CompleteMartialArts.com - Imaginary Men

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Manufacturer: Downtown Press

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781416509431
ISBN: 1416509437
Label: Downtown Press
Manufacturer: Downtown Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2005-10-11
Publisher: Downtown Press
Studio: Downtown Press

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Editorial Reviews:

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lina Ray has a knack for pairing up perfect couples as a professional matchmaker in San Francisco, but her well-meaning, highly traditional Indian family wants her to get married. When her Auntie Kiki introduces Lina to the bachelor from hell at her sister's wedding in India, Lina panics and blurts out, "I'm engaged!" Because what's the harm in a little lie?

Who's sari now?

Lina scrambles to find a real fianc� because Auntie Kiki will be coming to America soon to approve the match. But date after disastrous date gets her no closer to her prince -- until an actual prince arrives on her doorstep. Lina hasn't been able to stop fantasizing about traditional but dashing Raja Prasad since she met him in India. In fact, her imaginary fianc� has begun to resemble him! Now Raja is in San Francisco and wants Lina to find a suitable bride for his brother. Though they live oceans apart, Lina longs to bridge the gap. But when her fantastic fib catches up with her, life is suddenly like a Bollywood flick gone horribly wrong. Lina may have an over-developed fantasy life, but she certainly never imagined things would turn out like this!

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Charming and fun!
Comment: Imaginary Men centers around Lina Ray, a San Francisco-based matchmaker whose own lovelife has taken a nosedive since the death of her philandering fiance. Her family, concerned about her being alone "at her age," seems to pin their own happiness and contentment on her finding a husband, so, to get them off her back and perhaps make them happy for a moment, Lina makes up a fiance. Naturally, her lie spins out of control, and she spends the rest of the book untangling herself from the mess she's created. Further complicating matters is the bona fide prince Lina meets while in India, who looks like the man of her dreams, but acts like an old-fashioned chauvinist. Then again, maybe it's all a cover for a sensitive guy underneath who really could be "the one."

Banerjee executes a tried-and-true premise beautifully, making it new by weaving in the colors and textures of India and accurately portraying the careful balancing act all of us who are caught between two cultures have to face. The characters are vibrant and the family is a crack-up. It's charming, it's fun, I love it, go read it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: There are better books out there.
Comment: I finished the book, which I consider an accomplishment. It's not so much that this book was bad; it was just your typical story and the writing style (with the humor attempts) got old about halfway through.

The basic story line seemed to be: girl doesn't want to get married, girl meets guy who is hot AND rich AND nice, girl falls in love. Furthermore, the story is so typical that she doesn't even bother to fill in the blanks as the story jumps around. I could recommend much better Indian romances, just not this one.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Witty and evocative writing on an improbable plot (even for chick lit)
Comment: Anjali Banerji's writing is funny and her descriptions of events are so evocative that you can almost see the colors smell the aromas and taste the food. Her descriptions of people also vividly conjure up three dimensional individuals. However, the plot and characters need to be fleshed out more - even when it's a frothy read.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Not Great
Comment: Having liked the author's other novel, Invisible Lives, I thought I would try this one out as well. However, it was somewhat dissapointing. The storyline closely resembles my favorite South Asian chick-lit book, For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani, which is a much better read. The characters were under developed, the story line superficial and lacking in sufficient detail. The cover design is cute though, so don't be fooled!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Literary cotton candy
Comment: I enjoy the occasional indulgence in chick lit and finding quality stuff can sometimes be a challenge. This one attracted me because of my budding interest in Indian culture. While it was a fairly cute novel, it was sheer fluff. Some of it was a fun read but, overall, it was all calories and no nutritional value.

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