It’s time again for another sisterly-readalong, and this time we are diving into A Bollywood Affair, a debut novel by Sonali Dev. We’ve both been reading and chatting, and we’ll share what we think in 3 parts as we make our way through.
A Bollywood Affair opens with a scene of a mass child-wedding in the Indian state of Rajastan.
(Something like this, from a 2014 article at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/brides-young-7-marry-teenage-boys-mass-wedding-india-photos-article-1.1840112)
It is intense. Then, we fast forward twenty-odd years to the present. Our child bride (and heroine!) Mili, is studying in the U.S., while dutifully waiting for her husband to claim her. Unbeknownst to her, her “husband’s” brother Samir, Bollywood film director-slash-model-slash-playboy (Mili loves to talk in slashes), has been sent to finalize an annulment of the arrangement that his grandfather forced the family into years ago. That’s all in the first few chapters. From there, we’ll try to stay relatively spoiler-free:
Amanda: Samir is kind of a dick
Holly: Oh no! I need to catch up.
Amanda: Samir reminds me of Flynn Rider with his “I’m going to turn on the smolder.”
Holly: Who?
[Amanda explains. And sends videos. She is correct. That is exactly what is going on the book. EXactly. Someone get Mili a frying pan!]
Holly: I was cracking up quite loudly reading this last night. Like, my husband tried to kick me out of the room. This book is killing me. Okay, it is maybe not the best written, most beautifully crafted novel ever, but Mili is fucking hilarious and awesome.
Amanda: She is going to be kicking ass by the end. But I hope Mili knocks him in the face with a frying pan before HEA happens.
Holly: HEA?
Amanda: Happily Ever After, yo!
Holly: If I was a real blogger I’d probably say some shit about shipping but I think that is a stupid verb.
Amanda: And that is why you are my best favorite. Oh, I will start writing this post.
[Amanda did not start the post, so I stole her texts and added them in here. We’ll see if I’m still her best favorite.]
***
Amanda: Holly is always, always my best favorite. Unless she’s editing my apostrophe usage or duplicative word usage.
Gun In Act One 
Oh I hate the whole shipping thing! Don’t even get me started! Just on the premise of this my interest would’ve been nonexistent but this sounds like an entertaining read and the Flynn reference with GIF should be rewarded!
Oh, thank you for validating my annoyance with “the ship.” I just can’t.
I so wanna read this!!