A Change of Heart

By: Sonali Dev

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Dr. Nikhil "Nic" Joshi had it all - marriage, career, purpose - until, while working for Doctors without Borders in a Mumbai slum, his wife, Jen, discovered a black market organ-transplant ring. Before she could expose the truth, Jen was killed.

Two years after the tragedy, Nic is a cruise ship doctor who spends his days treating seasickness and sunburn and his nights in a boozy haze. On one of those blurry evenings on deck, Nic meets a woman who makes a startling claim: she received Jen's heart in a transplant and has a message for him. Nic wants to discount Jess Koirala's story as absurd, but there is something about her reckless desperation that resonates despite his doubts.

Jess has spent years working her way out of a nightmarish life in Calcutta and into a respectable Bollywood dance troupe. Now she faces losing the one thing that matters - her young son. She needs to uncover the secrets Jen risked everything for; but the unforeseen bond that results between her and Nic is both a lifeline and a perilous complication.

Delving beyond the surface of modern Indian-American life, acclaimed author Sonali Dev's pause-resisting novel is both riveting and emotionally rewarding - an extraordinary story of human connection, bravery, and hope.

©2016 Sonali Dev (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good, but Please Buy Author a Thesaurus!

As others have said, this book is of a much darker theme than the first two in the series. That being said, the storyline is well-developed as are the characters.

I feel like a drinking game could be created just for this series for each time the word “bastard” is used (I checked via Kindle—79 times!). I understand how vile the subhuman garbage was that Ms. Dev was trying to describe in this book, and that she was trying to elicit the most visceral of responses from the reader (listener), but the problem is, when you do ANYTHING repeatedly, it loses its impact; in this case, the listener becomes desensitized—even turned off (but not in the way Ms. Dev had hoped). There are so many other words that could have been used to describe these disgusting people without using the same word over and over and over.

The narrator, Ms. Nankani, was wonderful! I am so grateful she was the narrator for this one. Most unfortunately, the narrator for The Bollywood Bride read all text that was not dialogue as if she were reading ingredients to a recipe—no excitement in her voice, no inflection. Ms. Nankani has it ALL! She builds suspense, excitement, calm, sadness, the full range of emotions, and she does voices and accents beautifully. Kudos!

Sadly, I just started the last of the series, A Distant Heart, and on page 2 (I do Whispersync), at the top of the page, there it was again, “Tell me what the bastard did…” (This book has it listed as used 56 times, so there’s mild improvement. : / )

The details of the storyline are unusual and interesting, but the outcome is highly predictable from the start. There is intrigue, and Ms. Dev does keep you in suspense, but be prepared if you are a victim of physical assault, this book may not be for you; some of the scenes are rather graphic. Graphic sex and violence. Also, the book is DEFINITELY not for children!

This is worth a listen, but be prepared for a completely different experience than the first two books.

Too Dark

I could not get past the first few chapters because it was too dark. However, I was invested in the characters because I new about Nik from a previous book set in the same world. I love the author, but I couldn't take the full journey with her this time. This is only the second or third book I have never finished. I, cringe, skipped to the second to last chapter and enjoyed the ending.

realist scenario but some repeating of theme

interesting current day plot but became repetitive as characters dealt with same emotions again and again. could be a more developed plot.

Somali Dev rocks.

Somali Dev is one of my new favorites. I will now buy and read anything she adds to Audible immediately.

Great story however

Some parts became repetitive and I had to forward through. Great author nonetheless glad I found

tense emotional read

Narration was easy to listen to. This is a well developed story. You get emotionally involved with the characters as more information about the characters and their situation evolves. I have enjoyed many of her other books better, this was a sad situation. It showed flawed characters coming to understanding. Definitely an author to check out.

wonderful

Loved it and narration was perfect. Having visited Mumbai I recognized some of the places.

Awesome BOOK

The book is awesome. The narrator is not what I would have wanted. She does not have an Asian voice & is piss pore at attempting. In other books the narrator is great.

Dark & Disturbing

This dark and disturbing novel is my least favorite Sonali Dev novel. I've read the Rajes series as well as all four in this series. Be warned that this novel includes graphic and violent rape. Ms. Dev's attempt at mystery and darkness was unexpected. I was not prepared for a crime/mystery/ police procedural as this novel could almost be cateorized. The romance that I'm used to with Sonali Dev novels was not here. The timing and location of the "romance" was unfortunate. Let's just trample on the memory of a great love from the previous novel? Others might enjoy this but it was not for me. The best part of this novel was Soneela Nankani narrating! The fourth book is excellent (and builds off this one) so I still recommend moving forward in the series!

Narrator elevates this Great Story

I'm a big fan of Sonali Dev books. Soneela Nankani's reading brought to life the exotic locales and accents. Great narration for an amazing story.