Posted:
My dear Avantika,
Your pages are so full of effusive praise and admiration from your fans, all of it fully deserved, that I was in two minds about whether or not to post my comments on Parts 4 and 5, which are bound to seem anaemic in comparison to those. As you can see, I have finally decided to send them in, with the proviso that the failing, if at all there is any, is in me. Not in you.
You have done an excellent job of enticing Arjun Rawte into becoming a lover hotfooting it halfway across the globe to get in on the ground floor with his new love. He is almost convincing, and seeing that the TV image of his sears itself into one's consciousness, making anything drastically different seem contrived, your having managed this radical transformation is indeed an achievement.
To recapitulate, I did not find that bangle scene in Part 4 convincing - it seemed quite strange for Arjun to suddenly behave so much out of character just because Sakshi looked extra pretty and sensuous that evening. But now you have hit your stride and the romantic passages in this chapter do not, even to me, suffer from any lack of credibility.
The problem - and this is with me, not with you or your writing - is that my favourite kind of romantic novel would be in the Jane Austen style, or in that of Heyer in her best take on the Jane Austen style. Not in that of Barbara Cartland or her sister writers in Mills and Boon. I do not mean to say that there is anything wrong with the latter, just that they are not my cup of tea, or rather filter coffee.
This one is what I would call superior Mills and Boon, and no wonder it attracts rave reviews by the dozen. I am sure it will be wrapped up with your trademark panache.
But as for me, I am waiting to get back to my Lady in Red.
Shyamala Aunty
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Part 5-B
Your pages are so full of effusive praise and admiration from your fans, all of it fully deserved, that I was in two minds about whether or not to post my comments on Parts 4 and 5, which are bound to seem anaemic in comparison to those. As you can see, I have finally decided to send them in, with the proviso that the failing, if at all there is any, is in me. Not in you.
You have done an excellent job of enticing Arjun Rawte into becoming a lover hotfooting it halfway across the globe to get in on the ground floor with his new love. He is almost convincing, and seeing that the TV image of his sears itself into one's consciousness, making anything drastically different seem contrived, your having managed this radical transformation is indeed an achievement.
To recapitulate, I did not find that bangle scene in Part 4 convincing - it seemed quite strange for Arjun to suddenly behave so much out of character just because Sakshi looked extra pretty and sensuous that evening. But now you have hit your stride and the romantic passages in this chapter do not, even to me, suffer from any lack of credibility.
The problem - and this is with me, not with you or your writing - is that my favourite kind of romantic novel would be in the Jane Austen style, or in that of Heyer in her best take on the Jane Austen style. Not in that of Barbara Cartland or her sister writers in Mills and Boon. I do not mean to say that there is anything wrong with the latter, just that they are not my cup of tea, or rather filter coffee.
This one is what I would call superior Mills and Boon, and no wonder it attracts rave reviews by the dozen. I am sure it will be wrapped up with your trademark panache.
But as for me, I am waiting to get back to my Lady in Red.
Shyamala Aunty
The Author of this post has chosen to restrict the content of this Post to members only.
Part 5-B
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