That Same Old Love by M.V. Kasi

BLURB - 


A former bad girl with a past...
Mahi had hit the rock-bottom. All she wanted to do now was to start over and lead an uncomplicated drama free life in her hometown, Hyderabad. But unfortunately, some people never forgive or forget, and hold on to their grudges for a very long time.

A former nerd who hates her and wants her gone...
Samrat, a highly successful entrepreneur was Mahi's former classmate and current neighbor. Mahi had effectively ruined his higher educational prospects with her false allegations. She along with her similarly mean friends had also made his sister Ananya's life miserable during their college days. And to make the matters even more complicated, Ananya is married to Mahi's first love, Sidhu, whom Mahi had callously left behind to marry a person of her parent's choice.

Watch the sparks fly...
When Mahi and Samrat butt heads at every turn, they are caught up in a fierce, but unwanted attraction that leads them into an exciting wild fling with no strings attached. 
But what would happen when one of them is no longer happy with their arrangement, and begins to demand more, wanting everything... 

A humorous, heartwarming, sexy story of redemption, friendship and love.


Review - 

When I read the blurb, I wondered how bad could a girl be? After all in the Indian context, we are tailor made to be the good, If an intimate relationship fails, it is the girl's fault, her chances nose diving in the 'marriage- market'. And if a marriage falls apart then it is of course the woman's fault.

But M. V Kasi's 'bad girl' is bad not because society brands her one, but because she gets a sneaky satisfaction in tormenting others. She is a bully, the type we have all hated in school or college and forces a junior Ananya to eat her lunch in the girl's restroom. She is the type you would want to report and rusticated for ragging. She lies and has no qualms about lying. From getting her much in love boyfriend to punch the disinterested Samrat or worse spoiling Samrat's academic chances just for the thrill of it, Mahi has done it all. She has made an attempt to sully Ananya's reputation, has mocked the girl, has hurt her brother Samrat in a despicable way and then has succumbed to parental pressure and married a man of their choice. He boyfriend Siddharth is discarded because this bad girl can't be bad with her parents.

 As I read through I hated Mahi for all her actions and when she is back in Samrat's life, I wanted Samrat to shut her off. But then this Mahi is a character that grows on you. When Karma slaps her on the face, she not only leads her life locked in an abusive marriage but also loses her toddler son. That pain of a mother and a woman probably overshadows all the wrongs she has committed in the past.

And you want her to get a second chance and you want her and Samrat to get the equation right. There are a lot of sensual encounters between Mahi and Samrat, the lust and the attraction they feel for each other just doesn't go away. And in a romance read it is okay. All of it is okay until Ananya and Siddharth re-emerge. Though Ananya has a silent strength about her and probably is my favorite character in the book, there's a little chunk where Ananya's friends gang up and humiliate her at a party which was a little cliched.

But Mahi is realistic. She has made mistakes and isn't proud of them. And she wants to mend them. She has also seen it all; a bad marriage, a young son dying, her ex-boyfriend now married to Ananya , parents that aren't supportive. And yet she hasn't given up her right to seek love, lust and happiness. A refreshing character sketch indeed since we are so bogged down by the ever sacrificing 'sanskari' Indian woman.

Also, notable is Samrat's success and hunger to innovate and succeed. He is robbed of the degrees from the best colleges in the world. But that doesn't stop him from achieving what things he wants. Shows us a mirror. How caught we are in the vicious circle of degrees, capitation fees,  and colleges that mint money out of it. How caught we are in judging people on the basis of the degrees they have.


That Same Old Love by M.V. Kasi is a refreshing read especially for romance lovers.