Book review: 'His Monsoon Bride'

His Monsoon Bride
Author: Aastha Atray
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Pages: 179
Price: Rs 125

Mills & Boon romance novels usually have a straight story, where the heroine can’t stand the arrogant, brooding, tall, dark hero until she realises that she loves him. He, on the other hand, usually has that epiphany before the heroine, but his pride doesn’t allow him to admit it. She almost always has insecurities — either she’s ‘plain-looking’, or she’s poor, or she’s chubby. Yet, she’s “fiercely independent”. There’s something of a conflict — either a threat to the heroine’s life or a misunderstanding, usually brought on by a tall, sultry woman making eyes at the hero. On resolution of this conflict, the two live happily ever after.

In His Monsoon Bride, Amrita Piramal is a rich, Mumbai-based heiress, but she’s also chubby — I beg your pardon, “deliciously curvy” — and, unlike the Paris Hiltons of the world, sees right through the shallow facades of the elite. She’s also a journalist, working on a “dangerous” story about the slum redevelopment mafia in Mumbai.

But her father’s fortunes are dwindling, and Manoj Piramal is desperate to save his empire. So desperate, that he’s willing to ask his only daughter to marry Mehtab Rathod, a leader in the real-estate business. Amrita, after half-heartedly refusing to marry a man she does not love but is attracted to, agrees to her father’s scheme.

After a quickie wedding, when she moves in with Mehtab, she tries to convince herself that this marriage of convenience will work because she finds herself falling for him. They almost make love. But Mehtab rejects her when she tells him she’s a virgin.

The sex scene, probably the most well known bit in an M&B, is disappointing, to say the least. The characters’ pillow talk, I imagine, would be more of a turnoff than anything else. The sex itself is over before it starts.

While M&Bs aren’t known for their great literary style, the dialogues in His Monsoon Bride are decidedly filmy. Sample this: At their reception party, Mehtab peels Amrita away from the who’s who of society saying, “Ladies, I really need to whisper some sweet nothings in my bride’s ears. Will you please give us some space?” I, for one, don’t know anyone who talks like this.

The characters could be more dynamic, or at least strong enough for the reader to sympathise. For instance, the chubby heiress, who tries to defy convention by turning up for a party in a salwar kameez instead of a designer gown, melts when Mehtab tells her that her curves are “delicious”. And poof, just like that, all her insecurities vanish.

His Monsoon Bride has all the elements of an M&B but without all the drama. At the end, you’re just relieved it’s over. Especially after the ultra-gimmicky Harry Potteresque epilogue.