Without You ( Sreepuram Series Book 2): A second chance billionaire romance

Nostalgia fills my heart when I read about a young girl, Ananya, who goes home to her Ammamma's (grandmother) house at the scenic village of Sreepuram, "a traveller's dream", for a much needed break after her sixth semester examinations in engineering. Ammamma is Arundhati Mukundan, a award-winning poet, who had started her writing after the death of her husband. It is here that Ananya comes across Dr. Arjun, who appeared to her like "a Greek god". He is her cousin, Vishal's, best friend as well. His sudden appearance into her life makes the idyllic Sreepuram even more interesting than it already is, and Ananya's vulnerable heart opens up like a flower in anticipation. Rare for Ananya who had always been a tomboy, "a sprightly and mean thing" according to her cousins.Both Vishal and Arjun are senior resident doctors in the medical college hospital.Ananya loves being in Sreepuram, and when she is not enjoying the company of her young friends there, she loses herself in the beauty of the village."Sunlight filtering in through the few rain clouds that still littered the horizon gave shining silver borders to them... Perhaps an angel was about to emerge from it, to prepare the earth." On one of her outings, she runs into Col. R.S. Nair who holds a helping hand out to her whenever she falters.Ananya and Arjun feel love blossoming in their hearts, and the artist in her strives to capture his image in her paintings. Her wily grandma is ecstatic with her choice and advises her never to "marry someone whom you can't love and respect."However, there comes a juncture when her life falls apart and she goes back to Bangalore, taking refuge in the love of her family, and the vibrant company of her close friends, Poornima and Khushi. The next phase of life begins when she lands a job as a civil engineer at the prestigious company at Dubai - Al Bayed LLC. She enjoys her new job and the ambience of Dubai, where she meets colleagues, Lily and Tom, who, very quickly, turn into close friends.Preethi Venugopala is a gifted writer who writes with her heart, be it about the plight of our country "How could I make them understand... that most of the girls in my family ended up in arranged marriages and astrologers played matchmakers?" or psychology - "It is often to strangers that we find it easy to confess our innermost secrets, because there is no fear of disdain." What are the circumstances that disillusion Ananya? Do she and Arjun find true love? What is that strange secret that locks all the circumstances together? You will have to read this page turner to find answers to unlock these keys.Preethi's descriptions are ethereal, and her passion for Kerala comes across strongly. There is a lucidity about her writing that keeps the reader hooked from the start. References to Mr. Darcy, classic quotes from literature at the start of every chapter, and Preethi's own quotes on love, betrayal and friendship, make this a book that sings of the essence of 'Falling in Love with You'.Verdict: As fresh as a tall iced glass of lime juice on a sun-drenched day!

I am not praising myself but I know that author Preethi Venugopala ma’am is damn excited to read my review of her book ‘Without You'. Don't ask why but I am sure that she would be surprised after reading this detailed review. I don't introduce any book in my review like this but I am doing this time with a purpose, I guess she is smiling while reading this introduction of Without You's book review. Thank God, I don't live in her city J!! Ok jokes a part!! Hehe!! I am not a master in making jokes like the character of Tom in Without You but I like to laugh on my own PJs.. hehe!! Now let me come to the-Detail analysis of Without You by Preethi Venugopala.About Author:Preethi Venugopala is a Civil Engineer by education and an avid blogger, artist by passion. After working in many prestigious civil engineering projects for more than a decade, she quit her job to become a full-time mother. Meanwhile, she took a Masters Degree in English literature to complete her dream of studying English literature. She tried her hand successfully at crafts, crocheting, portraiture and painting before venturing into writing.She has been published in two anthologies, ‘The Second Life' and‘Blank Space'. Another anthology ‘A Little Chorus of Love' is to be published soon. She is a regular contributor to many online magazines and websites.She strongly believes that storytellers are healers in the present world as they can change the outlook of people through the stories they tell. She would love to hear from her readers.Book Cover:There is a portrait of a girl printed on the front cover. Pink colour of portrait suits to the genre of romance and love as Pink is being considered as the colour of love and care. Background in sky blue, yellow, and indigo colour is like cherry on the cake. Book title Without you is printed in italic fonts with black and red colours so font of the title itself catches an attraction. Publisher Write India's logo also perfectly fits in a right corner above. Back cover is also catchy. The blurb of the book is printed on a pink balloon in a heart shape. Love, betrayal, friendship and miracle are highlighted in Red colour so these words give readers an idea about the theme of the book. Buildings can be noticed in a background on the back cover. When I asked my younger brother Vivek to choose his favourite book from the favourite cover, he chose Without You as his favourite from the front cover. So, overall Abinash Panda has designed a beautiful cover.Setting: The story of Without You is narrated in 30 chapters and epilogue in 198 pages.Theme: The plot of Without You is based upon so many themes like romance, love, betrayal, friendship, miracles, humour, devotion and art.Language & Writing Style: First twelve chapters (except fifth one) and epilogue is written in a style of diary writing. Author Preethi Venugopala narrates the story through Ananya as a first person. She uses hyphen sign between words to indicate inner feelings and emotions. Preethi's knowledge of English literature can be sensed from her writing style. She uses grammar fantastically. Literary language is a bit complicated but it's not much difficult so the language of the book is entertaining. Influence of Southern background appears in Preethi's writing style in words like Prasadam (for Prasad). It seems that authoress has researched about Arabian language when she introduces the meaning of an Arabian phrase ‘Maafi Mushkil Habibi'- means ‘'No problem, sweetheart.'Locations: The story in Without You runs around India and UAE. The half story is based on mainly Sreepuram and Bangalore (Bengaluru) in Karnataka, and Kerala. Other half story runs around Al Nahda in Sharjah, Terminal 3 Airport in Dubai, Canadian specialist Hospital, Al Garhoud, Dubai and BurjKhalifa in UAE. The author beautifully describes a city ‘Dubai'.Characters: Authoress Preethi Venugopala beautifully describes each character's unique accent of pronunciation.Ananya Shankar (Anu): Authoress portrays Ananya's character as a central character in the story. She is a main protagonist in the story.Dr. Arjun Rajashekhar: Authoress portrays Arjun's character as a second protagonist in the story. He is a best friend of Vishal.Arundhati Mukundan (Ammamma): Ananya's grandmother.Sukanya: Ananya's motherColonel R. S. Nair: Formerly colonel at BSF.Vishal: Ananya's cousin and a good friend.Uma: Vishal's mother and Ananya's aunty.Kishore: Ananya's eldest cousin living in Dubai.Aditya: Authoress portrays her character as a toddler boy who is the 3 years old son of Kishore and his wife Shreya. He represents kids of his age.Lily Alonzo Reyes: Ananya colleague in Dubai.Mr. Thomas Smith (Tom): Lily and Ananya's colleague and a good friend. I am sure that he will be remembered in readers heart for his jokes! Oops, PJs.Sophia Fernandeze: Ananya's companion in Dubai. Her mastery on zodiac signs is enough to know authoress' knowledge, study and research.Mr. Ahmed: A Senior Construction manager in Ananya's office.Mr. Ravi Bhatia: The HR manager in Al Bayed Group, Dubai.Rajashekhar: Authoress portrays Rajashekhar as Arjun's dad.Shakuntala Devi: Arjun's mother.Maria: Arjun's housekeeper and cook in Dubai.Madhavan: Father of RajashekharAnamika (Ammu): 9 years old chatterbox in Ananya's vacation gangKhushi Sharma and Poornima: Ananya's best friendsArijit Singh: Don't misunderstand him with the real one, Arijit Singh is the student of S8 Civil in the story.Plot: Story of Ananya starts with a humour but this kind of humour can be understood by only those having knowledge of literature; this humour is scribbled in a writing style of the great Marathi author Late Mr. P. L. Deshpande who is also known as ‘Pu. La.'. No! I am not comparing authoress Preethi with him, but if I do so, this will be the biggest compliment than even the Nobel Prize for literature. Yes!My mouth was watering while reading about the delicious dishes in Karnataka. Chapter five is based on love and I count it as my favourite one. I would like to mention Ananya's grandma's quote "Never marry someone whom you can't love and respect. Such marriages are the worst form of torture, especially in our country, where divorces are still a taboo. I have seen many girls suffer in such hell holes."Sixth chapter touches to my heart. Ananya describes the feeling of love in words "It is a nice feeling to fall in love, nicer if the person loved you equally. But, the nicest thing is when you know that you have made the right choice and you have the blessings of your loved ones as well." Entry of villains happens between Anu and Arjun's love story in chapter ten. The scene where Vishal asks Anu to forget her love relates to my own life. Arjun and Ananya's reactions seem realistic. Authoress gives the realistic picture of society when Anu slashes her vein of the left wrist after a breakup with Arjun. Authoress gives a message to coward couples who attempt suicide after rejection in love in an Anu's quote "I know how hard it is, to forget our first love. Been there, done that. But it doesn't mean you have any right to throw away your life. You have to show them that you care nothing about what happened and carry on strongly." Arijit Singh's dedication to Khushi reminds me my own dedicated song to someone in my college. 13th Aug. 2010- It's a memorable date in my life, so even a date of the scene touches to my heart. I don't know whether I should or should not! But yes! I didn't know writing diary is prescribed by psychologists to express feelings; but being a diarist for more than consecutive 6 years, I agree that diary writing is an effective way to express feelings in someone's memory. The authoress gives us examples of some interview questions. Did you ever travel in an aeroplane? If you didn't, you must read fourteenth chapter of ‘Without You'. This chapter will give you a live and realistic experience of travelling on a plane. Ananya wonderfully describes Kishore and Shreya's 3 years old son Aditya's behavior and odd reactions on his face after looking at new guests. The authoress comments on the busy professional life of working women like Ananya who works as a civil engineer in Al Bayed Group, Dubai. I think every civil engineer must go through chapter seventeen of Without You. I was always amazing to think about south Indian surnames as I didn't know that they add their second name next to the first name and hide their surname, maybe I would still unaware of the fact if I wouldn't have read Without You! So this book gives you knowledge.The authoress comments on Hindu devotees' bath into the sacred water of river near temples. She comments in a humorous way on fat people with a big belly. She gives glimpses of extra-marital affairs in society. When authoress tries to connect Indians and Pakistanis in one bond I commemorate the same attempt of author Amisha Sethi in her novel  It Doesn't Hurt To Be Nice  Though there is no relation between both book, I think this kind of attempt shall be done from the literature; so I appreciate authoress’ efforts. Ananya sarcastically comments on the difference between an Engineering course and practical work on the field/ office. Authoress comments on realistic issues like love marriages, arrange marriages and Breakups. She comments on society's contrasting opinion about virginity of women and men.Chapter twenty-two comes with so many twists and turns in the story. Two quotes from the chapter touches to my heart and those are "If a man cries over a girl, then he loved her truly and no one else could make her happier than him." Ananya comments on peoples' interference in other persons' life'- "It is ridiculous how people often meddled in the life of others, played with their emotions, took decisions on their behalf, and gave them the utmost pain possible. When they had tangled the threads of relationships into a complex knot, they often cried off and heaped the blame on fate." Bittersweet interaction with twists and turns between Arjun and his beloved Anu in chapter twenty-three seems like an instance of true love. There is a glance of a very short intimacy scene which is described in a nice manner so it doesn't feel vulgar. Chapter twenty-seven brings a big twist about Arjun's dad but don't expect me to reveal the twist. A philosophy of authoress' imaginary life after death is just amazing in Ananya's conversation with harmless soul. Story comes to the climax in chapter 30 and epilogue, and now please do not expect me to reveal climax and epilogue also!! (Waise bhi lagbhag puri story to batadi hai ab kam se kam climax to secret rehne do!!!) Okay! So, does Ananya marry to Arjun? What happens in their love story? If you want answers to these questions you have to grab your own copy and read the novel ‘Without You'.Quotes: Each chapter of the novel Without You begins with a quote by a great person. I would like to mention few of them 30 quotes among all 30 chapters:"The earth has music for those who listen." – George Santayana"I know what I have given; I do not know what you have received." – Antonia Porchia"Speak low, if you speak love." – William Shakespeare"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus oneday, so I never have to live without you." – A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)"I always knew looking back on the tears would make me laugh, but I never knew looking back on the laughs would make me cry." – Cat Stevens"The beginning is the most important part of the work." – Plato"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance…" – Franklin P. Jones"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." – Anais Nin"Pure love is a willingness to give without a thought of receiving anything in return." –Peace Pilgrim"Three things cannot be hidden for long; the sun, the moon, and the truth." – Buddha"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." – William Shakespeare"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." – Maya AngelouDrawbacks: There are not major drawbacks in the novel, however, I found 2 minor print mistakes in it.Reviewer's Notes:“Without You by Preethi Venugopala is the perfect tale of friendship, love, betrayal, breakup, miracles, romance and humour; which entertain readers with so many interesting twists. This novel not only makes readers aware about social issues but motivates them with positive messages.”I would recommend Without You to lovers, believers in astrology/zodiac (especially Cancerians and Scorpions), and engineers (especially civil engineers). If you belong to any one of the above categories, then you shouldn't miss the twists and turns in this novel.I would rate 4.25 out of 5 Stars to Without You by Preethi Venugopala.Without You in a glance:Title:  Without You Author: Preethi VenugopalaPublished by: WRITE INDIA PUBLISHERSCopyright: ©Preethi Venugopala 2015First Edition: May 2015Typeset by Atul Purohit 11.5 pts GaramondBranding & Designs: ABINASH PANDABinding: PaperbackLanguage: EnglishGenre: FICTION / ROMANCEISBN 978-93-84180-19-5Pages: 212 (including cover)MRP: Rs 150/- (inclusive all taxes)Rating: 4-25-very-small.gif 4.25/5 (Good)Reviewer: Rajesh D. Hajare (RDH)Blurb:When Ananya, a bubbly twenty-year-old engineering student, reaches her Grandmother's house in Sreepuram on a month long vacation, romance is the last thing on her mind. However, she meets Dr. Arjun there and falls head over heels in love.As it often happens, the path of true love never runs smooth..Circumstances force them apart even though they were madly in love. She becomes a victim of depression. When everything fails to return her to normalcy, help arrives from an unexpected source. Will she ever find happiness again? Will time allow her heart to heal and forget Arjun? What indeed is true love?Travel with Ananya to the picturesque Sreepuram, face the chaos of Bengaluru, and relish the warmth of magical Dubai in this heartwarming tale of love, betrayal, friendship and miracles.Thanks for reading this review. We would love to hear from you…Red this review on my blog: [...]

This is a sweet story of a young girl's brush with love and heartbreak. While it is not your typical "romance" as defined by the genre of romance books, it is a uniquely Indian version of a love story, complete with heart ache and family drama and even a bit of spiritual intervention.The author does have a way of throwing in a few twists in the tale and keeping the reader engaged. Ananya as the young girl who is totally smitten by a boy who is way out of her league feels real. She is also not just a "girl who is hopelessly in love" but has ambitions of her own. And she keeps the story grounded. Enjoyed the story and looking forward to more stories from the author.

A gripping tale about first love, heartbreaks and miracles! The story reinforces the belief of true love and the fact that some matches are definitely made in heaven!

Without You is a love story but not a regular one. It has a paranormal twist to it but you will not see the twist of faith until the end. I was quite surprised by it since there was not a hint of it in the initial chapters.Ananya falls in love with Dr Arjun who is a friend of the family. Their love progresses swiftly but they have to part ways since Arjun’s mother is dead against it. Young and undecided they just move ahead with their life. The story is told from Ananya point of view as she goes ahead with her studies and picks a job in Dubai.The lovers meet again in Dubai, the love rekindles, mistakes addressed, and they find togetherness. The only question remains is of convincing the elders. The book is the growth and progress of Ananya when she doesn’t let her life fall apart since due to the love she lost.She does not regret her love yet she never forgets him. Her journey from a bubbly young college girl to a successful working woman is what the book is about and the hidden surprise at the end 🙂I enjoyed reading this book, the quotes at the beginning of each chapter making an interesting peek into what is to come. Overall, a sweet, young romance that left me with a smile. Love truly is remarkable – not just the lovers love but that of our parents as well.Love – cherish it no matter what.

Rating Edit: 2.5 StarsWithout You follows the life of a young girl - Ananya, as she finds love, then loses it, and then tries to find herself, while picking up the broken pieces of her heart.The story starts with 20 year-old Ananya visiting her grandmother in Sreepuram. There, she falls head-over-heels in love with the very handsome Dr. Arjun, who works in a hospital, in-spite of the fact that he is the scion of the multi-million dollar Shine Group. Arjun, too, falls in love with Ananya, and soon they even have the grandmother’s blessing.However, some unfavourable circumstances, lead to Ananya and Arjun going their separate ways, and Ananya’s grief over the loss of her love, propels her into a dark depression. The plot then follows Ananya’s life, as she tries to come to terms with her loss, and move on.Will she be ever be able to completely forget Arjun? Will Ananya and Arjun cross paths again? If they do - would they still be in love with each other? More importantly - will their love find the strength to conquer the hurdles in their path, this time around? - these are the questions that get answered in the rest of the book.My Thoughts:I had distinct experiences while reading different sections; so I am going to review the book in those sections/chunks.The beginning ( First 25% of the book)As I started reading, the first thing that caught my attention, was the vivid description of the picturesque Sreepuram. Describing places is clearly the author’s strong suit, and she has demonstrated that several times in this book - from Sreepuram to Bangalore to Dubai.My biggest grouse with this section is something which is also my biggest pet peeve while reading romances - Insta Love! (or instant love)If the book is in the genre of romance - I need to see the characters falling in love, and see the relationship progress. The love story is central to a romance novel, so I don’t like short cuts here.Which is why, insta-love (an often used short cut) puts me off, and this book had a clear case of the same - Ananya was in love with Arjun, before she even met him. For Arjun too - it was love at first-sight!Now, I have read enough romances to understand that, yes, there are times when a story/book starts with one person harboring a secret (or not so secret) crush on the other person. But even in those situations - the progression of the love story is shown, which makes it okay (Case in point - Against All Rules by Summerita Rhyane). But in Without You - there was no development or progression shown.Also, several things (plot/dialogue etc) in this section came across as immature, and juvenile (to me). There was too much repetition, and no subtlety. And this would have been understandable, and completely acceptable, if the characters were 16 or 18, but Ananya was 20 and Arjun was 26.Read the full review at - SHANAYA TALES DOT COMDisclaimer: I won this book in a giveaway.

Not a bad first book. Reminiscent of a 19th century novel in language, though. Very wordy, old fashioned & awkward English, with strange punctuation and verb conjugation. But overall, a nice story.