DRIVEN BY DESIRE by SHILPA SURAJ - Book Review

The beginning is most unexpected... a startled Krish finds “a bag of bones… with acres of long straight hair cascading across” landing on him, followed by a cascading branch that smacks him on the head and renders him unconscious. This is enough to make the reader realise that this is no ordinary love story, but a tale filled with adventure and twists. After all, an attractive girl being referred to as “a bag of bones” and “a flying missile with those large eyes” is certainly no ordinary start for romance. Nor is “Peter Pan in the living room”, as Krish refers to Max who had only responded to a dare issued by his younger sibling, Aditya.

Max goes through a gamut of emotions as she deals with the enraged Krish who apparently hates hospitals. They part on an amicable note, but Krish’s hackles go up all over again when he finds out that she is Maxine Sheridan, a star vintage car restorer, especially as he had plans to get his vintage MG TG restored. The plus point is the amazing home-cooked stew that Mr. Brian Sheridan, her father, had offered him and his younger sister, Pooja.

However, Max is finally given the chance to restore the beloved vintage car that had been the pride and joy of Krish’s father. She is propelled into the family circle of the three men and their young sister, Pooja, who is instinctively drawn towards the newcomer. As little pieces of the jigsaw come together, the enigma that is Krish becomes clearer. However, there are moments of animosity which come on almost without a warning.

“The only thing keeping her from pulling back herself had been the desperate affection of a little girl who seemed for some strange reason to have taken a shine to her and the inexplicable attraction she felt for an aggravating man she barely understood.”

Some poignant moments make their way into the reader’s heart – the value of the car being restored by Max in which Krish’s parents had courted, how the children had always been much-loved and how the loss of their parents had torn the family apart. Krish comes across as the staunch elder brother who wants to put together memories for his siblings, especially for his little sister, Pooja, a man who sacrificed his own ambitions to provide a home to his younger siblings. His siblings are a handful; Pooja is a brat, and Adi a man who still behaves like a boy. Chirag is the sane one who offers Krish support when he comes apart at the seams.

“Steady, decent, reliable and with so much love inside him for the people who mattered to him.” That is Max’s assessment of Krish, who, on his part, has a more romantic image of Max in his mind.

“Rainbows. The wild, vibrant colour in them that streams out of sunlight watered down by rain.”

Max comes across as a feisty woman with a clear head on her shoulders, a fact that Krish realises when she offers him a fresh perspective on how to deal with recalcitrant factory workers.

While romance plays a stellar part in the book, there are instances of real humour that bring a smile to the face. Ms. Suraj has an amusing way with words that brings amusing incidents alive.

“And then the caterwauling started. Wondering if there was a sea of alcohol to drown in, Krish kept his face carefully blank. Fifteen cats slowly being strangled would have been more in tune than the five people in front of him.”

The day comes when Krish finally turns into Max’s ‘relationship person’, a moment that has been long in the coming because of Krish’s overweening protectiveness of his family.

Shilpa Suraj has a writing style that glides along without a break. Not once does the reader feel a jarring note that derails the rhythm and this, perhaps, along with the lighter moments and the heady romance scenes are what makes this book an equally heady read.

Shilpa Suraj

was a year and a half when she was first introduced to the world of books. Her mother would park her with a picture book on the floor of the kitchen while she finished her cooking for the day. While it’s no longer the kitchen floor, you can still find her tucked away in a cosy nook somewhere with her nose buried in a book. While books in all genres interest her, it was romance that captured her heart. While racing through every romantic fiction book she could beg, borrow or buy, her over active imagination started to work overtime and weave its own stories. Years in the corporate world followed by a stint of entrepreneurship crystallised her belief that all she really wanted to do was give life to the stories bubbling inside of her. She briefly managed to tear herself away from the world of fiction to find her own personal happily ever after and now spends her time happily focusing on the two loves of her life – family and writing romances.