I really wanted to like this one, but it was not at all what I wanted. I thought the characters were flat and the story did not catch my attention.

Poignant, thought-provoking, unique and it will keep you thinking and wanting to discuss it long after you've finished. I loved Kothari's voice from the first line.

This was a lovely story of what makes a family and the choices we make to create one. Loved the characterizations of the South Indian culture and how children play into it. Very interesting and heart warming!

Not at all what I was expecting, nevertheless it is a beautiful story about families and how we build them. Friends really are the family we choose.

Paris and Neal are happily married and have a good income and they like their busy lives in New York City. Well at least Paris does. Neal is hoping to become a father even though Paris made it clear from the beginning that she didn’t want children. Paris is also happy to have reconnected with a good friend. Naira has moved to NYC from Mumbai after the sudden death of her husband. The three of them begin to spend a lot of time together and the women put their strained friendship back together. Naira is trying to establish herself in NYC while dealing with her grief at losing her husband. Paris devises a plan that would involve Naira being a surrogate for her and Neal and also becoming a coparent for them. She doesn’t intend to fully become a mother so she wants Naira to relieve her of that role. After some consideration they all get on board with the plan. What happens throughout the book is interesting but also awkward. I found the relationship between Paris and Neal to be a bit shallow and I also was wary of the coparenting idea. I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters so I think this made it hard for me to fully embrace this book. It just always felt a bit off and uncomfortable to me and I was waiting for something more.

3.5 stars. The story was intriguing. New creative ways to define family and working out the complexity of love, friendship and parenting. I enjoyed the multi cultural integration.

Some of the details were distracting particularly the NYC references and the Scottish dialect. Also the use of ROLF and FOMO felt forced. And a blackberry in 2019?

Good beach read or for a plane ride.

Would you be a surrogate for your best friend?

A book centered around this question?! I mean, sign me up! These two friends GO THROUGH IT. Just imagine all the complexities involved in the relationships within this book. I really enjoyed this thought provoking book!

What a wonderful book about love, family, friendship and motherhood. It was well researched and the subject matter made me reminisce about my own experiences with surrogacy. The characters were true to life and the emotional reactions the author has written about their experience were spot on, in my opinion. Overall a unique story about the challenges of beginning a life of co-parenting and the strain put on friends and families learning to live with this modern situation. I loved this book SO much! Well done Ms. Kothari!

This is the first book that I have read by Falguni Kothari so I wasn’t sure what to expect but man how have I missed reading Falguni before?!?! Her writing is amazing and the storyline has been done before yet it was so original. Falguni also writes genuine characters that you will love deeply and hate some of them just as deeply. Some of the characters I had a love hate relationship with throughout the book. I love that fact because it’s just so true to life.
I truly loved this book and the drama and the questioning of relationships, whether it be husband/wife relationship or best friends and even new closeness that forms. I look forward to reading more from Falguni Kothari!

This was such a good book, engrossing and interesting, full of food for thought.
I loved the style of writing, how the writer handles themes like family, friendship, love, and betrayal.
I also enjoyed the plot and the well written cast of characters.
An interesting read, I'm happy I discovered this writer and I look forward to reading other book by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine

A thought provoking story steeped in tradition, culture, friendship, and love!

This was a book that gave me a lot of food for thought, a complicated story full of complex relationships. When I was finished I really wanted to talk to one of my book friends about this, however the usual suspects have not read it yet, so I am waiting because I have things to discuss! This book stretched the meaning of family and the expectations of friends.

Paris has it all, a successful career, a beautiful New York apartment, an attentive loving husband. However Paris had a troubled past that has led to issues she has yet to get over. Naira and Paris were best friends when at NYU, but after Naira move back to India and married a man that Paris did not approve of, the girls drifted apart. Naira has returned to New York her husband is deceased and her reputation has been tarnished. Can the friends see past their differences? Will Naira do Paris the ultimate favor, and at what cost?

This book had a unique premise that asked a tough question, would you be willing to be a surrogate for your BFF? Throw in the fact that these ladies are just beginning to repair their friendship and the traditional Indian culture, it is all very complicated. The thing I found most complicated of all, the thing that confounded me, perplexed me, and still has me reeling is...<u> Paris doesn’t want kids!!</u> Yes that is not a typo Paris does not want kids, her husband Neal does very much, and he sacrificed that to be with her. SO Paris is going to give him the ultimate gift of a child, and her answer to this dilemma a surrogate? <u>WHAT?</u> OK well that’s solves 9 months of the dilemma, what about the rest of the kids life? Paris was such a self-centered frustrating character, but the girl was smart, so how she thought this was going to solve anything is beyond me. Then we have husband Neal who was so elated to have a baby he couldn’t even recognize the fact that his wife was completely repulsed by children? The only person in this situation who saw A flaw in this plan was Naira. Unfortunately she felt as though she owed Paris something and she had her own reason for having a baby. All the parents were against it, but nobody brought up the fact that Paris didn’t want kids not once? Ugh this drove me nuts, and it is not a spoiler because it is all laid out in the first couple chapters, maybe even the blurb. I still enjoyed the story especially the cultural aspects and the jewelry aspects, however this was a big sticking point for me and it drove me a bit batty as I’m sure you can tell.

Falgumi Kothari has crafted an intriguing tale bursting with culture, friendship, family, love, and complications! Recommend!

🎧🎧🎧 This story was told from the alternating perspectives of Paris and Naira. The audio had two separate narrators giving each character their own unique voice. Simone Lewis voices Paris and Shiromi Arserio voices Naira. I thought both narrators did a very good job my only tiny complaint is there could’ve been a little more inflection especially in Sharomi’s performance.

🎵🎵🎵 Song Running Through My Head

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qkaexjc-1os

*** many thanks to Harlequin Books and Harper Audio for my copies of this book ***

On the surface The Object of Your Affections seems to be a typical Women's Fiction book or Chick Lit as I like to call it. However, it does touch on some pretty serious topics such as: adoption, surrogacy, familial relationships in other cultures and death of a spouse at a young age. While most of the book is fairly lighthearted I actually feel I learned a bit about some of these matters. The story centers on the marriage of Paris and Neal as well as Paris's longtime friend Niara and how these relationships are effected by the topics I mentioned above. Paris is happy in her marriage and thriving in her career. She doesn't want to have kids but her husband does. It did take me a bit to get into this book and see where the story was going but I am really glad I did. I would love to see a sequel to see that happens to the characters.

The Object of Your Affections was an engaging, entertaining and thought provoking read. Through dual POV, Kothari tells the story of estranged friends Naira and Paris and how they navigate an arrangement for surrogacy. This book challenges the meanings of family, friendship and traditions. While I was not particularly fond of the main characters, I did enjoy the drama that rolled along through the book and the unique look at friendship and family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for the opportunity to read a galley of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Paris and Naira make an unusual deal that few friends, let alone those estranged for years, could successfully navigated. Paris, who has serious issues with family, does not want to be pregnant and she does not really want to be a parent but her husband Neal does want a child. Her old friend, the newly widowed Naira, wants help with a business. Paris negotiates an arrangement wherein Naira will be her surrogate. Things, as you might imagine, don't go as planned. The story is told in alternating perspectives from the two of them. I was not a fan of Paris for a variety of reasons but chiefly because her idea made very little sense to me. This reads quickly and while it might not have been for me, am sure others will enjoy it. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Intriguing plot, relatable characters and situations, and it manages to weave a wonderful story of friendship, romance, and family, without falling short in any area. A great read overall!

I loved this book in spite of the too neat ending. I really felt for Paris through the whole book. She was put in a pretty bad situation, even though it was mostly her own fault through the choices she made. It’s just another reminder that if you are not a mother you are valued less. I really loved the writing in this book and the story of these two very different women.

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Object of Your Affections” By Falguni Kothari, Graydon House Books, February 19, 2019

Falguni Kothari has written a unique, intriguing, dramatic, entertaining and thought-provoking novel. The Genres for this Novel are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, and Contemporary Fiction. The timeline for this story is set in the present,and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or the events in the story. Falguin Kothari describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, and complicated.

I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of family, friendship, marriage, relationships, communication, love and hope. I love that Falguni Kothari presents some unorthodox and unconventional ideas to the story. How refreshing!!

Paris appears to have it all. She is an attorney, and has a handsome, sexy, wealthy creative husband, Neal. They live in New York City. Paris made it quite clear to her husband that she doesn’t want children. As a compromise, she agrees they can use a surrogate. That is not as easy as it seems.

Naira and Paris had been the best of friends, until a misunderstanding. Naira is now a young widow and has many responsibilities back in India. When the two reconnect at a wedding, Paris has what she feels is a wonderful idea, and an even better idea who the surrogate should be.

Can this “modern type of family” work out? There is some humor and quirky family members and traditions. I would highly recommend this delightful unusual novel for those readers who enjoy a thought-provoking story. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

The story was too scattered and had lots of holes. The characters weren't believable and the dialogue was stilted and forced.

I tried so hard to like this book. I was hooked after the first chapter. After that it really fell flat.

DNF at 17%.

While the little asides with Neal's passion for designing and creating innovative jewelry are interesting, I haven't connected with any of the characters and every other paragraph seems to be a strange metaphor. (At one point, Paris compares her friendship with Naira to her zipper fly: stuck, necessitating some back-and-forth to make it work again.) I also found it difficult to keep a straight face when she described Neal's eyes as "blue-blue" (twice so far!), or when she started waxing poetic about toxic and nontoxic relationships, and how maybe in the end both are a lot of work.

The actual plot, with Naira's family drama and Paris & Neal's search for a surrogate, is interesting enough; if I didn't have a million more books to get through, I could probably finish this one without too much of a struggle. Lots of eye rolling might be involved, though.