#BookReview ; A Grey Story by Saumya Misra

A GREY STORY traces the life of Surya through her adolescence, from early teens to early twenties. Born into a large family, she is neglected by her parents unintentionally and abused by her siblings intentionally. As happens with most middle children, Surya is made a scapegoat and often targeted for faults committed by others. She is made to put up with a lot. Then, suddenly, accidents and deaths start occurring in the family. The story is a reality check on the serious impact of such callousness on the human brain and the destruction it can cause once driven beyond tolerance. It also reveals the disadvantages of large families, where parents are unable to devote ample time to each child, thus inadvertently causing at least one of them to suffer dejection. A Grey Story shocks one into realising the serious psychological impact negligent upbringing can leave on children that can even drive them to crime.

A Grey Story is the second novel of Lucknowite Saumya Misra. The author was born into a family of journalists & writers hence writing come naturally to her. She was encouraged to refine her skills from a young age by her grandfather who was a highly reputed journalist and author of several hindi books. After finishing studies she became a journalist & worked at famous firms like The Indian Express & Times of India. She has now taken up her second passion which is her love for Nature and has launched a monthly magazine dedicated to environment, titled, ‘Tree Take’.

A Grey Story is the based around the life of Surya & her struggles which she faces for years living in a large family. Being the middle child she was neglected by her parents & bullied by her siblings. While she tried to help her mother in her daily chores from an early age & be her father’s favourite but somehow she always used to get scolded for her sibling’s ill deeds. Then some sudden accidents & deaths shook the family from its core & everything changed. To know more about it you need to read this book!

I loved this psychological thriller story given how much the author conveyed in just 134 pages. The language is easy yet gripping, all the characters have been described quite well, also the fact that it focuses the disadvantage of having large families is commendable. I would’ve preferred some other cover though but in all everyone should give it a try.

#BlogTour ; Hell to Pay by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Hell To Pay

by 

Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Blurb 

USA Best Book Award-Winning Series, Cross Genre Fiction.

Third book in the Emily series, a spin-off from Katie & Annalise.

Big-haired paralegal and former rodeo queen Emily thinks she’s got her life back on track. Her adoption of Betsy seems like a done deal, her parents have reunited, and she’s engaged to her sexy boss Jack. Then client Phil Escalante’s childhood buddy Dennis drops dead, face first into a penis cake at the adult novelty store Phil owns with his fiancée Nadine, one of Emily’s best friends. The cops charge Phil with murder right on the heels of his acquittal in a trail for burglarizing the Mighty is His Word church offices. Emily’s nemesis ADA Melinda Stafford claims her witness overheard Phil fighting with Dennis over a woman, right about the time Phil falls into a diabetic coma, leaving Nadine shaken and terrified. Meanwhile Betsy’s ultra-religious foster parents apply to adopt her and Jack starts acting weird and evasive. Emily feels like a calf out of a chute, pulled between the ropes of the header and the heeler, as she fights to help Phil and Nadine without losing Betsy and Jack.

She says her first book came out in 2012 and that her latest, Hell to Pay, is the seventh book in the series. The books all have ties to Texas, with “an interrelated cast of kick-ass female protagonists.” She says the novel's heroine (“a former rodeo queen turned paralegal”) returns to her home town in west Texas and discovers an extremist cult has set up shop and is terrorizing the local townsfolk.

- As told to Houston Press.

Read a Teaser 

Chapter One Excerpt

Disco lights whirled around me, or was it the room? My inner party animal had atrophied, not that I’d ever been a real heavyweight. If it wasn’t for the fantastic people-watching—and the fact that this was the celebration party for the burglary acquittal of our firm’s client Phil Escalante the day before, and his engagement to Nadine, one of my best friends in Amarillo—I'vebagged this shindig. Instead, there I was with tendrils of fake smoke floating past my face, ten

feet from a DJ dressed in a black latex fetish costume and spiked dog collar and A tall woman maybe ten years older than me appeared out of the low lights and sidled up to me, engulfing me in the odor of cigarettes. Her vanilla hair sported a generous dollop of dark chocolate roots, which was pretty funny to me since she had a body shaped like a cone. A waffle cone. A waffle cone with sparkly sprinkles from the spinning ball overhead. Behind her trailed a paunchy man of roughly her height. His eyes had locked on me in a way that made my skin crawl with leeches that weren’t there.

Rick James’s “Super Freak” ended. The silence in the cavernous L-shaped room was immediate and complete, but short-lived. A clamor of voices from the one-hundred- or-so guests resumed, their voices echoing off the bare walls and “Hey, Foxy Loxy,” the man mouthed at me. Or did he? Surely not. It was hard to tell with the lights playing tricks on my eyes.

The woman spoke past me. “You and your wife got any plans later?” Her bellow seemed to fill the room to its farthest corners, even with all the other voices. I winced and shrank under the eyes that shifted our way.

Not Jack, though. The horse rancher cum criminal attorney was nothing if not unflappable. His topaz eyes twinkled. “Emily’s not my wife.” 

The man surged toward Jack. “You’re not together?”

“I’m his fiancée,” I said through my recently tightened braces and painfully rubber-banded teeth, leaving out “and he’s my boss.” I waved my big, fat teardrop-shaped diamond at him to accentuate my point, then I pinched Jack’s arm where my hand was looped through its crook. I’d capitulated to the mouth gear when my childhood orthodontist saw the gap between my front teeth and insistedI needed Invisalign then, filled my mouth with metal instead. Payback for never wearing my retainer, I guess.

The man and woman looked at each other and nodded. She asked, “Care to join us? We’ve got a room at a no-tell hotel nearby.”

Jack’s whole body shook and I didn’t dare look at him. I was a sucker for his laugh. In fact, I was a sucker for everything about him, from his lived-in boots to his permanent tan to his Apache cheekbones. Before either of us could think of an appropriate response, Phil interrupted.

“Millie, Pete, leave my poor friends alone.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me aside to clap his other onto Jack’s. “They’re not swingers. And this isn’ta swingers social. I’m out of the business.”

The space between Millie’s eyebrows narrowed and puckered as drops of

light rained down on her face. “It’s a free country, ain’t it?”

Grab your Copy @

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Pamela Fagan Hutchins writes overly long emails, best-selling, award-winning mysteries (WINNER USA Best Book Award, Fiction: Cross Genre, Finalist) and hilarious nonfiction. The Houston Press named her as one of Houston's Top 10 Authors (2014).

She is a recovering attorney and investigator who resides deep in the heart of Nowheresville, Texas and in the frozen north of Wyoming. Pamela has a passion for great writing and smart authorpreneurship as well as long hikes with her hunky husband and pack of rescue dogs, traveling in the Bookmobile, and her Keurig. Visit her at http://pamelafaganhutchins.com or drop her a note pamela at pamelahutchins dot com. 

And if you would like her to visit your book club, women’s group, writer’s group, or library, all you have to do is ask.

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#BookReview ; The Crossbow Code by MC Raj

The media is agog as the pope passes out mysteriously on seeing Kris, thought to be terrorist. But he is one? Kris escapes from the police and returns to meet the pope again, after which pope is found poisoned to death! On the run, Kris reaches Mumbai, where he gets to know that a prominent freedom fighter, Mohandas was instrumental in his escape. But the man is not as he seems and Kris is dismayed by the experiment taking palace at his ashram. However a chance encounter leads him to Germany. But someone wants him dead and attempts an assassination that could spell doom for Kris. Who is behind the pope murder? How are these countries connected? Who wants Kris Dead? And, lastly who is the mysterious Kris.

The Crossbow Code is the latest thriller novel written by MC Raj. The author has already written 21 books & is a recipient of the Ambedkar International Literary Award. He also indulges in social work because of which he received the prestigious Ambedkar Award from Karnataka Government. He also got featured in various news channels like CNN, Newsweek & NDTV for his excellent work.

The story starts with a sensational news about how the Pope faints in front of people during Easter Mass. A man was arrested who was suspected to be a terrorist but didn’t had any such background.  This stranger is a man named Kris who is our protagonist, the story mystifies as he tries to meet the Pope but after that the Pope was found dead. The story then expands into two more countries, India & then Germany. While our mysterious protagonist is on a run he is being chased by someone who wants him dead as soon as possible. To unravel all the mysteries you got to read this book!

When I started to read The Crossbow Code the first thing I was intrigued about was its cover & title. The cover is good but would’ve loved it even more if it had a little bit more detailing. The plot of the book is quite interesting & the author has succeeded upto an extent to make it racy & a smooth read, I liked the use of historic information in the story. I would’ve loved it even more if the protagonist have been portrayed a little bit more believable in some parts, also I would’ve preferred the length of the book to be under 250 pages to make the story more packed. In all this book can only be a product of an experienced author like MC Raj & surely deserves to be read.

#Spotlight ; Encounters by Sumana Khan

Encounters
Someone's Always Waiting

by 

Sumana Khan

Blurb 

ENCOUNTERS is a potpourri of five sumptuous stories involving a motley crew of protagonists. Skating along the borders of fantasy and paranormal themes, the stories track incredible and poignant journeys of self-discovery, tracing the cathartic aftermath of fleeting encounters.

Grab your Copy @

amazon.com | amazon.in | Flipkart

You can get this book directly from the Publisher

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Sumana was born and raised in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where she went on to graduate with a BSc in Electronics, much to the surprise of her teachers, and relief of her parents. In what can only be described as a quirk of fate, she ended up as an IT consultant - a role she essayed for more than a decade. She then moved to the UK where she quit her job and pursued academic and literary interests. The result of this pursuit has been two Masters, one published book, quite a few manuscript drafts, and above all, being stone-broke perpetually.

She currently lives in the UK with her husband and several books.  

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#Spotlight ; Wrong Means Right End by Varsha Dixit

Wrong Means Right End  

by 

Varsha Dixit 

Blurb 

Readers fell in love with Sneha and Nandini, two best friends who stuck to each other through heartbreak and joy in the bestselling novel, Right Fit Wrong Shoe. Now they are back in a delightful sequel that follows the two women as they begin the next phase of their lives in Mumbai.

After a failed marriage, Sneha, a single working mom, has no time, or inclination, for love. She resists every matchmaking attempt made by the overzealous Nandini, married to industrialist Aditya. But then the past intrudes in the form of the gorgeous and rich, Nikhil, who brings along Gayatri to break-up her ex-fiance, Aditya's marriage. Sneha enlists Nikhil's help to salvage the situation. But how does she even talk to a man who clearly loathes her? As Nikhil and Sneha try to grapple with their egos and combustible chemistry, love blossoms.

Wrong Means Right End, an exuberant story about love and friendship, is filled with surprises and a wicked twist at every turn.

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amazon.in | amazon.com

About The Author 

Varsha Dixit, the best selling author of four successful contemporary romance books. Her debut book, Right Fit Wrong Shoe was a national bestseller for the year 2010. Varsha was a part of the Indian Television Industry and worked as an assistant director and online editor. She considers herself a dreamer who thinks deep but writes light. Even though creativity is gender free, Varsha feels blessed and enriched to be a woman. Currently, with her family, Varsha resides in CA, USA.

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