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Here,you can update previews and reviews about books that have very recently hit the shelves or those which are gonna hit very soon.. You can refer to some links so that others can check it out..

Thanks so much for starting this thread. So here I start it by giving the preview and reviews of my book Dream's Sake. But to begin with, let me first introduce my book briefly.

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How far can a person go for a loved one's Dream's Sake? The two closely interlinked love stories in novel Dream's Sake revolve around this one question. The book talks about the effects that traumatic events leave behind and the fears, insecurities and prejudices that differently-able people have to deal with.

And here are some passages from the book that introduce the main characters:

Aashi (Akanksha Sharma)

“Terror does Diwali shopping in Delhi--killing 55, hurting 155,” the old newspaper clipping proclaimed as it trembled with her fingers.

Those weren’t just numbers, even if they had been correct. Those were people blown into bits. And people left behind to die in bits after them.

But Aashi had died quite enough. It was time to start living again.

She would have torn that paper and thrown it away. But her fingers didn’t obey. She wanted to erase its black words entirely from her memory. But she could not, not yet, anyway. For there was her father in that paper, one among the fifty five dead.

Aashi could not let go of the dead. But it was time now for her to start living again. She had already taken her first step back into life.

Life, though, was no longer how she had once known it.

*****

Aashi leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She desperately needed to call forth the dream that she had kept with her despite the loss of everything else.

She put herself on a large balcony of a palatial house and looked dreamily down at the gorgeous garden spread around. There was the steady sound of manly footsteps approaching her. She turned and looked at him, love dancing in the lustre of her eager eyes.

‘If only I had blue eyes, or green perhaps! How wonderful it would have been,’ she thought as she dreamed.

But then, the audacity of her black eyes was irresistible too. She had often admired it herself, feeling sure that a writer must have composed some pretty amazing lines while describing her eyes, had she been the heroine of a novel.

Of course, she was not a heroine, and life wasn’t a novel either. She was just an ordinary girl, being forced to live in less than ordinary world.

But her dreams were perfect. They had perfect love, perfect romance, luxury and above all, a perfection in manly form too.



Abhi (Abhinandan Mathur)


He was tall enough, a bit on the leaner side, but that went well with his boyish face and the curly strands of hair that steadfastly clung to his forehead, despite all his attempts to brush them away. He was fair too and had brown eyes that looked remarkably happy. And indeed, they were happy. Openly, sincerely, even eagerly happy, enlivened with the joy of a true and honest heart that loved life and desired to live it to the fullest, no matter what.

A more careful observer might perhaps have noticed some dark embers in those eyes too. But Aashi hadn’t yet given so much thought to him or his eyes, nor even to his amputated left arm or his very obvious limp. There was nothing so remarkable in Abhi to arrest Aashi’s attention for that long. He was handsome, but not extraordinarily so, had a charming face, but not breathtaking and his faded T-shirt showed that he clearly had no dressing sense to boast of.



Priyam Mathur (Abhi's sister)

‘Oh, hi!’ Priyam exclaimed, turning around quickly. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were standing here.’

‘It’s okay, you were engrossed,’ said Aashi. ‘Let me help you,’ she added, wondering at the same time whether Abhi’s judgement about their being of same age was really true.

The girl who looked at her with big brown eyes seemed much younger. Except that her eyes were so much wiser and calmer. No turbulence rocked their placid depths, and there wasn’t even a hint of restlessness that flickered with such intensity in Aashi’s own eyes.

Priyam had a charming face and a figure too slender to admit the possibility of curves as perfect as Aashi’s. She looked a delicate and frail creature and Aashi might have been in danger of pitying her had the serene lustre of those brown eyes not told her how little Priyam was in need of that emotion.



Sid (Siddharth Vardhan)

Aashi looked at Sid. Though he wasn’t exceptionally handsome, he had a good and honest face and his athletic built went greatly in his favour.

There was an aura of placid strength about him, not merely physical but that which lies inwards. It shone out from his intense and penetrating eyes like a black fire, subdued and at peace now, but not extinct. He had a dusky complexion and a smile that brightened up on whom it shone because it was always genuine and straight from the heart. It was shining on Priyam now.

*****

Half a smile appeared unawares on Sid’s lips as he looked at her. The sable depths of his eyes became alight with a buoyant glow, a glimmer that only Priyam’s smiling face had the power to evoke.

Had Sid’s colleagues or even most of his students seen him at that moment, they would hardly have believed their eyes. To them, Sid was just a surly person who rarely smiled and was always on the lookout for the opportunity of being rude and deprecatory. That he could smile too and be playful was a thing nobody could ever have imagined of him.



Raj Sinha

Aashi forgot all about going back to home and could think only of how well Abhi’s friend was dressed. Everything Raj wore boasted of a big brand name. He sure did not lack in good taste. And certainly not in good looks either.

Raj was almost as tall as Sid, with a fairer complexion and playful eyes that glowed with self confidence and joy of easy life. Everything about Raj spoke of richness; everything about him seemed to have a certain glow, the glow perhaps of the magic that had suddenly given a corporal form to Aashi’s fantasy.

*****

But to her, Raj had become a semblance of perfection.

And indeed, he was very near it, according to his out judgement too. Raj was an honest millionaire; at least as honest as a millionaire can be who wants to hold on to his millions. He never told a lie unless it was absolutely necessary to do so and he never, by himself, indulged in flirting. It was Raj’s constant endeavour to be a perfect gentleman, and he tried very hard to do good because, basically he believed himself to be good. Raj was generous, never raised his voice, minded his manners perfectly and was civil to everybody, even the lowest of his servants. He liked to see himself as a perfect son, a perfect brother, a perfect friend and everybody was sure, including himself of course, that when he married, he would prove to be a perfect husband too.



Reviews from Goodreads members:

It was a nice read. The characters were brought out well...found Abhi and Priyam too good to be true..Somehow liked Sid the most :P he was a bit crazy yes- but he acted how he felt...which I liked! The climax was a little disturbing though...all of us r so used to reading happy endings ...but I guess any other end wouldnt have been justified. Overall, a good read

****

This was quite a change from my usual preferred genre of mystery/crime/semiphilosophical fiction. This story deals with the interrelation between 5 young adults - 3 men and 2 women. The main character is Ashi, a blood and flesh type girl who sustained a major loss quite early in life. The story starts when she comes to live beside a brother-sister duo who themselves share emotional baggage, and who have 2 male friends, both of whom are attracted to the sister. The story moves with rapid paces, punctured by dramatic events, to its final and unexpected culmination. I found Ashi, the protagonist, the most likeable of all, the more so because of her innate human selfishness and mild envy. The other girl Priyam, a paradigm of virtue and her equally virtuous brother were too goody-goody to swallow. Their childhood friend too is very silly and emotionally labile. Rajiv, the other friend somewhat resembles Ashi in that he has his human foibles, but is forever trying to overcome them. One thing I liked about the book, was the snippets of famous poems given at the beginning of each chapter, giving an indication as to the feelings portrayed in the chapter.
Though not my forte, nevertheless I enjoyed the book - maybe because it was quite different.
I feel this book will appeal to all those romantics at heart who love good tragedies, with sweet and bitter endings

Do check out http://www.jyotiarora.com/dream-s-sake for the a preview of the book and also its video trailer and availability options

Dream's Sake