Title: Marriage Unarranged (The Rishtay series 1) by Ritu Bhathal
Date Published: 6th June 2022
Publisher: Spellbound Books
Genre: Chick Lit
Description:
It all s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶e̶d̶ ended with that box…
The year 2000 and Aashi’s life was all set.
New Millennium ,exciting beginnings, new life.
Or so she thought.
Like in the Bollywood films, Ravi would woo her, charm her family and they’d get married and live happily ever after.
But then Aashi found the empty condom box…
Putting her ex-fiancé and her innocence behind her, Aashi embarks upon an enlightening journey, to another country, where vibrant memories are created, and unforgettable friendships forged.
Old images erased, new beginnings to explore.
And how can she forget the handsome stranger she meets?
A stranger who’s hiding something…
Coming Summer 2023 , book 2 in The Rishtay Series
You can buy your copy here:
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marriage-Unarranged-Rishtay-Book-ebook/dp/B09SBSSD67
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Unarranged-Rishtay-Book-ebook/dp/B09SBSSD67/
Review:
I want to thank Zoe at Zooloos book tours for inviting me on this tour and Spellbound Books for providing me with a copy of Marriage Unarranged in exchange for an honest review.
Aashi finds out her fiance has been cheating on her just weeks before her wedding. To get away from the shame and gossip cancelling the wedding caused, she journeys to India with her best friend Kiran and brothers Sunny and Bali. Once there, she gets freedom to explore like she’s never had before. She meets the handsome Arjun who Aashi likes a lot, but she feels that he’s keeping secrets. Can Aashi find the happiness she deserves?
Marriage Unarranged is a book all about self-discovery with a bit of family drama and romance thrown in there to spice things up.
The characters were all likeable, apart from Aashi’s cheating fiance, of course. It was lovely to read their journeys through the course of the book. I loved seeing Aashi transform from the timid, shy girl who was intent on being the perfect wife to the more confident woman who puts herself first.
The setting of India was vividly described, and I almost felt like I’d journeyed there myself. The characters also gave insights, showing the culture shock between Britain and India in a typical British fashion; half awe, half moaning about the weather.
Another thing I enjoyed about the book was all the phrases, food and Sikh traditions included in the book infuses it with culture. I also learnt a few things along the way.
My main issue with the book was there were a few too many perspectives for my taste, I always have trouble keeping the who’s who in my mind, but it didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment of the novel.
Marriage Unarranged is perfect if you love family drama with wonderful characters and bags full of charm.
About The Author:
Ritu Bhathal was born in Birmingham in the mid-1970s to migrant parents, hailing from Kenya but of Indian origin. This colourful background has been a constant source of inspiration to her. From childhood, she always enjoyed reading. This love of books is credited to her mother. The joy of reading spurred her on to become creative in her writing, from fiction to poetry. Winning little writing competitions at school and locally encouraged her to continue writing.
As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and teacher, she has drawn inspiration from many avenues to create the poems that she writes. A qualified teacher, having studied at Kingston University, she now deals with classes of children as a sideline to her writing! Ritu also writes a blog, www.butismileanyway.com, a mixture of life and creativity, thoughts and opinions, which was awarded first place in the Best Overall Blog Category at the 2017 Annual Bloggers Bash Awards and Best Book Blog in 2019.
Ritu is happily married and living in Kent, with her Hubby Dearest, and two children, not forgetting the fur baby Sonu Singh.
Follow her at:
Facebook : www.facebook.com/RituBhathal/
Instagram : www.instagram.com/ritubhathalwrites/
Twitter: twitter.com/RituBhathal
TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@ritubhathalauthor
Website: http://www.ritubhathal.com/
On The Shelf Reviews 
Thank you so much for your lovely review! 🤗
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You’re welcome 🥰
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Thank you so much for helping to close the tour with your fab review x
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You’re welcome 😊
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