SCION OF IKSHVAKU BY AMISH TRIPATHI...A SPOTLIGHT.

Read the first chapter Here 

RAM RAJYA. THE PERFECT LAND.BUT PERFECTION HAS A PRICE. HE PAID THAT PRICE.

Scion of Ikshvaku 
by 
Amish Tripathi 

Preorder @
Amazon.in

Blurb 

3400 BCE. INDIA
Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracised prince. A prince they tried to break. A prince called Ram.

He loves his country, even when his countrymen torment him. He stands alone for the law. His band of brothers, his Sita, and he, against the darkness of chaos.

Will Ram rise above the taint that others heap on him? Will his love for Sita sustain him through his struggle? Will he defeat the demon Lord Raavan who destroyed his childhood? Will he fulfil the destiny of the Vishnu?

Begin an epic journey with Amish’s latest: the Ram Chandra Series.

Watch the trailer

Excerpt

Nilanjana sighed. She wasn’t even sure if the child would be a boy. But she wouldn’t risk the merest flagging of her mistress’ spirits. She administered some herbal pain relievers to the queen and bided her time. Ideally, the doctor wanted the birth to take place before midday. The royal astrologer had warned her that if the child was born later, he would suffer great hardships throughout his life. On the other hand, if the child was born before the sun reached its zenith, he would be remembered as one of the greatest among men and would be celebrated for millennia.

Nilanjana cast a quick glance at the prahar lamp, which measured time in six-hour intervals. The sun had already risen and it was the third hour of the second prahar. In another three hours it would be midday. Nilanjana had decided to wait till a half hour before noon and, if the baby was still not born,

she would go ahead with the surgery.

 Kaushalya was stricken with another bout of dilatory pain. She pursed her lips together and began chanting in her mind the name she had chosen for her child. This gave her strength for it wasn’t an ordinary name. The name she had picked was that of the sixth Vishnu.

 ‘Vishnu’ was a title given to the greatest of leaders who were remembered as the Propagators of Good. The sixth man to have achieved this title was Lord Parshu Ram. That is how he was remembered by the common folk. Parshu means axe, and the word had been added to the name of the sixth Vishnu because the mighty battle axe had been his favourite weapon. His birth name was Ram. That was the name that reverberated in Kaushalya’s mind.

Ram… Ram… Ram… Ram… 

Read the First Chapter @

About 
Amish Tripathi

Amish is an IIM (Kolkata)educated, boring banker turned happy author. The success of his debut book, The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), encouraged him to give up a fourteen-year-old career in financial services to focus on writing. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy, finding beauty and meaning in all world religions.

Amish has most recently written the Shiva Trilogy (The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas & The Oath of the Vayuputras), which have sold over a million copies in the Indian subcontinent since 2010. The books that he plans to write in the future are also in the areas of mythology & history.

Amish lives in Mumbai with his wife, Preeti and son, Neel.

Stalk him @

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Book Launch by:

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Pinterest | Linkedin

DELIRIUM BY SOUMYA ALI, A SPOTLIGHT.

Delirium

by 

Soumya Aji
A Harper Collins Publication

Sports, Love, Steroids... Will love win? 

Blurb 

I was addicted. 

To him. 

Anjana Narendra just can’t keep her head straight when it comes to the nation’s heartthrob,cricket vice-captain Avinash Katagi.The mere sight of him sets the heart of this thirty-one-year-old television journalist pounding, and fills her stomach with butterflies. He seems smitten too – taking her out for romantic walks in the botanical gardens, appearing by her side when she has a road accident,knocking on her door in the middle of the night. Even as Anjana is swept off her feet into a whirlwind romance,the reporter within her sniffs out the biggest scoop of the season. all too soon, she is neck-deep in trouble with her bosses and the cricket board, struggling to make sense of the sordid world of steroids and celebs. Will anjana give up the delicious young man she is hooked on to? and does she even want to? Sinful and alluring, Delirium is a heady cocktail of intrigue, temptation and betrayal.

Watch the Trailer

Buy @

 Amazon.in |  Flipkart | 

Meet the Author

I love day-dreaming and my close friends in this endless activity include Hamlet, Howard Roark, Absolem, Miss Marple, Elizabeth Bennett, Katniss Everdeen, Holly Short, Sirus Black, Gimli and Septimus Heap.. occasionally, Saphira also :) Otherwise, I am a serious hard-nosed print journalist who writes about politics, social issues and culture..
I've spent most of my life reading and writing.. I also love movies, dance, theatre, music, trekking, yoga.. I tried my hand at Russian and French and remember Rooski Izink Nimnoga and je sais un peu de Francaise .. (I bet I got that wrong).. but the latest language I picked up, Spanish, is very close to my heart, as I want to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's yellow butterflies in Espanol.. I speak, read and write three Indian languages -- Kannada, Hindi, Tamil .. and my masters is in English, so I obviously love language and communication..
I also love knitting and I hate cooking :) I'm trying very hard to be good at a new job -- parenting -- to my three-year-old, but boy, is that the toughest job!

You can stalk her @

                


        

Book Launch by:

         

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Pinterest | Linkedin

COVER REVEAL - VIBHA BHATRA'S THE ACTIVIST AND THE CAPITALIST.

THE STORY ....

“I’m not drunk – just a litt-le high.”

On a magical moonlit night, Jai and Anusha meet and fall in love. When they meet again however, they discover that Jai is the crass capitalist developing Rasa Vihar, the heritage building that Anusha and her NGO are fighting to protect. Inevitably they clash, with neither willing to concede to the other. The problem is that although publicly they are enemies, in private, they are wildly attracted to each other. – but when secrets and betrayals enter the equation – things really begin to get out of control. 

WILL THE ACTIVIST AND THE CAPITALIST EVER BE ABLE TO FIND COMMON GROUND?

IN INDIREAD'S LATEST PUBLICATION 

BUY @ AMAZON.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vibha Batra is an advertising consultant, author, poet, lyricist, and columnist. Her published books include: Sweet Sixteen (Yeah, Right!), Seventeen and Done (You Bet!), Eighteen and Wiser (Not quite!)--a young adult trilogy published by Penguin--Ishaavaasya Upanishad, a translation of her grandfather, Shri Vishnu Kant Shastri’s book published by Rupa Publications, a poetry collection titled Tongue-in-cheek and a collection of short stories titled A Twist of Lime. She has also contributed short stories (Indian Voices, Happy Birthday to Me, Urban Shots Love Collection, Down the Road, City of Gods, Vanilla Desires, 9.69 seconds, Chicken Soup) and poems (Dance of the Peacock, Suvarnarekha, 20-20) to several national andinternational anthologies and written for various magazines.

MEET THE AUTHOR  @ FACEBOOK | TWITTER

BUY @ AMAZON.COM

Cover Reveal

Love Again 
by 

Shrruti Patole Clarence & Sumeetha Manikandan
A Double Header Novel

Blurb 

Love, Again is a double header novel published by Half Baked Beans andFablery with two novellas - A Tulip in the Desert by Shrruti Patole Clarence and These Lines of Mehendi by Sumeetha Manikandan.

TULIP IN THE DESERT

SHRRUTI PATOLE CLARENCE

A historian in making, Charmaine has settled down in Amsterdam after her father migrated from India when she was very young. Life was picturesque until the final year of Graduation when she elected to specialize in Egyptology. Thereafter from the time she read the book about Cleopatra, revelation after revelation turns her world into a tornado!

Raj, another aspiring Historian, walks into her college and her life like a whirlwind. A simpleton from Delhi, Raj too finds mysteries unfolding before him from the time he enters the college library right through to their educational tour to Egypt.A series of events throws them together at every step of their college life despite Charmaine wanting to maintain a distance from ‘this’ natural charmer.

A twist of fate puts Raj and Charmaine in the most unthinkable situation that finally links back to their ‘revelations’. Raj must face a choice again…A choice of history over his love… or does he have the mettle to change history and create his own?

THESE LINES OF MEHENDI

SUMEETHA MANIKANDAN

Beautiful and efficient Lalitha loved to deck up brides for their wedding, though her own marriage was in shambles. When her estranged husband suddenly commits suicide she realizes that things wouldn’t be the same again…

Shrikanth thought that he was a confirmed bachelor but when his mother refused to get herself treated for cancer unless he got married, he had to get a bride in a hurry.She needed a husband in name, to save her career while he needed to marry to please his mother. Will they find love second time around? Will they lower their shields and succumb to a mutual passion?

About 
The Authors

Shrruti Patole Clarence

Shrruti has been a voracious reader since early years and took to composing poems when she was very young. She has worked as an Aviation Manager for over ten years with various airlines, she has been on a sabbatical for her two son's aged six and one year respectively. She enjoys this welcome break from career, to be able to pursue her passion, writing!
She has to her credit six short stories featuring in different Anthologies; a Hindi poem featuring in Tumbhi’s contest Ehsaas judged by the famous screenwriter Javed Siddiqui.Shrruti is a warm and friendly person who loves music and watching sports when she is not writing.

Stalk her @

Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+ | Blog | 

Sumeetha Manikandan

Sumeetha Manikandan is a freelance writer and an author who loves to write and base her plots on the tambrahm community of Mylapore, Chennai. She is the author of ‘The Perfect Groom’ that has been a best selling ebook on the top 50 charts of Amazon India ever since its publication in 2013. 

An avid reader, she loves to read across different genres – romance, historical fiction, non- fiction, mystery, fantasy etc. A history buff to the core, she is currently translating Ponniyin Selvan – the evergreen tamil classic epic history by Kalki Krishnamurthy into English.

Married to film maker K.S. Manikandan, Sumeetha lives in Chennai, along with her six year old daughter.

Stalk her @

Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+ | Blog | 

Are you ready 

5
.
.

4
.
.

3
.
.

2
.
.

1
.
.

0

.

.

.

.

.
.
.
.
.

Book Launch by:

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Pinterest | Linkedin

BOOK REVIEW OF HARMONY AND HOME ALONE BY AABHA VASTA MIDHA.

About the Book
 

Harmony is the author's debut as a published poet. An anthology of 38 poems, it is a collection of contemporary poetry which is both delicate and bold. The poems have a wide milieu, ranging from the dipped in love, 'My first Lover' to the 'The Empowered Woman' giving a call to women to rise above patriarchy, from 'Harmony' gently warning man about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence to 'Gratitude' asking the reader to court one's blessings in life.

The contemporary poems written in free style will both delight and make you ponder about the message s locked in each poem. Harmony has all the attributes of a desirable poetry product.

About the Author

Aabha Vatsa Midha is a post-graduate in Pure Sciences based in Faridabad. She is an ex-teacher, a blogger, a poet and an author. She grew up in Allahabad and Zambia imbibing diverse cultures. Her first published work is a travelogue on Amarnath titiled Barfani Baba, To Amaranth Happily which was published in 2013. She is a quintessential lover of life and is married with two daughters.
You can reach her at aabhavatsa@gmail.com



 Review

 "Harmony" begins with a preface that sketches the journey of the poet that led to the penning of her poetry book. After her stint at poetry as a kid, it was a couple of years back that she started writing poems, again.

This book contains 38 poems of varied themes - from nature to devotional, social and personal. What stands out in almost all her poems is the refrain. They have at times served the purpose of emphasis, but at many places become unnecessary repetition...which could have been avoided.

The poems are easy to understand. They are short and to the point. Belief in self and in the divine, the power of the stoic soul, of finding happiness within, being a mother...these are some of the themes that are repeated.

For me personally, The Empowered Woman is one poem that stood out. It has a powerful message to the society keeping in mind the current social scenario.

"Do not take away
My right to think
Do not take away
My right to walk with freedom

I seek no master
I seek no approval
All I desire
Is my voice be heard."

With life passing us by in a speed which we cannot comprehend at times, we keeping wishing for a break either in form of a vacation or just some time spent with ourselves...Interlude is one such poem where the poet who has been searching for this break finds it, reveals in it and has the wisdom to accept that it is short lived and waits for it to pass by again. We can sense her child-like glee in this poem.

"You seemed
Like
The sweet fresh wind
As I gathered
My wits.
I decided
Your gentle ways
Were meant for me

I took advantage
To the full
As if running
In mustard fields
My heart full of
Gaiety."

You Sang to Me is a romantic poem and it tugged at my heart in a way we all can relate to this feeling making you caught up in this whirlwind yourself.

"You sang to me
The love song
In a language
Alien to me
But I felt my heart flutter
To your melody."

Verdict
Aabha is an upcoming poet with a lot of potential. This book makes it a light read. 

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Authorspress (2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8172739710
• ISBN-13: 978-8172739713

HOME ALONE.

 About the Book
 

Home Alone is the author's second poetry book. A melange of 34 poems ranging from prayers to mindless slaughter of cows in Nepal.

The book starts by invoking the Goddess of learning, art and music, Saraswati and covers a spectrum of topics. From the intense 'Lost Passion' to the happy 'Picnic'. From the though provoking 'Prejudice' to the delightful 'The Orchard'. From the warm and glowing 'Home Alone' to the sell motivating 'Awake! Arise!'. Home Alone will delight and appeal to one and all.

Review
This book too has varied themes but a few poems are written about her daughter who recently got married. The book starts with an invocation to Goddess Saraswathi.

Since her first book, the poet shows a marked growth and touches the right cords. But again the refrains are too many and repetitive.

Scars is a poem that again deals with the plight of the women in general. The way we are expected to sacrifice our dreams and aspirations for the sake of others just because we are women.

"I know of many scars
Of cheated practices
Of undermined appreciation
And forgotten dreams."

Towards Light is about the realization of self-worth and breaking free.

"Sifted through controversy
And heartache
No more of your
Capricious tantrums
I choose to walk in light
Walk towards light."

The Burden again is a woman centric poem which highlights the plight of women who are made to hide behind the veil...and the veil does not actually mean anything except oppression.

"Would she ever get freedom
Like her enviable counterparts?
The Purdah
The Veil
The Scarf
Heaved a sigh of wanting
Would the burden ever be released?"

Verdict

The poet has done a good job of talking about the women and the societal status she has in many religions. Aabha has a way with portraying sensitive issues and it hits you hard. There are some spelling mistakes in both the books though which has to be looked into. A good read.

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Authorspress (2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 935207002X
• ISBN-13: 978-9352070022

BOOK REVIEW : BREACH BY AMRITA CHOWDHURY.

Breach 

by 

Amrita Chowdhury

The Blurb

How secure are your secrets in the virtual world?  Weeks before pharma-giant Acel is ready to file a global patent application for cancer wonder-drug Colare, its offshore data centre in Mumbai is hacked. The charismatic, young leader of its Indian business, Dr Udai Vir Dhingra, finds himself being blamed for negligence and breach of security. Battling market pressures, media scrutiny, livid American bosses and crumbling relationships, Vir must find the perpetrators, or see his career – and his life – spiral downwards. But the deeper he gets dragged into the shadowy world of masked online identities and muddied digital footprints, the more Vir discovers that nothing is easy or obvious, and everything has a price. Set across Mumbai, Washington and Guangzhou, Breach is a compelling and edgy cyber thriller that explores the dark and dangerous underbelly of our increasingly virtual existence

Buy @

Amazon.com |Amazon.in | 

My Review:

This is one book that measures up to the International standards of story telling in terms research, plot and detailing. 

This is the first cyber crime thriller that I have read which is written by an Indian Author  and was completely drawn into the world of computers, codes, data and the ugly underworld of hacking and of course its repercussions.

As the Title suggests, there is a Breach in the computer data collecting system that holds the data for the new wonder-drug Colare, which was supposed to cure pancreatic cancer. This Breach could cost millions of dollars and a loss of patenting the drug for the pharma giant Acel which would push them back in the race and competition.

The story starts in Rockville, Maryland and takes us on a roller coaster ride around Mumbai, Washington and China yet there is no confusion in following the story as each chapter is just 2 or 3 pages keeping it short and to the point.

There are many characters in this novel and given the extensiveness of the story, this was needed. Dr. Vir, a doctor of bioengineering and the head of the Acel in India comes across as a typical, handsome, Ivy League hi-fi executive with class and the ability to show his mantle when both his career and his personal life are spiraling down.

I was fascinated by the cyber talk, the darkness of the hacking world and how it is easy to seamlessly blend into someone's life by just entering their computer! The online names, the games, the passwords and the hidden messages, the easiness and the readiness of the younger generation to explore and be drawn into this dark world...it is scary. It was also shocking to know that this is common, very common. 

I got so involved in the story that I could feel the tension myself and because I lack the technical knowledge, it was frustrating :)

But all this technical explanations slowed me down as I wanted to understand them with regard to this story. Somewhere I felt the author went overboard with this extensive explanation because it does not really matter to a reader without  science or computer  knowledge.

The story gets a bit tedious towards the end. Tracey, Vir's fiancee's Goan holiday, or the chapter where Diti is introspecting herself, few chapters about Raghu, Suv, Madhu and Ankita added nothing to the story. The end could have been more dramatic given the adrenaline high of the chase.

Verdict : An interesting and an engaging read. Go for it.

Watch It 

Meet the Author

Amrita Verma Chowdhury is the author of Faking It, an art crime thriller about fake modern and contemporary Indian art.

She holds engineering degrees from IIT Kanpur and UC Berkeley, where she was a Jane Lewis Fellow, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon (Tepper Business School). Her work as an engineer in Silicon Valley led to seven US patents for semi-conductor fabrication – something to show for those bad-haired days. She has done Strategy Consulting and Board Effectiveness work in the US and Australia and has spent long nights fitting five-syllable words inside two-by-two squares. She has worked in the rarefied bastions of Ivy League education bringing together ideas and people. She currently works in publishing.

She lives in Mumbai with her husband Sumit, their two children Shoumik and Aishani, and an assortment of pets including a cocker spaniel, a guinea pig and two turtles. She loves travelling, baking cupcakes with her daughter and hearing from her readers.

You can stalk her @

                          

         

Check out The Book Club Tour Schedule 

This Tour is Hosted by 

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Pinterest | Linkedin

Book Blitz 

Saved In Sri Lanka 
by 

Devika Fernando

Some People Are Destined To Meet 

Blurb 

Some people are destined to meet.

It sure feels that way when Sri Lankan tour guide Sepalika meets Daniel. The mysterious tourist from Ireland steals his way into her heart and makes her question everything her life is built upon. Instant attraction turns to love – but does he feel the same? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?
Follow the two on their quest for a happy ending amid the beauty and wonders of the tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka.

Grab Your Copy

 Amazon.in | Amazon.com

About 
Devika Fernando

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

Stalk her @

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Book Launch by:

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Pinterest | Linkedin