First off, I hated that Dev started this book after the horrific death of a woman I had grown to love from her previous book. And that much of the book focused on Jen's grieving widower, Nic, who I also loved. No fair.

But I did grow to like Jess, who was vulnerable yet strong at the same time. There was a strong mystery element to this book, in many aspects, some better than others. Jess herself is a mystery. She is being threatened to trick Nic, but we find out the why and how slowly. There is also the mystery of Jen's investigation of the black market organ ring. This mystery doesn't remain a mystery for long, though, because the shifting POVs in the book include both the man who runs the ring and a man who is close to the person who is blackmailing Jen. It's very easy to connect the dots -- possibly easier than the author intended.

I'm torn over whether the mix of mystery/suspense with the romance of Nik and Jess works or not. On one hand, I do like both characters. On the other, the different moods in this book changes so fast that I felt like I got whiplash at times. One chapter is despondent and gloomy, the next is horrific because it's from the organ ring leader's point of view, and the next is tender. It's odd.

The ending left me frustrated because there isn't any resolution around the man behind the blackmail. I suspect her next book will be about Rahul and Kimi, and that reveal will factor in there. But the book did not feel complete without it.

It was nice seeing Ria and Vik again, though. As well as Nik's family and the aunties, even if it was fleeting. In fact, this book made me want to re-read Bollywood Bride.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

God, they were such a mess. No. He was a mess. She was just far too tangled up in his mess.

This was my first Sonali Dev book, so I was new to her style and composition and I think that might have hurt the rating a bit.
At first I thought this was going to have a scifi/paranormal component but then quickly learned it was going in the more slow burning criminal thriller arena. I would categorize this more as fiction with romance; definitely not your typical romance genre read.

Our heroine Jess purposely collides with our hero Nic. Nic lost his wife two years ago, she was helping with a police case involving a blackmarket organ transfer business. He was forced to watch while they raped and then murdered her. Jess tells him that she received his wife's heart in a transplant and that she can "hear" his wife telling her to find important evidence for the case. Jess has her own issues with surviving a rape when she was seventeen and the emotional fallout that comes with that.

The first half is mostly Nic's pain over losing his wife, dealing with her death and how she never told him she was helping with the case, putting her life and her pregnancy in jeopardy. We get insight into why Jess is doing what she is and how Jess and Nic are experiencing some chemistry but are too tied up in their pain to fully acknowledge or know how to act on it.

Why had he started this? Why couldn't he look away from her eyes? Those eyes. He wanted her to stop, wanted to take back ever wanting to know. But those eyes were so filled with the need to have someone see and not turn away, he couldn't turn away from them.

Even with such a start, the second half of the story I think is even more painful. We get a deeper insight to what Jess has lived through and there was some incredible dialogue and thoughts on how Jess deals with the pain and rape culture. We also get a breakthrough with Nic and Jess allowing themselves to reach out to one another. This was a bit hard for me to fully connect with. Even though Nic has been in pain for two years, as the reader, I'm new to it and even though his healing starts here I had problems transitioning from the pain to new romance; it didn't flow completely smooth for me.

Nic's family are from the previous books in the series and their connection and relationships filled out the story beautifully. There were also povs from Rahul, the cop Nic's wife was helping and who helps explain the criminal mystery part and is clearly being set-up for a book of his own and from the villain. The villain pov gets pretty dark and graphic at times and was another component of the story that didn't quite mesh with every thing else for me.

I don't want to talk too much about the criminal thriller part or all of Jess' motivations because I don't want to spoil certain points that I think have more impact if you go in blind. If I knew this read more like fiction, I would have skewed my mind that way but I was expecting something a little different. All the components didn't jive for me and the ending seemed a bit rushed but I'm definitely going to be on board for Rahul and Kimi's story. I'm a sucker for love/hate and this couple seemed to positively vibrate with it. ( )

Dr. Nikhil Joshi left the U.S. to move to Mumbai with his wife Dr. Jen Joshi, to care for those in Mumbai’s slums. His wife had been gathering a database of those willing to donate their organs. Unfortunately for her, this database caused her to become a target of unscrupulous men dealing in stolen organs and led to her death. Her organs were donated and her husband retreated from life. The story begins two years later when Nik is working as a doctor on a cruise ship. He is drinking and barely surviving. If the job had not been given to him by a friend, he would have lost it by then. When a woman on board, Jess, walks by him periodically, he almost thinks it is Jen. The hair colour is the same and she looks a bit like her. When she tells him that she has Jen's heart, he will do almost anything for her. They begin a search for Jen's list of donors, both for different reasons. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a quote from jen's journal and it is almost like her ghost is present in the story.

This story had a bit of everything. There was mystery, romance, grief, criminal underground, deceit, Indian Culture, and suspense that caused many emotions in the reader. I enjoyed this book, but it took time to get through it. There was a lot of repetition at times and I put it aside a couple of times. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

In The Bollywood Bride the wedding of doctors Nikhil and Jen Joshi drew the heroine and hero back together. Later, as part of Doctors Without Borders, Jen uncovers a black-market organ ring centered in Mumbai. To protect themselves, the criminals kill Jen and sell her heart. A Change of Heart opens two years later, with the devastated Nic drinking himself to death. When the Bollywood dancer Jess Koirala appears on Nic’s cruise ship claiming a connection to Jen, Nic wants to ignore her. But Jess will do anything to obtain the evidence Jen hid so she can protect her son from the villain’s threats -- including dragging Nic back into life. Dev uses entries from Jen’s diary to heighten the suspense and empathy with Nic’s grief, while making all the characters more vibrant. With a darker crime thriller element builds tension as Nic and Jess work together, hurt each other, and eventually heal each other. High drama, fast-paced action, and an interesting crime thread will draw new fans. The complexity of Dev’s Bollywood-style contemporary romances continues to evolve, creating a story and characters that will haunt the reader. The ending begs for a sequel where the criminals are revealed and dealt with. ( )

A Change of Heart follows the story of a man named Nikhil who is mourning over the death of his wife, Jen, who passed two years ago. One day he meets a woman named Jess, who looks similar to his wife and she is coincidentally the organ donor recipient of Jen’s heart. Their mission to find the truth behind Jen’s death brings up many questions shrouded in mystery.

Nikhil can’t seem to move on after Jen’s death and is haunted daily by his treasured memories of her. Jen was is other half and now he feels incomplete without her. Meeting Jess stirs up feelings that he has tried to keep buried for so long in order to live day-to-day. Though he eventually gives into helping Jess figure out the mystery, he still can’t cope with the events that surrounded her death.

Jess, on the other hand, is torn between taking advantage of a broken man and saving her own son, Joy, from danger as she is being blackmailed by mysterious person who wants Jen’s secrets. Though she hates being apart from Joy she is fueled to complete her mission in order to return to him safely while (like Nikhil) battling her past.

Both Nikhil and Jess continue to hide from one another ever after they develop an acquaintance type of relationship. They are reluctant to share their pasts and both of their secrets start to eat at each other. The tensions between the two not only intensify as they get closer to the truth, but as the bad guys (who Jess is “working” for) further develop their plans in order to continue their black market operation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked Dev’s writing style and how her words are descriptive, yet poetic. The plot shows strong character development and I appreciated that the romance didn’t happen in the beginning, but rather took it’s time to form. Nikhil and Jess need time to work on their own broken hearts and pasts in order to heal and help each other move on.

This was the first book I’ve read by her and I found it to be a satisfying story. The story was entertaining, the characters felt real, and while there were some difficult (trigger warning) topics that arose within the plot I like how they were discussed. It was also very interesting to read about some aspects of Indian culture that I was unfamiliar with. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books in the future!

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )