The First Time

Passion changes everything in Bitsi Shar's sexy debut novel, "The First Time," set in Delhi, India.

As two lovers prepare to part, possibly forever, their steamy affair plays out from its innocent beginning to its fiery end.

They are both barely out of university when they first meet-he, a business school graduate, now working at a food company; and she, a liberal arts college graduate, just starting out as a research analyst at an NGO. He is her brother's best friend, and she is his next-door neighbor, a beginning that doesn't seem particularly promising...until their undeniable attraction boils over during the most innocuous course of events.

Soon, everyday moments like sharing a chartered bus to work and dancing at a New Year's party add up to a lifetime of memories for this unlikely couple. Loving unapologetically, tearing themselves apart savagely, and reconnecting desperately, they fight to stay together...and apart.

Desire, regret, and love build to a meteoric climax that consummates their attraction-and forms a secret that alters their lives forever. The situation dictates that theirs is a love that cannot be. And yet, it grows...