Great debut book that sweeps you into magical India
Without You is the debut novel of Preethi Venugopala and it is an uplifting tale of romance that will stir your heart and fire your passion.
It's obvious from the early pages of this book how passionate the author is about her subjects. The main characters, Anu and Arjun are fun to watch, as their relationship develops and goes through its various ups and downs.
The author's forewarding notes, as well as the quotes that open each chapter are endearing and make you think.
As befitting an Indian author, readers should be prepared for an indoctrination into Indian culture. This is to be welcomed, because the author writes with a style and panache that always engages the reader.
Some lines I liked:-
"If you had given this to Shakespeare, he would have written a thousand sonnets about it." (Anu discussing food).
"Both of us can't bear to live without the other. But we still managed to make our lives a living hell making asinine assumptions about each other." (Anu and Arjun, on the difficulty of relationships.)
Without You is a credible addition to the romance genre, fans of which will see inspiration from all kinds of authors, from William Shakespeare to Jane Austen. There's a hint of Judith McNaught in there too - no bad thing.
It's a lovely story that romance fans will hold dear to their hearts.
On Amazon this book gets five stars.