Book Review: Prajwal Hegde’s ‘You Can’t Be Serious’ explores romance that never goes out of style

What happens when a coffee entrepreneur from South India meets an eco-warrior prince from Rajasthan? Sparks fly but for all the wrong reasons. Aaditha Pratap, the protagonist, who runs a chain of coffee stores Coffee Before Books and Bras across the country, is flummoxed when her father fixes her match with Rajasthani royalty and Harvard-returned Prince Vedveer Rathore Singh. 

At its core, the rom com novel explores the dynamics of Indian marriages that are often arranged by two powerful families with business interests in mind. Gaurav Rathore Singh, the fictional maharaja of Jaipur and Prathap Gowda, a politician from Bengaluru could be representative of any high-profile real-life counterparts who set up their children's marriages, where everything is pre planned to make it look like an organic love story. 

But both Gaurav Rathore Singh and Prathap Gowda didn’t bargain for two ambitious and obstinate offspring, who live by their rules.  Here, chemistry often collides with caustic retorts.  

The humour is subtle and often elicits a hearty chuckle. While introducing Aaditha Pratap to his son, Gaurav says, “She has a coffee business, you drink coffee, right... At least you will have good coffee to drink every day.” 

In contrast, Aaditha sees no light in her catch-22 situation. Her world has turned upside down. “When my parents told me about the proposal, I was seething. But the anger quickly curdled into fear, the kind that makes your knees knock,” she notes. 

But why are the two fathers, who come from varying cultures and family backgrounds so desperate for this alliance between their reluctant kids to work? The answers gradually unfold as the book evolves.  

The author has deftly showcased the contrasts between Rajasthani and Kannadiga households paying minute attention to quirky details. 

The couple meets in typical traditional settings at the 10,000 sq ft Gowda family home on MG Road Bengaluru, seated opposite each other, in a scenario that has been played out multiple times in Bollywood films. But here this is no coy lass or an eager beaver potential groom. These are two reluctant adults who have been emotionally blackmailed by their parents to meet up.

What follows is a light-hearted, fast paced and engaging narrative that traces the unexpected romance between two opposites, who fall in love with each other as they jointly navigate the many hurdles that life throws at them including devious exes, nasty trolls and unexpected setbacks.  

The female protagonist unlike most romantic novels is not a conventional beauty highlighting the fact that love transcends physical beauty. When the young Prince falls in love with her, it is a conscious choice that also depicts his emotional maturity to look beyond conventional norms of beauty.

Author Prajwal Hedge’s romance saga is as soothing to the senses as an icy cool sorbet on a hot summer day. You have to finish it in one go!