The name of the book itself gives us vibes of it having a nautanki yet patakha-guddi Punjabi heroine at the centre of it all for sure! And we are not mistaken! Meet Mahi, the lady who grabs life by its balls if it tries to mess with anyone she loves, especially her Tarzan a.k.a Lavith, the man she has lost her heart to.

Right from the first page, the author dives into the topsy turvy world of our heroine Mahi-ve, who owns a Party Planning business called Ludhiana to London. However her business card claims that she has a "Panty Planning" business. I am pretty sure I can never read Party Planners as they were intended to anymore. Anyhoooo, her latest assignment is to get her best friend's dream of doing her wedding night bang-bang (as Mahi subtly puts it) in Bangkok, i.e, to get married in Bangkok. But what to do when your best friend's to-be in-laws are kanjoos makhichoos?
If not at times like these, then when will the useless government come to any use, huh? In comes demonetisation, so all those Punjoos must get rid their pure pristine pink hands of any loose dirty mayl (read hoards of cash). So Bangkok is on!

But who knew that to give her best friend her first legitimate "kok"(being prude) in Bankok, our heroine would end up finding the "kok" who broke her heart two months ago? And it seems like this "kok" did more than just breaking her heart.

The entire tale is a fun ride, more so because of its super fun dialect. It is littered with hilarious dialogues, quoting which would just take the fun away from reading them originally! Set against the backdrop of a Punjoo wedding, trying to get rid of family like the Punjoo aunties wanting to shed off those extra kilos, but hai, Auntys always go back to cholestrol ladden ladoos, and Indian families always sniff out a wedding. And ofcourse, chaos pursues and secrets are revealed. Even after all this tabahi with names called and tears shed, our Mahi gets her happy ending.

Also, a tip. The next time you go to an Aunty's Bachelorette party, always remember "Hello, the stripper is also someone's son no?"

Note : I received the review copy of this book from Bloomsbury in exchange of an honest review. 

Checklist:

• Grew up watching Disney movies?
• Love reading romantic novels?
• More caffeine in your blood than red blood cells?
• Looking at a stiletto hurts your eyes?
• Workaholic?
• Party pooper?
• Couldn't care less about makeup?
• Work in a creative world?
• Think you are going to meet your Mr. Right in some romantic yet unconventional place like an elevator, or in the form of a stranger who walks up to you with an umbrella on a rainy night and offers to drop you home?

 Being a total sucker for romance at heart (although I make a successful effort of not showing it), this book ripped me into pieces like an old yellowed square of paper and threw them into the air. It really hurt. And while no, none of her lovers die out of cancer or some other terminal disease that he succumbed to, after she found her soul twin in him, this book is going to make you cry your eyes out. Over the fact that you will never get your Mister Right ever. Well, Dia, the lady who sat on one side of those 50 cups of coffee still remains positive, although she shoulders a thoroughly battered and broken self esteem, she vows to never give up. But I can not say the same.

Although she mention that she enters the market at the age thirty-five, which clearly means that you are only left with the pervs, the ones who shun marriage, the divorcees married surprisingly just for 3 months, the losers, the mamma's boys and the homosexuals. Basically when you reach a sabzi mandi at 12pm, you will obviously just get the rotten leaves. So either you can starve, or eat the leaves. Choice is yours. But Dia, clearly doesn't want to settle just for leaves, even if it requires further scouring.

50 Cups of Coffee, is a fun read regarding the encounters the protagonist of the book Dia, goes through to meet her perfect man. Although she doesn't end up finding her man, because this is inspired from real life and isn't entirely fiction. Her ordeals with the different men, make for a fun, routine breaking read.

PS: All the romantic novels are a sham. This is the real deal. Period.

Set in the Eighteenth century Georgian London, The Mermaid and Mrs.Hancock is a languid but beautiful read. You cannot race through it. You have to take your own sweet time.

Mermaids have always been an object of fancy and the reason behind wild imaginations. We think of them as beautiful creatures with an alien sensuality that increases our interest towards them manifold. It is common lore that if a ship comes across merfolk then that voyage is bound to be doomed. That is what we have heard in the tales.

But this book takes a tangential curve to what is heard and believed about these apparently beautiful creatures.

Mr.Hancock had not even in his wildest dreams thought that his means of livelihood would be exchanged for a queer infant mermaid, that too one which was far from beautiful. It was dead when brought to him and he thought that so would be the fate of his mercenary life. But that's where the magic begins. Barring the not so encouraging start, the mermaid gains popularity and Mr.Hancock's pockets grow fuller by the day. One leads to the other and he and his mermaid find themselves in one of the oddest places to be, tempted by a great offer and this is where Mr.Hancock finds the lady who would bring about a marked change in their future, Mrs. Angelica Neal.

Angelica is one of those beautiful women who has never cared for what people said and thought about her, a fiercely narcissistic soul, with a never give up attitude that is the most admirable trait about this gorgeous lady. In fact she even went forward and challenged Mr.Hancock to get her another mermaid just to give him the chance of meeting her. The desire for affection can make a middle-aged solitary man go to lengths that even he himself was previously unaware of. And when miraculously he is able to achieve it for his lady, it casts a terrible character on him. Its presence changes the quality of the air around a person and enchants them into a world of melancholy that dupes them like drugs.

This is a very women-centric book in all means, because even though back in those ages society liked to think of women as simpering creatures meant to be fluffed up in gowns, wrapped up in jewels, taken out for rides, have their smelling salts about, be the mistress of the house and warm a man's bed, there were women who indulged in all of these yet had a fierce mind of their own. A calculated mind, adept at business with a keen eye and a fine way with words define the ladies of the novel:  Angelica Neal, her pimp Mrs.Chapell, Bel, Mrs. Frost, Sukie, Mrs. Lippard. All  these women have whips in their brains and each have their own purpose of mind and existence.

Imogen Hermes Gowar has a skill for creating beautiful imagery, especially when she describes the mermaid's exhibition in the house of ill-repute where there is a very heated scene with women (hardly) dressed as mermaids in translucent chiffon, men with just sailor pants and hats, appeasing the crowd with lusty rhythmic movements in the setting of a sensual underwater scenario, when Angelica revamps her grotto to setup a different yet stellar show for her guests and when she describes the effects of the magic of the mermaid.

The plot doesn't essentially peak at any one point of time, it's more of the revelation of fate and guts towards the end. The entire story slowly unfurls at a slow pace and the mood of the novel is quite grey. It's a read for those days when you look at the sky and you know that a storm is coming.