Publisher's Weekly Review
Just as one heart leads to another-literally and metaphorically-in Dev's seductive and complex story of love lost and then found, one layer of mystery leads to the next. Two years after Dr. Nikhil "Nic" Joshi was held a helpless witness to his wife Jen's rape and murder in a Mumbai slum, he is literally and metaphorically at sea: he's awash in Jack Daniels and afloat on a luxury ocean liner as the ship's physician. Both the whiskey and the travel help him escape from the horrific nightmares that mock his loving memories of his wife. As if to further defile his tortured heart, he starts to see fleeting glimpses of Jen. It's not a ghost but a woman, Jess, the recipient of Jen's transplanted heart. Jess is on a mission-driven by her new heart-to bring those responsible for Jen's death to justice, and she needs Nic's help. Dev follows them through Chicago, Mumbai, and the Caribbean as they work to bust a black market organ-transplant gang, and soon their hearts entwine. Dev moves so expertly through the subtle layers of the tender love story that Nic and Jess-and even Jen-will hold a permanent place in readers' hearts. Agent: Claudia Cross, Folio Literary Management. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Mourning his wife two years after she was murdered for uncovering a black-market organ transplant ring, Dr. Nikhil Joshi drinks himself to oblivion. When he meets Jess Koirala, a Bollywood dancer who claims to have received Jen's heart and with it, messages from Jen, Nic, desperate for any connection to his dead wife, forgoes rationality and agrees to help Jess find the evidence Jen collected on the organ ring. But closed-off Jess might be hiding more than just her past. She, too, has suffered, and she will do anything to protect her son from the stranger threatening to kill him. Afraid to live yet desperate to heal, Nic and Jess hurt each other to keep their own pain at bay, yet that affinity ultimately solidifies their bond. Dev (The Bollywood Bride, 2015) deftly navigates the complex themes of bereavement, motherhood, and how the culture of India exists in America. All the while, she swathes tough, fully realized characters in delicate prose and tackles tragedy with both grittiness and sensitivity. Most impressively, Dev manages to keep the vibrant spirit of the late Jen alive, be it through her diary entries or the way other characters talk about her. With richly rendered characters, heavy topics, and soulful writing, this is stunning all around.--Hyzy, Biz Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Dr. Nikhil Joshi is still an emotional wreck two years after witnessing the brutal murder of his wife, Jen, a doctor who was investigating a black-market organ transplant ring in Mumbai. He's been barely functioning in an alcoholic haze as a physician on a cruise ship. Now, a beautiful young woman called Jess tells him that she received Jen's heart in a transplant-and claims to have a message from Jen. How can Nikhil believe her? What does she want from him? Yet their mutual attraction grows as the two get caught up in a complicated mission to find the truth about Jen's killers. Their quest takes them from America to India as suspense slowly builds toward a satisfying if not surprising ending. The author of A Bollywood Affair and The Bollywood Bride, Dev takes on a tough subject here: the appalling abuse of the poor, especially unprotected young women, by merciless thugs. -VERDICT This combination of steamy romance and crime thriller with an issue-driven plot sometimes reads like two separate novels. Still, the triumph of love and hope over tragedy and despair provides an uplifting counterpoint to the dark heart of this work. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/16.]-Leslie -Patterson, Rehoboth, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
