First Kiss & Broken Promises
First Kiss can be earth-shattering and so can ‘broken promises’, especially when both are sealed and delivered by the one who has held your heart in the palms of his hands since the day you turned a teen.
Seventeen year old Divya Narayan is a high-spirited young girl with an adventurous streak in her, who doesn’t think twice before taking a risk. She learns very early in life that broken promises by ones you love equals a broken heart. So she makes two promises – Never to fall in love and never to break a promise.
One fateful night four years ago, Aryan Diaz not only broke Divya's heart but also her trust and their unique bond of friendship. When the charming heart-breaker returns next door to Divya, he holds more than a key to her locked heart; he has answers that can set her free to break the promises she made.
Join me as I paint their love and their first kiss with vibrant colors that dull the promises they both had to break.
Interview
1. Please tell the readers a bit about yourself.
My name is Neeraja, but friends call me Neeru. I am from India. I have seen 38 summers and would like to believe I am wiser for it. I am a hands-on mom who loves to write, dream, and write some more when am not busy driving my family crazy.
I am one of the directors, along with my husband, in a mobile app development company that we started a year ago. Since I’ve started writing, I have hardly been able to do justice to my role there. Thankfully, my husband understands my need to focus on getting my first fiction right with as little distractions as possible. Becoming a published author is a dream destination. Meanwhile, am thoroughly enjoying the journey.
2. What types of books do you write?
I am currently writing romance but would love to branch out into murder mystery, historical, fantasy, or even horror someday.
3. How many books have you written?
First Kiss & Broken Promises is my first fiction.
4. What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?
Playing catch up with Hunger Games and in Television, I’m looking forward to Arrow, Game of Thrones, Homeland, and Intelligence.
I’m most excited about beta reading one of the most popular fantasy books on Wattpad, which the author is currently rewriting for publishing. I already have the first few chapters in my inbox.
Secret by Rhonda Byrne and the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson are few others I am eagerly looking forward to reading.
5. What type of books do you enjoy reading?
I love most genres – romance, mystery, thriller, historical, and fantasy (this is a recent addition after reading ‘Paladin’ by Sally Slater on Wattpad). Werewolf stories are my guilty pleasure.
6. If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?
1) My sanity intact
2) Characters from my story ‘First Kiss & Broken Promises’ to keep me company
3) Power of teleportation *I did mention retaining my sanity: D
7. Are you considering a sequel?
Absolutely but depends on the characters. If they decide to run away to the deserted island without me, then I may have to find closure in this book itself :)
8. What inspired you to become a writer?
A burning need to express, emote, role play, dream, imagine, and create has been the main source of inspiration besides encouragement from friends and family. Simply put – I just want to tell a story the best I can.
Excerpt
“Wanna chase me, Pigtails? Come get me,” he taunted, his laughter fading with the blurring images.
I tossed restlessly, tangling the sheets around my legs. The heat was unbearable, and I struggled to sleep. Car doors slamming shut woke me up from my sorry attempt at sleep.
Light giggles and whispered conversations wafted through the open windows. My eyes shot open and I sat up on the bed. It was a still night with curtains as motionless as the walls beside it. I threw the sheets off my legs and got off the bed. Walking to the window, I drew the curtains aside and peered into Annie’s courtyard where her mom’s car was parked.
I could make out Annie’s silhouette near the car; she was talking animatedly with someone. My brows furrowed and my head tilted as far as the window would allow in an attempt to catch sight of the person behind the car’s open trunk door. The person must have said something funny for Annie threw her head back and laughed loudly. Her arm shot out to punch the person playfully with so much familiarity; my sleep deprived mind cleared instantly.
Airport! They were back from the airport!
As if to validate my brain’s lucidity, a hand emerged from behind the trunk door holding a haversack. My breath locked in my throat, anticipating what my eyes longed to see. Those seconds, those precious seconds he took to shut the trunk and emerge from behind, felt like hours and then the time stood still.
My eyes zoned in and stayed riveted on his appearance. Moonlight cast a silver shadow on his silhouette defining his long slender frame. This was a moment my fingers itched to hold my camera and capture, but my eyes refused to shift its gaze from the man, drinking in his every movement. He hitched his haversack onto his right shoulder, shaking his hair out of his eyes and weaving his left hand through it. He then casually threw his arm around Annie’s shoulder and pulling her close, he started walking to the front door.
A few feet from the door, Annie broke away and ran back to the car. As usual, she forgot something. My eyes refused to follow my friend and stayed on the man…the boy I had not seen for four years.
Aryan!
He lifted his head towards my window so suddenly as if I had called out to him. My eyes bulged out of their sockets and I quickly clamped my mouth shut with my hands, resisting the impulse to duck or dive back into the room away from the window.
Despite the storm raging inside me, I stood rooted to the spot as still as the moonlit night, as still as the man below. He could not see me, right? But I could feel his eyes bore into mine and my heart hastily beat a staccato. I blinked. In that instant, the moment broke and he turned his head away towards Annie. Both of them entered their home without a backward glance.
I stood there, looking at the last spot he had been.
Pigtails! I closed my eyes on a sigh.
