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Duty and Desire (Winds of Fire, #1)
by
To uphold family honor and tradition, Sheetal Prasad is forced to forsake the man she loves and marry playboy millionaire Rakesh Dhanraj while the citizens of Raigun, India, watch in envy. On her wedding night, however, Sheetal quickly learns that the stranger she married is as cold as the marble floors of the Dhanraj mansion.Forced to smile at family members and cameras a
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Paperback, 360 pages
Published
June 2nd 2020
by Scarsdale Publishing, Ltd
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Start your review of Duty and Desire (Winds of Fire, #1)
A beautiful woman on the eve of her wedding to a wealthy and handsome man, it all sounds like a dream. In truth, she is about to live a life she does not want, one that is chosen for her. In Anju Gattani's book “Duty & Desire” the exotic world of India with traditions and family duty comes to life.
Choices are needed to be made, how will this young woman chose the course her life will follow? She has a man who loves her, she is duty bound to marry another. Is family traditions the most important ...more
Choices are needed to be made, how will this young woman chose the course her life will follow? She has a man who loves her, she is duty bound to marry another. Is family traditions the most important ...more
Duty and Desire kept me captivated from the first sentence to the very end. An enticing Downton abbey-style saga, but set in India! I simply adored it and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
I want MORE! I became deeply immersed in this book and having the opportunity to have a glimpse in the India’s culture, I have found myself fascinated with it. I would love to visit there. I immensely enjoyed this book, and India’s traditions and culture has really intrigued me so much that just from reading Anju Gattani’s book Duty and Desire, I not only witnessed through her 19 year storyline, i t wasn’t just a book, but a deeply felt experience filled with knowledge. This book was truly amazi
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Set in modern day India, where old customs still hold sway, this book is an immersive read.
Sheetal, the spoiled only child of nouveau riche parents, is about to be married to the appropriately named Rakesh, the city of Raigun’s “most eligible bachelor.”
At least, according to him. Sheetal has never met the man, and is in love with someone else. But her parents, particularly her mother, guilt-trip her into the arranged marriage. By turns abusive and sexy, Rakesh surprises Sheetal, keeping her on h ...more
Sheetal, the spoiled only child of nouveau riche parents, is about to be married to the appropriately named Rakesh, the city of Raigun’s “most eligible bachelor.”
At least, according to him. Sheetal has never met the man, and is in love with someone else. But her parents, particularly her mother, guilt-trip her into the arranged marriage. By turns abusive and sexy, Rakesh surprises Sheetal, keeping her on h ...more
I was captivated by this book from the first chapter. We get to meet Sheetal who is emotionally blackmailed into an arranged marriage to Rakesh, although her heart belongs to someone else.
This tale is a passionate novel of life experiences that resonated with me. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series.
Be ready to be swept away to a faraway land of mystery and intrigue!
Must read new author!!
This tale is a passionate novel of life experiences that resonated with me. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series.
Be ready to be swept away to a faraway land of mystery and intrigue!
Must read new author!!
Masterful storytelling that transports you to a vivid world full of drama and intrigue. A gripping must read from cover to cover - I could not put it down! I'm hooked and can't wait to read the sequel!
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A modern love story constrained by an ancient culture
Anju Gattani's novel of a modern Indian woman dealing with the weight of traditional expectations is both is both a love story and a plea for understanding. Sheetal, a well-off, well-educated aspiring artist, must choose between Arvind, a lower-caste young man who loves her, and Rakesh, a famous, rich, and socially prominent tycoon. Her parents hate Arvind, and push her to marry Rakesh. She is an Indian woman, obedient to family and societal e ...more
Anju Gattani's novel of a modern Indian woman dealing with the weight of traditional expectations is both is both a love story and a plea for understanding. Sheetal, a well-off, well-educated aspiring artist, must choose between Arvind, a lower-caste young man who loves her, and Rakesh, a famous, rich, and socially prominent tycoon. Her parents hate Arvind, and push her to marry Rakesh. She is an Indian woman, obedient to family and societal e ...more
Though the main character, Sheetal, loves another, a look at how her life might be with the one she loves (she's a bit spoiled) and a sense of duty leads her to abandon that thought and go through with an arranged marriage. The union and Sheetal's life with her in-laws is a maze of dysfunction and Gattani pulls the reader into the gaslighting by both Sheetal's husband and mother-in-law right along with Sheetal. Steeped in the backdrop of Indian culture and rich detail, I enjoyed the push and pul
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The one thing that hits you the most is the explosion of color on the page in the author's vivid descriptions. Even more poignant is the clash of culture and duty, as Sheetal sees the options that could have happened, both good and bad, if she had made different decisions in life. Highly recommend.
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This is my first time reading something by this author. This was an entertaining and enjoyable read. The story was well-written and flowed nicely. The plot was interesting and had some plot twists and turns that made this an interesting and intriguing story. The characters were strong and well-developed. Ms. Gattani did a nice job of bringing this story to life with her vivid descriptions and well-developed scenes. It's a very enticing and interesting look into to the Indian culture. I enjoyed t
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A Powerful Eye Opener!
“Duty and Desire” is an emotional look at arranged marriages. Through the main character Sheetal, the reader joins Sheetal on her journey from the emotional blackmail used by her family, and her life experiences as she complies regardless of her needs and wants. The scenes are vivid, lush, and frightening. This well-written tale by Anju Gattani takes the reader into another world for a peek at the lives and restrictions placed on women in India’s society. This is an excepti ...more
“Duty and Desire” is an emotional look at arranged marriages. Through the main character Sheetal, the reader joins Sheetal on her journey from the emotional blackmail used by her family, and her life experiences as she complies regardless of her needs and wants. The scenes are vivid, lush, and frightening. This well-written tale by Anju Gattani takes the reader into another world for a peek at the lives and restrictions placed on women in India’s society. This is an excepti ...more
Part of a series - this is book 1
Sheetal is a educated, rich, somewhat spoiled artist who loves a lower class man, much to the horror of her parents. Using emotional blackmail they force Sheetal to marry Rakesh, who was scheming to get his hands on Sheetal's fathers fortune. Rakesh does horrible things to her through out the marriage, starting with their wedding night when he forces him self on her. He continues to cheat on her, disrespecting her while his dysfunctional family lies, manipulates, ...more
Sheetal is a educated, rich, somewhat spoiled artist who loves a lower class man, much to the horror of her parents. Using emotional blackmail they force Sheetal to marry Rakesh, who was scheming to get his hands on Sheetal's fathers fortune. Rakesh does horrible things to her through out the marriage, starting with their wedding night when he forces him self on her. He continues to cheat on her, disrespecting her while his dysfunctional family lies, manipulates, ...more
Duty and Desire is the first book in the Winds of Fire series and is the first book I have read by this author.
I really enjoyed this book and the in-depth look at the culture and traditions in India. The characters are well developed and interesting. The storyline is well written and flows nicely from start to finish with an arranged marriage, traditions, beautiful descriptions, secrets, lies, and a dangerous family.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
I read and reviewe ...more
I really enjoyed this book and the in-depth look at the culture and traditions in India. The characters are well developed and interesting. The storyline is well written and flows nicely from start to finish with an arranged marriage, traditions, beautiful descriptions, secrets, lies, and a dangerous family.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
I read and reviewe ...more
Duty and Desire is a vibrant story of the beautiful Sheetal Prasad, forced to forsake the man she loves and marry another. While the arranged marriage seems that it should be blessed with nothing but good fortune, it is anything but. Your eyes will dance across the magnificent descriptions of wealth and grandeur set against the backdrop of India. Your heart will break for Sheetal. You won't be able to put it down. You will love this book!
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A well-written but offputting (to this reader) mash-up of Indian melodrama and Old Skool alpha-hole gothic romance—except the male lead doesn't (view spoiler). 22-year-old Sheetal, whose once poor family is now wealthy, says goodbye to Arvind, a college friend, because her family has arranged a marriage with the über-wealthy Dhanraji family (Gattani doesn't mention either family's caste, w
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I really enjoyed a number of things about this book. I love India and the culture, and this was really in-depth and gorgeously described in a lot of ways. I liked the snippets about why they did certain rituals and what was expected of people within their culture.
Aaaand that's sort of the end of my 'likes' about the book. I was genuinely engaged in the saga of Sheetal and Rakesh, and often kind of horrified and hopeful about it, but the drama of their marriage seemed rather uneven. I never quit ...more
Aaaand that's sort of the end of my 'likes' about the book. I was genuinely engaged in the saga of Sheetal and Rakesh, and often kind of horrified and hopeful about it, but the drama of their marriage seemed rather uneven. I never quit ...more
Duty and Desire provides details about the extravagance of India's upper class from wedding preparations to everyday life. There seems to be no middle ground for families seeking advantageous marriages. The book is at times heartbreaking, maddening, and hopeful. I enjoyed a peek inside the unfamiliar customs and felt great satisfaction when Rakesh's little sister showed more backbone than any of the main characters. I'm curious to see how the second book plays out.
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Gorgeous cover! But, a weird mashup of Indian cultural desperation and retro-alpha male chauvinism. And when I say retro-alpha I don’t mean like Kristen Ashley’s swoon worthy hero’s but the ‘70’s kind with not enough groveling. Also, if you plan to read this I recommend waiting for the sequel (if there is one?) to read this as there is no form of ending.
Thank you Net Galley for a copy of this book. I did not enjoy this book as well as I could have. I found it sad and hopeless.
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Fiction author, blogger and freelance international journalist Anju Gattani has published cover stories, fiction, feature, news, travel, parenting and perspective pieces. First published at the age of 7 in Hong Kong’s leading newspaper, The South China Morning Post, Anju went on to fill numerous diaries with poems, and floated on a cloud of imagination by wielding a pen to fight off her imaginary
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