Married in Rage by Shilpa Suraj
<a href="https://www.theblogchatter.com/blogrolls/book-review-married-in-rage-by-shilpa-suraj-kiranmayi-reviews" title="Book Review — Married in Rage by Shilpa Suraj - Kiranmayi reviews"><img src="https://www.theblogchatter.com/public/top_bloggers.png" width="150" border="0" alt="Top post on Blogchatter" style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;border:none;"></a>
My take on the book:
Harsh Kodela, the youngest of the Kodela siblings is the ‘actor’ in a family of politicians, his father being the current Chief Minister and his elder brother Agastya the famous minister and obvious heir to his father’s political throne. Harsh was always considered a nuisance by his father for all the trouble he inadvertently got into. Raashi Gadde has returned from the US for good, after completing her PhD in aeronautical engineering. Unlike the Gadde siblings, she is the introvert who minded her own business and was almost invisible to her family also.
When Harsh and Raashi bumped into each other at Harsh’s movie screening, as Raashi accompanied her elder sister Priyanka who is now married to Agastya, sparks flew between the duo. However, these are not romantic sparks but dangerous flames as Raashi’s caustic remarks about Harsh’s character go viral. Next day, Harsh’s female fans, Harshians physically assault Raashi enraged by her comments about their beloved hero.
As Harsh’s PR team try to salvage the situation by suggesting a fake relationship, Harsh is forced to play along to avoid his career from crashing and Raashi also gets involved in this fake drama when she comes face-to-face with her past demons. From fake engagement to hurried marriage, will Harsh and Raashi be able to understand the real persona of each other, forms the rest of the story.
This is the third book in the Dynasty Rebels series after Married in Hate and Married in Deceit and as hinted at the end of book2, narrates the story of Harsh and Raashi. Harsh had good footage in the previous two books as the fun Kodela sibling and Raashi was introduced only in the second book as the spunky Gadde sibling. Harsh is the hot, desirable hero for his millions of fangirls, but at home his father left no chance to humiliate and taunt him. Raashi had her own share of misadventures from the past which she is ashamed of and would never dare share her troubles with her family.
The story starts with a bang introducing the charismatic lifestyle of Harsh, quickly moving to the conflict between Harsh and Raashi and the ensuing controversy in media. Their engagement and marriage along with the mystery man in Raashi’s life keep the reader engaged. From then on the story moves at a slow pace until pre climax where Raashi’s past is revealed. Raashi’s secret’s connection to the earlier two books in the series is interesting.
The middle parts are where I found the story lacking in engagement, as Harsh’s childhood struggle and Raashi’s past secret are the only USP of the story. The author’s strength had always been in creating interesting male protaganists and Harsh pales in character development when compared to Aarush or Agastya. Even Raashi’s character is not a standout except in the one scene where she stands up for Harsh to his father.
The fourth book will narrate the story of Ram and Aadhya, hence glimpses of their story and relationship is also shown in this story, building up to the next one in the series. Even if you have not read the first two books in this series you can still pick this one, however, reading the first two books in that order prior to picking this one will help appreciate the family dynamics.
My rating:
3.5/5.