"I have no recollection of what you look like, and yet I know that if I saw you, I'd recognize you instantly."

The above is just one of many heart clutching lines from a letter that begins the all encompassing romance of Meet Me In Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft.

Maddy and Luke meet on New Year's Eve 1913. She is the daughter of a British diplomat in colonial India missing her home. Luke is in the reserves enjoying his travels. As he guides her through the India he adores they fall in love. World War I begins and Luke must leave to fight for his country.

Told with rich vivid prose we see the India of over 100 years ago, we experience the harsh battlefields of war and we ache with the empathetic description of love ripped apart too soon.

For such an intense love story there are some very twisty plotlines and surprising outcomes. As a fan of soap operas, I skipped school to watch Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital back in '80s, I enjoyed the author giving me joy at the end of a chapter to only rip it away with a shocking revelation in the next chapter.

There really are no bad guys in the story. Just bad circumstances and bad timing. This book is perfect for adaptation onto TV's PBS Masterpiece. It is a moving, gut wrenching, heart thumping tale of true love and how life is never as smooth as we would like but until the last page is read there is always hope.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Though never introduced, Luke’s gaze fell on Maddy  at the 1913 New Year’s Eve celebration and it was the beginning of a story of love and loss.  As he travels India reporting on the preparedness of troops in the event of war, he builds anticipation of their finally meeting through notes and postcards that he sends her.  When they finally meet it confirms their feelings that they were destined to be together.  Wedding preparations take place as international tensions mount and Luke is called to serve just a day after their ceremony.

Luke’s injuries keep him from returning to Bombay after the war and he is mistakenly listed as dead.  While Mandy refuses to believe this, she is pressured to get on with her life and fate provides more obstacles to their reunion.  Luke and Maddy’s story is uplifting as he introduces her to the sights and foods of Bombay.  There are also times that it is heartbreaking as Mandy struggles with loss and Luke experiences the battlefield conditions in France.

Jenny Ashcroft has written a beautiful story.  Not only can you get caught up in Luke and Maddy’s relationship, but her descriptions of colonial Bombay and the battlefields of France allow you to travel along with her characters.  Her closing pages are emotional and guaranteed to elicit tears.  This is a story that stays with you long after the last page and is highly recommended.  I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press for allowing my review of this book.

. Meet Me in Bombay left me breathless, swept away by a luscious, poignant story. Maddy and Luke are an extraordinary couple, whose lives ebb and flow as they share beautiful moments along with pain and uncertainty. I felt the sweltering heat of Bombay, i could smell the aromas and taste the food. I felt the cold and desperation and devastation of the Great War. The story was compelling and heart-stopping; I wanted to savor each word as much as I wanted to find out what happened next, my heart breaking but at the same time hopeful. This is a novel that is all-consuming, lost in its pages, and feeling every word with all of my heart.

Thank you to Edelweiss, NetGalley, & St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

DNF @ 25%, 88pgs in

Oh man, this one hurt. I wanted to love this so much, and I know you can't judge a book by the cover but THIS COVER!! Overall the writing was beautiful, totally atmospheric and lovely - but I could not find myself interested in either of the main characters in any way. (And I'm not sure if things get deeper further on, but there's a strong insta-attraction at play that never felt solid enough for me.)

I've spoken to others that said while the beginning does start slow, they found themselves flying through the last 40% of it, unable to put it down. Unfortunately for me, I can't get that far.

Maddy Bright has returned to India, a place she was sent away from because of her bad health as a child. She is unhappy because she lost a teaching position due to a scandal not of her making and India is so hot and she is at a crossroads and unsure. Then at a party, across a terrace, she makes eye contact with a British army official who it turns out is working with her good hearted dad and a friend Peter. She and Luke Devereaux fall in love and decide to marry after about three months, but unfortunately Great Britain has been drawn into World War I, so he leaves a few days after their wedding. Through mistaken identity and Luke's head injuries, Luke cannot het back to her and she finally accepts he is really dead. Though the story is almost entirely in Bombay, there are no major, or really minor Indian characters which was disappointing. There is some mention of the few choices women had and the unfair treatment to the Indian people, but the women characters are almost all catty and her mother is rather a bully and a liar. Luke is an engaging, sympathetic character and he tries hard to protect his Indian troops and Peter and a nurse, Emma are relatable, but after a great beginning, I had to make myself finish the story. The publisher and NetGalley provided me with a digital copy of the book for an honest review.

This book was an emotional journey through a love story started on the precipice of WWI. Torn apart by war and its side effects, this love story has to persevere through time, place, circumstances, and above all emotions. The whole time I was listening I felt the weight of the sorrow of the characters. Reading at the end of 2020 and into 2021 I had to take this book slowly because of all the emotion contained within. If you like an emotional romance with a descriptive setting, then you will enjoy this book.

This book is low on steam and mostly closed door.

“Britain owes reparations to her former colonies.”

To the editor who thought it would be a great idea to publish a book written by a white author involving a romance between two English colonizers against the backdrop of the British Raj, I have a bone to pick with you. How unlearned are you? How the heck is this even allowed in our day and age? Are we that far gone as the human race that all we do is turn the other cheek when it comes to subjects of offending a certain race, gender or historical event and what really took place? At least know your terminology if you’re going to write about historic India and use foreign words or terms in your book that you have zero knowledge of. Ashcroft’s character used the term “Hindis” to describe the people of India. Let me clarify for the last time for anyone who is unaware: HINDI is a language, HINDU is a religion and to be Indian is to be from India. 

To read about an author glorifying the British elite invading India, romanticizing and monetizing the suffering of India makes my blood boil. India was raped, exploited, and destroyed by colonization. Know your history before you support colonial romances and please do not support white authors who write ignorant fiction books about far away countries they have probably never stepped foot in or are uninformed about. This was a DNF for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an opportunity to read Meet Me In Bombay 

This is a story of love and loss as Maddy and Luke meet on NYE just before the start of World War I and fall in love. The war, and people around them tear and keep them apart.

What I liked:
✔️ Once you remove all the soap opera antics, I enjoyed Luke and Maddy’s love story 
✔️ Maddy’s attempts to explore “the real” Bombay vs the colonial world she’s living in 

What I didn’t like:
✖️with a mother like that, who needs an evil step mom 🤷‍♀️? I get she wasn’t evil, but like really?
✖️this book felt a bit long, and at times long winded ( lots of side bars in parentheses too which I thought was kind of strange - but see what I did there 🤣)

“Life can go from being one thing to another thing entirely - with no hint, no warning sense of the change afoot.”  This quote is on the very first page and caught my eye.  How true it is. I don’t often read historical fiction, but the exotic local caught my attention and I wasn’t disappointed. In the beginning of the book, Bombay was like another character in the book.  

The underlying theme of the book is what is love.  There are multi generations of family, romantic relationships, friends and acquaintances, but who shows what is love?  There are many acts throughout the book that leave the reader questioning if that is love or selfishness. Set during the lead up to World War I, Maddy and Luke first see each other at a New Year’s Eve party, but don’t actually meet for weeks.  He shows her the everyday Bombay as they fall in love.  They are then torn apart by the war.  And as each are living apart, you’re left to wonder if they’ll reunite. 

The book is story driven and my favorite character isn’t one of the main characters, but a supporting character, Luke’s best friend Peter.  As the book progressed, I kept hoping for a reason for Peter to appear.  

It is beautifully written with drama and emotion.  Honestly I would have given it five stars except that the author set the story halfway around the world and none of the main characters are Indian. None.  With that being my only negative, it is a good romance.

I started this book giddy....and ended it sobbing. I felt all the emotions: excited, sad, anxious, frustrated. What a delightfully written story of two young people meeting right before the beginning of WWI. It felt only fitting that I started this book on New Year's Day. However, there were points that drove me nuts. All of the opportunities for the reconnection to be made and there were so many STUPID things that got in the way. Drove me nuts. Fate was trying so hard to bring them back together!

Meet Me in Bombay starts with such an enticing yet heartbreaking prologue. The intrigue and mystery building in each chapter, the exquisite description of Bombay, the backdrop of lingering war all add up to my first 5 star read of the year and first book I’ve wanted to keep reading without stopping in ages. 

Maddy Bright and Luke Devereaux meet in 1914 during the British Raj. The anticipation and build up to their first meeting was thrilling and heart racing.  Their attraction and chemistry leap from the page. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve felt that while reading.  The angst (which I normally avoid) gave me such a rush. 

This story, at its heart, is a love story. The grand and sweeping love story of Maddy and Luke, but also the love between parent and child. It is beautifully written and definitely added to my favorites list.

Madeleine Bright sees Luke Devereaux from across the room on NYE 1913. She feels an instant connection. Luke introduces Maddie to the real life of the people of Bombay. She is a new person because of him and they can't get enough of each other.. But then World War I happens. He promises to meet her in Bombay, but first must remember who she is....

I loved the setting of this book, old Bombay (now known as Mumbai). I've visited so was able to picture the scenes quite vividly, keeping in mind of course that things must have looked much different back then. This book is about family and friendships, as much as it is about love. It's about loss, grief and moving on. Maybe not this exact story, but I'm sure there were similar for other soldiers during the World Wars. I quite enjoyed it, but we do have to keep in mind that we are reading a Colonial era love story between 2 British people in a country full of Indians. This may be offensive to some. 

I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about family, love and/or history. It's one of the longer books I've read but it didn't feel like it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book! Set mainly in Bombay, the book opens with Maddy Bright returning to India after many years in England with her aunt and uncle, hesitant to be reunited with the mother who never visited. On top of this trepidation, Maddy also feels rather adrift over what will become of her future, with some scandal in England limiting her teaching options. The book begins in 1914 and a. whirlwind romance catches Maddy by surprise. All of the characters come toile - even minor ones and those who act almost villainously. 

The historical backdrop feels well-researched and fits in to drive the plot as well. There's certainly a rather rosy spin on British-Indian relations overall during this time, but I appreciated the rather unique inclusion of India's role in the first World War. There are still some familiar war scenes here, but this is still a part of history that isn't as commonly portrayed in fiction. As for the romance central to the book, Lukle's amnesia and the circumstances that separate them, their book feels heart-wrenchingly sad. There are some moments that are a bit manipulative to the reader, and some near misses. But I still loved it, while doubting with each page that it would ever end happily.

I think that this would be a great one to listen to on audio as well - and I am definitely curious about Ashcroft's earlier books!

I was not familiar with Jenny Ashcroft and her blacklist of publications so I was not sure what to expect. Meet me in Bombay is a dual timeline story which has become popular among writers in recent years. 

I would characterize this book as a love story with some historical fiction thrown in. The story starts in Bombay in 1913 with the chance meeting of Miss Madeline Bright and Luke Devereaux. One could say that this was no chance meeting by the way the sparks flew from the first moment. Readers get to watch as their love explodes as the world starts to implode with the start of World War 1. Then book then alternates between 1913, 1915 and at times 1975. With the alternating timelines, it left me turning the pages as fast as possible because I wanted to know what happened to Maddy and Luke. Ashcroft was an expert at not giving away too many details and exposing the ending but leaves the reader with small crumbs of information that feeds the need to know the outcome of this love story. 

I have wavered between 4 and 5 star rating. The only reason that I would give this a 4 star rating is that I felt several times the story rambled on and could have been moved along at a faster pace. In the end I am going with 5 stars. Again, I would not characterize this as historical fiction but a love story of great depth on many different levels. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an ARC. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

Meet me in Bombay was very confusing it time hops back and forth then does huge time jumps. It also has different point of views more than three. Character Madeline Albright falls in love with Luke Devereaux who is a British solider in India. ( Forced Occupation) They get involved in World War one as part of forced British rule.  Madeline Albright is part of a British social circle living in India which is its own class based. 
   As British have their own class system. However Madeline seems to want to know more about India its rich cultures, religion, language and people. Not as what else can I say forced occupied people but as humanity. Luke  is lost for a while and Madeline can't get over it. They're goal is to find each other but other forces are happening and people too are meddling.
This book brought up emotions such as "thats Messed up" or they mentioned a famous book-" all quiet on the western front" The characters had depth and so did the world building but the times and areas got a bit confusing to me.

Book comes out January 19/2021
Meet me in Bombay is by Jenny Ashcroft
Arc was given to me by net galley in exchange for an honest review

I felt like I really escaped into this story, I could feel the sweltering heat of Bombay, feel the sadness in Maddy’s heart.  The book is both beautiful, hopefully and heart-breaking.  It’s about love, memory, hope, loss and family.

The second I read the description, I knew I had to read this book, and I am happy to say that it lived up to its expectations!  Meet Me in Bombay is a heartbreakingly beautiful love story set in Bombay, India during World War I.  Maddy and Luke fall madly in love and are inseparable until the war tears them apart.  What follows is the epic tale of a man without a memory fighting to get back to the woman he knows he loves even if he doesn’t know who she is.  The Bombay backdrop is a beautiful setting to highlight the story!

Maddy and Luke meet on New Year's Eve in Bombay in 1913.  She's only recently returned from Oxfordshire, where she grew up and went to school.  He's mysterious to her but they click immediately- then he leaves to travel around the country but he gives her a guide to Bombay that extends beyond the standard British tourist sites.  When he returns, they plunge into a love affair that culminates in marriage but he's activated as part of the Indian Army to serve in France.  What misery. You will realize early on that he's the man without a memory but can he get home to Maddy and their daughter?  Back home in India, Maddy struggles to cope.  No spoilers from me but this one has a big surge of ups and downs.  These are terrific characters (as, btw, is Guy, who is in love with her as well).  Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.  It's a deeply romantic story that will appeal to fans of historical fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for Meet Me in Bombay.
4 Stars
Meet Me in Bombay is a wonderful historical romance fiction. It follows the love story between Luke Devereaux, a British Soldier, and Madeline Bright, a young British lady, who meet in Bombay on  New Year's Eve 1913. While their their courtship which eventually leads to their marriage, the clouds of WWI are looms and will have far reaching consequences. Having no choice but fight on the front, Luke and Madeline's relationship will be put to the test? How long can you love someone even when the uncertainty of war may tear them from you forever?
The had a beautiful love story! I loved Luke and Madeline as a couple. Both brought out the best in each other. Luke was willing to open Madeline to the beauty of India. The pacing was good and moved the story along while creating the atmosphere of the war and the aftermath of what the soldiers endured. The setting was a confusing choice. This story felt like it could have been set in any country. There was not real feel of India as I read this book. The longing between Luke and Madeline was heartbreaking! Overall, I enjoyed the romance of this story, but would have preferred the story to have the feel of the country it is suppose to take place in. I am not really a fan of a British love story, which had mostly British people taking place in a British colony for really no purpose!

"All he needs is to find her. First, he must remember who she is.

Jenny Ashcroft's "Meet Me in Bombay is a powerful, poignant and deeply emotional tale of love, mystery, loss and joy."  - Kate Furnivall, New York Times bestselling author

It's New Year's Eve in Bombay, 1913, and Madeline Bright, new to the sweltering heat of colonial India, is yearning for all she has left behind in England. Then, at the stroke of midnight, Maddy meets Luke Devereaux, and as the year changes so do both their lives.

Bold and charismatic, Luke opens her eyes to the wonders of Bombay, while Maddy's beauty and vivacity captures his heart. Only her mother disapproves, preferring the devoted Guy Bowen as a match for her daughter.

But while Maddy and Luke are falling in love, the world is falling apart. World War I is on the horizon, and Luke will be given no choice but to fight. They will be continents apart, separated by danger and devastating loss, but bound by Luke's promise that they will meet again in Bombay."

The romance evoked in just a few simple lines...