It is very Monsoon like in Southern Califorina today. So, lets go to where the real Monsoons are--India.

Enjoy these great Contemporary Romance Novels set in India.

My lists are never in any particular order. 

1. THE ZOYA FACTOR by Anuja Chauhan

When the younger players in India's cricket team find out that advertising executive Zoya Singh Solanki was born at the very moment India won the World Cup back in 1983, they are intrigued. When having breakfast with her is followed by victories on the field, they are impressed. And when not eating with her results in defeat, they decide she's a lucky charm.The nation goes a step further. Amazed at the ragtag team's sudden spurt of victories, it declares her a Goddess.So when the eccentric IBCC president and his mesmeric, always-exquisitely-attired Swamiji invite Zoya to accompany the team to the tenth ICC World Cup, she has no choice but to agree.Pursued by international cricket boards on the one hand, wooed by Cola majors on the other, Zoya struggles to stay grounded in the thick of the world cup action. And it doesn't help that she keeps clashing with the erratically brilliant new skipper who tells her flatly that he doesn't believe in luck…

2. Spice and Smoke by Suleikha Snyder

When the cameras stop rolling, the real scene begins. 

To their adoring public, Avi Kumar and Trishna Chaudhury are Bollywood’s sweethearts. Behind closed doors, their open marriage lets them freely indulge in all manner of forbidden passions. The arrangement suits them both, but as they begin filming on the set of their new movie, the heat of new and rekindled flames singes the pages of what they thought would be a fresh script. 

When costars Michael Gill and Harsh Mathur arrive on set, the sexual temperature goes up exponentially—at least for Trish. She can’t take her eyes of Harsh, for whom she’s carried a torch for years. Avi’s instant attraction to Michael, however, bounces off Michael’s solid wall of resistance. 

Meanwhile, ex-boyfriends Vikram Malhotra and Sam Khanna, cast as fictional enemies, are finding it harder and harder to control the very real demons that once cost them the love of a lifetime. 

Once the music starts, though, they all have no choice but to dance . And pray the fallout doesn’t ruin all their careers…and destroy their love.

3. A Trip with the Tycoon by Nicola Marsh

Determined to forget her husband's infidelity and bring her confident, fiery self back, Tamara Rayne is in India on a trip of a lifetime. Love isn't on her itinerary, so she hardly notices when blast from her past Ethan Brooks boards her train….

The maverick entrepreneur has wanted Tamara ever since he met her. Under the shimmer of the Indian sun, Ethan decides he's waited long enough….

4. A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

Mili Rathod hasn’t seen her husband in twenty years—not since she was promised to him at the age of four. Yet marriage has allowed Mili a freedom rarely given to girls in her village. Her grandmother has even allowed her to leave India and study in America for eight months, all to make her the perfect modern wife. Which is exactly what Mili longs to be—if her husband would just come and claim her. 

Bollywood’s favorite director, Samir Rathod, has come to Michigan to secure a divorce for his older brother. Persuading a naïve village girl to sign the papers should be easy for someone with Samir’s tabloid-famous charm. But Mili is neither a fool nor a gold-digger. Open-hearted yet complex, she’s trying to reconcile her independence with cherished traditions. And before he can stop himself, Samir is immersed in Mili’s life—cooking her dal and rotis, escorting her to her roommate’s elaborate Indian wedding, and wondering where his loyalties and happiness lie.

5. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Bored with retirement, Mr. Ali sets up a desk, puts up a sign, and waits for customers for his new matchmaking business. Some clients are a mystery. Some are a challenge. Mr. Ali's assistant, Aruna, finds it a learning experience. But without a dowry, Aruna has no expectation of a match for herself. Then again, as people go about planning their lives, sometimes fate is making other arrangements.

6. Monsoon Wedding Fever by Shoma Narayanan

Coming home one night, Riya was not expecting to find the man who broke her heart sleeping on her floor! He's a guest at her roommate's wedding, so she's stuck with him 24/7—and the sparks are already flying!

Six years ago Riya fell for Dhruv, whereas he didn't believe in love. Not then, not now—the other reason he's in India is to consider an arranged marriage! But as the monsoons start, Riya and Dhruv are forced to confront what drove them apart. Could this wedding fever be…contagious?

7. The Elephant Girl by Henriette Gyland

Peek-a-boo I see you… 
When five-year-old Helen Stephens witnesses her mother’s murder, her whole world comes crumbling down. Rejected by her extended family, Helen is handed over to child services and learns to trust no-one but herself. Twenty years later, her mother’s killer is let out of jail, and Helen swears vengeance. 

Jason Moody runs a halfway house, desperate to distance himself from his father’s gangster dealings. But when Helen shows up on his doorstep, he decides to dig into her past, and risks upsetting some very dangerous people. 

As Helen begins to question what really happened to her mother, Jason is determined to protect her. But Helen is getting too close to someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden …

8. Bollywood Fiancé for a Day by Ruchi Vasudeva

Winning the chance to meet the ultimate Bollywood heartthrob, Zaheer Saxena, is just what Vishakha needs to take her mind off her recent humiliation—being jilted the week before her wedding! And when gorgeous Zaheer offers to be her fake fiancé, the chance to save face with her family is just too tempting….

It's a deal that benefits them both—Zaheer is warding off any unwanted female attention until his next film is finished—but can Vishakha trust herself not to hope that her dream fiancé for a day could turn into forever?

9. The Runaway Bridegroom by Sundari Venkatraman

Chanda Maheshwari’s family is shaken when her thirteen-year-old bridegroom Veerendra runs away immediately after the wedding. The eight-year-old child doesn’t even understand the impact on her life. Unable to face their neighbours and friends, the Maheshwaris move from their village to Jaipur and begin a new life in the city. 

Fourteen years later, Chanda is studying in a Delhi College. She takes up a temporary job at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. and falls head-over-heels for the boss of the operation. But what about Ranveer Singh? Is he interested in her? 

Ranveer’s secretary Shikha is desperate to make him fall for her. All she wants is life-long security with a rich man. But it’s nerd Abhimanyu who keeps getting in the way. Abhi is Ranveer’s second-in-command and Shikha isn’t keen on him as she’s eyeing the main chance. 

When Ranveer appears to show interest in Chanda, she’s faced with a new problem. Astrologer Vidyasagar insists that she would get back with her husband Veerendra. Does anyone want to know what she wants? 

Chanda feels torn between the man she has fallen for and the family values that have been instilled in her. Will she ever find happiness?

10.  Prince Charming Wanted; Dowry Seekers Kiss Off! by Vidya Samson

Nisha Desai is a young Indian woman who pines for romance in a country where love is in the same class as malaria, and where mates are selected using a calculator.

Normally deluged with ghastly suitors of her father's choosing, she suddenly finds herself on the short list for a bride-seeing tour by a rich and handsome nephew of a neighbor. This is the stuff of which dreams are made.

A nightmare materializes when a very un-Indian ruffian moves in next door, complete with beard and obnoxious Harley motorcycle. He might play the bad boy in one of Nisha's beloved romance novels, but in real life, he terrifies her.

So she tries to ignore the thundering engine of the bike while anxiously awaiting the arrival of Prince Charming--or at least, Prince Rich. 

But arriving first is a long-lost black-sheep American aunt and her trouble-magnet teenage daughters. The aunt proves to be a New Age space case, while the cousins’ appetite for disasters threatens to level the city of Ahmedabad. In short order, the demented cousins instigate an elopement, a public protest, and a riot that gets Nisha thrown in jail. 

Nisha’s family comes to the conclusion that while East and West may meet, sometimes they shouldn't. The guests are seen as an invading force, equipped with weapons of mass corruption.

While Nisha wonders how she can hide her now corroded reputation from the dream suitor's family, insanity marches on. Nisha's father adopts a pet cow and convinces half the city it's the reincarnation of a Hindu deity. The two families are finally united in a common goal: to bilk thousands. The result is Madison Avenue's idea of a religious experience, which is not a controllable situation.

Indian Maidens Bust Loose is a hilarious romantic comedy set in the land of cows, curry, and the Kama Sutra.

Do you have a rec? Let me know! Vote on my Goodreads list: Contemporary Romance Set in India

One of my favorite parts in Marriage Bureau (edited down from original passage):

 

 

 

"Tell me, what do you tell your prospective in-laws about your salary?"

 

"I tell them my base salary is 8,000 rupees, but with commissions it goes up to 25-30,000 rupees a month."

 

"Right, and what do you tell them about your job?" asked Mr. Ali

 

"I tell them that I am a salesman, sir. I tell them that my company is the second-biggest distributor for valves in India. We have a collaboration with German manufacturers as well," replied Irshad.

 

"Are you a good salesman?" asked Mr. Ali

 

"Yes, sir. I have already told you, I have the best sales in the whole of South India..."

 

"Do you talk about about valves to your prospective in-laws?"

 

"Well..."demurred Irshad.

 

"Yes or no?" demanded Mr. Ali

 

"Once or twice."

 

"Do you talk about your mother spending all her time in prayer when you meet potential clients?" asked Mr. Ali

 

"Of course not, sir. It is irrelevant."

 

"Exactly," said Mr Ali. "You are talking about irrelevant things when people are coming to see you. Once you have met several times and got engaged or married to their daughter, then you can talk about valves all you like and nobody is going to be rude to you. After all, you will be their son-in-law But until you get to that stage, no talking about things that absorb you greatly but are of no interest to them. You are a salesman and you are failing to sell yourself. Think of yourself as a product -- a valve, an important and unglamorous valve. The customer needs it but she doesn't know it yet. It is your job to convince her that you are just the right product. What's your salary?"

 

"Eight thousand."

 

"Wrong. What is the minimum you've made in the last six months, including your commission?" 

 

"Twenty-two thousand."

 

"Okay. Your salary is twenty-two thousand."

 

"What is your job?" asked Aruna.

 

Both men turned to her. "Salesman," said Irshad.

 

"No. You are a sales executive." replied Aruna. "You own your own house in the center of town. Your mother is a pious woman who will be no trouble to her daughter-in-law. No sisters to marry off. All positive points that need to be made in your sales pitch. Let's look through the latest list of brides."

What does an Indian man with a wealth of common sense do when his retirement becomes too monotonous for him to stand? Open a marriage bureau of course!

With a steady stream of clients to keep him busy, Mr. Ali sees his new business flourish as the indomitable Mrs. Ali and his careful assistant, Aruna, look on with vigilant eyes. There's the man who wants a tall son-in-law because his daughter is short; the divorced woman who ends up back with her ex-husband; a salesman who can't seem to sell himself; and a wealthy, young doctor for whom no match is ever perfect. But although his clients go away happy, little does Mr. Ali know that his esteemed Aruna hides a tragedy in her past-a misfortune that the bureau, as luck would have it, serendipitously undoes.

Goodreads.com

This is another one I picked up recently, being inspired by my recent wedding anniversary. And it worked out SO much better than Lily Tuck's I Married You For Happiness!

Mr. Ali retires from working for the city and in a fit of frustration and annoyance, Mrs. Ali insists on him finding something to do already! She's flustered that he's all up in her space all the time suddenly and just wants him out from underfoot. So he gets the idea to start up a matchmaking service on his covered front porch! But it's not just a matchmaking service for dates, these are straight-to-marriage matches, so he's gotta be on it with comparing people's personal info.

This is not just a fluffy novel about matchmaking though. It's got other topics that bring a lot of heart and bittersweet realities to the table that I think nearly any reader will be able to relate to, at least on some level. For example:

** Mr Ali has a strained relationship with his son, Rehman, because Mr Ali desperately wants Rehman to have financial stability in his work, while Rehman feels there is more importance in doing noble work that really means something to the world, even if it means a high level of danger to his life. I was torn with this part of the story, because I could see both of their sides, have been in both ways of thinking myself at different times in my life. 

The fear that a family member might fall ill and require expensive treatment was the reason they {the Alis} had saved so fanatically through the years. It was also why her husband was anxious that Rehman start a career. But how can poor people save, she thought, when every broken cowrie shell they earned was necessary just to survive?

 

** Leela, the Ali's maid, has her own home struggles that, once they bleed into her work, seem to bring even more light to the tension between the Alis and their son. One of Leela's grandsons, barely out of his toddler years, is battling a deadly brain tumor. Surgery is required to save his life but the kind of medical bills that will surely come from performing the surgery (not to mention recovery needs) will pretty much bankrupt the family. But they still brainstorm on how to get him the surgery he needs. The desperation to find an answer is heartbreaking, but who wouldn't go to those lengths for an ailing family member?

** There's also the side story of Aruna, Mr. Ali's assistant at the Marriage Bureau. Ali and her sister were born to later-in-life parents -- Aruna's mother had her at 35, 5 years later had Aruna's sister. Now grown young women, Aruna and her sister now find themselves discussing caretaker roles & options for their parents much earlier in life than one normally has to find answers for those questions (something I'm dealing with in my own life right now, so I especially identified with this part of the story). Aruna's father, now a few years retired, just got news that his pension -- the main income for the family and just enough for all of them to get by on -- is getting cut in half, thanks to a government oversight -- a "yeah, hey, sorry but we just realized we've accidentally been overpaying you all these years so we're gonna take some of that back now" notice. Naturally, this devastates the family and Aruna has to leave college to take up a job to make up the loss. Though she somewhat pities Aruna for having to do this, Aruna's mother has such pride in her daughter being able to make her own income. This part of the story reminded me a lot of what so many families are going through here in the States with surprise lay-offs and families scrambling to find their footing again. 

So there's a good bit here that so many can relate to. If you read this book and are curious how the story might have continued, I discovered just yesterday that Farahad Zama did in fact continue with these characters:

#2 The Many Conditions of Love (a story focusing on Rehman)

#3 The Wedding Wallah (a story of the Alis and Pari, a widowed mother they take into their       home)

#4  Mrs. Ali's Road To Happiness

This book was recommended by Girlxoxo in her post on 10 Books from 10 Countries.

It looks like an interesting and uplifting read.


Status: added to my TBR!!  :-)