The Malhotra Bride is a short and sweet romance novel (very much in the style of a Mills and Boon book) by Sundari Venkatraman. I got this to read while I was waiting for a doctor’s appointment, and I was completely entertained for those couple of hours.
What it’s about
The story is a pretty basic one. Sunita Rishi comes from a well-off traditional family. She’s just finished college, and dreams of being a career woman. Unfortunately, her conservative parents are hellbent on getting her married off.
Enter Akshay Malhotra – the potential groom. He too has no inclination to marry but is being pressurized by his parents. And once Akshay and Sunita’s horoscopes perfectly match, announcing them as made for each other, there is little they can do except meet to honor their parents’ wishes.
Akshay falls for Sunita almost at first-sight. However, he has to convince a reluctant Sunita who views marriage as the final nail in the coffin for all her hopes and dreams.
Will Akshay manage to woo Sunita? Will she start to return his feelings?
Well, you have to read the book to find out 😀 .
My Review
I found this book very pleasant and easy to read. Both characters are well fleshed out and likable. Most important, they are very relatable. Their conflicts, and hesitations (especially Sunita’s) was very well brought up, and something most women considering marriage experience.
Throughout the book, Sunita wants something more than just marriage and babies. She is unsure of the exact direction in her life and does not feel confident about facing up to her overly dominant father. Instead when the proposal comes, she takes the rather more unusual step of confiding her hesitation to the groom Akshay. Thankfully, he is a new-age dude able to manage her feelings and give her space at the same time.
The romance starts slow and builds up throughout the book during their courtship and engagement. I really enjoyed this slow build-up, and the descriptions of all the rituals and ceremonies during this period.
The story and writing style reminded me very much of the Rajshri movies like Hum aapke hain kaun. If you liked that movie, you would definitely like the sweet and simple style of this book too. The book focuses on the growing romance between the two for the most part of the book. I liked the romance, but I also liked how the romance changes Sunita. Slowly, she learns to stand up to her father.
When there is a crisis, and she has to choose between her family and her love, she doesn’t crumble (as expected based on her demeanor in the first part of the book). Instead, she learns to stand up to her father softly but firmly, and in the end wins the respect of everyone in both families.
So, yes, The Malhotra Bride on the surface is a basic love story, but it does make a good attempt to go beyond the superficial. Overall, I thought this was a really good love story in the traditional vein, and I spent a pleasant couple of hours reading it.
Huge thanks to Fingerprint Publishing for sending me this book for review consideration.
