A Distant Heart

Title: A Distant Heart

Author: Sonali Dev

Series: Bollywood, Bk 4

Publisher: Kensington Fiction

ISBN: 9781496705761

Length: 297 + "A Reading Group Guide"

Obtained: Purchased autographed copy

Comments:

I read this in one chunk until 3 in the morning.  I had met the author in June, and she assured me that while it is part of a series, and particularly connected to the previous book, A Change of Heart, that I could read it as a standalone or out of order.  I still tend to believe I would have been better off to read A Change of Heart first.  I know details of that storyline that I otherwise would not have.  However, I'll agree that my reading of this story was not detracted from. 

Kimi has had health issues nearly all of her life.  Her parents wealth and determination allowed her to live through a number of new treatments and options until her heart simply would not take it anymore.  Then she was blessed with a transfer.  She would like to find her donor.  Rahul, a man from the slums and now a cop in Mumbai, came into her life as a child and was her only friend and constant for years of fighting for her life.  Now he is determined to have some closure for a case about a gangster/black market that he has been working on for years.  The stakes are high for them both and while they stay in hiding and investigate their respective quests, they must also navigate their pasts and potential futures. 

The story is told in "Present Day" and "A Long Time Ago" from the perspectives of Kimi, Rahul, and Kimi's father - who is a part of both their lives.  I don't mind multiple perspectives, but I'm not a huge fan of time jumping back and forth.  It does work for this story, though, to unfold what has been (without info dumps) and what the characters are currently going through.

I'd be interested in reading more of Sonali's work, particularly A Change of Heart.