Review of Destiny Decides by P G Van

Star ratings: 4

Love all the way

Who doesn’t like a dashing, handsome hero and a beautiful, talented heroine romancing in the picturesque San Francisco Bay Area? It’s the perfect setting for the blossoming of love, and so it does between the hero and heroine and their passionate encounters spice up this romance novel. It's a love story which leaves you craving for a 'happily-ever-after' right from the beginning. The perfect hero and a heroine tailor made for him to perfection makes for a beautiful romance novel. Particularly endearing are the initial days of their budding romance.
​
Relationships carry weight

The story starts with showing the love of sisters who live as roommates in the Bay Area in California. The author has very interestingly introduced her characters and while writing a love story she has also focused on the sisterly love, love for family, parents and even grandparents. It’s about relationships all the way.

Nick looked at me in silence. “Nick this is a couple that lost their son in a fatal accident and are relying on extended family to help them out,” I said looking into his eyes and added, “I need to be the one to help them.” Nick shook his head and looked away as if he knew what I was going to say next. “Nick, I want to go to India to take care of my grandparents and help them settle down in the ancestral home in the village,” I said softly.
​
​Gentle build-up

The freshness of a brewing love story has been described very well. It’s so endearing that you yourself might end up falling in love with the hero/ heroine. "I saw his eyes and knew instantly that he was the one on the bike on New Year’s Eve. As if in response to my deep intake of air, he looked right into my eyes for a split second before he reached out to give Srini a fist bump." The initial days of their relationship feels like petrichor, where one is left longing to know and feel more of the intensity of their love.

I watched him as he asked the waitress questions about a few things on the menu and noticed how charming he was; he wasn’t the teenager I once knew. He was ordering a few light dishes for the table, and as I started to process the series of events that happened in the last thirty to forty minutes, I realized that Nick’s manner was very casual and composed, but his eyes conveyed something completely different. The way he looked at me was making my stomach knot up exactly like the time I saw him on his bike. The fact that I was unable to decipher what his eyes were conveying was what was bugging me.

Curiosity doesn’t always kill

The author has very tactfully introduced her characters and it has been done in such a way that readers are left yearning to know more about them. She very deftly mentions facts and then seamlessly sews them together as the story progresses.

Opulence steals

With a super-rich hero and his family comes descriptions of opulence and grandeur. Be it getting innovative in a limousine ride or on the rooftop garden in the hero’s family house, there are vivid descriptions of grand settings throughout the story.

Reason for ratings. . .

A love story is always a hit especially when it has the right mix of heroic talents. The backdrop too is exquisite and sets the mood for a love story, but I would say the hero was too good to be true making it very easy to fall for. Maybe a little more realism there could have done justice, but then again as one knows fantasies go hand in hand with love stories. Also there have been a few instances where I feel the intimate scenes between the hero and heroine are not really justified, for instance the one in which they have a hurried passionate encounter of sorts in the guest bathroom of the hero’s family house, especially when there are people waiting for them outside.
​

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK?

On a rainy day, to spice up your life you must read this sizzling romance.
​

THE LINE THAT STAYED WITH ME
​​​

At the slightest memory of those penetrating eyes that were smiling at me, my heart started to race and my stomach went back to being its knotty self.