Book Tour
With You I Dance
by
by
Aarti V Raman
My Review
Let me start this review,
by telling what is it that I really do expect in a novel. I'm sure
you, the readers, will be able to relate to it well too. So, here
goes... I expect a good and binding story-line, a seamless and
flowing narrative, relatable and likeable characters, and impeccable
yet easy dialogues.
Too much to expect, I
know. Did I get at least some of them, in 'With You I Dance'? Well,
not really.
I didn't get 'some' of
them; I got them all and much more, much, much more.
As a reviewer, I get to
read and review 3-4 books every month from different authors around
the globe. It is bound to start becoming a little monotonous and
repetitive after a while, especially so, when every other writer
decides to play it safe and stick to the proven & popular genre
of romance. How many love stories can one read after all? How many
typical Bollywood styled
girl-meets-boy-they-fall-in-love-in-comes-the-villian-fight-ensues-boy-wins-and-they-live-happily-ever-after
stories can promise originality,
to any extent, if at all.
And
just when you are about to take a stand and totally give up on
romance as a genre, in comes a book like 'With You I Dance'. It not
only takes your ugly plant of preset notions and snatches it right
off of the ground, but sows another tender plant, with a small bud of
a beautiful flower waiting to blossom. The flower, striking deep red
in color, the color of love. I shall be forever grateful to you,
Aarti Venkatraman, for writing this book and restoring my faith.
'With
You I Dance' is a story of a young girl, Meera. She is not your
typical Indian girl, mind you. She just won't give in to anyone's
demand that she finds unreasonable or to be against her belief
system; not even if that anyone are her own parents, who wants her to
get married and give up on her dream of becoming a ballerina. Meera
doesn't give up, she stands tall and protests till her parents relent
and allows her to go to N.Y.C., and learn professional ballet at the
prestigious Juilliard school. In comes a twist in the tale, and Meera
somehow ends up screwing up her big chance, her career, and the love
of her life, Abeer. Somehow the same Abeer, along with her childhood
friend Zoya would be the ones who will help her to stand up back on
her feet and fulfill her dream somehow, later in life. Does Meera end
up happy? Do Meera and Abeer get back together, or he and Zoya are
just helping an old friend out of sympathy?
The
author, Aarti Venkatraman, has oh so beautifully portrayed all her
characters, complete with their little flaws, their fears, strengths,
shortcomings, longings, and desires. That is the one secret of making
them relatable and real-to-life, for the reader. The language used is
impeccable, to say the least. The flow is unhurried yet lucid.
Overall,
I'd climb right to the top of the tallest building in town, if I have
to, and recommend this book to everyone out there. If you're in love,
you would relate; if you've fallen out of it, you'd scratch your way
back in; and if you've never fallen in love, well...I guarantee, you
will.
I
give this book, a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Disclaimer: I had received a paperback version of the book from the author via 'The Book Club', in return of my honest and unbiased review.
Blurb
Meera Sagar had everything—the perfect job as a principal ballerina (for a prestigious New York ballet company) and a man who loved her as much as she loved him. But tragedy struck on the night before her biggest performance, forcing her to do the one thing she never wanted to do—come back home. To Mumbai.
Now, a year later, Meera is still trying to pick up the pieces, while fending off marriage proposals from her well-meaning but traditional Gujarati family, and figure life out all over again. By starting a ballet school in Mumbai. But she has two problems. One, she doesn’t know anything about running a business. And two, she can’t dance. Not anymore.
Enter . . .
Abeer Goswami. Hotshot junior partner at a South Bombay law firm and a man nursing a broken heart. When he meets Meera again, the woman who left him, he tries his hardest to be her friend, to help her . . . and not let the past get in the way.
And then . . .
There is the sexy Zoya Sehgal. Meera’s only friend in the city and the woman Abeer is currently seeing. They say triangles have pointy edges, for a reason. Will Meera find a new dream in her ballet school? Can Abeer and Meera find their way back to each other again? And, most important, has Meera danced for the last time?
With you I dance is a warm, funny, at times heart-rending, love story of second chances, true love, and finding yourself when your dearest dream has vanished.
Now, a year later, Meera is still trying to pick up the pieces, while fending off marriage proposals from her well-meaning but traditional Gujarati family, and figure life out all over again. By starting a ballet school in Mumbai. But she has two problems. One, she doesn’t know anything about running a business. And two, she can’t dance. Not anymore.
Enter . . .
Abeer Goswami. Hotshot junior partner at a South Bombay law firm and a man nursing a broken heart. When he meets Meera again, the woman who left him, he tries his hardest to be her friend, to help her . . . and not let the past get in the way.
And then . . .
There is the sexy Zoya Sehgal. Meera’s only friend in the city and the woman Abeer is currently seeing. They say triangles have pointy edges, for a reason. Will Meera find a new dream in her ballet school? Can Abeer and Meera find their way back to each other again? And, most important, has Meera danced for the last time?
With you I dance is a warm, funny, at times heart-rending, love story of second chances, true love, and finding yourself when your dearest dream has vanished.
Grab your copy on
About the Author
Aarti V Raman is an established novelist in the romantic thriller genre (White Knight, Kingdom Come) with her third book, a contemporary romance titled “With You I Dance” out soon with Fingerprint Publishing.
29 years old, she graduated from Mumbai University in 2007 with a degree in Mass Media focused on Journalism, which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. She then went on to study Creative and Professional Writing at Deakin University in Melbourne for post-graduation in 2008. It was there that she learned to hone her craft and lifelong ambition of writing romances that had strong characters and stronger stories that remained etched in the reader's minds.
While waiting for her big break, Aarti pursued commercial writing and gained a vast amount of knowledge (from fishing tackle to soft toys) that she claims have helped her with molding better stories. Her first novel "White Knight" was published by Leadstart in 2012 and gave her the impetus to continue writing. In 2013, her work was excerpted in the Tamil Edition of Mills and Boon novels. And in 2014, her short story "Post-Coital Cigarette" was chosen to be part of the Rupa Romance Anthology "An Atlas of Love" curated by bestselling author Anuja Chauhan.
Her latest novel "Kingdom Come" (Harlequin MIRA) has enjoyed a brief stay at the bestseller lists in Amazon India. Her work is represented by Red Ink Literary Agency, Delhi. And very recently, she was a speaker and panellist at the Goa Arts and Literary Fest 2014, Vth Edition.
She is currently expanding her skill set to include copy editing, content marketing, and creative writing workshop that help her explore the wonderful world of words in various forms.
29 years old, she graduated from Mumbai University in 2007 with a degree in Mass Media focused on Journalism, which provided her the perfect background for conducting sound research on any project. She then went on to study Creative and Professional Writing at Deakin University in Melbourne for post-graduation in 2008. It was there that she learned to hone her craft and lifelong ambition of writing romances that had strong characters and stronger stories that remained etched in the reader's minds.
While waiting for her big break, Aarti pursued commercial writing and gained a vast amount of knowledge (from fishing tackle to soft toys) that she claims have helped her with molding better stories. Her first novel "White Knight" was published by Leadstart in 2012 and gave her the impetus to continue writing. In 2013, her work was excerpted in the Tamil Edition of Mills and Boon novels. And in 2014, her short story "Post-Coital Cigarette" was chosen to be part of the Rupa Romance Anthology "An Atlas of Love" curated by bestselling author Anuja Chauhan.
Her latest novel "Kingdom Come" (Harlequin MIRA) has enjoyed a brief stay at the bestseller lists in Amazon India. Her work is represented by Red Ink Literary Agency, Delhi. And very recently, she was a speaker and panellist at the Goa Arts and Literary Fest 2014, Vth Edition.
She is currently expanding her skill set to include copy editing, content marketing, and creative writing workshop that help her explore the wonderful world of words in various forms.
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