I came across The Senator's Daughter while browsing through a list of Nigerian romance books yesterday, being a lazy weekend for me. The title itself caught my attention. It appeared dramatic, like they would be a scandal, love and politics tangled together. So I downloaded the book, started the first chapter and before I knew it, I was halfway done. I was able to finish the book yesterday also, as it has just 22 chapters.
The Plot
The book tells us about Rita, who is the daughter of a powerful senator, senator Obaseki. He's also the owner of a big pharmaceutical company in Abuja. And Nosa. Nosa used to be a soldier. From the beginning, it's clear that Nosa isn't the regular romantic hero, he's got anger and pain inside him, and most of it is directed at the senator. To him, the senator represents everything wrong with the system - greed, injustice and power used the wrong way. Especially because, Isoken, Nosa's love of 15years died after getting treated by a fake drugs from the senator's company.
So he decides the kidnap the senator's daughter, Rita, because using legal ways to bring the Senator to justice failed. Not for money but to get the senator to confess what he did publicly and face his punishment.
As one would expect though, nothing goes according to plan. Rita is not quite the spoilt princess that Nosa thought. She was suffering in her own ways, dealing with what happened with her mother and her previous relationship, and also the burden of her father's name. The moments they spent being captive and captor, made the coldness between them melt. Nosa explained to Rita is reason for kidnapping her and Rita agreed to help get her father to confess.
Their relationship was more like reluctant understanding that gradually developed into something else, and not a sudden romance.
My Thought and Rating
I have to say, the book had its moments! The story flowed perfectly well and the convos between characters felt super natural. Rita and Nosa's chemistry was on point, believable even. One thing threw me off though was that their whole hate-to-love thing went down like too fast. I don't get what the rush was for and I think the book would have been better if things unfolded a bit slower. In all, it was a solid read that kept me hooked - wanting to know what happens next.
Rita and Nosa's romance had its gentle moments but it also had tension. After all, how can one fall in love with the daughter of the person they hate?. I really liked how Amaza Azie made the conflict feel relatable and not too overly dramatic.
It turned out that Nosa's hatred was actually directed at the wrong person, at the end. The person who was actually behind the distribution of fake drugs that lead to Isoken's death and two others was Yusuf Obaseki, Rita's half-brother. Yusuf did it to hide his sexuality from being exposed by someone who was threatening him, but that justifies nothing. I think that was a nice twist to add to the book.
By the time I reached the end, I just sat there thinking, "well... that was actually good". It's one of those stories you don't necessarily obsess over but you don't regret reading either.
I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5. It's a good entertaining read - not overly dramatic, nor too lovey dovey. It's just right to curl up with when you're in the mood for something romantic but also a little bit dramatic and edgy.
Image is a screenshot from my e-library