by Nalini Singh
Blurb:
Nayna
Sharma agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope it would heal the fractures
in her beloved family… only to realize too late that a traditional marriage is
her personal nightmare. Panicked, she throws caution to the winds, puts on the
tiniest dress she can find, and ends up in the arms of a tall, rough-edged hunk
of a man who has abs of steel—and who she manages to mortally insult between
one kiss and the next.
Abandoned
as a child, then adopted into a loving family, Raj Sen believes in tradition,
in continuity. Some might call him stiff and old-fashioned, but he knows what
he wants—and it’s a life defined by rules… yet he can’t stop thinking about the
infuriating and sexy woman who kissed him in the moonlight then disappeared.
When his parents spring an introduction on him, the last woman he expects is
her. Beautiful. Maddening. A rulebreaker in the making.
He’s
all wrong for her. She’s all wrong for him. And love is about to make rebels of
them both.
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4.25 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
Ok
I have to confess… I put this story off as long as I humanly could because I did
not want to think about leaving these characters behind, even though I knew in
my mind I was missing out on an amazing experience by not reading the story! And
I was right. This story runs parallel to the first book in the series, Cherish Hard,
which is the story of Nayna’s best friend Ísa falling in love with Raj’s best friend
Sailor, so we have gotten a few glimpses of this story already if you read that
story, which I must say if you didn’t, stop right now and go do that. I must
preface this review with the comment that if you haven’t experienced a lot of
different cultures either personally or through your reading, you might not
understand a lot of the angst and drama in this story, as the two characters
come to terms with their emotions and their family obligations, but it made
perfect sense to me. Nayna has finally decided to give into the family pressure
to be the "good daughter" and let her parents set up an arranged marriage, but she
wants one chance to be the "bad girl" before she is forced into the role she has
always feared and sets out for a night of wild fun with her friend at a
party. There she experiences the first
real passion of her life at the hands of a man that should be all wrong for her
and has no way to gauge her feelings for him or what he draws from her and soon
finds that she has gravely insulted him.
When midnight strikes on her Cinderella night, Nayna decides to forget
the man that brought out such passion in her, until she finds herself face to
face with him in the most unexpected of places.
Raj is determined to find the woman made to complete him, but the siren
that inspired more reckless passion than he has ever felt in his life is beyond
unforgettable. While he has promised his
parents he will marry and is willing to let them set him up, he has changed his
mind until he can find the woman that has haunted his nights, but when he
discovers that she is in fact the next woman his parents have matched him with, his entire world tilts on its axis. The
gauntlet is thrown down between them, but as they spark off one another the challenge
of what they both want versus what they think they owe their families becomes
an entangled mess. Raj has to decide if
he loves Nayna enough to allow her to spread her wings, even if it takes her
away from the love and life he wanted them to build together, or if he will try
to cage the spirit that so draws him to her.
The
complex nature of heart versus mind is explored in great detail as both Nayna
and Raj come to terms with the fact that you cannot always mold yourself into
what the world wants, sometimes you have to mold the world into what works for
you. Nayna was a woman that never really had a chance to embrace life, always
hidden in the shadow of the mistakes made by her older sister and the scandal
that she caused. Being the good girl, mainly to make sure that her
family was never again ripped apart, showed us that her heart might have been
in the right place, but someone should have been looking out for her much more
than they were. When she finally has her
chance, with Raj’s help surprisingly, we get to see the fully-evolved and
amazing woman she was always destined to become and I have to see I could see
her being one of my besties. She is fun,
sweet, loving, and sensual without trying to be, and her sass and verve for
life would keep me on my toes as her friend as much as it did Raj as her lover. While I hurt a lot seeing her go through her
growing pains, it was time, and once she got past them she was a much happier
and loving person for the drama. Raj is a great guy, even if he is a bit rigid,
but with Nayna’s help he finds a lot of ways to unbend. Once he decides that Nayna is it for him, he
refuses to let anything stop him in his pursuit, even her own fears, and is
willing to sacrifice anything for her happiness, making him truly a hero in my
eyes. And let’s not forget that he stood
up to her family, his own, and the community as a whole to allow her to be
happy, even at his own expense—can you say HOTT?! I would love to find myself a
Raj type guy that I could have the chance to ruffle up while he helps me
blossom. These two spread heat like a
wildfire as they challenge one another at every turn, whether they are arguing,
loving, or fighting together against the world, and I can see that lasting into
their old age as the explore the world together.
This
story is one that many might see as too hung up on the customs and cultural
issues that Raj and Nayna dealt with in the story, but I can only say that they
obviously don’t understand just how much family obligation can truly shape a
person and their love life. I loved
seeing Nayna break out of her shell and drag Raj right along with her to bring
him to understand that just because a person spreads their wings to fly doesn’t
mean they don’t need a solid home to return to.
Nayna was a woman that just needed the right reason to give herself the
permission to put herself first and that reason was love and a man that was
willing to work for her heart. Raj too
needed to find his balance between love and obligation and when he found Nayna, he knew he’d found the woman to complete his life. I loved every second of seeing these two
struggle to find their footing together and individually and find their places
in one another’s lives and almost wish the story had been even longer so I could
enjoy more. I am hoping the series might
continue someday so I get to revisit these characters, but if not I know I can
always return for a reread to enjoy the magic all over again. Thanks for the fun experience of these two
magical stories of people that need one another more than they ever imagined to
become the people they were meant to be, Ms. Singh.
*ebook provided by publisher (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
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