Did not finish at 21%. It was not a bad book but it did not hold my attention. Writing was good, story did not hold me.

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. I was definitely drawn in by the cover and plot and I was definitely not disappointed!

This novel was lovely. It was romantic and interesting, keeping me hooked on every word. I want to read more contemporary and historical romances, and this definitely scratched that itch.

This was very well written and I enjoyed the setting of Bombay very much. I thought Ashcroft did a wonderful job of capturing the setting and the atmosphere so that I could picture it easily in my mind. I love historical fiction and the combination of genre and setting were why I wanted to read this book. It was the story itself that I just didn't connect with like I wanted to, I thought it drug on a bit long and by the time we got to the end I had lost interest. It started off strong and I was really enjoying it but the ending, which I knew where it was headed, just took too long to get where I knew it was going. It could have been the timing for me though, as this has gotten wonderful reviews.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital copy to review.

DNF this. Being set in colonial India there were so many things not correct and to show romance during the time of war and ruling of India, this didn't set with me.

This book has faced critiques for the plotline being written about an upper class, white group of characters, who live in luxury based on the oppression of the local population... I can certainly agree that is problematic, and yet, the story is also a good one that I did enjoy. Would it have been better if the author set this same story in another time or place, probably. I will keep an eye out for more from this author, to see what else she has to offer.

The problem with historical romance being set in real places during specific time periods is that the ugly truth of what actually went on there needs to be dealt with - not glossed over. And let's face it, history certainly has its ugly periods. This one could have been set in several other places at that time period and been okay. Or the truth of colonial India could've been dealt with properly. But then we have the story itself, and I'll just say it - I'm not sure I would've liked this one even in another setting (notice above when I said it could've been okay - not good, okay). It's hard to say for sure because so much irritated me about the setting and how it was done, but I certainly didn't all the emotion promised in the blurb. I'm afraid the best of this one lies in the cover, which is eyecatching and appealing. The rest just pales in comparison.

This was an interesting and moving book set in India during British rule, just prior to WWI. Two young adults, Mandy and Luke, meet and fall in love. Luke has to go back to Europe to fight, they promise to wait for each other, and Luke tells her that he’ll see her in Bombay when the war ends.
Unfortunately, Luke suffers a head injury that gives him amnesia, and Maddy is told that Luke was killed.
After the war, fate and the inadvertent actions of others kept them apart for most of the second part of the book. It was frustrating to see them come close to meeting then miss each other but it kept me reading. I loved the descriptions of India. 4 stars.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

DNF at 25 %.

This was just too slow and too boring.

Even on audio I couldn't get into it.

The one positive take away- some amazing book reviewers spoke about the colonization of India by the British. It prompted me to educate myself.
A huge thank you to - Fanya , Nitya, Ahana, Sangeetha and many many more.

I am still very grateful to the publisher for gifting me a copy of Meet Me In Bombay.
I will not be rating this book.

This a the story of Maddy and Luke Devereaux and the year is 1913. As history tells us- we are on the cusp of World War One.

This book was decent but had enough flaws that I was not as engaged with the story as I felt that I should have been.

Things I liked- I thought that the dual timeline was interesting and I like that premise in a book. I enjoyed the looming WW1 vibe and I liked initially that this was set in India.

Things I didn’t like- I felt like the book lacked representation of the people and the lifestyle of the people of India, I also felt like it glossed over why the people Maddy and Luke interacted with were there. I think there were a lot of missed opportunities in representing the people and the culture in India- as well as depicting colonial India.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this story. It was not my favorite but I think that maybe others may like it more.

Like many others, I was pulled towards Meet Me in Bombay by its gorgeous cover. The pastel-colored artwork drew my attention so much, in fact, that I wanted to read the book despite it being a genre I thoroughly dislike - historical romance. Luckily, the ebook I read wasn't with the other (hideous) cover, because I'd miss a very pleasant and engaging, though cliched and art times unimaginatively written love story set at the cusp of WWI.

I really wanted to like this book, and I tried. But then I decided to read on the history of this. It feels very counterintuitive and just plain wrong to set a love story of two colonizers in the country where they are currently paying reparations for having colonized in the first place.

Meet Me In Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft
Rating 2.5/ 5 Stars
Published By St Martin’s Press
Published On 19 January 2021 (Second publishing)

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and of course, Jenny Ashcroft, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s New Years' Eve 1913 and Maddy and Luke meet under the heat of Bombay, India. Maddy is looking for a new chance for life. Luke has been in Bombay for a while already and he opens Maddy’s eyes to the beautiful wonders of Bombay. Meanwhile, Maddy is capturing Luke’s heart, it’s too bad her mother would rather her marry the match she has tracked down. We follow these two over the course of a year as they fall in love. The world begins to fall apart around them and they are separated due to World War I. Luke promises to return and meet her again in Bombay - but only if he can remember anything about his life pre-war.

Important - I am taking the controversial colonizer argument out of my review. It is incredibly problematic. To be clear - a large part of my rating is 2.5 focuses on that point, but I think it is necessary to actually discuss the book beyond this. The characters fall flat and the plot has a few holes in it. It's slow to start and when I take all the problems out of it, it does stand as a good novel - I just think it could have been SO much better had simple changes been made to avoid glamourizing a painful historical period.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of Meet Me in Bombay. This is a story which spans many years, an epic journey which I loved reading. At the heart of this novel is the love story of Luke and Madeline. They briefly ‘meet’ each other during New Year’s Eve and from there the story takes off. Obstacles upon obstacles are set in their paths, one of which is the outbreak of World War I. There lives forever changed, Luke and Maddie tackle the years which separate them and but never lose faith in one another.

If you want a great summer read, one in which you can truly lose yourself in the story, you must try Meet Me in Bombay. Yes it takes place during the colonial years of India and World War I but at the heart of this story is the unending love between the protagonists. I found the plot intriguing but heartbreaking and never imagined the ending. Yes, there were some ‘slower’ sections to this story but don’t let that deter you from finding a comfortable spot on the beach and losing yourself in this story from another era. A great read which kept me glued to the pages.

I will say it took me longer than usual to get through this book. There were points in the book I really liked, and other points where I was a bit turned off by it. I love historic romances, but this one did not do it for me. I think it was the overall writing style.

Meet Me in Bombay is absolutely stunning.

Romance collides in Pre-WWI India so be prepared for heartbreak and adventure. It's hard to talk about the plot without giving too much away. But if you love vivid setting, gorgeous characters and a heartbreaking story, this is an absolute must-read.

It’s a first for me to write a review this long after finishing a book and I really hope that I do the book justice.. I definitely enjoyed the read and wouldn’t want to do any less for it!

As I read Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft the word “beautiful” kept appearing in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a Fitzgerald-esque style of writing where each phrase just leaves me with goosebumps. However, the book itself is written in a way that is evocative of a time gone by, which coupled with the love story between Maddy and Luke is a winning formula.

I really liked how the main difficulties facing our lovers were of the time and not the usual fare of misunderstandings and whatnot. Having World War One be the driving force of the story’s conflict lent a sense of doom to the romance even when things were still going well and ensured that the conflict didn’t feel manufactured.

I just have a quibble with the ending of the book which I felt was rather rushed. Other than that, this was a lovely read which accompanied me through many late nights!

Diversity meter:
Strong female characters

I had never read one of Jenny Ashcroft’s books before but after reading this delicious novel, I’m a fan! Meet Me in Bombay is a yummy story with love and intrigue with the beautiful backdrop of Bombay on the cusp of World War I.

Though Madeline Bright was born in India, she was schooled in England and longs to return to its familiarity. As her father is the head of Bombay Civil Service, it’s just not possible at this time. Her aloof mother continues to keep her at arms-length though she doesn’t understand why. Yet she takes a special interest in finding her daughter a proper husband.

Thankfully, she has a core group of English friends who keep her social calendar booked. While celebrating New Years’ Eve Maddy glimpses Luke Deveraux and she can’t help but become enchanted. As he shows her the real Bombay, she realizes what a special place it is. It’s wild and it’s beautiful and it’s the perfect place to fall in love.

India is on the brink of war and everything changes. Maddy is forced to make decisions based on her family, her current situation and her future. My found myself holding my breath during parts of the novel and when the novel closed, I was finally able to exhale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and Ashcroft’s writing style. I look forward to reading more of her books in the near future.

I received an advance digital review copy of this book all opinions are my own.

If the cover of this book isn’t enough to get you interested in MEET ME IN BOMBAY, the war-torn love story and beautiful writing should. Listen. Does this book have a case of not even insta love but insta look? Yes. Did I care? No. Jenny Ashcroft in a few tense glances made me believe. Will she make you? Only reading will tell.

The book instantly grabbed me with easy to read writing that was full of emotion. Like I said above all I needed was a few detailed longing glances and I was INVESTED! I felt the longing in their looks from eyes that didn’t know each other yet except somehow did inherently. Another time, another week, another day, I could have eye-rolled and written it off but the time period and setting helped me along knowing that sometimes all it took was mutual attraction and ya know what, sometimes I’m here for some war time dramatic trash. I’m a romantic at heart, okay?! Luke and Miss Bright (sigh) were a couple I just couldn’t quit.

The plot got incredibly dramatic but darn if I didn’t believe it. But even at its most dramatic, it wasn’t melodramatic or dragged out. It was exciting conflict and the agony of missed connections and withholding communications. My heart was in my throat at one point and there could have been a shriek...or three. I appreciated that in the long run, full arc of the book the oh no moments didn’t last tremendously long (in reading time) and felt (fictionally) realistic for the time.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for the review copy. MEET ME IN BOMBAY is on sale now. If you’re looking for WWI, a longing romance, and lush writing...this book is for you!

I believe that if I were to say that I am disappointed, it would be a bit of an understatement.

I, personally, believe that the best part of this book was the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous and was basically the only reason I wanted to read this book. I probably wouldn't have even thought about reading this if I knew what it was actually about.

'Meet Me in Bombay' tells the tedious tale of Maddy and Luke Devereaux and how their love for one another prevails. Unfortuntately, this book is set in colonial India (hence the title), effectively invalidating the suffering of an entire group of people, as the book lacks the poise and discussion needed to justify its setting.

To begin, I need to address the issue of where the book was set. I truly felt that this book could have been set in literally any other country during the same time period and it would not, in any significant way, impact or affect the plot. Seeing as to how the time period that the book is set in is World War I era, there was plenty that was happening in the world, and a different setting could have actually made the story more meaningful.

I found it hurtful and ignorant that this book was set in early twentieth-century India, yet the entire issue of colonialism wasn't spoken of very much. There were no Indian characters that held any significance to the plot whatsoever, and British rule in India was underplayed to the point where it seemed like far less of a problem than it truly was.

While I will not pretend to know whether this was done intentionally or out of ignorance, I can only ask that the author works to do better. There may still be a long way to go, but we as a society have come so far in terms of racial equality, that books like this, which undermine the struggles of people who had their freedoms and lives taken away from them, only set us back.

Apart from that, I found the story itself to be quite monotonous, to the point where reading this book felt like a chore. It felt like the same thing was being rehashed over and over again, and, as a result, we never got anything meaningful for all the time we spent reading it. I truly do not understand all the rave reviews claiming this book to be an emotional masterpiece when the strongest feeling I could summon was a mild annoyance for how long yet repetitive the book was.

The romance was just not it for me. It was insta-love at its finest, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that. While Luke and Maddy may have felt that 'pull' the second they saw each other, and there is some time that passes between when they first meet and when they first kiss, I felt that there was no chemistry between the two; nothing that could entice me to root for them to stay together despite all that they go through.

The characters were interesting, if irritating. Maddy's defining character trait seems to be that she's in love with Luke, and she becomes downright infuriating during all of the drama with Guy. She doesn't stand up for herself, and plays the role of the HeLpLeSs MaIdEn In NeEd Of ReScUiNg.

Believing that there's someone out there who's willing to rescue you is a nice enough sentiment, I suppose, but there's a point where you have to realize that no one's going to solve your problems but yourself, and Maddy clearly didn't understand that, allowing her problems to become huge and all-consuming, before deciding to do something about it too late.

Luke was alright. To be honest, his character did not show up as much as I thought it would, and almost all of his perspective is told from many, many years after the events of the story have taken place. As such, he's a fairly unreliable narrator, but even so, you begin to notice a pattern and realize that, despite all that is happening, and however long it takes them to get there, Maddy and Luke Devereaux will get their happy ending.

(This realization was probably what took most of the emotions that I was expecting to experience while reading this away from me, which is a shame, but ultimately reflects on the book itself.)

There was no character development to speak of, and the side characters do not play much of a role in the story but for the sake of creating interpersonal drama and drawing out the book. The world-building seemed as though it were based off of what one would expect colonial India to look like through a colonizers view (which it was), and it felt at times that the historical context was disjointed or confusing.

The writing style was flowery and showy at times, but fundamentally quite vague. Specific information is revealed to the reader while other isn't, in an attempt to build suspense and drama. This results in some confusion as far as the timeline of the story is concerned, as well as what actually happens vs what is perceived to be happening.

Overall, I thought that this book was firmly mediocre and not deserving of all the praise that it has been given. I would not recommend this book to anyone seeing as to how the cover is a trap, I wasn't given the EmOtIoNaL mAsTeRpIeCe that I was promised, and the harmful way colonialism was dealt with (or rather, neglected). I would rather recommend a book about colonial India featuring Indian characters and their struggle for freedom instead of this.

All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not indicative of the views of the author or publisher.