Is it too soon to have a favorite book of 2021?

I don’t care because this book is one that I know I will still be thinking about and probably have reread many times before this year is over. The story flowed so smoothly because the writing is effortlessly good. The author had a way of drawing you in from the first page and keeping you mesmerized to where you didn’t realize hours had passed when it felt like minutes. She writes intellectual characters who are witty in nature, placed in situations that are both entertaining and heartbreaking. This character driven story is supported with emotional topics that were written with care. It didn’t have theatrics to dramatize the plot or exaggerate characters, it is filled with raw human emotions that resonate with the reader well past the ending of the book.

Daisy and Liam contrasting qualities makes for an entertaining relationship. Daisy likes order and predictability while Liam loves spontaneity and impromptu adventures. They love pushing each other's buttons and finding ways to irritate each other, but at the same time their games tend to bring out the best in the other and complement one another’s personalities. It was delightful watching Daisy unravel little by little when Liam walked back into her life while he discovered the sexiness of a spreadsheet.

Having the two main characters from culturally diverse backgrounds find a commonality within each other’s family was fascinating. The author did a great job peppering diversity into this story with culturally specific traditions and food. The family dynamics were written in a way that was both truthful and believable. It centered on the notion that life is messy, and misconstrued versions of reality can happen without open communication.

This book is the epitome of why I love contemporary romance books. The writing was charming, filled with characters that were beautifully flawed. It was impossible to put down and when I did, I constantly had this book in the back of my mind. It had my attention from the first page and my heart from the first snarky banter. There are good laugh out loud moments and quick wit humor that had me belly laughing at times. The writing is creative. The author took a common trope and provided her own unique twist to make this story her own. Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC

Daisy and Liam are not friends, especially since they haven't seen each other in ten years and Liam jilted Daisy on their prom night. But with annoying aunties constantly trying to marry Daisy off, and a marriage ultimatum hanging over Liam's head, the two agree to fake being fiancées. Their past can't be forgotten, though, and the two fall into the easy rhythm they had years ago. This terrifies Daisy because she has abandonment issues, and terrifies Liam because he has self-esteem issues (and traumatic family issues) - issues all around for both of them.

Of course, we all know what happens in the fake dating trope.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Dating Plan. This was a great example of the enemies to lovers and the fake dating tropes. I loved the character development of Daisy - I think Liam could have stood to develop a little more, but I was still rooting for him. I was also quite surprised that someone as intelligent as Daisy couldn't figure out who Liam's friend was from prom night - she says she "knows" as soon as Sanjay admits it...but I still thought it was strange. The side characters are interesting, and the story was fun. I'd highly recommend The Dating Plan, and I can't wait to read more from Sara Desai.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this digital ARC.
This would be my first book that I've read of Sara Desai and I think I can say she's a decent writer.
Daisy and Liam knew each other when they were younger as Liam was her brother's best friend. Of course she had a huge crush on him when she was a teenager. Liam did the unthinkable by standing her up at prom and disappearing from their lives. 10 years later, she runs into Liam at a conference, one thing leads to another, and now they're fake engaged. Both benefit from this arrangement so it's hard to back down.
What I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was the Indian culture injected throughout the book. From Daisy's huge family to their tradition and their food and clothing. That made the book as a whole seem pretty rich. That's probably the best part of the book as a whole.
Issue number one I have: Daisy is still pissed off about being stood up at prom. I get it. That sucks but it's been TEN years. Get <i>over</i> it. There are worse things to be holding a grudge over than a stupid high school dance and to bring it up so many times? Yeesh.
Issue number two: You can be a fan of something without it being ridiculous. Was Daisy a fan of Marvel? Sure. To mention it multiple times, to have the posters in her bedroom (that she hasn't changed since high school?!) and to wear the underwear...a bit much.
Things seemed to progress quite quickly between the two of them, especially when they were faking it. The rules she kept setting were easily broken (not that I minded) so there wasn't a huge amount of tension because things just happened.
Brendan was THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORST. I hated him so much that by the time he's supposed to be redeemed, I was too far on the hate train to care. I did love his son though.
There are plenty of tropes within this book that anybody would love. From childhood friends to fake fiancee to giving up the thing you love. As a whole, it's a middle of the road 3 star story that I think would be enjoyed by most.

I was really excited about this one, but unfortunately it wasn’t the book for me. I didn’t really like this authors first book either but I usually try to give an author 2 chances to win me over and I don’t think her writing it my style

DNF’ed at 46%

I really tried to like this book, but I am so over the overly sexual bad boy meets quirky straight-laced girl. There were so, so many instances where it felt like the plot was random thoughts and drama cobbled together. Also, I could not get a handle on who Daisy was - within pages she’s described as an introvert who hates people and then an extrovert? I couldn’t look past all of these things to get into the story.

Thank you to @berkleyromance and Sara Desai for my gifted e-arc of the Dating Plan! This adorable enemies to lovers and fake romance hybrid comes out on March 16th, but is a @BookoftheMonth pick now. Consider it as an add-on next month!

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can't give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiance. Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend's little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy's matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather's will. If only he hadn't broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago… Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren't about to follow the rules of this engagement.

First of all, I LOVED how Desai utilized several tropes in her book. I think it made the romance more exciting, and brought a touch of the real world into it. Plus, it makes the book more appealing to a wider audience, in my opinion.

Daisy is such a fun protagonist as well. She’s relatable, strong, and definitely someone I’d want to have as a friend in the real world. Her family was such a hoot too (and were all very well-written supporting characters). And Liam, oh my goodness! He really redeemed himself as the book went on, in my opinion. And the steam...if you know, you know!

I’ll be picking up Desai’s first book, The Marriage Game, soon! My expectations are high with how good this book was.

This was a very fun book. I’ve always liked books that revolve around a couple in a forced relationship and Daisy and Liam were a really fun couple. I liked that they both had deeper backstories than what is in a lot of romance books, and I loved all of Daisy’s family members that showed up throughout the book.

When I read The Marriage Game last year, I gave it five stars. When I saw that Sara Desai had a new book coming out, I immediately knew that I wanted to read it. If you remember Sam and Layla were the two main characters in The Marriage Game. The Dating Plan focuses on Layla's best friend, Daisy. Daisy is a software engineer whose parents are insistent upon her getting married. Like in The Marriage Game, there is a heavy focus on the main character's Indian culture and family's insistence to get married. Enter Liam Murphy, a venture capitalist, who also happens to be the former best friend of Daisy's older brother. Liam believes he can not only help out Daisy's company, but also help her out in her love life. Liam is set to inherit a distillery, but that inheritance is contingent upon his being married by his next birthday. The Dating Plan is set up- Daisy will pretend to be engaged to Liam so that Liam can inherit that distillery and Daisy's family will finally leave her alone about getting married. But of course, this plan isn't as simple as it seems, and things always get complicated in fake relationships. Overall, I thought that this was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. I enjoyed The Marriage Game a little more, but there were a lot of factors of this book that I also enjoyed. I liked that we got to see what Sam and Layla were up to, and Layla actually plays a rather significant role in this book as Daisy's best friend. It took awhile for the two characters to finally hook up, but once they finally did, the steam was perfect. Daisy and Liam were actually pretty cute, and it was entertaining to watch their plan unfold as they went on a series of fake dates. I am definitely looking forward to reading more books by Sara Desai! Thank you to the publisher for granting me an early copy of this book!

You guys! This book caught me by total surprise. This is an #OwnVoices book, following marvel loving coding super genius, Daisy, and the boy (now a man) Liam, that stood her up at her Prom and just waltzed back into her life ten years later. This book is set in the Bay Area of California and it made me so nostalgic! The San Jose Sharks games, the talk of Alcatraz, and basically every major attraction, I have been to and it made me feel so homesick.

ⓌⒽⒶⓉ Ⓘ ⓁⒾⓀⒺⒹ
+I absolutely loved the glimpse into an Indian family, their culture, and all of the meddling family members. My husband went to India on his deployment and the scarf and elephant are some of the gifts he brought back from his travels. I loved that although Daisy’s family was a little crazy, at the end of the day, they supported her and just wanted her to be happy.
+This book is a romantic comedy and it delivers on the laughs. I found myself laughing multiple times throughout this story.
+This book is an enemies to lovers/friends to lovers/marriage of convenience, that provides all the feelings. I’ll be honest, reading about Daisy being stood up at prom, reminded me so much of Drew Barrymore’s movie “Never Been Kissed” (I’m not Josie Grossy anymore!!! Anyone? Just me? Alright.) I was weary of Liam and his motorcycle leathers but he falls into the misunderstood bad boy role so easily, you can’t help but fall in love with him too.

ⓌⒽⒶⓉ Ⓘ ⒹⒾⒹⓃⓉ ⓁⒾⓀⒺ
+I truly don’t have anything negative to say about this story. I don’t see myself reading this book again, which ultimately lead to my give of 4.5/5 stars but I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a romantic comedy.

What a sweet and sexy story!! I loved being in this world: the delish food, the second chance romance, and the tension was just on point. The love interest and his motorcycle!! I’d read anything by this author, even her grocery list.

The Dating Plan was such a charming read. I very much enjoyed the chemistry between Daisy and Liam. The fake engagement trope was very well done and I thought it added sizzling tension. Daisy as a character is a strong, feminist lead who was easy to root for! Highly recommend.

4 stars!

I simply could not put this book down! It was laugh out loud funny, full of every romance trope possible and just a charming read.

Daisy is a no nonsense planner with abandonment issues from her mom. She jumps from job to job and doesn't want to get married. To which her entire family is baffled and constantly trying to set her up with someone. Liam is the bad boy (obviously) that was best friends with her older brother until he stood her up for her senior prom and simply VANISHED, breaking Daisy's teenage heart.

Now he's rich and back in town for his grandfather's funeral. With some incredible stipulation, he can only get the family distillery if he's married by his birthday and stays married for a year. (side note, any lawyers wanna tell me if that's possible?) His problem? He's got no one serious and a trail of exes. His solution? Propose to Daisy - SORRY - FAKE propose to Daisy so that he can get the distrilley and she can get her family off her back until their divorce a year later.

Obviously from there they fall madly in love. The end. The book is easy to read and the characters are fairly likeable and loveable. You can find yourself falling in love with Daisy's family structure and support system along with Liam ( or Limb ).

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that the author combined various different parts of different Indian cultures together. Patel (a traditional Gujarati last name) is typically from North Indian. Her calling her father Appa - an Urdu word would not make sense. Then the business with her and her cousin's fiancee's getting swords for the ceremony. That is another non Gujarati thing - typically only seen in Punjabis and Rajputs. It feels like a mismatch and ruined the authenticity of the book - much like the aunty's cooking.

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The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Sara Desai's first book, The Marriage Game, so I was very excited for The Dating Plan. For some reason this one did not work as well for me - it felt uneven and the pacing was a little off. Daisy is a software developer who prefers coding to people. She has a large, loving family trying to set her up with men they've found for her, but she isn't interested. Daisy is still traumatized by her mom leaving when she was young. (She works through that - kind of - through the book.) At a work conference she runs into Liam, her brother's best friend from high school and the guy who stood her up for prom. I think my issues with this book - which has my favorite tropes, enemies to lovers and fake dating - stemmed from Liam's character. Readers (though not Daisy) know that Liam had a good reason for standing her up, but we are told that as an adult he is a party boy venture capitalist. Yet we don't see that side of him, so he doesn't really evolve - it's like he sees Daisy again and matures instantly. I did like that he has to work through some family issues of his own. The other thing that drove me nuts is that Daisy and Liam enter a fake relationship so he can get an inheritance and to help her company, and they go around telling everyone it is fake. What's the point? This book has a lot to like - it's funny (Daisy's family is so great, as is Daisy) and I enjoyed reading it, but it just didn't completely work for me. A lot happens in this book, and I think it could have been plotted a little tighter. I do look forward to Sara Desai's next book, though, and if you enjoyed the first it's worth checking out this one.

I wanted to like this more because I'm over-the-moon about the plot. I really enjoyed the dialogue between the characters, and I think the lead couple have major chemistry. The narrative aspect is the part that I struggled with. I think this one would've worked much better in first person. Regardless, I had a lot of fun. This was my first Sara Desai book, and I'll certainly read her books in the future.

I was really not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. The cover and the description drew me in. I hadn't read the first book and felt physically disappointed that I hadn't when I finished The Dating Plan. The characters were well drawn. I really felt like I knew Daisy and what made her tick. Would my family ambush me with a prospective date at a convention? No, but they have at church. It's embarrassing no matter how you cut it. But Daisy, who doesn't admit to having many social skills, handles it. Not with ease. Especially since she's just seen her ex-boyfriend making out with her ex-boss in the bathroom. And what's worse is that she was thrown off by seeing her brother's childhood best friend at the conference. The same guy who stood her up for her senior prom. But that was ten years ago, so she's not bitter. Really. Oh heck, she sure is.
Liam Murphy is delighted to see Daisy again. Her family was warm and welcoming to him when his own was not. Surely she must be over the whole prom thing... oops. Even better, because when he needs to be married for a year in order to inherit his grandfather's business, who better than someone who hates him?

Four stars
Follows The Marriage Game
This book comes out March 16th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Another enjoyable romance from Sara Desai. A warning though - don't read while hungry, as the food descriptions will make you want to eat just what the characters are. Fake relationship books don't always work for me, but this one made the premise easier to accept by the fact that they knew each other as teens, and this was more of a reconnection.

5 swooning stars!

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai is quite possibly even better than her first in this series, The Marriage Game. I really enjoyed that one, but this one I LOVE! I have to admit that I loved Liam and Daisy a little more than Layla and Sam. I rooted for them more, and was more eager to see their HEA.

This story is such a wonderful blend of open-door, steamy, snarky, laugh-out-loud, break-your-heart, second chance, fake engagement magic! The elements worked so well together and I didn't want their story to end (even though I inhaled each page)! There was high-speed adventure, detailed order, growling steam, tender heart-to-heart moments, and even some great feminist career tid-bits in there.

The Dating Plan had it all, and I'm in love with Sara Desai's writing! I will be recommending this to everyone, on repeat, all year.

Thanks so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy! The Dating Plan was quirky, fun, punchy, and romantic. Daisy and Liam’s set up for their fake relationship is original and engaging, though the depth of Liam’s family turmoil (especially his awful brother) was a tough pill to swallow. Daisy’s frank inner thoughts and no nonsense way of being was delightfully entertaining. Desai writes such original female leads, and I’m looking forward to what she gives us next!

Fun. Witty, Sexy. It's simply so easy and delicious to devour. I loved this book. It's sometimes is very cliche in terms of the romance, but its a good read overall.

I saw this book on NetGalley (obviously fell in love with the cover, too) and thought it sounded right up my alley in terms of romance stories. Turns out, I was right. Now I need to check out The Marriage Game by Sara Desai, because I loved her writing in this one so much!

Daisy is a woman who doesn’t need no man. Liam is a jackass from Daisy’s past who, while she was secretly-ish in love with him, stood her up on prom night, never to be heard from again. Until 10 years later when Daisy literally runs into him at a work conference.

Mixed feelings aside, Daisy needs to distract her family members from their attempts of setting her up with their definition of eligible suitors. So, her and Liam come up with a fake engagement plan.

Will Daisy and Liam be able to pull off this stunt? Will the past creep back into their relationship, either surviving who they are now, or breaking their hearts all over again?

This was an easy book to dive into and get hooked on. I loved it a lot! It was a nice read as a break in between thrillers!