To uphold family honor and tradition, Sheetal Prasad is forced to forsake the man she loves and marry playboy millionaire Rakesh Dhanraj while the citizens of Raigun, India, watch in envy. On her wedding night, however, Sheetal quickly learns that the stranger she married is as cold as the marble floors of the Dhanraj mansion.Forced to smile at family members and cameras and pretend there’s … there’s nothing wrong with her marriage, Sheetal begins to discover that the family she married into harbors secrets, lies and deceptions powerful enough to tear apart her world. With no one to rely on and no escape, Sheetal must ally with her husband in an attempt to protect her infant son from the tyranny of his family.
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Simply unputdownable!! I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
Duty and Desire allows readers to peek behind the cultural curtain and gawk at the glitz, glamour, and grand details of elite society and arranged marriages in modern day India.
Gattani’s descriptive prose paints a breathtaking portrait of the stunning beauty that is par for the course at high society Indian weddings, from the intricate couture, to the extensive decorations, exquisite jewelry, banquet tables laden with scrumptious food, and grand pageantry of such a highly anticipated event.
As the main character struggles to make peace with leaving her home and family, and is forced to turn her back on true love in order to fulfill familial expectations, readers will feel her anguish as her dreams come crashing down, and root for her happiness as she struggles to break free and gain control of her destiny.
The first of the Winds of Fire series, Duty and Desire, is filled with the illusions of a family whose wealth is beyond measure.
Sheetal Prasad marries into this family and walks away from the only man she has ever loved because she feels she has no choice. She is forced to make allowances for the family she marries into, all the while questioning her own loving family for forcing her into this nearly intolerable situation.
And she tries.
Duty and Desire will lead you down a path where men do no wrong and women have no choices. It is a story that will stay with you long after the rich imagery disappears.
Sheetal is a educated, rich, somewhat spoiled artist who loves a lower class man, much to the horror of her parents. Using emotional blackmail they force Sheetal to marry Rakesh, who was scheming to get his hands on Sheetal’s fathers fortune. Rakesh does horrible things to her through out the marriage, starting with their wedding night when he forces him self on her. He continues to cheat on her, disrespecting her while his dysfunctional family lies, manipulates, conspire and treats her horribly. She eventually had enough and leaves with her son going back to her parents, Rakesh offers her a fresh start or a divorce, her choice and she decides that in the best interest of her son nothing else matters but a normal life for him.
The author did an amazing job with the story line, supplying background of traditions and customs to non Indian readers. The characters are well developed with depth and growth through out the book. I will be reading book 2 when it comes out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A modern love story constrained by an ancient culture
Anju Gattani’s novel of a modern Indian woman dealing with the weight of traditional expectations is both is both a love story and a plea for understanding. Sheetal, a well-off, well-educated aspiring artist, must choose between Arvind, a lower-caste young man who loves her, and Rakesh, a famous, rich, and socially prominent tycoon. Her parents hate Arvind, and push her to marry Rakesh. She is an Indian woman, obedient to family and societal expectations, and so she rejects a love match and marries as her parents desire. But Rakesh is not a loyal loving spouse. He’ a workaholic and a cheater, and his family is dysfunctionally bound by lies and secrets rather than love and respect. Oddly enough, Rakesh does develop positive feelings and an attraction to Sheetal, but old habits, poor impulse control, and traditional attitudes toward women lead him to self-sabotage. Sheetal’s sense of outrage, her desire for respect and personal autonomy, her driving artistic talent, and her rocky relationship with her mother-in-law war constantly with her desire to make a go of her marriage. That relationship is deeply flawed, and readers will be hard pressed to think of how Sheetal and Rakesh can possibly find peace and happiness. Gattani’s unhappy couple are well and truly trapped – and readers will by turns sympathize with their troubles, and grow frustrated with their inability to change. It’s a fascinating story, with an open ending that allows for a sequel – which I will definitely be reading. This has been a voluntary ARC review.