Non-review Rant

The heist of finding short reads on Amazon continues. So far, barring the misuse of categories, I’ve been amazed by the short story section. This one being selected for Feb 2026.

Review

Tags:

• Hidden Identity
• Indian Billionaire
• Steamy
• Romantic Comedy
• Indian Office Romance
• Short Story

Kanan is challenged to get a job as Manav’s personal assistant and survive three months. The premise itself is interesting, and the execution was decent. I enjoyed some of the dry humour sprinkled throughout the story, which worked well with the office-romance setup.

That said, in the first few chapters, it felt like cuss words were thrown in just to make the story sound more adult, and those moments came across as a bit forceful rather than natural. The steam was more tell than show (I am thankful for it) and much less than hyped (I am thankful for it). It didn’t blend smoothly with the tone, seemed like a forced idea, like: you must include some smut. If people have picked up the book thinking it’s steamy, they’d be disappointed.

26%
Time flew by and a month went by just like that.

Kanan had one meeting, and then one month flew by. Would have liked to see more of them, at least 2-3 interactions before a month flew by. Also, Manav mostly dealt with Dinkar instead of Kanan, even after hiring a new PA. What was that about? 

The non-linear narrative did not seem like a good choice for such a short arc. I mean, there was so much back and forth between present day, three months ago, then present day, then two days ago. I like non-linear narratives, but it felt ill-fitted for this story. 

33%
she murmured to herself as she hopped onto the metro, heading home.

One small detail pulled me out of the story briefly: at one point, 33%, Kanan hops on a metro, and since the story is based in Pune, I paused — does Pune have metro? Though to be fair to the author, Pune does have a metro now (operational since March 6, 2022), and I haven’t properly lived there for the past five years, so this one’s more on me than the book.

Overall, it was an okay read with a familiar setup, some humour, and straightforward execution.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Notes

2%
batch mates
Shabana Mukhtar: Typo

22%
She successfully finished her first task as Manav unknowingly hired a girl as his PA, mistaking her for a man.
Shabana Mukhtar: “mistaking her for a man”, nice.

30%
a head shake that could rival a confused bobblehead.

The Final Verdict

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