt almost every day at her new place. She met Rajeev there most of the times when he visited his mom. He got a great job offer in the city that he took up. Rajeev left a message on her phone asking her if she was free in the afternoon. She replied back that she was at home and would be making Singapore street noodles that he really liked. As she lay on the bed, she realized that even with the job and a routine, something was still missing. She was missing having friends and some major companionship. Even when she was trapped in an abusive relationship, she had always liked socializing. Dinesh had tried to isolate her, and keep her from making any meaningful attachments. So she had only ended up with very few acquaintances during the past fourteen years. She couldn't do anything about the companionship because she didn't want to go through another drama episode in her life. Either she hurt the men who loved her or they hurt her. But she could do something about friends. She socialized with her coworkers as much as possible during the working days, but they were all so young, and even if they weren't, everyone seemed to be busy with their own personal lives. She needed some friends from her age group, and someone who could connect with her way of thinking and actions. She had never made any long lasting friendships in her earlier childhood, since she was called 'naughty' and a 'bad influence'. But soon she had learnt how to control and then temper her behavior near the right people, making some really good friends in college. When she got married at twenty-one, she had to give up her friends as one of the promises she made to her then-newlywed husband. Sighing loudly, she thought of her gang from her college days and missed them like crazy.

Read Chapter One here...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hello I am MV Kasi and I am a romance addict. :-)

When I am not working in a full-time job or taking care of my family, I sneakily read at least 3 or 4 romance books of all possible genres within a week. I love reading books that are witty, humorous, heartwarming, hot and definitely with a happily-ever-after.

After sinking my teeth into hundreds of books over the years, I had an aha moment one day and started writing my first romance book. For three months straight I worked day and night until finally, I finished it. Then of course, I re-read what I wrote, cringed and deleted most of it and started over again. Finally, I had a version of it ready that I was satisfied with (somewhat). But after getting positive feedback from well-meaning friends and family members, I decided to self-publish it on Amazon.

Although my story takes place in India, featuring Indian characters, I'm hoping that it can be enjoyed by readers all around the world. Especially since romance has no boundaries when it comes to a sizzling one featuring a sassy heroine and a hot alpha hero.

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