Book Review: The Contract

 

Title: The Contract
Author: Zeenat Mahal
ISBN: 9781927826157
Publisher: Indireads Inc.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“…We’ll get married, but I’ll pay you a monthly salary to behave and appear for all practical purposes as my wife…If you agree, the marriage vows can be taken on the phone on Saturday, since I have an hour free in the morning.”

Shahira, a young, divorced mother of a seven-year-old son, wants nothing to do with men ever again. But circumstances have forced her hand, and Hussain’s unusual proposition leaves her secretly relieved. As per their contract, she’ll have his name, will be paid to look after his ailing mother and motherless daughter and will be left well alone by him. Perfect!

Until her new husband decides to stop playing by the rules.

Hussain is suave and rich. He is nobody’s fool…and is not about to be bested by the ex-schoolteacher he is married to. He has Shahira in his sights and she has to have all her wits about her in order to hold him at arm’s length.

Review:

Shahira has come out of an abusive marriage and is now a single mother. She has been teaching a motherless girl, Natasha and has developed a kinship with her and her grandmother. Natasha’s father, Hussain, is a very rich man, very busy in his business with no time for his own daughter and mother. Both Shahira and Hussain have been through an emotional upheaval in their past relationships and are too scared to look for love and hope in life again. Until they meet.

Their personalities are different and so are their perspectives at looking at life and family. While Shahira has been a kind and caring mother, Hussain has created a distance from his daughter and mother. Shahira is quite modern and practical and has created a space for herself in her bound culture. Hussain is inherently a nice man caught in a bad situation.

This was a really fun read and a short and sweet book!