Member Reviews
Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Romantic suspense - a genre that many of our patrons enjoy. This novel hits all the right notes for lovers of this genre. I will be recommending it !
A story of heart ache mystery and a reflection on our flaws. Is was suspenseful at times and I enjoyed it.
Sonali Dev is an amazing storyteller- this book has it all! Love, mystery, thrills, and deep emotional connections that had me on the edge of my seat.
Not so much a mystery/thriller as a story of two damaged people coming together to heal. The crime elements of the thought felt like they were randomly jammed in.
Dr. Nikhil Joshi left the U.S. to move to Mumbai with his wife Dr. Jen Joshi, to care for those in Mumbai’s slums. His wife had been gathering a database of those willing to donate their organs. Unfortunately for her, this database caused her to become a target of unscrupulous men dealing in stolen organs and led to her death. Her organs were donated and her husband retreated from life. The story begins two years later when Nik is working as a doctor on a cruise ship. He is drinking and barely surviving. If the job had not been given to him by a friend, he would have lost it by then. When a woman on board, Jess, walks by him periodically, he almost thinks it is Jen. The hair colour is the same and she looks a bit like her. When she tells him that she has Jen's heart, he will do almost anything for her. They begin a search for Jen's list of donors, both for different reasons. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a quote from jen's journal and it is almost like her ghost is present in the story.
This story had a bit of everything. There was mystery, romance, grief, criminal underground, deceit, Indian Culture, and suspense that caused many emotions in the reader. I enjoyed this book, but it took time to get through it. There was a lot of repetition at times and I put it aside a couple of times. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
Reviewed at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2140506605?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
I had enjoyed the other books by the author. This was not like them .It had mystery into it which I was not expecting. But the author manages to keep me glued to see what happens next.
I thought that A Change of Heart was a beautifully written book that immediately transported me into the struggles of Dr. Nic and Jess.
DNF at 8%
Sorry guys, I'm clearing out my TBR read pile and acknowledging that some books I'm just never going to get into!
I really enjoyed [book:A Bollywood Affair|17707787] so when I was offered a chance to read another book by [author:Sonali Dev|7025918] I jumped at the chance, probably should have paid more attention to the blurb.
The first 8% of the book just felt so slow, I couldn't warm to Dr Joshi at all and then when it transpires that the mysterious woman he keeps glimpsing on the cruise ship where he works has his dead wife's heart (and his wife is talking to her), well it was all a bit whoo whoo for me.
I'm sorry that I didn't read any further because a DNF at 8% isn't really a proper review, but I just couldn't face it. Sorry.
A CHANGE OF HEART is an emotionally charged read. It is not something to be read in between snatches of time but to be devoured and savoured. The book will not let you put it down with the feelings, emotions, deceit, helplessness and love just make it an amazing read.
This is the first book I have read by Sonali Dev and I have already bought another one, The Bollywood Bride to read. I received a copy of A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev through Net Galley. I recommend this book to all lovers of love. Readers who dig bittersweet love stories will love this one as I have read few like this one. It is a moving story of second chances and finding love.
The book revolves around Nic or Nikhil a ‘Doctors Without Borders’ who has lost his wife and Jess, a dancer from Bollywood who claims to have his dead wife Jen/ Jennifer’s heart through a transplant. She asks him to help find proof about an organ transplant racket that caused her death. Jen was helping to find proof and had hidden away before her untimely death.
The author has such mastery with words and sentiments that I was on an emotional rollercoaster along with Nic and Jess. Their meeting, their interaction, the concern, kind gestures they want no one to see. The feelings that overwhelm them yet they persevere. It was simply masterful.
The family and doting parents of Nic added to the charm of the book making it sweet and endearing as well as sad as we see a mother, two, in fact, pine away for their child. Sonali has such mastery over the pain and guilt as well as the betrayal. I was amazed by the sadness but it does not make the book any dull or morose. In fact, it makes it so much more real.
True love causes heartbreak, changes us forever and A Change Of Heart is the perfect example. This book has enough mystery to keep the pages turning, enough heartbreak to keep mind engrossed and enough love to make me a fan.
The trip that brings Nic and Jen close also explores their pasts and connects them. And really finding Jen, in the end, was the best part. I found the secondary characters well-etched. Joy, Sweety, Nic’s parents all have depth and add to the flow of the story. I want to know about Ria and Vikram’s love story as well as about the evil Naag and Asif Khan. The feisty Kimi and DCP Rahul Savant made the story quite real without making it gruesome are crucial characters who need stories of their own. I hope Sonali pens their story soon so we can also find more about Naag and how it ends!
Jen and Nic might have found each other but all of us will need to know how it finally ends and Jennifer’s courage is not in vain. A love story that kept me obsessing about it for days, pick it to be hooked to Sonali’s writing.
5 stars.
© Inderpreet Kaur Uppal
A Change of Heart follows the story of a man named Nikhil who is mourning over the death of his wife, Jen, who passed two years ago. One day he meets a woman named Jess, who looks similar to his wife and she is coincidentally the organ donor recipient of Jen’s heart. Their mission to find the truth behind Jen’s death brings up many questions shrouded in mystery.
Nikhil can’t seem to move on after Jen’s death and is haunted daily by his treasured memories of her. Jen was is other half and now he feels incomplete without her. Meeting Jess stirs up feelings that he has tried to keep buried for so long in order to live day-to-day. Though he eventually gives into helping Jess figure out the mystery, he still can’t cope with the events that surrounded her death.
Jess, on the other hand, is torn between taking advantage of a broken man and saving her own son, Joy, from danger as she is being blackmailed by mysterious person who wants Jen’s secrets. Though she hates being apart from Joy she is fueled to complete her mission in order to return to him safely while (like Nikhil) battling her past.
Both Nikhil and Jess continue to hide from one another ever after they develop an acquaintance type of relationship. They are reluctant to share their pasts and both of their secrets start to eat at each other. The tensions between the two not only intensify as they get closer to the truth, but as the bad guys (who Jess is “working” for) further develop their plans in order to continue their black market operation.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked Dev’s writing style and how her words are descriptive, yet poetic. The plot shows strong character development and I appreciated that the romance didn’t happen in the beginning, but rather took it’s time to form. Nikhil and Jess need time to work on their own broken hearts and pasts in order to heal and help each other move on.
This was the first book I’ve read by her and I found it to be a satisfying story. The story was entertaining, the characters felt real, and while there were some difficult (trigger warning) topics that arose within the plot I like how they were discussed. It was also very interesting to read about some aspects of Indian culture that I was unfamiliar with. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books in the future!
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.