India, March 26 -- Chetan Bhagat's latest book 12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story has a straightforward plot: 33-year-old Saket Khurana, a man who is an engineer-turned-stand-up comedian, falls for a 21-year-old woman named Payal Jain, who works at a private equity firm. They run into each other at a comedy club in Mumbai where he is performing, and they hit it off instantly.

The title of the book refers to the age gap, which is the main source of attraction and conflict. She has never been allowed to have a boyfriend. Her parents have raised her to believe that sex must happen only between a husband and a wife. He is divorced, and trying to avoid any new emotional entanglements. However, all his restraint goes out the window when he meet...