Teaser Tuesday: If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell

"So what does all this mean? I have to go through life talking to ghosts now?"

He shrugged. "After that boy, you never mentioned anything else. I thought maybe you are ok."
~Page 237

Title: If Walls Could Talk
Author: Juliet Blackwell
ISBN: 9780451231819
Publisher: Obsidian Mystery/2010
Pages: 316

Melanie Turner is escaping her past and comes to San Fransisco Bay Area to her parents. Her mother passes away and she takes over her father's construction business. And she is well known for remodeling old houses. However, she has plans to get away from all this and go to Paris.  

She is helping out one of her friend in renovating one of his house that he plans to sell. after the renovation. And something goes horribly wrong. Matt, her friend had invited his friends to half demolish the house before renovating and it ends up in a murder. No one knows who killed that man, who is the partner of Matt but Mel does not like him. Kenneth dies in her arms and that somehow makes her see him as a ghost. A ghost which is confused, and does not know what happened but wants her help in finding out his killer.

Mel has no lead except for an old box, which contains obsolete papers. Yet there are attacks, directly related to the crime. She knows she has to nail the killer, especially when Matt is arrested for it. Mel has never liked Kenneth, yet she does everything to nab his killer. And she finds dark dealings, which involves almost everyone....

It is a cozy mystery and has a good story line. Mel is very likeable. Although she professes to leave for Paris soon, she has too many entanglements to just let go. I look forward to read more by the author..

Sometimes Mine by Martha Moody

For Twelve years I loved a man I knew to be somebody's husband. I didn't think of him as a husband.

Title: Sometimes Mine
Author: Martha Moody
ISBN: 9781594484681
Publisher: Riverhead Books/2009
Pages: 326

Genie Toledo has everything going for her. She is a top cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio and has a long standing affair with Mick Crabbe, who is a well-known college basketball coach. He lives in West Virginia and they get to see each other every Thursday. Genie is comfortable with it. She is not really keen to be more involved. But things take an unexpected turn. And she is forced to face all this alone. Only then she realizes the importance of Mick in her life. And also tat she cannot go without connecting with others. That includes his family. And her daughter.

Two people, one of them married, find each other so much dependent on each other. One of them is terminally ill. And the other has to cope alone. Martha Moody touches our heart with her handling of this sensitive issue. We are touched by her words and our heart goes out for Genie and Mick. 

I am definitely going to read more by this author...

The Heir by Grace Burrowes

Title: The Heir
Author: Grace Burrowes
ISBN: 9781402244346
Publisher:  Sourcebooks/2010
Pages: 448

In this historical romance, I liked some of the  secondary characters rather well.  With an independent minded heroine, the housekeeper Anna Seaton, there are some good dialogues between her and Gayle Windham, earl of Westhaven, son and heir to the duke of Moreland. He is trying to escape the machinations of his father to get him married. He chooses to live in his London house in the sweltering heat and is literally hit by Anna, who thinks he has designs for a housemaid. When she realizes her mistake, she tends to him, taking care of all his needs. Inevitably they are attracted to each other but Anna has her secrets and she refuses to marry him. Gayle Windham is determined to marry her..

As romances go, it is good. At places it does not seem very smooth but the storyline keeps our interest alive. His brothers are kind of weird but they do lighten it up. The duke too is lovable in his own way. And Morgan, the housemaid wins our heart. I liked Anna and of course, Gayle. Their chemistry is good. What more does one need from a romance? For all those romance lovers, who don't mind steamy scenes, it is a good read, for a cold winter day or night...

Teaser Tuesday: The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart

"Karel had never accustomed himself to the way a woman's joy and sorrow could sound so much same when given voice. He'd grown up around boys, in the midst of men, for whom pain was weathered in silence and pleasure announced in exaggerated groans of relief."
~Page 285

Title: The Wake of Forgiveness
Author: Bruce Machart
ISBN: 9780151014439
Publisher: Houghton  Mifflin Harcourt/2010
Pages: 309

Based in Texas, this novel starts from 1895 and goes on to 1924 spanning almost 30 years. When a landowners fourth child is born, his wife dies. Karel, the child is hardly ever loved by his father. But his brothers do seem to love him. Karel often dreams of the mother he has never known and wishes for his father to love him, which does not happen. 

Since a toddler, Karel is good with horses. Only while riding, Karel feels bonded to his father, who does his best not to encourage the boy. When a Spanish Landowner comes into town along with his daughters in tow, 15 year old Karel is made to race for the stakes of his family. It turns out that it is his brothers who gain but he is left alone with his father. And he gets estranged from his brothers. Fourteen years later, when tragedy strikes, Karel knows that he has to to make a move which might bring him and his brother closer to each other. 

With horses, and racing and people whose life surrounds around the animals, this novel is captures the spirit of Texas of those times. Karel is not treated well by his father but we never see him hating his father. His father had made him and his brothers plow the fields due to which all of them have been permanently marked by the yoke. All this are a bonding factor between them. And when time comes for them to reconcile, they are only too eager to meet each other halfway through.

It goes back and forth, abut it does not distract us from the novel. Long after finishing it, the story, the characters stay in the mind. Especially Karel. After all, it is his story. The prose is wonderful, moving and well written.

Teaser Tuesday: From the Dead by John Herrick

The pain sharpened. Jesse rocked back and forth, not in comfort but in anguish, while he convulsed on the floor in terror. As he writhed in torture, he crouched low into fetal position. In a torrent, sodium-laden tears burst from his eyes and pattered on the floor.
~~~Page 114

Title: From the Dead
Author: John Herrick
ISBN: 9780982147016
Publisher: SegueBlue/2010
Pages: 375

Jesse leaves home at the age of eighteen years for Hollywood. His father is a preacher and Jesse can't measure up to him. But Jesse doesn't get the break he craves. He ends up doing roles as extra and works for a photographer. His relationship with Jada, whom he had met as soon as he arrived there has become a burden for both of them. Yet he is unable to break it. One day it all crashes down around him. He tries to end it all...

When he comes out of death's door, he realizes he has too go back home to Ohio. To reconcile with his father and his long lost love and then discovers another secret, that he has had a son all these years. When his son gets sick, he knows the only way he can save his son's life, is by giving up on his own. 

There is not much of a suspense in this book,yet it keeps us engrossed in it. We feel for Jesse, his sister, his father, his lost love and his son, Drew. Jesse gets a second chance but he is prepared to give it up all, for his son. Somehow this book touches us. There is happiness, sadness and hope, mercy too, in every page. I would say, it is a good debut. 

Sunday Salon: Miss Hildreth Wore Brown: Anecdotes of a Southern Belle by Olivia deBelle Byrd

A few days later, as I was leaving for the outer mall, my husband asked me to pick him up some slacks. "What color?" I asked.
"Blue and brown ought to do it," he answered.
"Marine blue, navy blue, dark blue, chocolate brown, mocha brown, latte brown?" I queried.
Through clenched teeth he replied, "I just want blue and brown." Men, why do they always have to complicate things?
~ Page 106


Title: Miss Hildreth Wore Brown-Anecdotes of a Southern Belle
Author: Olivia deBelle Byrd
ISBN: 9781600377488
Publisher Morgan James/2010
Pages: 157

This book defies description! With hilarious reflections, it is shows us the life and attitude of  Southern women. They are in no way fazed by anything and take it in their stride. And the scandals they come across are explained in scandalous ways by those belles! 

The characters jump out the pages, and stay with us. I chuckled through this book. Pausing and savouring certain quirks. I had posted about that coffee episode some days back. There are more with the author trying her best to get her children married, and one where she buys clothes for her daughter. The thong episode is hilarious and reading this book, I almost fell from my chair, many a times.

A light, breezy read, and in no way the characters are larger than life. They are real people and it seems we have met a few like them in our lives. Anyone who wants a good chuckle, ought to read this book.

We're getting dressed for Christmas party, and I looked down at my husband's feet. "You have on a blue sock and a brown sock," I pointed out.
"I do not," he said
"Yes, you do. I'm looking at your feet." I insisted.
Looking down he smugly replied, "I have on a marine blue sock and a mocha brown sock."
~Page 107

Sunday Salon: Remedies by Kate Ledger

Title: Remedies
Author: Kate Ledger
ISBN: 9780425234488
Publisher: Berkeley Books/2010
Pages: 384

After a LONG time, I finished a novel. And it feels good.

Remedies is set in Baltimore, where Simon Bears is practicing Doctor and his wife Emily is a partner in a Public Relations firm. They have a 13-year-old daughter, Jamie.  On the surface everything seems to be going great for them. However, time has stood still for them since they lost their infant son 15 years ago. They are in a mode of denial about their relationship. And Jamie too is living under the shadow of her dead sibling, Caleb.

Simon Bears treats Chronic patients by trying to relieve their pain. Then he stumbles upon something which seems to be working for relieving the persistent pain. He knows it is a major breakthrough. He also pursues unusual interests. Emily is totally dissatisfied with her life and when she meets an old lover, she knows she wants out. Jamie deals with her pain in her own way. Each one them seem to be unaware of the other's problems. 

Remedies speaks about pain. Of the body, the heart and the mind. And can one or all of it be cured? Kate Ledger has tackled that very well. The dilemma a modern couple goes through. Or they way they are unable to communicate with each other. And also that, it spills over to their daughter. 

Kate has tried to deal with these issues but somehow Simon and Emily seem out of the reader's reach. And Emily's relationship with Jamie, was something, I could connect with. No mother leaves her own child to her own devices the Emily does. Yet I will say, Kate Ledger knows that a broken marriage can't be resolved that easily. Not unless both make an effort. Despite some hiccups, she writes well. I will look out for her next novel.  

Teaser Tuesday: Tintin and The Seven Crystal Balls by Herge

TSS: Tintin and Red Rackam's Treasure by Hergé

Title: Tintin and Red Rackam's Treasure
Author: Hergé
ISBN: 0316358142
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company/1991
Pages: 64

Continued from The Secret of the Unicorn, this album introduces Professor Cuthbert Calculus, who is very deaf but so ingenious. Thomson and Thompson too join them in the treasure hunt. 

With rollicking adventure they do find the Unicorn but no treasure! However, in the later part they do find the treasure in an unexpected place. 

With the usual humour, Tintin and Captain make a great team. Professor Calculus endears himself to us and we can never tire of Thomson and Thompson's stupidity. With beautiful art work, this album to, is a keeper like all others.

And at least, my reading slump disappeared for a while!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

"I haven't said a word to the bastard since the night I turned thirteen. I was strapped to the bed. It was my birthday present to myself." 

~Page 646, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Title: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Author: Stieg Larsson
ISBN: 9781849162753
Publisher: Quercus/2009
Pages: 743

The last of the millennium trilogy seemed very long to me. Maybe because I am going through a reading slump. I really wanted to know so much more about Lisbeth Salander yet my reading was pretty slow. This has more narration than action. And tries to tie all the loose ends about Salander.

Starting from where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off, it makes the reader yearn to save her life and protect Salander. She is seriously injured and is in the hospital with no visitors allowed. And she is also accused of couple of murders. In this novel, we learn how much wrong has been done to her since she was 12 years old, a mere girl. All this to save her father from being exposed and along with him, the nexus of certain government officials of Sweden. 

Blomkvist along with well wishers of Salander is determined to save her from this nexus. We get to meet Dr. Teleborian, the evil doctor who is instrumental in locking up Salander.

Despite her isolation, and along with the help of her friends, we find Salander again in her elements. This novel has political undertones and of course the courtroom scene is such that one can't waver from it till the end.

I will say this again that Larsson has created memorable character in Lisbeth Salander and not only her, his depiction of the evil characters is also very good. I say Lisbeth Salander is not going to die in the mind of the readers for a very long time to come. 

TSS: The Weight Of Shadows by Alison Strobel

Title: The Weight Of Silence
Author: Alison Strobel
ISBN: 9780310289456
Publisher: Zondervan/2010
Pages: 316

Kim had a difficult childhood, a tragic mistake to hide from all. She has made a good life for herself but her guilt does not leave her. When she meets Rick, she doesn't not think she deserves him. At his insistence, she moves in with him. But the euphoria of being with him soon dies. He is abusive towards her. And she thinks it her due for what she had done in her teenage years. Their new neighbour Joshua  has some inkling about what goes in the next apartment but can't confront openly. He too has his own secrets. 

Then he tells Debbie about what he fears about Kim. Debbie works for abusive women and saved a lot of them. But like any other women, wants love. And she too is guilt ridden, with no fault of hers. When Rick almost hits their baby, Kim knows she has to save that innocent life, no matter what. She doesn't care anymore that Rick may let out her secret crime into the open.

The lives of Kim, Joshua, Debbie are tied up to each other. Joshua's 4-year old daughter Maddie is a cherub. From page one, this novel grabs the reader. And tells us past wounds can be healed with sensitivity, love and forgiveness. 

A-Z Wednesday: Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy

Title: Grace Under Pressure
Author: Julie Hyzy
ISBN: 9780425235218
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime/2010
Pages: 310

Grace Under Pressure is set in a Manor in Emberstowne and is a cozy mystery. Grace Wheaton is the assistant curator of Marshfield Manor. Just when she thinks her life is settled, the curator of the Manor is murdered. It seems like a mistaken killing as the killer wanted to get the owner Bennett Marshfield.

Grace takes over as the curator and starts to investigate the murder in her own fashion. She discovers that everyone is trying to get a piece out of the owner. She discovers some dubious financial dealings. And while searching through her own papers left to her by her mother, she finds a link with Manor. 

Grace does whatever it takes to save the Manor despite the skeletons tumbling out. It is good cozy mystery and Hyzy has created a good character in Grace. This is the first book in the Manor of murder mystery series. Worth looking at..

Angel Mine by Sherryl Woods

Title: Angel Mine
Author: Sherryl Woods
ISBN: 1551666006
Publisher: Mira/2000
Pages:401

When Heather comes to Wyoming in search of Todd, with her 3-year-old daughter, Angel. she does not anticipate that he would not accept his own daughter. True, he did not know about Angel but one look at her, anyone could tell she was his daughter alright. 

Todd has some issues to deal with. Heather wants him to share the responsibility of bringing up Angel. But he wants both of them out of his skin. However, he does not like it when Heather has to leave Angel in care of a 10-year-old while she works. While both deal with it, we meet some interesting characters in the novel. Those are supportive and make the novel move forward.

The beginning was very fast, the middle kind of dragged and the end 20 pages hurried through. However, I liked the way Angel pushes her way through her dad's heart. He simply can't resist her. No one can. After a lull in my reading, I liked getting back to a book, be it a romance novel!

A-Z Wednesday: The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan

Title: The Cold Light of Mourning

Author: Elizabeth Duncan

ISBN: 9780312533458

Publisher: Minotaur books/2010

Pages: 282

In the picturesque North Wales market town of Llanelen, Meg Wynne Thompson, a bride goes missing on her wedding day. Most assume she might have run away. The last person to have seen her is the manicurist Penny Brannigan, who in an ex-patriate Canadian.

Penny is dealing with her own grief as Emma, the town's school teacher and Penny's dear friend has died after a brief illness. Penny is blissfully unaware of the disappearance until the next day when police come to her doorstep. When Penny's sees the brides' photo in a newspaper, she is shocked. Then something about Emma's burial too bothers her.

Then the body of the missing bride is found. Penny along with a new found friend Victoria, sets out to find the killer. Now many people on the guest list have reasons to kill Meg. While they explore, they find out that the murder leads to the groom's family, where a secret is waiting to explode....

With a quaint setting and quirky characters, The Cold Mourning of Light is a good cozy mystery. We take to Penny immediately and feel her grief too, for Emma. And the village gossip, Mrs Lloyd's character too has been created well. We get immersed in the small town life and are with Penny and Victoria in the investigations. This mystery reminds us of Agatha Christie mysteries, with the setting and the interesting characters. Those who like any kind of mysteries will love this book. As I did.

Teaser Tuesday: Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews

"Did you have a guilty mind when you watched Dez Fisher die?"

"I thought I was doin' the world a service."

~~~Page 294

Title: Bones of Contention

Author: Jeanne Matthews

ISBN: 9781590587300

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press/2010

Pages: 304

Set in the Australian outback, with a family as dysfunctional as they get, Bones of Contention manages to hold our interest. With the underlying tensions and a couple of unrelated murders thrown in, the reader is kept guessing.

Dinah Pelerin has lost her job and also her boyfriend when she gets a call from her uncle, Cleon Dodds, in a God forsaken place in Australia, to join him and his entire family. There he intends to rewrite his will and then commit suicide, as he suffers from cancer. He needs help from a rogue doctor, who will help him to kill himself. Dinah too needs to find out about her father, who had died in her childhood. He was supposedly a felon.

Dinah's half brother Lucien is Cleon's son and she is very close to him. A murder has already been committed in an island nearby and then another murder happens right in front of everyone's eyes. Dinah senses something has been hidden from her for too long. She starts to investigate in her amateur way and finds skeletons tumbling out of cupboards. Everyone in the family has something to hide. And then Dinah hits upon something very big, which jolts her. It is now on her as to what family secrets she can let out and which ones she has to hide.

Bones of Contention touches the aborigine myths, and their various rituals. That part was very interesting. Dinah is no detective yet she persists in finding out the motive and the murderer. Each member of the family is not really what they seem to be. It took me a while to get into the Australian lingua. Once I did I read it very fast. It moves forward with wit and humour. It is the first in the Dinah Pelerin Mystery series.

Friday Find: Swept Away by a Kiss by Katharine Ashe

Title: Swept Away by a Kiss

Author: Katharine Ashe

ISBN: 9780061965623

Publisher: Avon/2010

Pages: 359

What do expect from a novel which has a hero, who impersonates as a Jesuit priest and a heroine who has a colourful past?

Viscount Steven Ashford has set upon himself to expose to certain nefarious activities. Some very well known people are involved with the sea pirates, smuggling all kinds of stuff, foremost being human trafficking. And Lay Valerie Monroe is returning to her home in England after being away in the US for some years due to some past demeanor.

Pirates attack the ship in which both are travelling, and they are imprisoned together. Steven has to protect her although he can feel the pull of her attraction. He has a difficult task to live up to his guise of a priest. And he knows in order to protect her, he must not meet her ever..

She does reach England but can't forget the French priest. Then he turns up in his true identity. Valerie doesn't know what to believe and somehow falls right in the midst of dangerous adventure yet again. Both have the task to expose the criminals and also to keep their attraction in check....the latter being so difficult.

This novel touches the fringes of slavery and has a good pace. There are steamy scenes but those don't really seem out of place. Works well as a good old romance and for those in between reads.

A question: Why do romances need such covers?

Never Wave Goodbye by Doug Magee

Title: Never Wave Goodbye

Author: Doug Magee

ISBN: 978-1-4391-5398-7

Publisher: Touchstone/2010

Pages: 289

When Dr. Lena Trainor puts her nine-year-old daughter, Sarah, in van to take her to a sleep over camp, for two weeks, she doesn't anticipate a parent's worst nightmare come true. Her daughter has been kidnapped by someone impersonating from that camp, along with three other kids.

During the search and investigations by the police and the FBI, it seems that any of the parents could have planned the whole thing. Each one them is a suspect in the police/FBI's eyes along with each others.

The children do not suspect they have been kidnapped until much later. The kidnapper takes them to such a place, which in the deep woods and completely unidentifiable. But when they do know, they protest in their own ways. And then a turn comes.. Now the children have no one but themselves and their instinct to get them out of the woods. We also see a strange connection between Sarah and Lena, which might just get out the children from the deep woods.

With the parents turning against each other, Lena and David trying to save their fragile relationship, the children trying to save themselves, Never Wave Goodbye is a novel which keeps the suspense alive till the end.

The Tale Of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb

"I just want to be sure. If you think you know who the ghosts are, it helps. Whenever possible, it's best to try to contact specific people on the other side."
~Page 277

Title: The Tale Of Halcyon Crane

Author: Wendy Webb

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9140-3

Publisher: Holt/2010

Pages: 326

It is modern a Gothic story which has all the right elements to sustain the interest of the reader. When Hallie James discovers that her mother was very much alive after three decades, she doesn't know what to believe. He dad is lost to her as he has Alzheimer's. Now both her parents die within a few weeks of each other. So she has no answers for all her questions.

She travels to an island in the Great Lakes to seek answers for her questions. However, the islanders are antagonistic towards her for what her father had seemingly done 30 years ago. Hallie doesn't believe that her father could do anythibng wrong. And she knows that she has to unravel the truth. And only the islanders can help her in that. She moves into her mother's house, which she has inherited and finds herself seeing small girls calling her to play, her mother's hug engulfing her and certain visions she can't understand.

When an old housekeeper Iris offers to tell her family's story, she is only too eager to learn it. And then in the midst of her narration, finds herself having clear visions of what happened.

Now she has an inkling of her father's reason for taking her away from the island and also knows that it is her home and she has come to stay. And only she can help the ghosts to leave the house.

With a setting in a island in Great Lakes, amongst old house, graves, ghosts and witches, the reader is completely enthralled by the narration. And is as eager to know about what propelled Hallie's father to leave the island along with Hallie, that too, by meticulously planning their own demise, and then getting a new identity for both of them. . Especially when we see him being a loving father, who doesn't ever remarry, as he still loves his wife, Madlyn Crane.

We are as pleased as Hallie when she is finally accepted by the islanders and also finds a love, which she had not expected. The best part is, suspense is maintained throughout. Once I started it, I simply couldn't put it down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My telephone lines were down for two days, due to which my internet wasn't working. Hence, I couldn't visit anyone in the last two days. Will try to remedy that soon. My Google reader is overflowing!

Friday Find: Captured by Desire by Kira Morgan

Title: Captured by Desire

Author: Kira Morgan

ISBN: 9780446548182

Publisher: Forever/2010

Pages: 384

It is a historical romance, set in the beautiful Scotland. When Florie Gilder, runs to escape the clutches of the law, she is not expecting to be hunted for a deer. Rane McAllister, a huntsman, too doesn't expect that he would be shooting at a female instead of game. When he comes over Florie after his arrow hits her, he is horrified to see what he has done.

He has no other option other than taking her under his protection. He picks her up, takes her to a abandoned church and tends to her wounds. But she resists as she hates being touched. He is surprised by her response as he is not used to being resisted by any female. They are only too happy to let him touch their person.

However, she is a wanted woman and he unwittingly becomes a party to her doings and makes some enemies. She being in church can't be taken prisoner for forty days and he is ordered to guard her day and night. All the while she claims that she only took what belonged to her. She needs it to claim her legacy from her unknown father.

Florie Gilder is goldsmith and too good at it. However, she needs to know her past to be able to have a future. Rane McAllister is but a poor huntsman but rich in his skills and of course looks. And they have sparks flying between them in no time and only by uniting can they escape the enemy.

With a Viking as a hero, and a spunky heroine, it makes a fast breezy read. Both find their nemesis in each other. Florie is fiercely independent woman who knows what she wants and has all her priorities right. Rane, although, irresistible to most women, and used to take his pickings, somehow can't do the same with Florie. Their sparring leads to their attraction and finally, love.

I was going through a reading slump. This book kind of broke it. Nothing like an occasional romance to do that! Thanks to the author, for sending me a copy!

A-Z Wednesday: The Journey of Om by Chandru Bhojwani

Title: The Journey of Om
Author: Chandru Bhojwani
ISBN: 9788122310917
Publisher: Cedar Books/2010
Pages: 287

When Om's girlfriend betrays him, he is devastated. His whole world falls apart around him and he is unable to cope. It takes a toll on him physically as well emotionally. Getting drunk seems to be the only option. He is on the verge of becoming an alcoholic.

In desperation Om turns to his friends, Mona and Arun. They do try to help him but they too have their own set of problems. And each one has to deal with it alone. All this time, Om is pining for Preeti, unable to let go of his thoughts about her.

The Journey of Om actually speaks about everyone's journey. Each one of us has gone through heart breaks, at times feeling we can't recover from it. It touches us at some level. Om can't get over Preeti, Mona desperately wants to marry and settle down, Arun too betrays Rakhi, the girl he loves, in a fit of rage and drunken bout. Here we see Om's conflict, to support his friend or tell Rakhi, all about Arun's betrayal. Om, Mona, Arun and Jim's lives are all tied up in some way or the other. How does Om cope? For that matter, Mona and Arun?

I liked Bhojwani's way of writing. His prose is very readable. The chapters go back and forth but I didn't have any problem about continuity. He has shown the complex and conflicting emotions flitting in our mind very well. The pace is good too, and the ending....well, it is on the reader to think what he wants. With wit, great narration and told in simplistic language, everyone one will connect with the characters. So much so that I wanted to hurl the book at one point. Because I felt the author is a voyeur of our minds!