Shade Lapite's Blog

The Bollywood Bride and A Bollywood Affair are the first two books in Sonali Dev’s Bollywood series. They are two of my favourite romance novels, my go-to comfort reads, and brilliantly addictive. I could give a TED talk on why they should feature at the top of every Best Romance list. I’ll settle for the review below.

Plot: A Bollywood Affair brings together an ambitious village girl and a playboy, film director in the wake of a child marriage that should never have happened and urgently needs to be annulled. In The Bollywood Bride an A list actress must confront the boy she nearly destroyed during her climb to stardom, while ensuring he never learns the true reasons for her actions. The stories boast sprawling family dramas, buried secrets, heated attractions, Bollywood glamour and emotional healing.

Watch the video and get an inkling of the magic Sonali Dev weaves in her bestselling romance novels.

Bethany and Jacob are stuck in a loop of romantic mishaps. Bethany has been rejected by both boys she invited to homecoming, and Jacob has been dumped by two of the hottest girls in school. All this and the fall semester has barely begun! After circumstance throws them together, the two decide to practice date each other. Before long they develop a solid friendship and discover a partner they can be their authentic selves with. But it’s hard to shift from practice to the real thing, can their relationship survive the change?

Delightful romantic comedy from a masterful writer.

After years of reckless spending the aristocratic Gresham family are facing bankruptcy. Rufus, a young, handsome future earl, is forced to choose between marrying for money to refill the family coffers, or defying his controlling mother and following his heart to the sweet, girl next door.

Kevin Kwan paints sparkling pictures of the sumptuous wealth that surrounds his characters in a way that is appealing and bewitching. His writing is as witty as ever, the story takes us to far flung places across the globe, and the antics he conjures up for the ultra-wealthy would shame a daytime soap opera. Yet beneath all the drama is a story about the value of human life and how connection can save us.

It is 1690 and Anyanwu is a West African woman with special abilities that she uses to protect her tribe. Her life is upended when Doro, a spirit-being with even greater power, seeks her out and insists on adding her to his ‘seed community’. Anyanwu is forced to engage all her wits and courage for a chance to free herself from Doro’s control.

A provocative story about freedom, community and the uses of power.

The Trees is a supernatural murder mystery set in a small racist town in Mississippi.

It is a buddy cop comedy about two black detectives sent to a sundown town to investigate a series of bizarre murders.

It is a satirical exploration of the practice of lynching that helped to uphold white supremacy in the US from slavery to the present day.

The Trees is many things. Above all, it is eminently readable.

After being pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is chock full of resentment. Half vampire and half fox-spirit, she doesn’t fit into any of the supernatural groups that populate Immortal Shanghai. Out of grumpy wilfulness, she sets out to learn what dastardly scheme her cruel grandmother is up to, using the gentle mortal she’s been tasked with babysitting as as excuse to investigate.

Kalothia has grown up in the shadows of her country, hidden away, cared for by a handful of guardians. When assassins attack her home on her sixteenth birthday, she flees to the royal court – a beautiful but lethal nest of poison, plots and danger. There she must learn the truth about her identity and the fate of her parents to defeat those who want her dead.

Elena Soo is a regular high-schooler. She may be close to invisible at home – next to her much loved twin brother – but she has a loyal best friend, she’s mostly on top of her school assignments and she is adored at her local community centre – though it’s currently threatened with closure. Her humdrum life is throw into chaos when her childhood best friend rolls into town – now a celebrated member of an internationally famous K-pop group – and demands she honour their childhood promise of attending prom together.

Once Upon a K-Prom is fun romcom with glitz, glam and some weighty coming-of-age themes.

I’ve recently enjoyed getting lost in the claustrophobic, dangerous world of June Hur’s murder mystery, The Red Palace.

The novel is set in 1758 and is the story of a lowly, newly qualified nurse who finds herself forced to investigate the brutal murder of four women after a dear friend is accused of being involved. The main character, Hyeon, is the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranked official and her unwelcome activities bring her to the attention of the vengeful police commander, her indifferent father and the new, attractive police inspector. 

Zetian is a girl with nothing to lose. When she signs up to become a concubine pilot to infiltrate the army so she can avenge the death of her sister, it’s in the full knowledge that the decision will likely kill her. Sure enough, she lands on the front line of the bloody war against an alien invasion. Throughout the riveting novel she battles aliens in the air and a patriarchal system that uses girls as cannon fodder on the ground.

The book has been called a cross between Pacific Rim and Hunger Games. It’s powerful and beautiful and a must-read!