Thursday 17 August 2023

#ReleaseDayBlitz :: Lost (In Disgrace #2) by Shilpa Suraj - #Contemporary #Romance @shilpaauthor

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Lost is a story of love, betrayal, honour, revenge, and everything in between. It’s also a love story that sets fire to the world they live in leaving them with no choice but to rise from the ashes anew…

Lieutenant Rahul Jaishankar of the Indian Navy is a man of honour, principles and commitment. His love for his family, his ethics, and his integrity is only eclipsed by his love for his country. He has no time or space to love anything or anyone else. Until the day Ayaana Sahni explodes into his life. Suddenly, she’s all he can think of, all he can hope for, all he dreams of, awake or asleep…

But Ayaana isn’t a dream he can afford to have. She’s an illusion. Ayaana Sahni is actually Aarushi Mittal. And Aarushi Mittal wants only one thing…Vengeance. And no man, not even one as deliciously gorgeous as Lieutenant Rahul was going to get in her way.

An award winning, intrepid journalist, Aarushi spends most of her life abroad working on the kind of devastating stories that the world would never hear of if not for people like her. But it has come at the cost of her personal life, at the cost of time with family, and at the heartbreaking cost of her friend’s devastating tragedy.

Aarushi needs to atone for her negligence, she needs to right the wrongs done in her absence, and she needs to make the villain in her friend’s story pay. What she really needs to make that happen is a way into the tightly knit community of the Indian Navy and Lieutenant Rahul Jaishankar is it. And if that means there is some collateral damage along the way, then so be it. Even if the collateral being damaged makes her yearn for dreams that don’t exist. Surely, the Lieutenant would understand, wouldn’t he?

Aarushi isn’t built for love. She’s built to burn down the world for her loved ones instead. So what if this man makes her want things she’s never wanted? So what if this man makes her heart ache for something she’ll never have? So what if, suddenly, this man is all she wants?

Goodreads * Amazon IN * Amazon US



Read an Excerpt from Lost


“So no women,” Paul asked again, after the server took down the order and left. 

“No women,” Rahul confirmed. “I’m done with them.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.” A husky voice intruded on their conversation.

Rahul glanced up and he could have sworn time stood still. 

Huge eyes lined with kajal and framed by the longest eyelashes in existence gazed down at him. Her right eyebrow was pierced and had a tiny silver ring with a star dangling from it. A pert little nose, lush, pouty lips lined in a bold red, and a heart shaped chin topped by shoulder length hair with green tips, she was dramatic, different and dangerous. All in capital letters. 

“Told you to look,” Paul murmured as Rahul continued to gape at the vision in front of him. 

They got to their feet. Rahul a lot more slowly, because it felt like the ground beneath his legs was strangely unsteady. 

“Ma’am,” he said quietly, grateful his voice at least was steady. 

“Ayaana,” she said in reply. “My name is Ayaana Sahni.” 

“Lieutenant Rahul Jaishankar,” he replied. “And my friend and colleague, Lieutenant Paul Alvares.” 

She smiled, a slow, slight tilting of her lips. Her eyes darkened as she stared at him. He felt the effect of that smile in the pit of his stomach. Heat consumed him, making him shove suddenly shaky hands into his trouser pockets. 

“Are you sure you’re off women, Lieutenant?” she asked, her voice sounding like the sweet, hot slide of whiskey over ice, the clink of crystal against polished stone. 

Rahul felt like she’d poured that whiskey down his throat and flicked a lit match in after it. His entire body felt like dry tinder at a bonfire. 

Was he sure? No, he wasn’t. As he locked eyes with the woman, Rahul Jaishankar was sure of only one thing. Tonight was going to change everything.


About the Author:
A published author with Harlequin India – Mills & Boon India Collection and Juggernaut, Shilpa Suraj’s books have hit both the Hot New Releases and Bestseller lists on Amazon. Her next novel, tentatively titled ‘Wrong,’ has been contracted by Rupa Publications and will release later this year. She is also part of the Flipped Anthology by Harper Collins and had an audiobook book Insta Reddy release with Storytel.

She is, amongst other things, currently working on ‘Frazzled and Fabulous,’ a humorous, true-to-life parenting story that is part memoir and part nonfiction.

An avid reader with a passion for creative writing and storytelling saw her participating in writing competitions at school and dabbling in copy writing for an ad agency as a teenager. Twenty years in the corporate space, including a stint in Corporate Communications for Google, India, and a spell at entrepreneurship all hold her in good stead for her multiple current roles of author, mother and Head of Human Resources & Public Relations at an architecture and interior design firm.

Contact the Author:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Newsletter



Thursday 27 July 2023

#NewRelease :: His Reluctant Princess by Kyra Seth - @KyraSethAuthor #Romance #Suspense

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She refuses to marry a man who doesn’t love her…

A princess in retreat, Her Highness Natasha Raje breaks her unwanted betrothal to Maharajah Digvijay Singh aka DV, turns her back on the world of old money and even older grudges, and escapes to Paradiso, a commune in Goa.

He knows she’s nothing but trouble, and yet he can’t get her out of his mind…

DV is thrilled Tasha broke off their betrothal. He doesn’t want to marry her any more than she wants to marry him…and yet, he misses her. Badly enough to end up spying on her at her precious commune.

When his disastrous stint at spying coincides with someone playing a malicious prank on Tasha, DV moves in, bag and baggage, to play hero. Her Highness may not be marrying him but he’ll be dammed if he doesn’t still keep her safe!

Can their explosive attraction win over the baggage of their shared past? Can Tasha trust DV with her fragile heart? And can DV keep her safe from her stalker long enough to convince her to give him a second chance?


Read an Excerpt from His Reluctant Princess


I leaned against the wall and drew in a deep breath. As the salty sea breeze filled my lungs, I raised my face to the sky and allowed the bright Goan sunshine to bathe me in its warmth. For the first time in my life, I felt free. I felt safe. 
“It’s good to see you happy for once,” said Freddy, and I tried not to make a scrunchy face.
Happy was a bit of a stretch. I hadn’t felt happy for a long time. And I didn’t think I ever would. But, while I couldn’t do happy, I could definitely do grateful. Which meant that I couldn’t unload any more of my issues on Freddy, who had been kind enough to offer me shelter when I turned up at his doorstep unannounced.
“Only an idiot wouldn’t be happy in paradise,” I replied, with a smile.
And that proved what my mother had always said. I was an idiot. 
My father had been the last Raja of Hindal, and I had inherited his considerable fortune, which was good since I refused to touch my mother’s money. After the witch died - hopefully, in prison - I was going to donate all her money to charity in her sister, Princess Smriti’s name, knowing that it would make my mother’s evil soul weep in fury for the rest of eternity. 
For now, I had plenty of money. Enough to live wherever I wanted. 
When I left Nagaur House and my old life behind, I had chosen to live in paradise - or what passed for paradise on earth - and yet, I couldn’t dredge up even one ounce of happiness from the bottom of my miserable soul. All because of a man. His Highness Digvijay Singh, Maharaja of the erstwhile princely state of Bindhar, also known as DV.
Who was the moron who said that doing the right thing brought its own form of joy? Whoever he was - because of course, it was a man. A woman would never say anything so stupid - he deserved to be shot in the head. At point-blank. Because it wasn’t true. For once in my life, I had done the right thing, and all it did was bring me misery. 
I had broken off my betrothal to DV because I couldn’t bear to be tied to a man who didn’t want me. I had seen it in his eyes every time he looked at me. He was trapped. And he wasn’t even fighting to get away. He was just resigned to his fate.
You’d think that after a lifetime of not being wanted by anyone, one more rejection wouldn’t pinch anymore. But it did. Oh, it did. The resignation that I saw in his eyes when he talked about our future together on the night of Sona’s wedding hurt like a bitch. He was too decent to dump a girl whose mother had been arrested for murdering her sister and brother-in-law. A girl who was now all alone in the world except for a grandmother and a new-found cousin. 
He might have been too decent to break it off, but I wasn’t. I was tired of feeling unwanted. 
All my life, my mother had treated me like a burden. As if I was a cross that she had to bear. A taint on the pure bloodline of the Nagaurs and the Hindals. I had grown up believing that I would never be good enough for my family, no matter how much I tried. My grandmother had been too wrapped up in her grief over my aunt’s death to notice how my mother was treating me, and I had believed all the nonsense that my mother had stuffed into my head. 
When I realised the extent of my mother’s crimes, I saw that there was nothing to tie me to my blue-blooded family anymore. I was only living in Nagaur House because I was too much of a chicken to stand up to my bully of a mother. Now that she was in jail, I was free to live my life on my terms. Free to break away from anything and anyone who made me feel less of a person. Unwanted. Rejected.
My grandmother had a shiny new granddaughter, Sona. She didn’t need me hanging around the house as a constant reminder of my mother’s crimes. Which was why I broke off my engagement and walked out on my family that night.  


About Author
Kyra Seth is a Mumbai-based writer who juggles writing, motherhood, and a very demanding day job.

Her books are steamy, funny and packed with action and suspense.

His Accidental Princess was her first book.

She loves to connect with her readers, so feel free to reach out to her on social media.





Thursday 25 May 2023

#ReleaseDayBlitz :: Flawed (In Disgrace #1) by Shilpa Suraj - #Contemporary #Romance @shilpaauthor

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Why would anyone want perfection when they could have Vaani Jaishankar instead?


Aditya Khamankar was a chartered accountant who built his life on a bedrock of numbers. For no matter what happened, numbers and math never let you down. They stayed the same. And that fundamental fact defined many of his choices. He was the obedient son, the diligent student, the overachieving employee, the reliable friend. All he wanted in his life was routine and sensible discourse. All he craved in that same life was peace and quiet. And then his senior partner’s flighty daughter came home. And life as he knew it was never the same again…

Reality television villain and tabloid fodder, Vaani Jaishankar lived for the arclights. The notoriety, the glamour, the larger than life noise that came with it held her in thrall. Until the industry she loved and the people she trusted used and abandoned her. And now, she was back home. Darkening the doorstep of her childhood home, something she’d sworn she’d never do and working in her father’s accountancy firm…Could God just take her now already? And then there was her father’s business partner…

What happens when Perfection meets Flawed? Do the cracks beneath his façade show? Or is it as well hidden as the foundation of grit and ambition her shiny polish conceals?

When attraction wars with common sense and love burns a fiery rope that ties them together, Aditya and Vaani need to decide if this is enough…If they are enough for each other? For the world doesn’t believe they are and the world isn’t done with them yet…

Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com

Read an excerpt from Flawed


Shravan Uncle and he were still discussing their plans and action points when they strode into the office together. They came to an abrupt halt when they saw her perched on a tabletop chatting with their intern, Rama. She was swinging one ripped-jean-clad leg as she bent low over his system to look at something on his screen. Rama on the other hand was looking right down her flimsy crop top.

“Vaani!” Shravan Uncle’s voice cracked like a whip through the office space. 

Their entire staff jumped at the same time. So basically, three people were startled. Vaani, Rama and Aditya himself because that was currently their entire staff. 

“You are here to work,” Shravan Uncle continued his harangue. “Not to distract everybody else and stop them from working.” 

“Who is this mysterious them?” She made a show of looking all around their empty desks. “I can only see sweet Rama here. And he was showing me how to use your boring accounting software. You should be happy that I am taking initiative, no?”

Fear swam through Aditya at the thought of her accessing their software and fiddling with their client’s accounts. 

“You’re not going to be working on that,” he said, his voice coming out gruff and angry. 

“Oh?” She stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “What am I going to be working on then?” 

His brain froze. What would she work on? He scrambled for something, anything that he could use when Shravan Uncle said, “You can start by keeping the office clean.”

Her mouth dropped open in outrage. “Of all the sexist things to say, Appa,” she seethed. “Just because I am a woman, I am in charge of housekeeping, is it?” 

“No. It’s because you are the only one here who has not sat for any accountancy exams,” her father said bluntly. “Also, you failed math in school.” 

Aditya cleared his throat, pity clearing out the chaos in his brain. Vaani’s mortification was obvious for everyone to see.

“Actually, there is something else you can do,” he said. 

“Don’t say bring everyone coffee,” she warned. 

The pity disappeared beneath a swell of irritation. 

“We just landed a large contract,” he snapped. “We’re going to need new employees. You can find them for us. Consider yourself our very first Human Resources professional.”



About the Author:
A published author with Harlequin India – Mills & Boon India Collection and Juggernaut, Shilpa Suraj’s books have hit both the Hot New Releases and Bestseller lists on Amazon. Her next novel, tentatively titled ‘Wrong,’ has been contracted by Rupa Publications and will release later this year. She is also part of the Flipped Anthology by Harper Collins and had an audiobook book Insta Reddy release with Storytel.

She is, amongst other things, currently working on ‘Frazzled and Fabulous,’ a humorous, true-to-life parenting story that is part memoir and part nonfiction.

An avid reader with a passion for creative writing and storytelling saw her participating in writing competitions at school and dabbling in copy writing for an ad agency as a teenager. Twenty years in the corporate space, including a stint in Corporate Communications for Google, India, and a spell at entrepreneurship all hold her in good stead for her multiple current roles of author, mother and Head of Human Resources & Public Relations at an architecture and interior design firm.

Contact the Author:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Newsletter













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Tuesday 7 March 2023

#BookBlitz :: Eden on Earth by Dhaval Sonsoil - #Contemporary #Fiction @DhavalSonsoil

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After setbacks one after the other at a young age, Dhaval Sonsoil accidentally stumbles upon a glimpse of enlightenment. In his childhood dreams, he sees visions of what he calls the void, the place of nothingness but, conversely, all-knowing. Challenged by a domineering father and pulled by emotions for a young peasant girl he is forbidden to see, Dhaval quickly learns that, enlightened or not, we can't always get what we want. Ever persevering, Dhaval embarks on a quest for illumination in the modern world. But in doing so, he embarks on something much more profound: a search for paradise on Earth with coming-of-age philosophy to celebrate life in every moment for everyone in this majestic world.





Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon India | Amazon US

Read an Excerpt from Eden on Earth

I always thought enlightenment was no more than a fairy tale. I assumed that to achieve it, one had to grow old in a mountain cave, meditate under a Bodhi tree, or be delirious enough to hear the sound of one hand clapping. Now I have come to realize that it's something much simpler. Enlightenment is just another word for love, true and selfless love that enables people to experience joy in all situations in every moment of their life.

And yet, love has become a dirty word. Many will tell you it's complicated and messy, that it gets sticky, that it distracts you from purity, that it can be done right, and it can be done wrong. Others will tell you that love is a chemical process in the brain and nothing more. And if you search for it any more profound than that, you'll be waiting for a long like a person waiting to hear the sound of a tree falling in a forest that makes no sound.

And, yet, if you ask any two random lovers—I'm talking about the true lovers, not the Hollywood or Bollywood version, but two lovers that eat at each other's snot and scent each other’s breath, who want to be in each other's skin, not just be with each other—about enlightenment. They'll tell you they don't care. As far as they're concerned, they've already found the answer, and it's this: all you need is true and selfless love. That kind of love makes lovers feel content to stay with each other in every moment of their life, run through deserts and sail oceans, and climb mountains, because what else is there worth finding? They've experienced what they've been looking for, the joy of living, experiencing the depth of love, the catalyst, the glue that binds all creation from time immemorial, now and forever.  

If I sound like a guru, I'm not. I was confused not just by love, but by life itself for most of my life. Sure, I read about enlightenment in books and saw it mentioned in films. Sometimes it was called moksha, illumination, and other times an ecstasy pill. Some others called it living joyfully every day without any worries for tomorrow! But either way, it was always something cryptic, an abstract idea people threw about at meditation retreats, seminars, and in ‘spirituality’ or ‘austerity’ or ‘postmodern art’ workshops, but inevitably made at least one person feel uneasy because big words meant significant opinions. 

Would enlightenment mean having an encyclopedia inside your head? Or was it more a case of being able to project the past and the future like a film reel of dinosaurs and nebulas upon the back of one's mind? Or, then again, was it more an aesthetic thing? A glowing halo and a white tunic? Was that all it was? Just an image? A pretense?  Or knowing and understanding how to live a joyful life at all times in all circumstances? Is it an idea of something that didn't exist but people clung on to because of sheer fear, fear of being a conscious presence in a universe that is nothing more than a black vacuum of black holes and giant spinning orbs, one of which we found ourselves stuck to, thanks to that miraculous and very convenient force we call gravity?

But I was never interested in what others wanted to tell me about enlightenment. I wanted to see it for myself. You know, I've always only ever wanted the truth. Absolute, not relative truth. Black coffee, no sugar truth, truth beyond illusion. Release from insanity. Release from chaos. Freedom from daily pain, struggles, and disappointments of life—release from greed for power and wealth. Escape from intolerance, violence, and desires of the world.

Did I find it? I'll let you be the judge. Because who am I to tell you what you should think anyway? Who am I to tell you what the meaning and purpose of your life are? Too many people in this world are convinced they have theanswers. The world has become too loud, too distorted to hear gentle and absolute truths. I don't think you'll believe what I have to say even if I do tell you. You have to see it for yourself. You have to experience it for yourself! And isn't that the whole idea of the one hand clapping and the tree falling in the forest, making no sound? 

The answer is simple. As soon as you try to explain enlightenment or the joyful living in every situation in every moment of life, you have lost it, just like you try to clap with one hand, but you will not make a sound.

All I can tell you is my story.




Tuesday 28 February 2023

#ReleaseDayBlitz :: Bad Girl Gone Wicked (Bad Girl #3) by Shilpa Suraj - #Contemporary #Romance @shilpaauthor

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Everyone knew that when she stepped up to the crease, she always came out swinging…

Tara Wadhwa, Captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket team, was living the dream. She got to play the sport she loved and to live close to her friends, the family of her heart. But when her friends start to fall in love, a sliver of loneliness works its way into her heart pushing her to make a reckless mistake.
Nikhil Upadhyay, owner of a pristine reputation and the nation’s best fixer, is called in to save the day. Fix Tara’s reputation and babysit her till she brings home the World Cup. A dream assignment for a man who otherwise spent way too much time cleaning up far messier situations. Until he met his newest client and the dream turned into a nightmare…
Can Tara work past her childhood grooming to see that there could be a life beyond the game? Can Nikhil see the value of the girl behind the polished façade he was working on presenting to the world? And will the two of them ever stop fighting long enough to allow their simmering attraction a chance to come out and play?

For when the Bad Girl met the Good Boy, she realised, that just this once, she wanted to let her inner ‘wicked’ out to play. And we all know what happens when Tara Wadhwa steps up to the crease…

Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com


Reads an Excerpt from Bad Girl Gone Wicked


She slunk out, her face set in mutinous lines, accepting the plate with her omelette from me. I served myself, deliberately keeping conversation non-existent until a few morsels of egg hit her stomach.
I’d just sat down across from her when I saw her wince and massage her temples. A killer hangover, I was sure. Reaching for my laptop bag, I pulled out a strip of over-the-counter painkillers and slipped it to her.
She stared at it like I’d handled her a rattlesnake but took it without comment, swallowing a tablet without water. The pain must be truly intense.
I picked up my own plate, thinking maybe now would be a good time to discuss my game plan. “So-”
“You’re going to die of a heart attack,” she announced.
My fork froze halfway to my mouth. “Is that a wish or a prophecy or…?”
“You can’t eat like that.” She pointed her own fork at my plate.
I glanced down at my fried eggs sunny side up with their sides of mashed potatoes and bacon. I was a relatively calm and amiable sort, but this woman seemed to have only one setting; irritating.
“You’re going to die,” she announced again, finally managing to get on even my last nerve. “Don’t eat that.”
I should stay calm, I thought, reminding myself of the fat pay packet the hot mess sitting across from me was going to earn me.
“Don’t eat that,” she repeated loudly.
To hell with it. I picked up a sliver of bacon and popped it in my mouth, holding her irate gaze. Either I’d die of a heart attack, or she’d kill me with a stroke from high blood pressure. So be it.
At least I’d go with bacon in my mouth. I made it a point to chew extra hard and extra loudly when it came to the crunchy bits. 


About the Author:
A published author with Harlequin India – Mills & Boon India Collection and Juggernaut, Shilpa Suraj’s books have hit both the Hot New Releases and Bestseller lists on Amazon. Her next novel, tentatively titled ‘Wrong,’ has been contracted by Rupa Publications and will release later this year. She is also part of the Flipped Anthology by Harper Collins and had an audiobook book Insta Reddy release with Storytel.

She is, amongst other things, currently working on ‘Frazzled and Fabulous,’ a humorous, true-to-life parenting story that is part memoir and part nonfiction.

An avid reader with a passion for creative writing and storytelling saw her participating in writing competitions at school and dabbling in copy writing for an ad agency as a teenager. Twenty years in the corporate space, including a stint in Corporate Communications for Google, India, and a spell at entrepreneurship all hold her in good stead for her multiple current roles of author, mother and Head of Human Resources & Public Relations at an architecture and interior design firm.

Contact the Author:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Newsletter













Sunday 19 February 2023

#BlogTour :: The American Outsider by Homa Pourasgari #WomensFiction #TheAmericanOutsider @HomaPourasgari

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When a California veterinarian, a Japanese-American tour-guide and the son of a well-known Tokyoite businessman get together to help save the Taiji dolphins, trouble brews in a society where conformity is favored over individuality. Tessa Walker sticks out in Japan’s homogeneous society. Akira Nakano has to tread lightly if she wants to keep her job as a tour guide. And Toshiro Yokoyama needs to find a way to distance himself from his family in order to find himself. As the three join a demonstration to protest the slaughter of dolphins, the wealthy owner of global aquariums is alarmed and is determined to stop them. But Tessa and Akira are resolved to push forward and help protect these cetaceans from brutal slaughter, and Toshiro is determined to help them in order to escape his humdrum life. 




Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com

Read an Excerpt from The American Outsider

Tessa took a slow deep breath, got up off the bathroom floor and made her way to the kitchen. She thought back to that August day a few weeks earlier when she had told her father that she was going to Japan.

“Why Taiji?” her father had asked her when he found out that Tessa was planning to go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Taiji, and Osaka for two weeks in September. 

Tessa was seated on the patio of her parents’ four-bedroom house off of Montana Avenue, an upscale neighborhood in West L.A. She sipped on her lemonade as turmoil brewed inside her. 

“I mean, we have plenty of animal abuse in our own home country,” Jeff shrugged. At seventy-four, he was a successful real-estate broker with a muscular body and a buzz cut. He didn’t like the idea of meddling in other countries’ affairs even though when he served in Vietnam, he followed orders without asking questions. He was eventually discharged due to his symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Years later, he realized that he was unhappy about some of the decisions his superiors had made. 

Tessa stared at him in disbelief and blurted, “I like dolphins. There are many causes in the world, and I chose this one. It’s not possible to stand up for everything if you want to make a change. But if you chose one thing and see it through, then you have stood up for something.”

About the Author:
Homa Pourasgari spent hours in her father’s home office, writing, reading and letting her imagination carry her to unseen worlds. She moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age. After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in business, she went to Paris for a year to study literature at the Sorbonne. Before becoming a full-time writer, she ran her own boutique, worked at a bank and a CPA firm, was a personal trainer and even taught spinning and cardio kickboxing. When she is not writing, she is stumbling, miming and pointing to find her way in a foreign country. Her latest novel, The American Outsider, is based on her travels in Japan.


Homa on the Web:
Website * Facebook * Twitter 




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Monday 13 February 2023

#BookBlitz :: The American Outsider by Homa Pourasgari #ContemporaryFiction #Adventure @HomaPourasgari

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"A charming read with characters who come to life on the page—and who live for a cause whose urgency shines through the story." – Booklife Review


Tessa Walker is a veterinarian with a strong, emotional connection to animals. As a teen, she witnessed the brutal slaughter of dolphins, and as an adult, she decides to do something about it. She leaves her home in Los Angeles and travels to Japan to speak out for them, but little does she know that she is embarking on an adventure that will change her life forever. From the urban metropolis of Tokyo to the historic Kyoto to the culinary city of Osaka, and the seaside town of Taiji, Tessa is determined to help Japanese activists stand up for her beloved mammals.

Along the way, the friendships and bonds that she builds with people in Japan, and the unconditional love of a stranger named Toshiro, open her eyes to a complicated society of conventions and traditions. Yet, her limited knowledge of the language and customs doesn't deter her from taking on a dangerous mission that could land her in jail.



Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com


Read an Excerpt from The American Outsider

At the Japanese garden, Tessa watched butterflies drink the nectar of flowers. She fed the fish in the koi pond and stood on a bridge to take several shots of the picturesque scenery. Less shaken, she headed to the French garden she had heard so much about and began sauntering down a sycamore-lined path. She sat on a bench and pulled out her beautifully wrapped bento box, chopsticks, and jasmine tea. Inside, the box cradled an artistically arranged mini-feast of multigrain rice, white rice, marinated tofu, and colorful vegetables. It almost looked much too pretty to eat. As she enjoyed her meal and drank her fragrant tea, Tessa took in her surroundings. A mother pushed a toddler in a stroller and carried her younger child in a strap wrapped around her. An elderly man sat at a bench and sketched the landscape. Two trendy-looking girls wearing miniskirts and hats chatted and sniggered. A group of middle-aged women used fanciful umbrellas to keep the sun from aging their flawless complexions. Showing off one’s legs by wearing miniskirts was common in Japan, but showing one’s shoulders and cleavage was taboo. Wearing hats and using umbrellas was favored because having a fair complexion was important and desirable for many Japanese women. Tessa, on the other hand, loved the sun and a good tan. Funny, how everyone’s perspective is so different, she thought. When she finished eating, Tessa placed her trash in a plastic bag and put it in her handbag. In Japan, it was rare to see public trash cans. People carried around small plastic bags to put their trash in until they could discard it at home. To outsiders, Japan’s trash etiquette is complex and one of the reasons why landlords do not like to rent apartments to foreigners. 


Homa Pourasgari spent hours in her father’s home office, writing, reading and letting her imagination carry her to unseen worlds. She moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age. After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in business, she went to Paris for a year to study literature at the Sorbonne. Before becoming a full-time writer, she ran her own boutique, worked at a bank and a CPA firm, was a personal trainer and even taught spinning and cardio kickboxing. When she is not writing, she is stumbling, miming and pointing to find her way in a foreign country. Her latest novel, The American Outsider, is based on her travels in Japan.


Homa on the Web:
Website * Facebook * Twitter 





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Monday 30 January 2023

#ReleaseDayBlitz :: Good Girl Gone Rogue by Andaleeb Wajid - #Contemporary #EnemiesToLovers @andaleebwajid

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When Inaya Khan is told she’s meeting a boy for marriage, the last thing she expects is for beetroot juice to play spoilsport. As CEO of Ixora Skincare, Inaya has achieved money, fame and power all at the age of twenty-seven. But to her mother, the only labels that apply to her are overweight and unmarried.

A CEO himself, but of a struggling startup, Ayaz Ahmed has no time or energy to even think of marriage. Until his mother shows him Inaya’s picture and he’s instantly smitten. Despite a disastrous start that included beetroot juice spewage, multiple suitors for Inaya’s hand and judgy onlookers, Inaya and Ayaz are instinctively drawn to each other.

Until Ayaz finds out that his company is being taken over by none other than his prospective bride-to-be. Ayaz may be smitten but he isn’t stupid. And he most certainly isn’t letting Inaya take his precious company from him.

Can love find a way to survive in the heart of business deals, mergers and acquisitions? Or will this bad girl have to go rogue to bring her own ‘Ranveer Singh’ home? 


Book Links:
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Read an Excerpt from Bad Girl Gone Rogue

Keeping my face as blank as possible, I sat down and tried my best not to sit too close to him. He sat down as well, a smile on his face, looking sheepish because my mother and his family were looking at us keenly.

‘Sameena, there’s someone I wanted you to meet,’ Ammi said to his mother and taking the hint, both his parents got up and walked away with Ammi, leaving the two of us alone at the table. We weren’t alone per se, because there were so many people around but I still felt my stomach tie up in knots.

Whenever I was in Bangalore, a part of me forgot that I was the CEO of a successful company and not just my parents’ daughter. I had spoken to thousands of men probably, men who worked for me, men whom I had interviewed for jobs at my company, vendors and marketers, and other CEOs. But here, all that was swept away as I became Naseem and Aftab Khan’s younger daughter. Their younger unmarried daughter.

Straightening my back, I turned to him, really hoping there wouldn’t be another disaster like the one that had nearly ruined my dress. I briefly wondered where Ayaz was. Maybe he’d been embarrassed enough to leave.

I put him out of my mind and turned to the man I was sitting with. He looked at me appraisingly, his eyes resting on my shoulders and then glancing down my bare arms. Women were wearing short, strapless dresses here at the party. This was nothing compared to that. I gritted my teeth, thinking that if he was going to shame me for my outfit, I was going to throw this…this…I picked up the glass of juice on the table and sniffed it slightly and then nearly gagged. It was beetroot juice.


About the Author:

Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author, having published 40 novels in the past 14 years. Andaleeb enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as young adult, romance, and horror. Andaleeb's recent novels All Drama No Queen and Mirror, Mirror were published by Penguin Random House and Duckbill respectively in 2021. Andaleeb's romance trilogy Jasmine Villa Series is being published by Westland in February 2023. She has an upcoming YA horror novel with Harper Collins later in 2023.


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Thursday 12 January 2023

#NewRelease :: Once Upon a Kiss (Il Cuore #4) by Shilpa Suraj - #Contemporary #Romance #KaramAndShikha @shilpaauthor

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 “Kissing you means I’m beyond redemption.”

Orphaned at a young age, scraping together a life below the poverty line, Karam Bakshi has only ever wanted one thing. Success. With unrelenting focus and backbreaking effort, he has carved out the life of his dreams. And then he saw her and forgot that he had goals or a plan or even something as basic as ideas.

Shikha Sachdev, only daughter to a mining magnate and jilted fiancée to one of the most powerful men in the country, has never wanted for anything. And then she met him and realised that until that moment, she never had wanted anything. Not like she wanted him.

When passion collides with reason, when the heart goes to war with the brain, and old scabs rip open under the onslaught of new wounds, there is nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, and only one option left; gamble with everything you’ve got. Win and reach for a lifetime of happiness or lose and you lose everything, including your very sense of self.

Can Karam and Shikha ever find common ground? Or are they destined to orbit each other like the most tortured star-crossed lovers of eternity?

Book Links:
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Read an Excerpt from Once Upon a Kiss


Karam stiffened at the sweet voice and the even sweeter sentiment it oozed. He didn’t do sweet. He turned slowly to face her. 

“Slumming again, Princess?”

Anger flared on those perfect features, but she composed herself a second later. You had to admire that level of control. She would have made the perfect politician’s wife. Kanak, on the other hand…a reluctant laugh huffed out of him. 

“Why are you like this?” she asked now, her tone bored but her eyes alive with something he recognised all too well. The same emotion thrummed through his veins, heating his blood and kickstarting his heart. 

He took a sip from his flask, a deliberately long one. He wanted to smack his lips, the gesture as pointed as it was obscene, when she stepped closer to him.

“You didn’t reply to my last message.” The soft words only stoked the heat.

“Didn’t have time.” The words were a low snarl in response. 

She cocked her head, those pretty hazel eyes seeing right through him and to the lonely, angry, always hungry boy he’d been and apparently, never outgrown. The boy who’d longed for a better life, for a full stomach, for a night without being whipped or beaten, for an affectionate touch, for someone, anyone really, to love him. 

A boy who’d thought he’d deserved better. A boy who’d wanted something pretty, something special in his life. A boy who’d dirtied and ruined everything he’d held in his hands. Including this woman.

He’d kissed her. And she’d lost everything. Her rich, powerful fiancé had ended their engagement, her family had shunned her, humiliated by her actions and her business had lost investors. Apparently, they’d been backing the woman who was going to marry Aakash Thakkar. Not someone who’d kiss an alley rat like him. 

“Go inside,” he told her softly.

But when did she ever listen to him?

“No,” she said, equally softly, stepping forward and into his space. 

“You really need to find a rich, pretty boy to practice this shit with, Princess.” The words were hoarse, his chest starting to heave. 

“But I don’t want to,” she murmured, her fingers pushing the hair back from his forehead, running through the strands. She gripped the back of his neck, the contact feeling like a brand on his skin.

“What do you want?” His hand fisted around his flask even as the other one gripped her hip, the skin soft and satiny under his callused palm. Her saree pallu whispered down one shoulder and slipped to the ground but neither of them noticed, their eyes only on each other.

“What. Do. You. Want?” The words were dragged from him. 

“You, Karam. Always you.” 

This time when she kissed him, he didn’t just go up in flames. He swore he’d burn the world down for a chance to do this again. And again.

About the Author:

A published author with Harlequin India – Mills & Boon India Collection and Juggernaut, Shilpa Suraj’s books have hit both the Hot New Releases and Bestseller lists on Amazon. Her next novel, tentatively titled ‘Wrong,’ has been contracted by Rupa Publications and will release later this year. She is also part of the Flipped Anthology by Harper Collins and had an audiobook book Insta Reddy release with Storytel.

She is, amongst other things, currently working on ‘Frazzled and Fabulous,’ a humorous, true-to-life parenting story that is part memoir and part nonfiction.

An avid reader with a passion for creative writing and storytelling saw her participating in writing competitions at school and dabbling in copy writing for an ad agency as a teenager. Twenty years in the corporate space, including a stint in Corporate Communications for Google, India, and a spell at entrepreneurship all hold her in good stead for her multiple current roles of author, mother and Head of Human Resources & Public Relations at an architecture and interior design firm.

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Monday 26 December 2022

#BookBlitz :: Wrong by Shilpa Suraj - #Contemporary @shilpaauthor @Rupa_Books

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One wrong choice on the eve of her wedding has left Ananya married to one brother and in love with THE OTHER…

Ananya Saxena is the good girl who has always done the right thing. She is a dutiful wife, faithful daughter-in-law, fierce champion of the law. Except, in her heart was another phrase—reckless lover. An impossible choice for a good Indian girl. Duty had Ananya marry her best friend only to end up with a bitter, vengeful husband. Arvin Saxena is now a cripple, both physically and emotionally, after his wife’s confession the day before they were to be married. So, Arvin’s never-ending pain finds release only in hurting her. What he doesn’t know is that her secret sin was loving Arnav Saxena.

Arnav turned his back on all of them when she discarded him and married his younger brother.
When he is forced to return, it sets Ananya on a collision course with fate and she chooses desire over duty to embark on an affair with Arnav. For a brief glorious time, they have it all.

But soon, Ananya is faced with yet another life-changing decision when adultery, bankruptcy and a web of lies bring her to a crossroads. The dutiful wife or the defiant lover... who does she choose to be? And does she really even have a choice?

Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com

Read an Excerpt from Wrong


There was a special place in hell for men who were in love with another man’s wife. Arnav contemplated the fifteen-year-old scotch in the crystal glass in front of him. It helped fan the
flames of the hellfire in his gut. It didn’t stop his gaze from being drawn to the back of her dress. The outfit shimmered like silver smoke over her lithe body. He could see her husband’s hand resting possessively on her exposed back, a thumb gently gliding over her creamy, unblemished skin.

He clenched his glass and gulped down almost half of its contents, savouring the burning trail it left inside him. It did nothing for the guilt that was his constant companion, but it numbed the pain that clawed through him, be it only for a moment.

She laughed. It was a tinkling burst of sound that cut through the quiet murmur of the sophisticated, high society crowd that had gathered for the charity event. A few tendrils of her hair escaped the complicated hairdo her glorious waist-length mane was caught up in and flirted with the
nape of her neck.

Cursing, he pushed back from the table. He needed a smoke and he didn’t care if the world thought it was rude of him to walk out right now. As he made his way through the throng, a part of him registered the way she leaned against her husband and murmured something into his ear. Turning towards her, he
gave her an indulgent smile that spoke volumes about their relationship.

Oh yes, there was a special place in hell for men who loved another man’s wife. He breathed, crawled and existed in that abyss, for he didn’t just love another man’s wife, he loved his brother’s wife. Amidst the scum that grew in the filthy gutter of the deepest, darkest bowels of hell, he was the slime you scraped off the bottom of your shoe. He lived and breathed guilt, remorse and gut-searing pain. She was his friend, his passion, his endless torment, his curse. And yet, he loved her.


About the Author:


Shilpa Suraj wears many hats - corporate drone, homemaker, mother to a fabulous toddler and author.

An avid reader with an overactive imagination, Shilpa has weaved stories in her head since she was a child. Her previous stints at Google, in an ad agency and as an entrepreneur provide colour to her present day stories, both fiction and non-fiction.


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