Blog Tour/Review: An Incurable Insanity by Simi K. Rao

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An Incurable Insanity by Simi K Rao!

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An Incurable Insanity

by Simi K Rao

Paperback, eBook, 376 pages

Published October 8, 2013 by Tate Publishing

Her heart fluttered when she heard the sound of the key turn in the lock. She quickly adjusted her maroon silk sari with the yellow border, the one that had caught his eye, and waited eagerly for his footsteps.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Yes, exactly seven steps before he stopped, hesitated for a few moments, then removed his shoes one by one and arranged them neatly side by side on the shoe rack.

She smiled. He had been mindful of taking his shoes off every day now. "I am not used to it, but I will if you want me to. It's probably a good thing to do anyway."

As he settled down, he would pick up the TV remote and, without looking at her, would say in his smooth baritone, "So how did you spend your day, anything interesting?"

Shaan Ahuja found himself bowing to tradition and agreeing to an arranged marriage to the beautiful Ruhi Sharma. He went through the motions but had no intention of carrying through on his vows. His last foray into matters of the heart with an American girl had left him scarred and unwilling to try again. Thoroughly disillusioned and disgruntled he wasted no time in making his intentions clear to Ruhi on their wedding night. But, he was completely unprepared for what his new wife had in mind.

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Ruhi and Shaan are both from India. They got married a month ago and are now living in LA. Their marriage was arranged and Shaan dropped a bombshell on Ruhi on their wedding night--he can't make love to her because there's someone else. She's shocked but decides to stay for a couple of months so they can say they tried to make their marriage work, and it will be easier for her to start over. We also learn from a conversation he had with his father prior to getting married, that he can't marry the woman he's involved with, because she's already married.

The way Ruhi handles his news and carries herself surprises Shaan and he starts to look at her differently. He's lost her trust, though, and she's determined to leave as soon as she can. But now he's having second thoughts. Will they be able to get on the same page and decide to really give their marriage a chance?

I was excited to read this book and while I enjoyed it overall, I personally had a couple of issues with it. I  wish there would have been more of an explanation of the ceremonies that are referred to--the Mehendi, the Sangeet, the Haldi and the wedding ceremony itself. I don't know what those are and would have liked to have understood them better. I also like different POV's in stories but sometimes it changed too quickly for me, and we would get each of their thoughts as they were carrying on conversations with each other. Their first date, in particular, made me dizzy with all the back and forth. (This may not bother others--I'm getting older and slower, haha.)

There is lots of drama and they each change their mind a lot on whether or not they want to try to work on their marriage. Ruhi starts her marriage with one plan and when that doesn't work, she changes tactics, becoming more independent and more enticing to Shaan. She makes some new friends and it was fun to watch those relationships develop. She continues to amaze Shaan throughout the book and, even though she's frustrating at times, she's also very likable. I cut Ruhi some slack because she's quite young and was delivered devastating news and I honestly can't say I would have reacted any better than she did. I liked the cultural references that were included so I felt like I understood them a little more.

I wasn't impressed with Shaan at the beginning. We find out why he married Ruhi, which didn't paint him in the best light, either, but he shows a lot of growth and maturity as time goes on and redeemed himself to me in the end. There were some crazy, dramatic parts and also some calm, tender moments. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Rao's books in the future!

My Rating=4 Stars

Content: Mild swearing and some kissing.

You saw The Exotic Tour... you got a taste for the beautiful culture and the romantic attraction of our spunky young characters... now we're reviewing it and posting a new excerpt at each stop! Here's today's:

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Simi K. Rao was born in India and has been living in the United States for several years. The inspiration for An Incurable Insanity came from what she has seen transpire among and within the immigrant community. Some of the experiences included are her own; some have been garnered from friends and casual conversations with acquaintances...

I am a physician–and to many I may appear serious and solitary. But once people get to know me better, they often think that I am frank, down to earth, with quite a quirky sense of humor. And that is what I bring to my writing—read and you shall see.

I was born in the dead center of India, but had the privilege of spending time both in the north and south. Therefore I have been able to sample and absorb to some extent the vastly diverse cultures and languages of both these regions (the very quality that imparts tremendous richness to our country’s heritage,) —a phenomenon perhaps not seen anywhere else in the world.

After immigrating to the United States in my early twenties and spending several years in this country, whenever I travel back to my homeland now, I find that I appreciate my roots a lot more. Still there is so much to see and learn, that a lifetime won’t suffice.

A Casual Fling with the Keyboard

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January 13 - February 3, 2014

1 Taste of India Collection from World Market (US Only)

2 Signed Print Copies of An Incurable Insanity (US Only)

2 eCopies of An Incurable Insanity (International)

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1/13 Launch

1/14 Mel's Shelves

1/15 Sarit Yahalomi

1/16 My Love For Reading Keeps Growing

1/17 Anastacia Reviews

1/19 Deal Sharing Aunt

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1/20 Hardcover Feedback

1/21 Books with Bree

1/22 Vvb32 Reads

1/23 Dividing by Zero

1/24 Grand Finale

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