Ever had one of those books that you picked up because it sounded okay but you weren’t expecting much out of it? Like that book wasn’t going to do much to impress you. You’ve seen it all. Sure you’ll probably enjoy this book but then POW! it takes you completely by surprise and you end up really enjoying yourself? Yeah? That’s what Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage by Susanna Carr did to me you guys. I started this book without much hope of being too impressed and then all of a sudden I was thrown into a romance with Indian cultural references.

Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage is set in Mumbai, India. Both Dev Arjun and Tina Sharma are in the Bollywood industry. Dev is the heir to an empire and Tina is a girl struggling to make a name for herself in an industry that names mean everything. The thing about this romance is that the couple already had their happily ever after. They’re married. It’s just that not too long after their marriage they were dealt a blow that even long established couples would struggle with. It tore them apart. Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage was more about working through the hard stuff; not only the event that shattered them but the trust issues that sprung up in the aftermath.

There weren’t a whole lot of secondary characters. Typically that’s one of the best parts of a book for me! Carr instead spent the majority of the 192 pages working on the couple and putting them in lavish and fantastic settings. Seriously I learned SO much about Indian culture. Every time Carr made a reference to a piece of clothing, a ritual, or even a type a food I was all over Google. I enjoy being able to visualize what I’m reading. It made the experience that much better! In short the book only took me a few hours to read but I was rewarded with quite a reading experience!