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hannahriley30's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
deetour8's review
5.0
Within a minute of seeing “a book by a person of color” on the Popsugar List I knew I wanted to read a book by an Indian. I have a secret love for Indian culture that stems back to two of my childhood best friends being Indian. However, I live in a community that does not have a lot of Indians so my library is sorely lacking on books written by them, plus I was really in the mood for a romance. I was having problems finding one and then someone pointed out this year’s Illinois Reads flyer asking me about it. And low & behold, The Bollywood Bride is on it! The library had an e-copy available & I had this bad boy read within two days, it was that good.
Ria Parkar is a Bollywood actress known as the Ice Princess because she keeps to herself and doesn’t show emotion to the public. However, one thoughtless move caught and misconstrued by a reporter is threatened to be published and could bring to the spotlight a past that she’s tried to keep hidden. Her cousin getting married in Chicago at the last minute is the perfect opportunity for her to lay low, and she goes home for the first time in ten years.
In Chicago, also staying with her family is her first love, Vikram, who she hasn’t seen in ten years. They grew up together, spending every summer together in Chicago, which led to love. They had their whole life planned out together. But then Ria made a decision that ended their relationship, Vikram believes she sold her soul for stardom, and Ria has no intention of changing his mind despite the fact that she’s still in love with him. Living in the same house for two weeks is tough with all of the intense emotions between the two.
The entire book revolves around her cousins wedding which is a huge Indian celebration with tons of tradition, food, clothes, and culture making you wish that you were invited. Slowly, Ria’s story unfolds showing the reasoning behind actions that throughout a lot of the story I thought she was a complete imbecile for. This story is a love story, but unlike your usual love story there are layers. Vikram doesn’t just over hear something or slowly start to unravel Ria’s secret during the time she’s in Chicago. It’s about a love so strong that she’d sacrifice her whole life and happiness to protect the person she loves, even if it’s from herself.
Ria Parkar is a Bollywood actress known as the Ice Princess because she keeps to herself and doesn’t show emotion to the public. However, one thoughtless move caught and misconstrued by a reporter is threatened to be published and could bring to the spotlight a past that she’s tried to keep hidden. Her cousin getting married in Chicago at the last minute is the perfect opportunity for her to lay low, and she goes home for the first time in ten years.
In Chicago, also staying with her family is her first love, Vikram, who she hasn’t seen in ten years. They grew up together, spending every summer together in Chicago, which led to love. They had their whole life planned out together. But then Ria made a decision that ended their relationship, Vikram believes she sold her soul for stardom, and Ria has no intention of changing his mind despite the fact that she’s still in love with him. Living in the same house for two weeks is tough with all of the intense emotions between the two.
The entire book revolves around her cousins wedding which is a huge Indian celebration with tons of tradition, food, clothes, and culture making you wish that you were invited. Slowly, Ria’s story unfolds showing the reasoning behind actions that throughout a lot of the story I thought she was a complete imbecile for. This story is a love story, but unlike your usual love story there are layers. Vikram doesn’t just over hear something or slowly start to unravel Ria’s secret during the time she’s in Chicago. It’s about a love so strong that she’d sacrifice her whole life and happiness to protect the person she loves, even if it’s from herself.
mollywetta's review
4.0
Loved this! All the angsty longing, rich cultural details, smoldering attraction—a perfect escape.
makennakjacobs's review
3.0
I didn't like this as much as this author's Jane Austen-inspired series. The world felt a little like cardboard, and there wasn't a satisfying balance of telling vs. showing.
amlibera's review
3.0
The detail and the romance of this were fascinating. The minor characters were well drawn but the two central characters felt to me like collections of traits that never quite fused into whole people which meant that I never quite got the reason that they were each others' "can't stay away from you, even after all this time" love
jackiehorne's review
4.0
See review at http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2015/08/genetics-and-romance-bollywood-bride.html
s_smiadak's review
3.0
3.5... This book was harder to get into than its predecessor, which it has nothing to do with. The evolution of the story at the end makes it worth finishing it though.
lriopel's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this contemporary romance, which had some elements I don't typically associate with the romance novels I usually read. The peripheral characters are vividly drawn and interesting, the conflicts between the leads are genuinely difficult and not contrived/convenient problems that are easily/conveniently solved at the end. I am usually pretty cynical when it comes to romance, and often don't buy into the sappy love story or characters, but in this book I was honestly rooting for these two people to be happy. I also thought that the context of a wedding in a multicultural Indian family and how they both preserve and adapt their cultural traditions to their life in the US is something I haven't really seen much before in romance, so I appreciated the perspective. The love scenes are very well done while not too over the top, and the ending is fairly satisfying. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the plot, but it is solid and believable and I enjoyed the read quite a bit. Would recommend for someone looking for a good romance novel.
erincataldi's review
3.0
I'm a sucker for all things Bollywood so I was pretty stoked to try out this book, while it wasn't what I was initially expecting, it wasn't half bad. Rai Parker is Bollywood's favorite star, nicknamed "the ice queen" she is known to stay out of the spotlight and is never in the gossip columns for lewd behavior. She may not be happy, but she's been running from her past for ten years and is currently hiding in plain sight. All that changes though when she gets a call from her beloved cousin who asks her to come back home for his wedding. She can't refuse him so she must go back to Chicago to wrestle with the memories of her past. When she arrives the first thing she sees is the man whose heart she broke, and she instantly feels guilty and is on edge. She becomes even more alarmed when she realizes that he too is staying at her auntie's house and that she'll be in close proximity to him for ten days. He wants answers and she wants to hide. My favorite thing about this book is the desi-ness, the terms of endearment, customs, and food. While I wasn't in love with either of the main characters (both of which are flawed), I was able to look past that and enjoy most of the book.
katerintree's review
2.0
Love this author, not this book. The main character (aria) is so unlikeable I hated reading about her