Yuktha Asrani
Book Title : Handcuffed To Love
Saanvi Vijay Malhotra is a woman with a dream. She is feisty, smart, and witty, but her privileged life in New Delhi, India, doesn’t match her ambitions. She moves to New York to pursue a career in journalism with stars in her eyes andher heart on her sleeve. Sean Roger Wilson is a ruthless NYPD detective. He is a charmer to the T, and he is any woman’s dream man. A New Yorker to the core, he never plays by the book and believes in living in the moment. It Takes Two To Tango! As fate has it, Sean handcuffs Saanvi — figuratively — in a whirlwind of passion, romance, and seduction. Sparks fly whenever they are within two feet of each other, leading to an overwhelming and alluring pursuit. Sean knows Saanvi spells trouble, but he loves living on the edge. Despite his roguish facade, Saanvi is determined to capture his heart. A tragic episode threatens to rip them apart. Will Saanvi meet her fate with Sean, or will she leave New York brokenhearted?
“Sometimes, we do not get a chance to thank each one who has helped us in our Journey.” Let the readers get a chance to know about all the important people who have played a part in this Author Journey of yours.
I am immensely grateful to so many people who have always had my back. As I begun this journey as a writer, I did not anticipate it would be such a challenge for a newbie. I was able to embark on this journey only because I have a strong support system. There is a long list of people I would like to thank. So, I would sum it up by giving my thanks to the Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful loving family and a supportive group of friends and well-wishers.
When and how did the idea of writing a book come to you? Can you share a few lines from your book, ‘Handcuffed To Love’ and maybe give a bit of background?
My husband used to jest with me saying that one day I will become an author. I never thought that the long-standing joke between us would actually come true. It was during the Covid lockdown that I started to pen down my thoughts. I surprised myself when the chapters of my story started freely flowing; and I was like why not actually give this a serious shot. I write poems as a hobby and Handcuffed To Love is my first novel.
Handcuffed To Love is a Contemporary Romance Fiction novel. I love reading books across varied genres. But Romance Fiction has always been my favored genre. I’ve put my heart and soul into writing this book and there were times when I actually felt my characters were living and breathing through the pages. This novel is a fun and light read with engaging elements of suspense and action- packed sequences to sweeten the pot!
The story has a perfect blend of quirk, wit and romance. There are several interesting conversations between the characters that help us relate to each on of them. I absolutely love the dialogues shared between the female protagonist Saanvi Malhotra and the hero Sean Wilson. The playful banter between Saanvi and her older sibling Chirag will make you smile at the beautiful essence of their relationship. Below is a snippet of one of the quirky dialogues between Saanvi and Sean.
Saanvi took a deep breath, filling her senses with his woody scent. “You know there are other colours besides blue, right?”
“You’re making up for the both of us in the colour department. Your bling is so bright that I wish I had carried my sunglasses with me. You’re blinding me with all that sparkle.” He pressed his lips together to prevent his smile from slipping.
“It’s called dressing up,” she shot back with sarcasm. “You should try it sometime.”
A gist of the story-
Saanvi Vijay Malhotra is a woman with a dream. She is feisty, smart, and witty, but her privileged life in New Delhi, India, doesn’t match her ambitions. She moves to New York to pursue a career in journalism with stars in her eyes and her heart on her sleeve.
Sean Roger Wilson is a ruthless NYPD detective. He is a charmer to the T, and he is any woman’s dream man. A New Yorker to the core, he never plays by the book and believes in living in the moment.
It Takes Two To Tango!
As fate has it, Sean handcuffs Saanvi — figuratively — in a whirlwind of passion, romance, and seduction. Sparks fly whenever they are within two feet of each other, leading to an overwhelming and alluring pursuit. Sean knows Saanvi spells trouble, but he loves living on the edge. Despite his roguish facade, Saanvi is determined to capture his heart. A tragic episode threatens to rip them apart. Will Saanvi meet her fate with Sean, or will she leave New York broken-hearted?
Who is the favorite character from your book and why?
Oh Gosh! That’s a tough one. As this story is so close to my heart I fell in love with the characters. Each character has played his or her part to help bring the story so beautifully to life. But, if I really had to choose, I would say the main characters Saanvi and Sean they are such charismatic personalities, one cannot help but fall in love with them.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I am just bidding my time before I lunge into my next book. Having said that, I would definitely love to continue this journey as a writer and hope and pray that the readers enjoy and appreciate my work.
According to you which are the 5 books everyone should read and also Who are your top 3 Authors?
Like I mentioned previously I read books across several genres. Naming only 5 books is a tall order. Below are the Top 5 books that have stuck with me either because the story was impactful or because the characters were portrayed brilliantly.
- The Promise by Danielle Steel
- If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
- Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson
- Once and Always by Judith McNaught
- Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Top 3 favorite Authors –
- Judith McNaught
- Lisa Kleypas
- Rachel Gibson
Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes as a person.
I was born and raised in the garden city of Bangalore. I live in Bangalore with my husband Roshan Asrani and my teenage son Rishab Asrani. The important aspect of any relationship to grow, flourish and sustain is to embrace each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I am extremely grateful for everything life has to offer. Each day is a new day which brings fresh hopes and dreams with it.
Could you share few tips for Young Authors?
As I am a new kid on the block, I can only share inputs through my personal experiences, so here goes-
- Go with your gut.
- Live it up.
- Pursue your dreams.
- Give it your all.
- Savour the fruits of your labour.
At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Empowering Our Kids’ where we are trying to encourage and inculcate reading habit from a young age. We are trying to pick up 20 to 30 must read books for children and try and make them available at our library in Jaipur, also take this initiative across the globe. Please suggest some books which you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character defining age).
The following are the names of few books/Authors across ages 2yrs -15yrs that are popular in the kids category as per my knowledge.
- Alphabets Are Amazing Animals.
- Charlotte’s Web.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
- The Tiger-Skin Rug.
- Giraffes Can’t Dance.
- How To Wash A Wooly Mammoth.
- The Smartest Giant in Town
- I Can Read series.
- Peppa Pig series.
- Harry Potter series.
- Tom Gate series.
- National Geographic Kids series.
- Books by Ruskin Bond.
- Books by Roald Dahl.
- Books by Enid Blyton.
- Famous Five.
- The Gruffalo’s series.
Rapid Fire Round
Favorite Place, Person, Food, beverage- Home, My family, North Indian cuisine, Chocolate Milkshake.
Your other Talents- Baking.
Your First Love- My Mother.
Favorite Quote- I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious- Albert Einstein
Favorite Character from a book- John Kowalsky from Simply Irresistible.
What if Round
What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?
Food, Books and My Phone in that order 😉 ( Most importantly I would be like a fish out of water without my family and friends.)
What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?
I would wish for people to treat one another with more respect for a better and brighter tomorrow.
What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?
Hmm… Do we really need all the money in the world to be happy? I think not. Figuratively speaking if I did have deep pockets the first thing I would do is embark on a breathless chase of pleasure and go backpacking to the most exotic and serene locations across the globe. Topping the list is to experience the heavenly Northern Lights Phenomenon.
