Male’ City; Source: Travel Triangle Dot Com
Born and raised in the capital Male’ of the Republic of Maldives, I am a Maldivian who fell in love with the English language and reading at a very tender age. My father instilled in all of us a love for the language that has opened up doors for us which would have otherwise remained closed if it weren’t for our familiarity with the English language.
My reading interests began with the classic Enid Blyton phase which then moved onto books such as the Nancy Drew series and The Hardy Boys which till today I remember with fond memories. There were times when I was so lost in the fantastic worlds that only books can offer you so much that my mom used to vehemently scold me because I really had no interest in anything else at times.
As I grew older, I found my interests swaying towards romances, first the Sweet Valley High series and then the Sweet Dreams publisher series and then later on moved towards Harlequin romances which seemed endless at that time. Then came the introduction to authors such as Sandra Brown, Judith McNaught, Sidney Sheldon etc. that painted my world with vivid colors and made my reading time that much more precious and coveted as I grew older.
I have read thousands of books till now and started up this review blog on a whim in 2009 and am proud to say that it is the first of its kind in the Maldives. A year on, I am addicted to reviewing as much as I am addicted to reading. Since I read mostly romances (rarely do I venture into other genres these days), I find myself at times ridiculed by my peers for my reading choices. Getting labeled as a hopeless romantic is one of the hazards of being a romance reader, something I manage to brush off easily – most of the time.
Romance is a very broad genre with all sorts of sub-genres in the mix. I prefer contemporary romances (though historical romance authors such as Sherry Thomas makes it hard not to fan after historical romances as well), and through it all discovered that I have an interest towards erotica as well. Though I used to steer clear of gay romances and menages, I have sampled a few here and there, and I can see where the lure lies, especially when it comes to authors like Cari Quinn and JR Ward.
My favorite tropes include friends to lovers, unrequited love with anti-heroes in the mix, and old school romances where authors had the gumption to stick true to the times in which the stories took place, and gave the readers something to think about. Some of my favorite authors today include Anne Stuart (a master in the romance genre), JR Ward, and Elizabeth Hoyt.
I hope that my little world of fiction and romances over here would provide useful and sometimes entertaining information about books that I have read.
Happy reading everyone!
xo
A Maldivian's Passion for Romance 
” My favorite theme of romantic novels would be where best of friends turn into lovers and find a happy ending.”
OMG SAME!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my favourite tooo…sigh. Have you tried reading books from Lora Leigh? If you haven’t, I do caution you because it’s very explicit… but my favourite has to be Killer Secrets, and Hidden Agendas comes before it!
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Hey there Sade, thanks for dropping in!
Yeah I have read certain books by Lora Leigh.. As you said her books are quite explicit, but that doesn’t matter to me as long as the story that goes on is a good one.. But most of the times I find her books to lack a strong storyline and rather continue around the strong explicit sexual content of the book which becomes a turn off in the end.. But mind you, I have enjoyed a book or two of hers..
I haven’t read Killer Secrets, but am definitely interested now.. Will look it up asap! :)
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I read your post about whispernet not working in the Maldives – is this still a problem or is there any coverage yet?
I’m going on holidays to the Maldives in October (South Nilandhe Atoll) and I’m planing to buy an ebook reader before I go. It’s a choice between buying a Kindle or a Nook, if the Kindle has 3g coverage I might go for it!
I love your site, great reviews – keep it up!
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Hi roryok,
Thanks for dropping by. I don’t think Whispernet would be available in the Maldives anytime soon. But 3G internet is available. The new Kindle that is out has 3G coverage I believe. But apparently all are sold out and pre-ordering is only available at the moment. And there is one other problem I have identified as well. When I try to purchase books in the Kindle version from Amazon, I am taken to some sort of error page that says that people in this region are not allowed to purchase the said book and that if I am traveling or out of country, please contact Amazon to resolve the problem.
I did contact Amazon and asked them why I am not allowed to purchase books in the Kindle format and their reply was that publishers restrict books by region which sounds really silly to me since I also pay money to buy the book in the end! Its not like I am pleading them to give me the book for free?
So what I do now is purchase books in other formats, convert them to .prc (mobipocket) format and transfer the books onto my Kindle via the USB cable and voila I am one happy bookworm ;)
And enjoy your vacation in the Maldives. The white sandy beaches and the wide expanse of the blue sea is breathtaking!
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OMG!!! Where have you been all my life? I’ve never met another Maldivian who’s as book crazy or romance crazy as myself. Well, my best friend is a bookworm, but even she’s not quite as fanatic about it as I am! Hehe!
I’m a Romanceaholic! And I love it!! The more touching, sweet and poignant, the better I like a story. You can always tell when I’ve read a book I loved by the puffy eyes and sappy expression I walk around in for the rest of the day!
Growing up in Maldives, I guess our reading began pretty much the same way. From Enid Blyton to Nancy Drew to Sweet Valley and Sweet Dreams. I read my first Mills n Boon when I was in seventh grade and I still remember the scolding I got from my mother coz apparently I was too young to read them. But those were the days, sneaking novels inside school books and hoping against hope I don’t get caught, either at home or at school!! Tee hee!
I adore historical romances. I think I’ve read so much of it that I’ve actually reached the stage where I pick out historical inaccuracies in mediocre authors books. Hehe! Who says novels are not educational? My favorites are American Western and British Medieval and Regency era. Julie Garwood, Judith McNaught, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Lorraine Heath……. I could go on and on about their books!!
I noticed Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark Series on your TBR list. Have you read any? I LOVE love Kresley Cole!! I discovered paranormal romance when I read her book A Hunger Like No Other and I was instantly hooked! My other favorites are Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series.
I agree with you about Lora Leigh. When I was going through my newfound fascination with paranormal romance, I came across Lora Leigh’s Breeds series. And of course, I got a bunch of her other books as well. Good lord! I’m all for healthy erotica, but I’m convinced I’ve become traumatized by reading some of her books! *nods vehemently*
Anyways, I’m looking forward to going through your blog! I was googling Maggie Osborne’s complete booklist when your review of her book Prairie Moon came up. I was intrigued by the website name, so I clicked and here I am!
And I think I’ll be a regular here now. I’m forever on the lookout for a new treasure! Also, it’ll be wonderful to get to know you! I’d love to know your favorites so that I can drool over them too! :)
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Wow xahu, the question “Where have you been all my life?” right back at you hon!
So there ARE other Maldivians who are as crazy about romances as I am huh? That is so GOOD to know! Similar to you me and my best buddy used to swap books and back then she too was interested in reading only romances, but now her tastes have gone over into other areas and we don’t see eye to eye much on books that we read. So boy, am I glad that you stumbled upon my website and found me! ;)
Oh yeah, I too remember my first Mills and Boon. I think it was a Silhoutte Desire and I didn’t even know what I was reading except to know that it was a romance until all the heady sex scenes came up! LOL! Yeah a little bit naive I was back then. And suddenly poof, the book disappears and makes a reappearance once again by the time I had to return it to the library. To this day I think my elder sister is the culprit. She warned me about those books being too adult for me. But what the heck ei? That didn’t stop me!
Kresley Cole’s IAD series is in my TBR pile. Haven’t got round to reading it. Everyone raves so much about A Hunger Like No Other and I guess I should bump the book up a bit to see what’s going on. I know a favorite amongst a LOT of people wouldn’t let me down. I guess my first paranormal was Marked by Moonlight by Sharie Kohler which I re-read and reviewed quite recently. If you haven’t already given it a go, that’s a great book too.
Right now I am hooked onto the Ice series by Anne Stuart. Have you tried out any books by her? Her heroes are dark, really dark not your usual alpha hero but I love em’. Ugh Lora Leigh! Enuf said!
And yes, Maggie Osborne’s books are just to die for!! I loved each and every story I have managed to read of her and that’s saying something ain’t it? Sad, sad thing that she stopped writing :(
We should definitely talk about books we like!! Are you over at Goodreads? That’s a great place as well to find fellow romance lovers and get great book recommendations. I am over there as well so if you join, friend me up!
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Hi,
You remind me of myself when it comes to reading. I started with the books you’ve read when you were younger. And I’m also a big fan of Lynne Graham. Reading romance novels is a stress reliever for me and I like Lynne’s style as her heroines are not the usual submissive, and simpering characters. Her heroines are strong and independent and her macho heroes do actually show their loving and soft side. The guys become more human, as Lynne describes their weaknesses and fears.
We’ll to more romantic readings!!@
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Hi Lar,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. Means the world to me.
Yeah, Lynne Graham is a favorite Harlequin author of mine. I always go back to read one of her books time & time again to revisit the worlds of magic she creates in her short stories.
Hope you will visit again!
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