3.5 stars. ( )

It kept dropping in stars as I read. I admit to skimming sections, It got a bit long and stilted as the sections roughly changed course. I am surprised I bothered to finish it. There are many books out there worthy of my time. ( )

Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft is Historical Romance set in World War I to the 1970’s England, India and Europe. A story of love that does not die no matter what life brings. At first it seemed to be a slow beginning but the story and characters grew until I stayed up half the night reading. A lovely story of life, family,friends, trials, loss, history and love.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 5 Stars ( )

3.5

Maddy Bright is newly returned to Bombay after initially being sent away for her health and then staying away for schooling. Even though she spent a little of her childhood in Bombay before moving to England, Maddy feels adrift and unexcited at being "home". But when she meets Luke on New Year's Eve 1913, things begin to change.

Luke Devereaux is stationed in India overseeing the mobilization of Indian troops should the mounting tension across Europe signal an arising need.

As Luke and Maddy meet and fall in love, begin to plan a life together, they're torn apart by war. Then Luke his injured, he's declared dead to his friends and family, and his memories of Maddy and everything before are lost.

Luke fights to regain who he was, and Maddy fights to figure out who she might have to be without Luke but never wanting to give up hope that he's out there somewhere. Will they be able to fight their way back to one another?

The blurb immediately drew me into this story. This is the first book I've read by Jenny Ashcroft, and it's certainly a sumptuous, romantic, heartbreaking, harrowing story. It's hopeful, yet often soul crushing, and I felt like it really got into the nitty gritty of the perils of the separation of war. At least, the perils of this specific couple during wartime.

While it touches upon the effect war has on others, the scope of the story is narrowly set upon Maddy and Luke. The secondary characters are there to revolve around their orbit enhancing their story. I'd say besides Maddy's mother (whose own depth of story effects Maddy herself) there's very little depth given to other secondary characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, this is after all Luke and Maddy's story, but if you're coming into it expecting a more epic scope and societal commentary on the times you may have to switch gears a bit.

I do think this focus, however, really drives the story. The teetering precipice of whether or not Luke and Maddy will ever be reunited carried me through the book and was one I absolutely needed to see swiftly through to the end regardless of the lack of sleep I got. I liked the author playing with the timeframe of the narrative as the story, at various points, jumps ahead and from Maddy to Luke's point of view and back again. In that way we might see something that happens in the future but don't get the full picture until we connect it to the past. I liked how sometimes you form one impression of how things are going to work out between Luke and Maddy only to discover you're not entirely correct because of certain missing pieces. This is probably one of my favorite aspects of the story.

However, towards the end, I felt like all the obstacles and setbacks were becoming a bit tedious. It was one thing after another. Seemingly everything was conspiring against our lovers. There were just so many and so varied that by the time we get to where the story needs to begin wrapping up, it felt too rushed. In this way, for me, it loses a little bit of that romance element, the undying love and devotion between Luke and Maddy gets a bit suffocated underneath everything that continues to pile on top of them.

Regardless, it was a compelling story, it kept my attention and really made me care about Luke and Maddy's outcome.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Ashcroft delivers a heart-wrenching love story set in the colorful World War I era India that will hook you and not let you go. The characters are charismatic, the plot heady, and rife with emotion as these young adults struggle to find each other and their lives again. A bit Nicholas Sparks-like, I was getting aggravated with the turn of events until they turned again in my favor. Such a sweet love story with so many events, Ashcroft masterfully captured the essence of life and love.

*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review ( )