KARMA UNDER FIRE

Two successful young people meet on a flight from North America to India and stumble down a star-crossed path to love in Hudson-Maggio’s contemporary romance.

Indian Tej Mayur and Indian American Harlow Kennedy are both caught up in their fast-paced lifestyles. Tej is the extremely successful owner of the restaurant Bombay Baby in Atlanta, and Harlow works in Toronto, managing coding and app-creation projects around the world. Both are also eligible marriage material, which means that there’s intense pressure from family members for each of them to get hitched soon. Tej fends off sultry women who are only after his fortune, while Harlow receives an unwanted proposal from an unappealing bachelor. Then Tej and Harlow serendipitously meet when Harlow is assigned to cover a Bombay Baby project for her work. The two are instantly attracted to each other, but there’s much that stands in the way of their getting together, including issues involving ego, family, and multiple engagements. However, a matchmaker whom Harlow consults notes her belief that “the universe revolves according to the laws of karma,” and when Tej’s family mandates that he wed a woman who was chosen for him within a matter of days, he has to decide whether or not he will play with his fate and test his own karma. Overall, readers will find this to be a gratifying and heartwarming story, featuring two characters that they will be likely to find endearing, despite their flaws. Each chapter alternates between the two main players’ perspectives as they grapple with their futures; this format results in a delightful and easygoing read that some will find to be reminiscent of Indian romance films. The story does lack a certain complexity, and some readers may find it a bit too lightweight, but its inclusion of customs of Indian marriage and wedding culture effectively bring it to life.

An entertaining and uncomplicated tale of two young lovers.