You Can’t Be Serious!: A North-Meets-South Royal Romance by Prajwal Hegde
My take on the book:
Aaditha Asha Prathap known as the coffee queen for running the successful cafe chain Coffee before Books & Bras is the younger daughter of Prathap Gowda, Karnataka’s Finance minister. Her world turns upside down when her father received proposal from the Royal family of Rathores, to marry Aaditha to their son Vedveer Rathore Singh, and Prathap Gowda readily accepted the proposal.
Though Aaditha is convinced their worlds are light years apart, the families formally meet and instantly decide on the engagement. Vedveer is busy trying to revive the lands that have been lying barren since his grandfather’s time by proposing organic farming in these lands. While his father is happy to finance Vedveer’s organic farming initiative by leasing a portion of their royal palace, Vedveer has reservations about letting their property, even on lease.
While Aaditha struggles to follow the Royal protocols, and Vedveer suspects the Gowda family’s intentions behind the marriage alliance, the gossip column Tittle Tattle is busy shading this match, especially Aaditha’s fashion sense. Will Aaditha and Vedveer be able to break this match before their families proceed with the marriage, forms the rest of the story.
This is a North-meets-South, Royal-family-meets-Political-family story with protagonists who are totally contrasting personalities. Vedveer is the Harvard returned Prince who is known in the Page 3 circuits for his charm and the multiple women he reportedly dated, as per the gossip columns, while Aaditha had zero coverage in media or presence in social media, did not bother about being a fashionista, instead preferred to be a hands-on founder of her cafe chain. If anyone ever wondered how opposites attract, Aaditha and Vedveer are the best example to explore.
I liked the fact that the story while being a romance explores other aspects of the protagonists instead of only revolving around the sexual tension between them, which has become the norm in recent love stories. The narrative slowly builds on their chemistry, with each occasion, each event brings them a little closer — be it Holi celebrations at the palace, the polo match, Aaditha’s new cafe launch, Aaditha winning an award.
Aaditha is feisty without sounding arrogant, Vedveer is a true gentleman and not just an average rich brat or flirt. Their personalities and the details the author added make the narrative engaging. I loved how the author spins a modern-day love story that feels both relatable and thoroughly enjoyable. In the times of modern dating, this story revisits the concept of arranged marriages and how love bloomed slowly through a series of meaningful moments.
A sweet love story with strong and relatable characters, You Can’t be Serious is a must read for lovers of romance genre.
My rating:
4/5.