Cover Reveal: UNEXPECTED VALENTINES by Summerita Rhayne

Cover Reveal

Unexpected Valentines
by 

Summerita Rhayne

"Love can be found at the most unexpected places, with unlikely people. Your heart might be searching for love but when love finally hits, it shies away from committing."

Blurb 

Love can be found at the most unexpected places, with unlikely people. Your heart might be searching for love but when love finally hits, it shies away from committing.
What are the barriers that keep two people away, even when perfect love is just within reach?
Explore the ways love can be discovered. Celebrate romance with this quick read ideal for romance fiction lovers.

Stories in this collection

Unexpected Valentine

The Magic Within

Love at loggerheads

Chained to Shadows

Right or Wrong

Coffee and Clashes

Hooded Desire

Preorder now at:

Amazon

About 
Summerita Rhayne

Summerita Rhayne loves to write sensual and emotional romance. There's no knowing when some quirky - or sometimes even not so quirky - happening in daily life might trigger her right brain and then she's off craving a new story. She loves writing characters who learn and grow and find their way out of their troubles and emotional hang-ups. Hot, sensual heroes and sassy but sweet heroines mostly fit the bill in her stories. She also believes that a touch of humor never goes amiss in a book.

She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!

Keep up with her  news @

Website | Twitter |

Her Other Works...

Against All Rules

Hidden Passion

Are you ready 

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Book Review: WRONG, FOR THE RIGHT REASONS by Ritu Lalit

THE STORY

Shyamoli Verma’s timing is wrong. In her late twenties, she finds that her marriage is irrevocably broken. She comes back to her parents with her pre-teen son and an infant daughter, only to find that she is unwelcome. 

Independent and brash, she decides to bring up her children and also get a divorce without any support from friends and family. 

Written with wry self deprecating humour, this is the story of a divorced woman's quest for love and security.

MY TAKE ON IT

The beginning was a mite slow and had me worried. But after a few pages the story picked up speed. We can loosely describe the book as a Family Drama.

It’s in first person and is from Shyamoli’s point of view. She leaves her husband Manav because he is having an affair with his childhood sweetheart Nimmi. Shyamoli goes back to her parents along with her young son Samar and baby daughter Ketaki aka Kitty. But her mother Malati Malhotra is dead set against a divorce to the point of burying her head deep in the sand and believing that it’s just a matter of time before her daughter goes back to her husband. Malati feels that divorce will bring shame on their family name and Shyamoli should just sweep her husband’s infidelity under the carpet and go back to live with him. 

Despite her father being a retired Judge, Shyamoli is stuck with finding her own lawyer to go ahead with the divorce proceedings.

The story is all about family relationships that have been beautifully portrayed. It’s about Malati’s lack of love for her girl child; Manav not giving a damn about paying for his kids’ upkeep; Uma’s betrayal and more. Shyamoli, despite her fear and timid nature, bounces back again and yet again. 

And no, it doesn’t read like she’s a sorry character and the world’s worst things happen to her. Not at all! She’s just caught up in a society that frowns upon the woman taking the first step towards a divorce. Luckily for her, her father Gopal is a strong and silent support. The best thing that can happen to her is the appearance of Mamman Bozorg. No, I am not going to say anything else about this lady. Read the book to find out more.

The characters have been etched beautifully; so real; with a lot of white; black and many shades of grey in-between. 

I loved the way Shyamoli gets her back on Uma and Roop’s betrayal. Kudos! It couldn’t have been better. Her relationship with Subodh is again so natural and realistic - two human beings coming together without any constraints. I did feel pity for Uma at the end of it all and it just goes to show the expertise in the author’s writing skills. 

The turnabout by Shyamoli’s brother Varun was a complete shock. But I suppose it’s the truth in many homes in a country like India where Patriarchy reigns. 

A definite THUMBS UP for the characterisation and story! I must congratulate Ritu Lalit on writing a wonderful family drama that made me laugh, cry, rejoice and sigh. At the end of it all, I can’t but admire Shyamoli for being a mother to her two children despite everything. 

Disclaimer: I received a PDF copy of the book from the author in return for my honest review as part of the Blog Tour organised by The Book Club. 

Blog Tour: MATCHES MADE IN HEAVEN by Sundari Venkatraman

MATCHES MADE IN HEAVEN

by

Sundari Venkatraman

Sneak Peek

A collection of 13 romantic short stories based in India; a culture rich country steeped in tradition. Inspiration struck me from newspaper articles, TV shows and hearing people talk. The short stories are based on that fact that arranged marriages thrive right alongside love matches in India.

1. Groomnapped is Ameya-Surekha’s story as a light romantic take on the serious issue of groom kidnappings. 

2. Dark skin on a woman puts off men in general or so says the society. Beauty Is But Skin Deep is Nitin-Simran’s story that proves it wrong!

3. Ritu is twenty-five and wants to wait for her Prince Charming but her parents are desperate to arrange her wedding. Does she find her prince in An Arranged Match?

4. Dating Agencies are doing their best to get young people together to tie the knot. My friend Diti runs an informal one; inspiring the Red Rose Dating Agency. 

5. A guy’s complaint about his fiancée of a few years dumping him after becoming successful in her film career felt like a rant to me. Chahti Hoon Tumhe is an ode to the successful actress. 

6. Soumya actually lives life like Soul Mates but how many have the guts to? This, incidentally, is the first short story that I ever wrote.

7. Does Madeinheaven.com help bring Menka & Jeetu together with technology driven Matchmaking website? 

8. I originally wrote Rahat Mili for an anthology; Rahat means ‘relief’ and is a name too. Read the story with the word in mind and it will fall in place.  

9. Reema’s Matchmakers brings Arjun and Prisha together at a get-together through a matchmaking network. But will they get married?

10. Nikita wants Krish for a friend and not her husband. As The Reluctant Bride she manages to have her cake and eat it too.

11. Shweta Ka Swayamvar is inspired by the practice of Swayamwar in ancient India of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. 

12. Pappa’s Girl is about daughters of Industrialists taking over fathers’ businesses.  

13. Mythology romances intrigue me; Love Match For Velan is my take on Lord Murugan falling in love with his consort Valli. 

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The Story told in visual

Meet the Author

Sundari Venkatraman has authored four novels and a short story anthology till now, Matches Made In Heaven (anthology) being the latest. The Malhotra Bride; Meghna; The Runaway Bridegroom; Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters From India (Box Set) and Matches Made In Heaven have all been self-published on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun. The three novels are regularly seen on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list. The Box Set and Anthology are bound to catch up soon. 

A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise happy endings. 

Matches Made In Heaven is a compilation of thirteen short stories – all romantic – based on many situations anyone can come upon in their day-to-day lives. The stories revolve around the different ways a couple can get to meet and tie the knot in a culture rich country like India. Those reading the stories will definitely be able to connect realising that one of the situations has definitely been a part of their lives. 

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Film Review: SHAMITABH

Dhanu SHAMITABH Bachchan

The film has enough meat to run for maximum 45 minutes, no more!

Venkat was keen on seeing the film immediately on release as Dhanush is an excellent actor. I couldn’t but agree with him and so tagged along on Friday to watch the 10.15 pm show at Cinemax Sion.

THE STORY

Dhanush (Dhanush) is a famous actor in Bollywood and is on his way to receive a prestigious best actor award. As he gives his speech on stage, we get to know his life story in flashback. Dhanush was born mute with a fiery passion to become an actor since childhood. His widowed mother makes and sells bhajias for a living while Dhanush tries to run away from home many times. He finally gets to go to Mumbai when his mother passes away. 

He makes many rounds of film studios only to be thrown out again and again. It’s quite by chance that he meets Akshara (Akshara Haasan) who is an assistant director. He persuades her to give him a chance to act. She’s completely impressed with his skills despite his being unable to speak. But her boss refuses to cast an actor who is a mute. 

She speaks to her father who is a surgeon and they decide to experiment with a new treatment on Dhanush. He travels all the way to Helsinki in Finland where they fit a chip in his throat. Now he can lip sync with the words he can hear through a hearing aid from a person who is connected to him via a wireless device – something in the lines of Blue Tooth. All that is left is for them to find a guy who has a good voice, someone who is ready to remain with Dhanush 24/7. They find Amitabh (Amitabh Bachchan), a drunkard who lives in a graveyard. After much persuasion, Amitabh agrees to become Dhanush’s “voice”. Watch the film to see what happens when the “voice” refuses to co-operate when Amitabh becomes jealous of Dhanush’s success. 

MY PERCEPTION

The film has an excellent storyline with two great actors at the helm. Dhanush is as good as Amitabh Bachchan. The South Indian actor has given an excellent performance as he auditions as a mute. Amazing!

What’s even better was the child actor who has played Dhanush’s role when he’s in school. That kid has given an equally impressive performance. His teacher challenges him to perform a sequence of a kid who’s just lost his mother. You have to see the film to see how well the child acts. A special kudos!

All that said, the film has enough meat to run for maximum 45 minutes. It’s been prolonged to 2 ½ hours with many songs and repeated scenes that were completely unnecessary. Of these, “piddly si batein” is simply absurd and is all about using a loo. Can you believe that the whole song and dance is around a pot? Utter crap! Yeah, the pun too!

Akshara Haasan has a good role and she is alright. She has a very long way to go before she becomes a good actress. 

The end was simply disgusting. I won’t talk about it as I don’t want to give out any spoilers to those who might want to see it despite the review. 

I like a film that inspires or entertains or makes one feel good. This one does none of these things. It definitely is not worth Rs. 230 per ticket that we spent. A waste of good money! 

VERDICT: Watch Shamitabh at your own risk

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy 
*****Super 

Blog Tour: WRONG, FOR THE RIGHT REASONS by Ritu Lalit

Wrong 

For The Right Reasons

by 

Ritu Lalit

The Blurb

Shyamoli Verma’s timing is wrong. In her late twenties, she finds that her marriage is irrevocably broken. She comes back to her parents with her pre-teen son and an infant daughter, only to find that she is unwelcome. 

Independent and brash, she decides to bring up her children and also get a divorce without any support from friends and family. 

Written with wry self deprecating humour, this is the story of a divorced woman's quest for love and security.

Buy @

Amazon.com |Amazon.in 

The Story Told In Pictures 

Meet the Author

Ritu Lalit is a corporate slave turned fiction writer. A voracious reader, she is a gold medalist post graduate in English Literature who spent most of her childhood in remote areas in the northeastern parts of India, lying on grassy hillsides daydreaming and reading books.

She loves spinning tales, but no longer has her captive audience as her children grew up and flew away from the coop. Her three dogs don’t pay much attention. She began writing in the vain hope that the characters she creates will listen to her, even do her bidding.

She has five books out in the market, A Bowlful of Butterflies, HILAWI, Chakra, Chronicles of the Witch Way and Wrong, for the Right Reasons. Her fifth novel, His Father’s Mistress is coming soon.

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Travel: CECIL HOTEL @ MATHERAN

I have always stayed at Cecil Hotel during my trips to Matheran. We have checked a number of hotels here, and feel this place is total value for money. We called them and booked our rooms in advance. 

Varda in the open space below our rooms

Cecil Hotel is set in a sprawling property with old buildings. The rooms are large with high ceilings and can easily accommodate four people. They allot you rooms as per requirement. There’s an attached bathroom and a dressing room to boot. 

There’s a veranda running outside the rooms with a railing. Then there is the sit-out beyond that, with the garden full of plants, trees and a few flowering shrubs. The place is quite rustic and that just adds to the charm. They have 20-odd staff working at Cecil Hotel. These men are friendly and helpful. 

The package includes stay, breakfast, lunch and dinner at Rs. 1400 per person. It’s a pretty good deal. They have a huge dining room that has tables and chairs to seat fifty people. By Mumbai standards, the room can comfortably seat a hundred. Breakfast is served on the veranda outside the rooms along with piping hot coffee or tea unless there’s too much crowd. In such a case, they serve it as a buffet in the dining room. Lunch is served at your table and it’s a set menu. It’s the same with dinner. There’s an old-fashioned brass bell outside every room, to call for room service. 

Gujarati Thali

The food is in the style of a Gujarati Thali most of the time, though they do serve Pav Bhaji or Chinese Fried Rice & Manchurian Gravy on some nights. They also try to please the customers by making something special if we tell them a few hours in advance. 

A section of the dining room

The place is silent and calm, all the time. There’s a section of garden with swings and see-saw for children. There’s a badminton court and one can borrow racquets, shuttlecock, badminton balls, etc from the office. They also have indoor games like carom and chess. Yeah, all olde worlde! 

Venkat

There were four dogs that hung around, obviously fed by the staff. They were quite friendly and were helpful in chasing away the monkeys that run amok in the area. There were also a couple of adorable kittens that lived in the kitchen. 

Two of the friendly doggies

It’s the best place to unwind, I would say! 

Monkeys

Monkeys on the railings outside the veranda. The one on the left is eating a kulfi that we gave him

Travel: A TRIP TO MATHERAN

A view on the way to Matheran

This is probably the sixth time I am going for a holiday to Matheran, a hill-station close to Neral near Karjat. We were six of us in the family who left home at 6.30 am on Friday to catch a local train from Sion station to Kurla. From there, we caught a fast train at 7.12 am to Neral. 

Venkat, Vinny and Yours truly in the toy train

We reached Neral at about 8.15 and booked tickets on the toy train. We had vada pav for breakfast as we waited for the train to leave. It left a few minutes late and we chugged out of Neral on our way to Matheran. The train runs across hills and valleys throughout the journey that is supposed to last two and a half hours with two stops in between. Ours took a good four hours to reach Matheran station. 

Water Pipe is one of the stations on the way to Matheran

While it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys, the view more than compensated for it. Travelling across a vast amount of greenery, we were also entertained by a number of monkeys that came close to the railway track foraging for food, especially close to the stations. There were a couple of them with little babies clinging to them. When we threw some berries, they rubbed away the salt and masala with both their hands before popping them into their little mouths. They are just too smart and intelligent I must say!

He's dusting the salt-masala off the berry before popping it into his mouth

It was almost one o’ clock when we got off at Matheran. While there were two men from Cecil Hotel to carry our luggage, we trekked up the gentle slope for another half an hour before we reached there. 

He's all set for a ride. Isn't he handsome!

Matheran is a hill-station where vehicles are not allowed and they are very strict about it – not even cycles. The peace and silence that hit you is simply amazing. Our hotel was situated in a remote corner where even the horses didn’t disturb us. It was just us, a few more guests, the hotel staff, a few dogs and monkeys spread over a large territory. 

A veg-fruit-spice market that had been established in 1919

While the youngsters went riding one day, Venkat and I walked to the market. We walked for about a couple of kilometres, just getting a feel of the place. Imagine not having to look over your shoulder every few seconds while walking! No bikes, rickshaws, cars, cabs or buses to knock you down or blow your ears off with their honking. There were restaurants, a bar, bakeries and shops selling leather handbags, Kolhapuri chappals, hats, cane baskets and more. And of course, there were a number of hotels offering different packages. We stopped at a bakery to have a fresh scone dripping with cream and hot tea. Both were delicious. 

That's me on the hand-drawn rickshaw

Horses walk next to people while there were a few hand-drawn rickshaws – this was something new as they weren’t around the last time we visited the place – that can carry one person at a time. I was beat by the time we finished the round of the market and so we opted to take a rickshaw each back to our hotel. 

Varda, Vinny, Pratika & Viggy

Evenings were fun with Viggy playing the guitar and singing along with Pratika. The rest of us lounged around listening till dinner. After dinner, we played a few rounds of carom and also took walks around the garden. The silence seeps into your very bones and brings about a much needed peace. 

He was too cute and had to be caught on camera

We had breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning before we began our walk down to the taxi stand. It took us 40 minutes to trek down the gentle slope with monkeys for company. The return home was swift with a stop for lunch at Vashi and we were home by late afternoon. 

That's Venkat as we began our trek down to the taxi stand on our return journey

Two days of bliss, yummy vegetarian fare that I didn’t have to cook, sunrises and sunsets to please the most difficult of people and loads of family bonding! I couldn’t ask for a better holiday.