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Secrets & Saris
A secret that could cause scandal!
Jilted at the altar, Shefali Khanna should be humiliated. Instead she takes the opportunity to start again. Top of the priority do not tumble headfirst into another relationship!
But even moving from the city to the country can't keep Shefali out of trouble—especially when she catches the eye of local celeb Neil Mitra! There is no way she can risk a scandal already! He might be gorgeous, but he's totally off-limits…right?
Extra included is The Wedding Dress Diaries by Aimee Carson, the prequel to our fab new quartet!
Jilted at the altar, Shefali Khanna should be humiliated. Instead she takes the opportunity to start again. Top of the priority do not tumble headfirst into another relationship!
But even moving from the city to the country can't keep Shefali out of trouble—especially when she catches the eye of local celeb Neil Mitra! There is no way she can risk a scandal already! He might be gorgeous, but he's totally off-limits…right?
Extra included is The Wedding Dress Diaries by Aimee Carson, the prequel to our fab new quartet!
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
17 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Shoma Narayanan
33 books68 followersShoma started reading romances at the age of eleven, borrowing them from neighbours so that her parents didn’t find out. At that time the thought of writing one herself never entered her head. But a couple of years ago Shoma took up writing and was amazed at how much she enjoyed it. Now she works grimly at her banking job through the week, and tries to balance writing with household chores during weekends. Her family has been unfailingly supportive of her latest hobby.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 20, 2014
Ah, India. I'm Malaysian. I grew up in a village where roughly half the folks were Indian, and some of my best friends throughout my childhood and teenage years were Indian. Our families knew each other, so, in many ways, I am familiar with their culture. Of course, the Indian culture in Malaysia is not completely similar to that in India, but there is enough here in this story that I recognize, the way you would read a story set in a local hometown and go, "Hey, I know about that! Cool!"
Perhaps that is the reason why this book and I have a rocky relationship. Take away the "exotic" elements - at least, they would be exotic, maybe colorful and fascinating, to someone who isn't so familiar with the many flavors of Indian culture - and I get a story that is actually quite mundane and uninspiring.
Shefali Khanna is still burning from the public embarrassment of being left standing at the altar by her bridegroom-that-isn't-to-be. Things get worse when people start to whisper and point at her behind her back, because, you know, clearly there is something wrong with her when she can't keep her man. When a teaching job is available in Jabalpur, she doesn't hesitate to seize it and say goodbye to Delhi. Naturally, there is another whirl at romance waiting even in Jabalpur, of all places, in the form of Neil Mitra, a local TV personality who may be just the thing Shefali needs to celebrate her newfound independence from her parents.
The author has a way with light humor and comedy, but here, the balance is bit off. Shefali is a bit too bratty and immature here, and I have a hard time believing that this lady is an adult. As a punchline, she occasionally works, but as a romance heroine, she rates high on the cringe-o-meter too often for my liking. Neil is the foil to her "little girl playing at being a chick-lit diva" antics: he often seems far more patient with her than most people. But that's why he's the hero, I guess.
Characterization is super lightweight here. The heroine has some issues, while Neil has some baggage from a previous relationship, but the angst is barely there. The author has a tendency to create conflict and then resolve it within a few pages, so any drama concerning personal issues never has a chance to develop in a meaningful way. The fact that the conflicts show up one after another also gives the story a contrived feel, as if the author is just passing some time making her characters go through a laundry list of things to thump their chests superficially about before she can end the story.
As a result of all this, I end up with a story that, while pleasant to read, leaves so little impact on me that I actually have to read this book again before I can write this review. And I read the book the first time just a day before.
Perhaps that is the reason why this book and I have a rocky relationship. Take away the "exotic" elements - at least, they would be exotic, maybe colorful and fascinating, to someone who isn't so familiar with the many flavors of Indian culture - and I get a story that is actually quite mundane and uninspiring.
Shefali Khanna is still burning from the public embarrassment of being left standing at the altar by her bridegroom-that-isn't-to-be. Things get worse when people start to whisper and point at her behind her back, because, you know, clearly there is something wrong with her when she can't keep her man. When a teaching job is available in Jabalpur, she doesn't hesitate to seize it and say goodbye to Delhi. Naturally, there is another whirl at romance waiting even in Jabalpur, of all places, in the form of Neil Mitra, a local TV personality who may be just the thing Shefali needs to celebrate her newfound independence from her parents.
The author has a way with light humor and comedy, but here, the balance is bit off. Shefali is a bit too bratty and immature here, and I have a hard time believing that this lady is an adult. As a punchline, she occasionally works, but as a romance heroine, she rates high on the cringe-o-meter too often for my liking. Neil is the foil to her "little girl playing at being a chick-lit diva" antics: he often seems far more patient with her than most people. But that's why he's the hero, I guess.
Characterization is super lightweight here. The heroine has some issues, while Neil has some baggage from a previous relationship, but the angst is barely there. The author has a tendency to create conflict and then resolve it within a few pages, so any drama concerning personal issues never has a chance to develop in a meaningful way. The fact that the conflicts show up one after another also gives the story a contrived feel, as if the author is just passing some time making her characters go through a laundry list of things to thump their chests superficially about before she can end the story.
As a result of all this, I end up with a story that, while pleasant to read, leaves so little impact on me that I actually have to read this book again before I can write this review. And I read the book the first time just a day before.
June 12, 2013
I haven't read many Harlequin Kiss books, just one in fact and I really enjoyed it so I thought I would give Secrets & Saris a try as well. This is not the first book of author Shoma Narayanan I'd read as well. I had enjoyed Monsoon Wedding Fever so I had some good expectations from Secrets and Saris. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
In spite of the cute cover and fresh look the story line was just way too flaky for me to like it. Shefali Khanna has been jilted at the altar. After facing the humiliation from her friends and family she decides to move to a small town to start things over and sort things out. On her flight there she meets Neil, whom she dismisses as just another hot guy whom she has no use for now.
I just couldn't warm up to Shefali. I get that she was going through a horrible time but she was outright rude to Neil in the beginning. It did change after wards but then her indecisiveness irritated me. She came off as flighty and she herself didn't know what she wanted. The same could be said for Neil. The whole time they're together supposedly having their fling, they both keep changing their minds way too fast for me.
Neil didn't have any special qualities as such. At least none that I could see. He has a daughter who was very sweet. But I hated his whole take on marriage and having more children with Shefali after they got married. It was unfair. I don't think Shefali completely accepted his daughter as her own till the end though she had a good relationship with her. The worst part was that even after the book got over the issues weren't really sorted.
The book was extremely short with the bonus prequel novella taking up 40% of the book. The Wedding Dress Diaries was a cute novella, but again, it was way too short to actually find any satisfaction in it. Still, Shoma Narayanan is a good author so I'd recommend trying her Monsoon Wedding Fever instead of Secrets & Saris. This was an okay read for me.
In spite of the cute cover and fresh look the story line was just way too flaky for me to like it. Shefali Khanna has been jilted at the altar. After facing the humiliation from her friends and family she decides to move to a small town to start things over and sort things out. On her flight there she meets Neil, whom she dismisses as just another hot guy whom she has no use for now.
I just couldn't warm up to Shefali. I get that she was going through a horrible time but she was outright rude to Neil in the beginning. It did change after wards but then her indecisiveness irritated me. She came off as flighty and she herself didn't know what she wanted. The same could be said for Neil. The whole time they're together supposedly having their fling, they both keep changing their minds way too fast for me.
Neil didn't have any special qualities as such. At least none that I could see. He has a daughter who was very sweet. But I hated his whole take on marriage and having more children with Shefali after they got married. It was unfair. I don't think Shefali completely accepted his daughter as her own till the end though she had a good relationship with her. The worst part was that even after the book got over the issues weren't really sorted.
The book was extremely short with the bonus prequel novella taking up 40% of the book. The Wedding Dress Diaries was a cute novella, but again, it was way too short to actually find any satisfaction in it. Still, Shoma Narayanan is a good author so I'd recommend trying her Monsoon Wedding Fever instead of Secrets & Saris. This was an okay read for me.
June 7, 2013
Not quite as good as the author's last book, but I still love the contemporary Indian setting. It's just so different than typical small town American romances.
I wanted to wring the hero's neck at more than one occasion in the book. I'm not sure he groveled enough in the end!
I wanted to wring the hero's neck at more than one occasion in the book. I'm not sure he groveled enough in the end!
May 22, 2014
' Secrets and Saris' is a beautiful story.......Neil Mitra's instant attraction for Shefali Khanna right from the time he meets her on flight and the story of both their lives where she was jilted on her wedding day and her getting out from Delhi for a change and to avoid the gossip of people so she could sort out things with a better mind and he being a successful Tv hot shot anchor living with his daughter have been put so well in their place in the story.
Bela Mashi's character is soo cute...and she is like all the additional house members whom we have had like our fairy god mothers with whom we have shared our life more than our parents.
What i loved most is that in both the books- the girls think that the guy just wants to marry as he cares for them and not as he loves loves them...but as it has to be ...the guy has proved that he has gone after the girl even after a bad fight as he loves her like crazy and as she's the one with whom his life would be perfect and with whom he knows there's a happily ever after and no looking back.
The way Shoma picks up real life situations and characters is what makes me wanna read your stories again and again .
Bela Mashi's character is soo cute...and she is like all the additional house members whom we have had like our fairy god mothers with whom we have shared our life more than our parents.
What i loved most is that in both the books- the girls think that the guy just wants to marry as he cares for them and not as he loves loves them...but as it has to be ...the guy has proved that he has gone after the girl even after a bad fight as he loves her like crazy and as she's the one with whom his life would be perfect and with whom he knows there's a happily ever after and no looking back.
The way Shoma picks up real life situations and characters is what makes me wanna read your stories again and again .
July 8, 2013
Secrets and Saris by Shoma Narayanan is the story of 27 year old Shefali Khanna from Delhi who is ditched by her fiancé Pranav Mehrotra on the day of the wedding. She leaves Delhi for Jabalpur where she would be replacing Mrs Dubey as the administrative incharge of a play school. On the flight to Jabalpur, she meets Neil Mitra, a TV anchor. As with every Mills and Boon, they keep running into each other in Jabalpur.
Neil is a divorced, single father, who lives with his four year old daughter, Nina and his old governess, Bela Mashi. He still is friends with his ex-wife, Reema, who feels that they should have stayed friends and not got married.
I felt the story dragged a bit and Monsoon Wedding fever was a much better book.
Anyway, good for a one time read.
Neil is a divorced, single father, who lives with his four year old daughter, Nina and his old governess, Bela Mashi. He still is friends with his ex-wife, Reema, who feels that they should have stayed friends and not got married.
I felt the story dragged a bit and Monsoon Wedding fever was a much better book.
Anyway, good for a one time read.
August 3, 2013
This book was pretty good. After being jilted at the alter by her 'arranged marriage' fiancé, Shefali leaves town. On her way out, she meets Neil, who happens to be the father of one of her students at the new school she is going to. They enjoy each others company and soon find themselves knee deep in rumors and mischief. Soon the only way to curb the rumors us to become engaged.
There was a lot of back and forth on decision making, which might have been a little much. One moment they can accept what the other wants and then they can't, back and forth, back and forth. But they finally admit their love for each other and all is well in the world.
Although they did have a sexual relationship, we didn't have to read all the steamy details so it wasn't bad.
There was a lot of back and forth on decision making, which might have been a little much. One moment they can accept what the other wants and then they can't, back and forth, back and forth. But they finally admit their love for each other and all is well in the world.
Although they did have a sexual relationship, we didn't have to read all the steamy details so it wasn't bad.
October 14, 2013
In Secrets & Saris by Shoma Narayanan, jilted bride, Shefali moves to the country from the city to start her life afresh after facing so much humiliation. Her new life starts with a bang when she the local celeb Neil Mitra enters her lifeRead More
June 9, 2013
I love contemporary Indian novels as a glimpse into a culture I am fascinated with. However, this seemed convoluted both in terms of the storyline and the characters. It seemed to have no build up and no culmination. The happy ending didn't have the effect it sought. Poor effort!
January 26, 2014
Shoma's heroes have a sense of humor and her heroines are sarcastically funny too. I loved that about Secrets and saris. There was a lot of back-pedaling towards the end, but on the whole it was an a-class read. Exactly what I've come to expect from Shoma Narayanan!
April 17, 2014
The exotic (to me) setting doesn't quite make up for a choppy arc. I felt like I was reading a Regency novel disguised as contemporary "women' lit." The romance felt more like a by product rather than the driving force of the story.
October 4, 2013
Maybe a little bit unconventional for Orthodox Indian brides, but it is sweet in its own way, another lovely Salt & Sweet Romance :)
April 23, 2014
Quick, funky read, enjoyed it very much then again I enjoy an easy fun romantic book every so often.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews