Tuesday, December 15, 2015

More Than Just Desire by Summerita Rhayne



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More Than Just Desire 
by Summerita Rhayne

Blurb 


The Bollywood diva who regrets nothing...
Piya walked out of an explosive situation three years ago. Now she's back in Bollywood and wants to regain the crown that she left behind when she ran away from Arfaaz. It seems everyone who used to idolize her has forgotten her. In the competitive world of starry glamour, the only way she can restart her career is trash the past and make some waves.

The man who wants her atonement..
Arfaaz is determined to get his revenge on Piya for making a farce of their marriage and then leaving him to face the mudslinging. He forces her to keep up the appearances and stay with him so she can play the loving wife and repent on her sins. But he finds Piya isn't so easy to handle. She drives him crazy with her antics. On the top of that the attraction between them sizzles and threatens to make him forget reason.

Conflict clashes with desire..
No matter how intense the passion between them gets, their ways are bound to diverge. Piya knows she cannot let this man find a way into her heart. There is too much to risk and she cannot afford to forget the real reason she has come back. Success is the only mantra she knows and really, all Arfaaz wants is revenge…

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EXCERPT 

‘You’ll divorce me?’ The sense of anticlimax she felt annoyed her. Why wouldn’t he, for God’s sake? She’d been far from an ideal partner. No man wanted a three year estranged wife surely? Or why would he allow her to remain away for so long? For no logical reason, the knowledge had a sharp edge, stabbing her insides deeply. Arfaaz’s gaze was fixed on the flush deepening on her cheeks. The colour of anger...or joy at getting her freedom? It had been a mistake to pick her up in his arms, to give in to the urge to subdue that stubborn defiance. Three years since he’d touched her, yet her bones felt as delicate under his hands as the night he’d gripped her shoulders in anger. Evoking the same remorse one might feel for handling a bird badly. She had worn a metal colored dress that night. He could still feel the slithery fabric beneath his fingers. Another of her risqué dresses, with deceptively demure full sleeves while the shocker was the back. Which was missing. He had never objected to what she wore, though primitive instincts protested. She had a media image to maintain. He hadn’t wanted to act the possessive husband. A mistake, he thought again. Even the brief brush of her body against his had lit a spark that reminded him of how possessive he’d wanted to be. She had taken enough advantage of him. The grim thought rose from a host of emotions. He’d suffered, he’d been fooled, he’d been dumped. Was he going to take it all and let her go as easy as pie? ‘If you want a divorce, you’ll have to do a small favour for me first,’ he told her. ‘Favour?’ ‘Something which is important to me. Then you’ll be free to go.’ ‘I will?’ He shrugged, letting her make what she could out of it. ‘Anyway, we can’t stand here and talk it out. Come inside. We’ll discuss it over dinner.’ ‘Yes, divorce must be one of the prime discussable topics for dinnertime conversation,’ she said waspishly. ‘For everything spectacular Piya the topnotch actress has done, this must be the downslide indeed. To tamely sit across her husband and rationally chat over the break-up of her marriage,’ he jibed harshly. ​ ‘However, I think it’s time for you to take a step down from the pedestal.’


Meet Summerita Rhayne 


Summerita Rhayne loves to write sensual and emotional romance. There's no knowing when some quirky - or sometimes even not so quirky - happening in daily life might trigger her right brain and then she's off craving a new story. She loves writing characters who learn and grow and find their way out of their troubles and emotional hang-ups. Hot, sensual heroes and sassy but sweet heroines mostly fit the bill in her stories. She also believes that a touch of humor never goes amiss in a book.


She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!

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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Book Blitz : Roomies/Foodies : Lakshmi and Meghana



Check out the Contest: Try the recipe in the excerpt and click pictures (with or without you). Share it on social media tagging us and win a free copy of the book!
Roomies / Foodies 
by 
Lakshmi Ashwin and Meghana Chaudhary Joshi
Publisher 


Blurb 
The year is 2001. Two young Indian girls arrive in the U.S. for the first time, to attend graduate school and be room-mates. One’s a non-cook. The other’s kitchen skills are strictly basic. As luck would have it, both are consummate foodies. And it’s not just advanced Molecular Biology they’ll come to tackle—the daily challenge is to feed their stomachs…and souls…on a thinner-than-spaghetti budget! Part memoir, part cook-book, Roomies/Foodies compiles the experiments and culinary adventures of Lux and Meg as they stick to their resolve of eating only non-boring food! Written in a slick, hip, conversational style, this well-organized handbook bubbles with anecdotes, tips, tricks, cheater’s methods and over 60 lip-smacking recipes. Spanning an easy-to moderate spectrum of skills, Meg and Lux’s “Eureka moments” in their own kitchen will help spare YOU some painful trial and error in yours!


EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER 

One day, exhausted, I fell asleep on the couch in the graduate student lounge at Roswell Park, waiting for Lux. Since we were on the same research campus, we commuted and ran errands together. In those early days, we were joined at the hip.
 It was a lot to deal with, this new life, with its sudden and crushing study load, having to walk or take public transport everywhere (I missed my Kinetic Safari) and we were glad of each other’s company. We started taking advantage of the subway and other modes of public transport to explore our town, checking out affordable food joints. One such journey introduced us to crépes. I tried making them at home and discovered a really simple breakfast item in the process.


Serves 4

Ingredients:

Rice flour or refined flour (maida)                   1½ cups
Milk                                                                        1 cup
Egg                                                                          1
Slab of chocolate                                                     1
Butter
Sugar                                                                      3 tsp

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes for each crepe
               
Mix the flour with milk and sugar and beat in the egg.
Melt butter on a tava* or a flat non-stick pan on medium heat.
Pour the flour mixture evenly in a thin layer across the bottom of the pan, coating it completely.
Grate the bar of chocolate over the open side of the crepe, in a sufficient quantity to cover the top, while the other side is still cooking.
Gently lift up a side of the crepe to see if it is done. It should appear slightly browned and lift easily without tearing.
Fold the crepe in half over itself. The chocolate should melt and hold the 2 edges together. Remove and serve with a melting dot of butter on top.

Tip: For an interesting Cheese-n-Chocolate variation, sprinkle some grated cheese or small globs of cheese after you have sprinkled the grated chocolate. If you have no time for the grated chocolate step, make just the plain crepe and spread Nutella or jam, or cheese spread for an even quicker meal 

MEET MEGHANA CHAUDHARY JOSHI, LAKSHMI ASHWIN


Meghana Chaudhary Joshi (Meg) has worked in clinical research in the US, run her own socio-environmental venture and is currently Practice Manager with Mirai Health. She is a fitness freak who loves to travel and explore varied cuisines as much as the outdoors. Meg lives in Pune with her husband, daughter, and Golden Retriever. 

Lakshmi Ramachandran, a.k.a Lux, graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2006. She is presently a science writer at the National University of Singapore. Besides Science, she is passionate about food and loves to cook. She lives in Singapore with her husband and two children. 

MEET MEG AND LUX :)


Contacts them @
Twitter: @RoomiesFoodies
Email: roomiesfoodies@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bloodygoodbook
Twitter: @BloodyGoodBook
Website: www.bloodygoodbook.com

Contest 

Try the recipe in the excerpt and click pictures (with or without you). Share it on social media tagging us and win a free copy of the book!

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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Help Fight Illiteracy!


Global Literacy Infographic

The Ruby Iyer Diaries by Laxmi Hariharan


The Ruby Iyer Diaries
by 
Laxmi Hariharan



The Blurb


The prequel to The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer: This is a peek into the soul of an angry, young girl, who will come of age in a city on the verge of total annihilation.


The Series 



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Meet the Author




She had an awesome time launching TV channels for MTV and NBCUniveral (Syfy) around the world, when a near death experience convinced Laxmi Hariharan that she had to get writing. A one-time journalist with The Independent, she has since published fast paced action thrillers with a dash of romance and a touch of the fantastical such as the multi award winning The Ruby Iyer Series. Featured among the top five women in media in India Today, she also blogs for the Huffington Post, has written for The Guardian and has been featured in many publications including The Times of India, The Economic Times, The Telegraph and Verve. Married to a filmmaker and fellow author, her life often resembles a dramedy of errors film script. A Bombayite by birth, she lives in London, where she writes while listening to electronica and is an avid street art photographer. She is also the proud owner of a mononym Twitter handle @laxmi

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Monday, November 30, 2015

Kanhu and Other Stories

“This book contains eleven short stories in Odiya translated into English. The original authors are all well-known writers, some of them winners of the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi awards and others honoured with several state-level awards.
The stories in this anthology reflect the rich and divergent cultural heritage of Odisha and the current thinking in Odiya society – varying from focus on the plight of the underprivileged to the struggles of different sections of society in dealing with moral dilemmas.


The stories have been selected carefully to promote the Odiya language, with its colourful idiom, the heritage and the social ambience of Odisha, to a wider audience so that the readers can learn about its rich literature and the glorious history of Odisha.“
To pick up folklore and to translate them into a language that is understood by the  majority of the population is no small task. To ensure that the reader who knows nothing about the language, people and culture of a particular state gathers the minutest of things you write, is an even bigger challenge. Often, much is lost in translation but Saroj Mishra has done a wonderful job of translating the works of literary giants of Odisha and ensuring that it reaches the masses who do not know the local language.
Each story addresses a different subject - each depicting some virtue we would like to imbibe in our lives. The stories highlight the lives and livelihood of the common man of Odisha and also the kind of lives they lead. From a simple villages who reaches the town to find a job to the temple chariot festival, it all finds a mention in this collection of stories. Saroj Mishra has done a commendable job of translating, though the proof reading could have been a tad better.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Book Review : The Guardians of the Halahala

The deadly Halahala, the all-devouring poison churned from the depths of the White Lake by the devas and asuras, was swallowed by Shiva to save the universe from extinction.
But was the Halahala truly destroyed?
A small portion still remains – a weapon powerful enough to guarantee victory to whoever possesses it. And both asuras and devas, locked in battle for supremacy, will stop at nothing to claim it.
As the forces of Devaloka and Patala, led by Indra and Shukracharya, plot to possess the Halahala, Shiva turns to mankind to guard it from their murderous clutches. It is now up to Samrat Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine to quell the supernatural hordes – and prevent the universe from tumbling into chaos!
A sweeping tale of honour and courage in the face of infinite danger, greed and deceit, The Guardians of the Halahala is a fantastical journey into a time of myth and legend.



Shatrujeet Nath has sold ice-creams, peddled computer training courses, written ad copy, and reported on business as a journalist and assistant editor at The Economic Times. His first book, The Karachi Deception, was published in 2013. The Guardians of the Halahala, his second book, and the first in The Vikramaditya Trilogy series, was published in 2014. At present, he is writing The Conspiracy at Meru, the second volume of the trilogy. When he is not writing, he can be seen reading or playing with his daughter – or daydreaming of buying a small castle in Scotland.

To be honest, the first time I heard about this author was when one of my friends nominated me in a lucky draw to win The Guardians of Halahala as a prize. To my utter surprise, I won the contest and Shatrujeet sent across a cop of the book.

I was mighty impressed with the cover design and upon reading the blurb, could not wait to begin reading it. The author has managed to merge history and mythlogy well enough, leaving the reader asking for more. The story begins at the SamudraManthan where the devas and asuras have assembled to churn out the nectar of immortality or the amrit. What they mistook as amrit was actually the deadly poison Halahala. While Shiva managed to save the world by consuming that poison, a portion of it might have been sneaked away by someone who understood the power of the Halahala. Guarding the Halahala was entrusted to Samrat Vikramaditya of Avanti. Meanwhile he finds himself embroiled in both human and supernatural conflicts. The Hunas and Sakas are looking out for invading the Sindhuvarta; while the devas and asuras are competing against each other to lay their hands on the Halahala. The struggles of a mere mortal while having to safeguard something from the supernatural forces and while having to deal with political and personal issues makes up the rest of the book. The reader is leftwondering what happens afterwards, whether the Halahala is finally and forever out of reach of the devas and asuras and whether Avanti manages to sustain itself and whether Vishakha, the queen ever wakes up from her comatose sleep.

The author's writing style is engrossing and there is not a single dull moment in the story. The reader feels transported to the scenes in the story and are fully involved. I highly recommend The Guardians of the Halahala and can't wait for the release of The Conspiracy at Meru - the second part of the Vikramaditya trilogy.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Cover Reveal : Soul Warrior by Falguni Kothari



Cover Reveal:
SOUL WARRIOR - THE AGE OF KALI 
Book One
BY FALGUNI KOTHARI




Blurb 

Twisted myths. Discretion advised.
Fight fate, or succumb to destiny?
In the dark Age of Kali, the Soul Warrior alone stands guard over the Human Realm, protecting its denizens from evil-willed asuras or demons. When a trick of fate appoints him guru to a motley crew of godlings, he agrees to train them as demon hunters against his better judgment. Suddenly, Lord Karna is not only battling the usual asuras with sinister agendas, but also rebellious students and a fault-ridden past.
Spanning the cosmic realms of mythic India, here is a tale of a band of supernatural warriors who come together over a singular purpose: the salvation of Karna’s secret child.

AUTHOR'S NOTE  TO LOVERS OF MYTHOLOGY....
WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH SOUL WARRIOR?

When you grow up in India, you are engulfed in tales of good and evil, gods and demons, karma and reincarnation on a daily basis. India’s myths are as much part of day-to-day life as is bathing. So I wondered if heaven and hell actually exists what would they look like? What are the good or bad souls doing in this Heaven and Hell? Are the souls in Heaven any happier being stuck there than the souls repenting in Hell? Do they want to come back to Earth as humans?

These questions were the basis of Soul Warrior’s mythos, as was Vedic India and the Mahabharata. India has such a rich offering of grand stories, and its people have a thirst to read them. I want to tell these stories, but in my way. I didn’t want to simply retell the popular tales. I wanted to reimagine them. Go beyond the known myths into the realm of pure fantasy.


Excerpt


SHUNYA: NOTHING AND EVERYTHING

Kuru Kshetra Battlefield.

Day 17 of the Great Kuru War, seven thousand five hundred years ago.
Death is hot.
That surprises me. I’d imagined death as cold and brutal. Merciless. But in truth, death is hot as blood, and constant like a heartbeat.
Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. My lifeblood ebbs to the rhythm. My head ripped from its torso by Anjalika, the arrow of death that burns even now with the energy of the sun. Struck from behind like some novice. Felled in battle by that lily-livered usurper the Heavens smile upon—Prince Arjun. Brother Arjun.
What have I done?
I harness the thought. Cease all reflection and wrench free of my mortal body. I soar up, up into the gloaming, snapping the ties that tether me to life. Dead, I have no use for ties.
“A matter of perspective, Karna, O son of my godsire.” The unearthly words strum through the air, and I quiver like a plucked bowstring, overcome as much by the voice as its blasphemous claim. “Bonds of devotion nourish the soul, brother.”
There is that word again. Brother. Unpleasant laughter wells up in me. Alive, I am abandoned, denied my birthright—Celestial or royal. Death, it seems, changes everything.
A bright, nebulous light brings forth Lord Yama, the God of Death, atop his divine mount. His elephantine thighs ripple beneath a silken dhoti, ochre and crimson of color, as he guides the mammoth water buffalo to a halt. An iron medallion sways against the God’s powerful cerulean torso, its center stone an ethereal blood orange.
Hypnotic. Pulsing with life. I am drawn to the stone.
“Piteous waste,” Lord Yama mutters, surveying the carnage of war far below us.
I trace the trajectory of his gaze and behold the battered remains of my army drenched in the evidence of its mortality. Is it true? Have we died in vain?
Words form inside me and I will them out. “Shall we go, my lord?”
“Ha! Impatient to be judged, are you? Anxious to have your fate revealed?” asks the Judge of the Hell Realm. His red-black eyes burn with intelligence and compassion in a blue-tinged face that is long and lean and hard. “Rest easy, brother-warrior. You are not bound for the Great Courtroom.”
Not bound for Hell? Where then? Fear has eluded me for so long that I take a moment to recognize it. A hollow-bellied feeling it is, as annoying as a bone stuck in my throat.
“My lord, I have done bad deeds…terrible deeds in my life. I have waged wars, this horrendous bloodshed, and all because my pride could not—would not abide rejection. I have sinned. I must atone for my actions.”
Lord Yama smiles in a way I do not like. “You have redeemed yourself admirably, Karna. You forfeited your life for the greater good today. The deed far outweighs any misguided ones. Be at peace, brother, and enjoy the fruits of your karma.”
There is but one place to enjoy such fruits—the Higher Worlds.
I’d rather burn in Hell for eternity. I say so. “I won’t live amongst the Celestials.” Coexisting with the very souls who’ve spurned me is unthinkable. Watching her—for she would surely reside in Heaven soon—will be eternal torture.
Yama shakes his head, the horns on his crown slashing to and fro. “I thought you might say that. Relax. Your destiny lies elsewhere.”
“Am I to be reborn then? Am I to begin a new life, and forget the past?” Pain, sharp as a blade, lances through me at the thought. Forget my past? My family? Even her? Was that my punishment? To forget all that made me human?
It must be so. For have I not betrayed them as surely as I’ve betrayed my prince regent?
“Human rebirth is not your destiny, either. You are chosen, brother. Your war skills are needed for a higher purpose.” The God slips off his mount, his garments rustling in agitation. “This unjust war has pushed the Cosmos to the vortex of a cataclysm. Tomorrow, the Kuru War will end. Fearing its outcome, the Celestials rolled the Die of Fate and have unwittingly bestowed on Demon Kali untold powers.” Lord Yama bares his fangs in disgust at the foolish gamble. “Imagine the havoc that asura and his minions will wreak on the weak if left unchecked. The Human Realm must be safeguarded during Kali’s dark reign.”
I can imagine the horror only too well as I have battled with evil all my life. But I am done with wars. I am done with defeat. I won’t waste another lifetime fighting.
“With due respect, my lord, I am not the man for this task.”
“You are not a man at all,” Yama thunders, fists shaking. “You are the son of Surya, the Sun God. Accept that you are no ordinary soul.”
I say nothing. I think nothing. I feel something but I squash it down.
Lord Yama’s thick black brows draw together. “Demon Kali will try to pervade every particle of good that exists in the Cosmos, beginning with the corruptible Human Realm. Once he obliterates all of humanity, he’ll set his sights on the Celestials. Kali will not stop until he’s destroyed our way of life. But you can stop him. You are light to his darkness. Do you understand now why you had to betray him? Your beloved humans need you, Karna. I need you. Our father believes in you. Claim your rightful place in the Cosmos.”
Impatiently, Lord Yama removes the iron medallion from his neck and holds it out. The vermillion sunstone glows as if its soul is on fire. Nay! It is my soul that is on fire.
Indescribable energy curls through me. I gasp, though not in pain. I shudder and feel myself grow large, grow hot. Was this rebirth?
I am strong, full-bodied and lethal once more. Then I roar as light bursts forth from my very core and I throb with glorious, blinding power. When I come to myself, my world has changed again. Bubbles of color shimmer all around me: cobalt and saffron, azure and rose. By karma! They are souls. Infinite floating souls.
“Behold the spectrum of life: the worthy, the notorious, the righteous and the sinners.” The God of Death’s soul was a worthy sapphire blue with a tinge of silver. “Your duty, should you choose to accept the office of the Soul Warrior, is to hunt down the red-souled asuras and crush them. Whatever you decide, I wish you a long and successful Celestial existence, Karna,” Yama booms out and vanishes into the purpling sky.
The parley has stunned me. The world of color holds me in thrall. I was dead. Yet, now I am not. A new path lies before me. Unwanted, unwelcome, I insist on principle. I close my eyes. Open them to stare at the medallion cupped in my hand—a golden-hued hand at once familiar and not—and know myself for a fool. I do want this. It’s what I am.
Bastard-born. Rebel. Son. Husband. Father. Warlord. And protector. I fist the talisman, buoyed by its concrete warmth. This is who I am.
I am the Soul Warrior.

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Meet the Author

Falguni Kothari is a New York-based South Asian author and an amateur Latin and Ballroom dance silver medalist with a semi-professional background in Indian Classical dance. She’s published in India in contemporary romance with global e-book availability; Bootie and the Beast (Harlequin Mills and Boon) and It’s Your Move, Wordfreak! (Rupa & Co.), and launches a mythic fantasy series with Soul Warrior (The Age of Kali, #1)

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Monday, October 19, 2015

The Second Coming by Shubha Menon :: Book Review



The Second Coming
by 
Shubha Menon



The Blurb
A wedding planner who believes in fairytale weddings, Mini yearns for romance in her own marriage. The magic of the initial years has vanished, leaving behind a hunger that she assuages with chocolate. Mini would love to change her situation, but she is over the hill, overweight and under confident. The chances of having a hot affair with a happening man are dim, if not non-existent.
An erstwhile royal scion decides to wed a Bollywood starlet and Mini is sent to Mumbai to plan the celebrations. The manager of the Mumbai office is young Rustom, the answer to Mini’s secret dreams. Goaded by impending menopause, Mini decides it’s now or never. She simply has to take a second stab at romance.
Rustom is a ladies man. He is also married, and a skirt chaser. Mini decides to shape up and get into the kind of skirts Rustom would want to chase.
Working together closely, Rustom and Mini fall into each others’ arms. Meanwhile, her husband gets wind of the affair and tries to reclaim her. Now Mini must choose between heady romance and steady matrimony.
But soon, Mini discovers that her romantic idol has feet of clay. In a dramatic end, the trusty husband stages a timely rescue. And Mini learns that a rock solid husband is worth many a dream lover.

                                        The Review

Fed up of her boring dull life with her husband Shyam, lovingly nicknamed as SickO Shyam,
Mrinalini aka Mini falls for a chance to fly away to Mumbai, the land of dreams, she is
brave enough to get onto a flight for the sake of one last romance in life before
menopause knocks on her doors. She dreams of meeting her DL - Dream Lover in Mumbai.

While in Mumbai, she meets Rustom, the hot Parsi who heads the Mumbai operations of SoulMates
where Mrinalini is deputed to, to plan the ultimate 'no budget' wedding of a prince. Rustom
has everything Mini wants in her prince charming. Ultimately, her heart does a somersault
and she falls flat for him. Rustom on the other hand, though married is attracted to Mini
and wants her in his life badly.

Will Mini leave Sicko Shyam and spend her life with DL? What will Rustom do? Will he leave
his wife? To find an answer to these questions and more, read The Second Coming by Shubha Menon.

The author has kept the narrative light and it would not be wrong to say that the book is
along the lines of an M&B romance. The book is funny, quirky and talks about second chances.
It is a refreshing read and will engross you right from page 1. Shubha Menon has captured
Mini's personality well and takes the reader through all her emotions.

All in all, this is an entertaining read. That being said, please pick this book only if you

think you will enjoy this genre.

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Meet the Author



This is her first book. She is currently working as a Senior Creative Director with Ogilvy Delhi. A practising Buddhist, she dreams of living in the hills where she can read, write and grow climbing roses. She lives in Delhi with her husband, daughter and two Dachshunds. 


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