There's so much to like about The Dating Plan. The setting makes me nostalgic for where I grew up. I adore a whip-smart heroine and a somewhat overly confident on the outside hero. The food descriptions and the aunties added some fun flavor that I think this story needed.
Daisy is over her family's matchmaking efforts and her own foray into dating. She wants to be left alone. Running into Liam, her old flame and source of heartbreak, manifests in a fake relationship scheme to get everyone off her back. She concocts the Dating Plan to ensure everyone believes their unbelievable relationship is solid. Liam agrees with some not so minor tweaks that put Daisy out of her comfort zone.
I love how much humor is laced throughout, particularly in the first half. I found myself laughing quite a few times. I have some minor complaints about two-thirds in but it's personal preference. I thought there were too many plot devices in a small amount of time.
I didn't read The Marriage Game but have added it to my TBR and would love to have a visit with the aunties again.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

He was chaos, she was order. When it comes to fake romances these two set the bar high. Daisy was in love with her brother’s best friend and he secretly felt the same. That is until he stood her up on prom night and she spent the next ten years hating him.
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She runs into him at a conference and at the spur of the moment to avoid another potential set up from her dad and aunties she asks him to be her “fiancé”. He obliges, but a few days later he asks her to repay the favor. He needs to get married based on his grandfather’s will in two months time. He needs a plan, a dating plan if you will.
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It’s no surprise that sparks fly and a fake Romance fizzles and a real Romance shines bright. Special shout out to the aunties especially when they see that Liam rides a motorcycle and asked him if he is full patch like sons of anarchy. I died laughing.
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It is also so satisfying to see such a smart and accomplished woman. Daisy is an equal partner to Liam. She is no damsel in distress!
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Thank you to #NetGalley and #Berkley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
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Put this on your list for March 16th!

This was a positively enjoyable romp of a romance. Our heroine loves the Avengers, is completely competent, and of course must deal with very enthusiastic matchmaking from her Aunties who all want to see her well settled, but had a crush on our hero from the time she was in high school. Our Hero has harbored a long affection for our heroine, but let her down at prom, and never explained why he did so, and she is not the most ammenable to his interest now.

The two main characters were likable, and I enjoyed switching back and forth between their perspectives. I enjoyed the diversity and the dynamics between family, friends, and cultures as we moved through the story. I read this over the course of a weekend, and definitely recommend for anyone looking for a modern diverse romcom.

Advanced NetGalley Review Copy | During a pandemic and snowy Asheville winter, I needed The Dating Plan. Hilarious and sexy, this sweet multicultural romance will have you screaming, "just get married already!"

The Irish and Indian family members with their qualms and quirks are equally a fun addition to the story -- and there is a distillery that needs saving!! -- and I ate up the romance between Liam and Daisy. I, for one, can relate to the backup plan or 'fake' relationship to get everyone off my back.

Find the full review on The Uncorked Librarian here: https://www.theuncorkedlibrarian.com/march-2021-book-releases/

Thank you to the NetGalley and publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Quick synopsis: Needing to be married to secure his grandfather's inheritance, Liam enlists Daisy's help for a fake marriage. The two have a friendship going back to when they were teenagers, that abruptly ended when Liam stood Daisy up for her prom and immediately left town. After all this time, can she move on from that heartache?

This book was ADORABLE, especially considering that the fake dating troupe is not usually my thing. I loved Daisy's character, especially being a woman in STEM, and she reminded me just a bit of Stella from The Kiss Quotient. Her chemistry with Liam's character was excellent, and the steam was 🥵. This book made me hungry while reading, and I definitely sense a reread of this in my future. I'm glad I also snagged a physical copy as my Book of the Month last month.

If you're looking for a sweet & diverse rom com with a healthy dosing of steam, I'd highly recommend picking this up.

A cute story, with very confident characters. It was lovely to see Liam and Daisy find one another again. How often does miscommunication result in the end of possibilities?

If you’re looking for some smutty content, DING DING we have a winner.

I will say that I often found myself annoyed with the characters. I don’t know if that’s because I was tired at the end of the day when I was reading it or if it was because the characters were actually kind of annoying?? I don’t know, but I’d say you be a judge of that yourself if you’re interested in reading The Dating Plan!!

Also, I love this cover!! So it’s so pretty

2021 is the year of me rediscovering the joy or actually reading books. This book, was fun, amazing, and kept me up every night way past my bed time. I devoured this book in a weekend. I loved Daisy, it was refreshing to get a character that although she had some low points still knew her worth. The fact that the story focused on her intelligence and her career path made me love it even more.
I love me some angst in a romance, and there was angst, but it was resolved in an amazingly adult fashion.
At one or two points the story was a little predictable, but in that fun way of oh no is this where they're going?! no way!! You loved every moment of it.
Diverse, fresh, and fun I will be recommending this book to everyone!

I loved the marriage game and the sequel the dating game did not disappoint! This could definitely be read as a stand alone but I highly recommend reading them both! I loved Daisy bad ass business chick who didn’t need a man and Liam was one swoony man! I love a second chance romance and this one reminded me why. The connection is always magnetic and the angst is through the roof. Some great steamy moments and and parts that made me laugh out loud makes for a near perfect rom com

The Dating Plan was a cute, fast paced romcom giving a second chance at love for Daisy and Liam through a fake relationship arrangement.

I enjoyed the second chance at love, the chemistry the 2 characters had and all of the relatives on both sides.

I really enjoying this series!

Ok, everyone knows that rom-coms are not my thing but occasionally I like them as palate cleansers. Sometimes they really surprise me. And boy, did I enjoy this one!

Daisy was such a great main character. My biggest dislike in romcoms is when the girl is a mess and the guy’s life is completely together and he comes along and “saves” her from herself. This story was not that. Daisy was smart and capable and she knew it. In every aspect of her life she was waiting for the right opportunities and she knew when to grab them and hold on with them. She was balancing a career she loved with a vibrant family life and found a way to make real time to support a friend and eventually a relationship. We need more women in these stories that are bounding with confidence and learning when it's ok to have it all and just shine. Liam constantly referenced how he loved her brain and how clever she was. I loved as she began to embrace that more. I loved that she was a Marvel nerd AND a sports fan, yes we do exist! Her tight knit family dripping with Indian tradition and culture was so fun to immerse in. Liam was your typical aloof, damaged bad boy who turned out to be quite complex with real emotional depth. He was the epitome of unwavering loyalty. Neither of these characters were caricatures and I found that endlessly refreshing. I also really appreciated that there was real communication between them not just telling one another what the other wanted to hear. Even though there were some past hurts between them, they worked through them in a healthy way. This book highlights a relationship that is one that people can read and enjoy and root for.

I would consider this one to be more on the steamy side than my personal preference so be prepared for that going in. There are a few eye roll cheesy romance moments but I wasn't drowning in them. There also are frank discussions about domestic violence, alcoholism and divorce which are well done.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me access to an ARC of this novel. All opinions above are my own.

4.75

This book was an incredible read. I've never read Sara Desai before, but I LOVED this book, and immediately downloaded her other release.

The perfect mix of romantic comedy and emotional realness, Desai wove a great and immersive read. I appreciated the realness of the cultural differences and expectations of an immigrant family. I appreciated the struggle that both characters had to go through in order to figure out their future. The spice was perfect. And I LOVE a marriage of convenience plot - except this one had it's own little twists and turns.

My ONE concern, which as a hockey fan just bugged me so much, was the fact that the author referred to intermission between the periods as "half time". I tried to get over it, but as a Canadian hockey lover, I was annoyed. Sigh.

But otherwise - this book was perfection!

Cute and predictable, but all rom-coms are and it's usually expected. The characters were likable, relatable and developed well. The writing tripped me up a few times; there were many sentences that should have been worded better. I cringed every time "thick finger" was used and will be happy if I never hear it again. Some scenes and dialogue were long winded, and the conclusion felt dragged out. I was teetering between a 3 and 4 star rating for most of the book, and decided on a solid 3 at the end because although the story was entertaining it will not be memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley for granting me a copy to review.

First of all I want to thank Berkley romance and Net Galley for my eARC of the Dating Plan by Sara Desai, the second book to The Marriage Game.

The Dating Plan was a cute and steamy fake dating romance. I was a little skeptical how some one as logical as Daisy could fall for a faking dating scheme with someone like Liam, but I ended up loving the plot in the end. I loved how protective and strong Liam's past made him, but also how he had more of a character then just his past. The book definitely had it's slow points, but it also had a surprising amount of steam. I also loved the continuance of the huge and crazy family dynamics that we were first introduced to in the first book.

If you love a good fake dating romance, with diverse characters and a whole lot of steam then this is definitely the book for you.

I was so happy that this was a BOTM pick so that I could have the pretty physical copy as well.

Daisy is shocked one day at a tech conference when she runs into her brother's best friend from high school and the man who was supposed to take her to Prom but disappeared from her and her family's lives instead, Liam Murphy. Daisy is a top notch San Francisco computer engineer and Liam is in line to become a partner at a top tier venture capitalist firm when the Universe literally throws them together. Daisy can barley overcome her hurt and rage about being abandoned Prom night but for the next 1o years when Liam returns to San Francisco. To save the company she works for and for Liam to save his family legacy they must fake an engagement and marriage all the while trying not to fall in love with each other and leaving the past behind them.
A glorious whirlwind of a romcom with South Asian American and Irish American families providing background drama and entertainment. Daisy and Liam are perfect at being loveably imperfect. The main woman character is unapologetically smart and nerdy and will take no prisoners.
This was a lovely and quick escapist read. The backdrop of San Francisco was wonderful as well as all of the cultural elements and makes you hungry for another book in the series.

DNF at 30%

Unfortunately I just don't think this book is going to work for me, mostly because I find the hero incredibly irritating and don't like him. I typically love fake dating/marriage of convenience tropes, I like the heroine who is a smart software engineer. But this is a romance, and unfortunately the hero is kind of a jerk but I think we're supposed to find it cute. He talks down on the nerdy things the heroine likes to do in the name of "banter" but really just comes across as him being an asshole. At least to me. He mocks her wanting to watch movies or get coffee and I just wasn't into it. I think it's supposed to be cute, but if I'm not rooting for the couple to be together it's not effective for me as a romance. That said, people like different things in their romantic heroes so I'm sure others will enjoy this. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Very enjoyable to me. I liked Daisy's whole schtick: the clothes, the MCU underwear, the dancing, the friendships. My only real quibble with Daisy was that her job was described as a programmer (including in C++), but I didn't at all see where that fit in with the product line that her employer was promoting. The author talked about Daisy debugging programs, but never said a thing about what those programs were supposed to be doing. The only actual software work that was described was a redesign of the website.

This book gave me a number of laugh-out-loud moments, and that alone makes this book worth four stars. Bring on the next in this series!

The Dating Plan is a sweet story about first love and what can go wrong. As well as second chances. It follows a character we are introduced to in Sara Desai's The Marriage Game.

Daisy is a planner and feels like herself among numbers and facts. She relies on her family and doesn't allow for herself to build connections outside of them. But will that change when the boy she first loved, Liam, comes back into her life randomly? Liam was told he was unworthy and a screw-up, but one thing he screwed up the most was what he had with Daisy before disappearing for 10 years. They both need a fake relationship for different reasons and decide that they could be mutually beneficial for each other. Will this fake relationship turn into something more?

This was a fun and easy read. I found it to be predictable but it was a great way to spend my afternoon. I definitely recommend The Dating Plan if you're in the mood for a fake relationship and friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story!

💓💓💓If you are looking for a fun new romance, you need to pick this one up! 💓💓💓⁣
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I am not a big romance reader, but when I saw the cover of this book, I fell in love! Lets be real, it's stunning! Then I read what it was about and I was in. 👌👍⁣
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In The Dating Game, we follow Daisy Patel, a marvel obsessed software engineer and Liam Murphy, a hot venture capitalist who just happened to stand Daisy up for her senior prom and completely disappeared. Ten years later, they run into each other at a conference and a plan to fake date quickly turns into a fake fiance situation. Desperate to keep her match making aunties off her back and desperate to save his family's distillery, Daisy and Liam agree to get fake married. Nothing bad could happen, right? ⁣
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I absolutely love this book! First, Daisy is a software engineer which is awesome to see a female character with this type of job! She is also a total nerd and had pretty bad anxiety, but not in a "I'm not like other girls" kind of way. She was really realistic and so sweet. I loved her family and the medaling aunties trying to marry her off 😂⁣
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Liam on the other hand, is hilarious. There is a scene while he is picking out his wedding attire that had me cracking up. I really loved him as the love interest. ⁣
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Why this lost half a star was only because there was a bit of miscommunication at the end that really was blown out of proportion in my opinion. It dragged out a bit too long. Also, Daisy constantly bringing up the fact that Liam stood her up 10 years ago got a little annoying, but nothing to totally ruin the read for me!
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Thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a review! I also got this as my BOTM pick! Available everywhere on March 16th. ☺️

This arc was gifted by Berkley and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dating Plan was everything I needed to jumpstart my February reading. The faux fiancé trope is one of my favorites in a romance. Daisy is everything a woman should want to be, a badass woman in charge of her own life, a professional in the tech world, single and, well, ready to avoid the mingling. As a member of an Indian family she faces pressure from her entire family to marry, including a myriad of lovable aunties who just want to see her settled into life. After the tragic experience of being stood up at the prom all those years ago by her brother’s best friend, Liam, Daisy is suddenly reminded by her tragic past when Liam attends a conference where Daisy’s company is making a pitch. Confronted with hurts of the past, and her family abruptly showing up at the conference insisting she goes on a date with a nice desi boy they have chosen, Daisy announces she is actually engaged..to Liam. Plagued by his own family drama and a clause in a will that states he will only receive his family’s legacy, a distillery that has been owned by the family for 300 years, if he marries and is wed for at least one year, Liam proposes a plan: The Dating Plan.

Check out The Dating Plan on 16 Mar 21!

The characters in this story are adorable. I really enjoyed getting to know Daisy and Liam. I also really like that this book could be read as a stand alone even though it is book two in the series. This book had so many great tropes too: fake fiance's, a fake marriage and enemies-to-lovers. I had some issues with each characters but everything got flushed out by the end of the book. I'm looking forward to reading The Marriage Game and more from Sara Desai.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with advanced copy for an honest review!