From present-day India comes a story of a prideful son, a spirited young orphan, and an ageing patriarch who seeks to fulfill a promise.
Aditya Maurya, the brilliant but arrogant son of business tycoon Vijayendra and Nicole Maurya, is the sole heir of vast ancestral wealth and the construction empire his father has built. Returning to his roots after more than a decade in the United States, Aditya is baffled and angered by his father’s choice of bride for him—Rhea, a waif of dubious parentage, taken in by his family, whom he considers to be nothing more than a conniving Cinderella. “She hardly spoke to him or around him, but he had caught her a number of times, on his previous visits, staring at him from a distance. He wasn’t vain, but he was well aware that he possessed the lethal combination of good looks, wealth and the royal bloodline that women were drawn to. He enjoyed the attention most of the time. He worked hard and played hard too. However, he drew the line for the latter when it came to hired staff. She might be his family’s favorite charity, but if he caught her doing that this time, he was going to put her in her place.”
Sometimes it is not who you are that matters but what you are.
Read on to find how, as layers of prejudice and defenses come off, a love kindles between them. Though, will it prevail when the truth of Rhea's birth is finally revealed?
Excerpt…
'So, I assume you know the facts now,’ Aditya said smugly.
‘Yes. I do. Thank you very much. I am suitably informed now, but that still doesn’t change my answer,’ Rhea said with polite firmness.
He didn’t react immediately, but then said, ‘You know, I actually believed your righteous indignation yesterday and was starting to admire you. I thought that you were too self-respecting to let a debt go unpaid. I guess I was wrong.’
‘Oh…no…you were right on that account. But I owe my debt to Vijay Uncle, not you. And I will pay him back. Only not the way you are suggesting. I can’t bring myself to deceive the man who has been almost like a father to me,’ she said with due sarcasm.
‘So, basically you are holding out for an actual proposal from me.’ He leaned forward now. ‘I am afraid all your life’s work is going to go down the drain, sweetheart, because you and me, ain’t ever going to happen.’
‘I don’t want it to happen, not for real or otherwise, not now or five years back. I admit I had a bit of a crush on you for a very brief period. But if you had just opened your mouth and spoken to me, like you are doing now, far from being encouraged, I would have gotten over you faster than you could spell your own name. It just so happened I took a while longer, not that I lost any weight over it,’ she said calmly, but immediately regretted saying the last bit as he let his eyes roam over her.
About Sangeeta Shah
Born and raised in India, author Sangeeta Shah brings us Kindled Lives, a battle of the sexes that is sheer delight. An avid reader of romance novels herself, this is her first step into the world of books as a writer. She has created the kind of love story, she says, that she has always wanted to read. Sangeeta lives in Calgary, Canada, with her husband and daughter.
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From present-day India comes a story of a prideful son, a spirited young orphan, and an ageing patriarch who seeks to fulfill a promise.
Born and raised in India, author Sangeeta Shah brings us Kindled Lives, a battle of the sexes that is sheer delight. An avid reader of romance novels herself, this is her first step into the world of books as a writer. She has created the kind of love story, she says, that she has always wanted to read. Sangeeta lives in Calgary, Canada, with her husband and daughter.