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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars - Smoother than Chai tea,
By
This review is from: Sari Shop Widow (Paperback)
Anjali Kapadia is an Indian-American widow. Though she still dreams of someday marrying and having kids, those dreams are beginning to fade. In her ten years of widowhood, Anjali simply has not found someone she could fall in love with. Now nearing the age of forty, she has all but given up hope. Otherwise, Anjali feels fulfilled. She and her parents are in business together. They own a small upscale boutique in Little India (New Jersey) called Silk & Sapphires. Anjali is very artistic, very creative, and has designed the clothing in the shop. Her parents, though, have kept one thing quiet from Anjali. The shop is in the red. Unless they can turn things around quickly, they will lose the boutique.Drastic measures have already been put into place. Anjali's father has requested help from his rich older brother, Jeevan. It has been five years since Anjali's uncle last visited from India. He may be a smart businessman, but his commanding ways, crazy demands, and overbearing character is too much for her or her mother to deal with. It becomes harder when Jeevan appears with enough luggage to show he plans a long stay. Jeevan also brought along, unannounced, his business partner from London, Rishi Shah. The handsome Brit specializes in saving failing businesses. Rishi and Jeevan have big plans to save the boutique. Part of that is buying fifty-one percent of Silk & Sapphires. Can Anjali's uncle and the Londoner save her beloved shop? If so, will it no longer belong to her? And can Anjali and Rishi take a leap of faith with their hearts? ***** 4.5 STARS! This story is very rich in Desi culture. I found it to be extremely fascinating. My synopsis does not include the honorable endings (titles) to names, such as Jeevan-kaka, but I learned about them without even realizing it. The writing is well done and it was easy for me, who knew absolutely nothing about Desi culture, to understand each person's concerns. I came to care for the Kapadia family as if they were close friends. Shobhan Bantwal's writing style is smoother than Chai tea and her story is just as refreshing! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (58 customer reviews) 63 of 65 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Pleasant Surprise Reviewer: Sucker For Freebies,
By Renee Shields - Published on Amazon.com
Here'a a book I never would have read had it not been offered free on Kindle. It turned out to be an interesting read, exposing me to an aspect of American-Indian (Desi) culture I might not otherwise have ever gotten to see.Anjali is an American born Indian widow who has put her life on hold to make a success of her parents' sari boutique, called 'Silk and Sapphires.' To her dismay, she learns that without her realizing it, the shop is close to bankruptcy. Her father, without her knowledge or consent, calls on his rich, tyrannical elder brother for help in rescueing the business. When this brother flies in from India he is accompanied by a man unknown to any of the family, announcing that this Rishi Shah is his business partner, and that they will sort out all the problems. Anjali, being a modern American woman, doesn't want any outsiders sorting out her problems. And from there, stock Romance ensues. What made this book interesting was that, wrapped around a standard "romance" plot, there was a really nice look at an exotic sub-culture - in Edison,N.J. of all places, that I surely did not know existed. It was fascinating to read about, and elevated this run-of-the-mill romance a step above the norm. A really pleasant surprise! 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A window into a different culture,
By Eve Paludan - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
I got this book free on Kindle and it was a good read, hence the three stars. The rich cultural family life and love relationships were a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed reading the emotional growth of an almost-40 Indian-American widow (a successful fashion designer and partner in a family sari shop) and her relationship with (first) a sex-buddy type of boyfriend to whom I never warmed up. She finally lets herself fall for someone who truly loves her for herself and who is someone of whom her family would also approve, despite one sort of black mark in the relationship department on the part of the hero, and with the sex buddy on hers. Though her husband has been dead for ten years, she still carries a torch, which made me really love her character. This meant the eventual hero would have to really outshine the almost-beatific love she had for her dead husband. I felt that the ending was somewhat abrupt and not as richly written as the rest of the book, but I did get my happily ever after. It was just lacking the previous zeal of the other chapters. The characterizations of her family were well drawn. What a scrumptious hero who is even more empathetic because of a slight disability that has a secret story behind it. I look forward to other books from this author and will be hunting for some more good ethnic romance reads. This is not my usual reading fare and I was happy to have gotten the chance to be introduced to this author because the book was free on Kindle for a short time. Next time, I will buy her title!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
super ethnic family drama,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sari Shop Widow (Paperback)
Anjali Kapadia had once dreamed of raising children, but after a decade since she cremated Vikram, the Indian-American has little hope of a second marriage as she has not found anyone she wants to marry though she has a secret boyfriend she hides from her parents. Nearing forty with her biological clock winding down, she has all but given up on her dream. Everything else in her life is good as she and her parents Mohan and Usha run the Silk and Sapphires upscale boutique in the Little India neighborhood of Edison, New Jersey where she designs clothing.However, Anjali is ignorant of the fact that the shop is failing. Her desperate father Mohan asks his wealthy older brother for help. Anjali's Uncle Jeevan-kaka has not been state side in five years, but comes from India to see what he can do to save the boutique. He is a benevolent dictator who drove Anjali and her mom crazy with his demands on his last visit. Jeevan arrives in New Jersey with his London-based business partner Rishi Shah, an expert on saving businesses buried in red ink. They plan to save the shop but also demand fifty-one percent ownership of the store. As Anjali and Rishi fall in love, she must decide can she trust him with her heart, her boutique, and her future when he already has a client girlfriend? This is a super ethnic family drama from an author who consistently provides readers with great profound novels that give insight into the Indian especially the Indian-American Hindu culture (see THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER and THE DOWRY BRIDE). Once again the fully developed characters make for a strong deep look at Hindu life in central New Jersey with the romance augmenting the insightful look. Shobhan Bantwal's enjoyable novels are incredibly entertaining but also enlightening as the reader sips masala chai. Harriet Klausner |
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