Everyone likes a love story.
At the end of the day, after all the thrillers, action, drama and suspense, one likes to wrap up the day with a good love story. Not a sappy love story, mind you, but a good one. One which stirs something in our hearts. One which makes one hark back to days when we were reckless….or the days spent after a missed opportunity, or memories still struggling to answer, “What if…?”
I grew up in a household of three sisters. The elder two were sold on romance the second they touched their teens. Barbara Cartland and Mills & Boon were their sacred books! We had boxes and boxes of love stories. Honestly, I did try to read them once, but after reading three and finding them all the same, I quickly gave up on this line of fiction. The sisters, alas, continue to be besotted to those MBs.
Ironically, of the three sisters, I ended up having a love marriage. And now, I end up reviewing a book on love collection!! Thats because I came across a wonderful opportunity to review books for FREE (Yippee!! 😀 ) through BlogAdda. They were generous enough to send me this book for my first review. Thank You Folks at BlogAdda 🙂 .
I did have my apprehensions though. I cannot tolerate sappiness. Those few MBs I’d read before, put me off love stories forever 😦 . The heroines were perfect, the men, next to God. They ALWAYS got together in the end. Most of the times, I just go “sheesh!!” throughout the book!
So imagine my surprise when I found myself engrossed in reading the 31 stories by 27 Indian authors. So captivated was I that I carried the book everywhere I went, to the cafeteria at lunch, in the pantry at tea-breaks,reading it at breakfast time and then late into the night! Thats because the book doesnt have your run-of-the-mill love stories. These are stories that range from the first hint of like to love and everything in between. There is anger, confusion, sadness, joy and overall, the acknowledgement that each character in these stories has experience love at least once . It is not your usual love collection. Love here isn’t just the “they all live happily ever after” but more like “they learnt to accept love or lack of it”. These stories are not about rich men finding love between board meetings. They aren’t about post-teen crushes or juvenile puppy love. They are about people like you and me, working people, housewives, struggling freshers. These are people who live in our midst. Heck, they could even be us!!
These are mature tales. Of decisions taken, regretted, corrected. And sometimes, just left to ponder over. As a reader, I was stuck by the depth of “Twisted” and the altogether different line of thought of “For Convenience’s sake“. There is pathos in “Making Out” and total ridiculousness in “The Girl Who Was Too Loud“. There is deep inner conflict in “Sahana or Shamim” and the touch of mystry in “Strangers“. There is immeasurable regret in “The Last Look” and heart stirring emotions in “A Simple Question“. “Measures of Love and Life” and “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” will have you thinking long after you’ve put the book down. “High Time” brings its giggles and smiles and “Reality Bytes” has heart-breaking ending.
Edited by multi-talented Sneh Thakur , “Urban Shots – The Love Collection” is a treasure of of heart-tugging tales of love, loss, wistfulness , regrets and compassion. Their thorough Indian-ness makes them unique, because its about people like us. The authors are themselves young professionals from diverse fields, with a common penchant for the written word. Their efforts (and skilled ones at that) are worth a read. These stories are not just for women, they are for men too, because most stories carry the male perspective (very fresh, I think) and are written by male writers. I plan to lend my copy of the book to a friend who is facing a situation similar to that in one of the stories. This is how close the book strikes a chord. We know people who’ve been through relationships, some successful, some not.
So do order your copy now because all said and done, at the end of the day, we are all romantics at heart 🙂
Book : Urban Shots – The Love Collection
Editor : Sneh Thakur
Publisher: Grey Oak/ Westland
Price: 199/-
Pages: 226
Note : This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
[…] https://momofrs.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/book-review-urban-shots-the-love-collection/ “High Time brings its giggles and smiles. […]
Happy you loved the line ‘Fanciful beaus are constantly thoughtful than genuine darlings’ from my story Love is Blind. Be extraordinary in the event that you could add my name beside it also.
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