The Singles Table is an entertaining book that I read in one sitting because I was engrossed in the story. The interactions between Jay and Zara are fun, and the banter keeps the reader engaged. The book is well written; the prose flows smoothly, creating a fast-paced read that sucks you in till the very end.

This was a typical rom com book but I really enjoyed it. I liked all the characters and their chemistry and would loved to spend more time with them.

RATING: THREE STARS

*contains spoilers*

South Asian romances are the way to my heart so when I saw Sara Desai had published a new one, I was immediately sold. The plot of this book takes place over a series of Indian wedding events, wonderfully embedding the book's plot with key cultural components most South Asians would be able to relate to. I found myself wishing I was in Bangladesh to enjoy wedding season and dress up like the characters. One aspect of the book I enjoyed was Zara's commitment to being herself. Other than a few scenes, she did not quiet herself or change herself for anybody. As a brown woman, that is a level of confidence I aspire to have myself. Also, her energy being at a high all the time, I can't picture myself having it but I would love to spend a night out drinking with her!

As for the actual romance of the book, I did enjoy it but it fell flat near the end. The buildup towards the romance was really nice and I enjoyed reading Jay's POV about how much he wanted her and how he would spoil her. What girl wouldn't? That being said, Zara's resistance to the relationship, although understandable, was a bit tough to continue reading over the span of a few chapters. I wanted to shake her and say, "He's a good guy! Accept him!" Because of this, when they got together at the end, it felt a bit rushed and unfulfilling. I do wish more time was spent on building a healthy, loving relationship. But, I do understand the importance of showing Zara's commitment issues and that she needed to heal on her own.

With all that being said, I would still recommend reading the book because it has amazing cultural nods and a swoon-worthy Indian male lead!

Speical thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-ARC of this book!

Jay and Zara have one thing in common- neither want relationships. For Jay, he wants to focus on his growing security company. For Zara, she wants nothing to do with love after living through the devastation of her parents' divorce. Zara loves to make matches, though, so she makes a deal with Jay- introduce her to a few celebrities and she'll find the perfect woman for him. What could possibly go wrong? I enjoyed this book, the third in a loosely tied series (all can be read by themselves as there really is very little carry over). This was a great read for right before Valentine's Day!

I really enjoyed this book. The banter was spot on and I loved both characters and how they brought each other out of their comfort zones!!

The Singles Table is the third book in the Marriage Game series. I love Sara Desai and it’s honestly impossible to pick a favorite. This one might be it though.

In this book we meet Zara and Jay who are complete opposites. I couldn’t get enough of their back and forth antics. Both characters were wonderful.
Zara was such a free spirit I instantly fell in love with her. Jay was so loveable even though he tried so hard not to be.

Sara definitely knows how to write steamy scenes.
They were swoon worthy! Had me blushing throughout them.

I loved every second of this book. Highly recommend if you enjoy the sunshine/grump trope.

Thank you Berkley for the ARC.

The Singles Table é um romance divertido com famílias indianas intrometidas, tias casamenteiras, exposição de arte um pouco escandalosa e situações divertidas que me deixaram completamente presa a leitura. Zara é uma personagem radiante e extrovertida, ela ilumina qualquer lugar por onde passa, o oposto de Jay que sofre de Transtorno Pós-traumático causado por campos de batalha, ele é um tanto rabugento, viciado em trabalho e não quer nenhum relacionamento romântico, já que seu trauma o faz ter pesadelos constantes.

Foi uma delícia ver esses personagens tão diferentes se apaixonando, eles se complementam perfeitamente e as cenas mais quentes deixaram claro que o casal tem química. Esse é o terceiro livro da trilogia Marriage Game da Sara Desai, mas pode ser lido de forma independente.

Another solid romance from Desai. I liked the expansion of the main character, and the appearances of some of the characters from her earlier works.

The Singles Table follows the main characters Zara Patel and Jay Donovan, navigating the life of being single during the infamous wedding season. They strike a deal where Zara will use her super-awesome match-making skills to find Jay a match, where he'll provide the opportunity for Zara to meet famous celebrities. However, what happens when sparks fly between the two?

To be completely honest, I didn't manage to connect with the characters at all. At times Zara felt almost too immature to me, and Jay did fall flat sometimes. However, that's just my taste. But I do think it's kind of a nice to have a really dorky and immature, but confident and serious when needed, character. Unfortunately, it did give way too much second-hand embarrassment.

Moreover, this book doesn't really bring anything new to the table. It's the usual rom-com type of book with high tension between the main leads and the all-too-typical miscommunication trope kind of thingy.

On the other hand, this book did keep me entertained for a while. I'll give it that. Even though it's not that unique, I still had a good time reading it. Well, at least when Zara wasn't doing anything embarrassing or miscommunication didn't happen. So I'm giving it a solid 3 stars.

Over and out. -Nora<3

This is another delightful romcom from Sara Desai and this whole series has earned her a spot on my must-buy authors list. Once again, we get the laugh out loud humor, off the charts chemistry, fantastic supporting cast of family and friends, as well as just a solid and fun story overall. I am charmed, enamored, and could not get enough of this one!

I had a fun time reading this book, especially because I've been looking for more grumpy/sunshine MCs in romance books. I hadn't read Desai's previous book, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but this read will definitely keep her on my radar going forward.

The sunlight filtered through the trees as she carefully maneuvered across the terrain. She held her rifle in her hand, ready to aim and fire as soon as she saw her target. She could hear squeals and swear words flying as others got caught in a wild cross-fire. She could see the blue flag waving in the breeze, her goal right in front of her. She didn’t see anyone around and sped forward to grasp the prize. Just as she was about to grab the flag a sharp sting hit her in the rear and a smear of blue paint was splattered across her butt. Now she didn’t want the win, she wanted revenge on whoever had targeted her!

The Singles Table was a fun rom-com that starts out in a paint-ball war where an enemies to lovers relationship starts to bloom. Zara and Jay were such great characters! It was an entertaining read all the way through with some funny, laugh out loud moments. The matchmaking aunties providing some great laughter.

If you’re a fan of enemies to lovers turning friends to lovers, and also love some meddling family members and match-making, then you don’t want to miss this gem from Sara Desai.

Thank you @berkleyromance for a copy of The Singles Table. This story has one of the cutest meet cute and I love how Jay and Zara resisted each other so much.

I enjoyed seeing the aunties again and how involved they are in Zara’s life. I love how Zara helped Jay when he needed her the most even though he didn’t know it.

I loved Sara Desai's previous release -- THE WEDDING TABLE -- so I was highly anticipating the publication of THE SINGLES TABLE! Suffice to say, I think I enjoyed this one even more. I'm a sucker for the grumpy x sunshine trope, and this one delivered in spades.

What started out as a cute story about the one main character setting up the other on dates and eventually realizing their feelings for one another quickly became a what on earth where is this story going type of plot. By the end the conflict that splits this couple apart becomes so far-fetched that it knocked my rating down to three stars. I was ready for it to be over at that point. While overall this series was cute, I think I will bypass any additional stories that are written because I had the same qualms with The Dating Plan. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for a free review copy of The Singles Table in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I thought this was a really cute story. It definitely gave me Jasmine Guillory vibes, so if you’re a fan, this one is for you!

I love a good enemies to lovers and I appreciated the character depth and growth in the story. I liked both Zara and Jay despite their flaws and thought they had great chemistry.

This was my first book by Desai, so I’m looking forward to reading more.

The Singles Table all week and it is so freaking good, y’all. It’s a grumpy sunshine, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, let’s make a deal to help each other but actually we’ll just fall in love instead. He’s a bossy, serious, ex military guy who always takes care of everyone around him. She’s a fiercely independent, free spirit, trying to be true to herself and her dreams despite opposing familial expectations. Neither of them are looking for love.

This is funny and sweet with some truly excellent steam, including some security guard role play complete with uniform. There’s a very thoughtful portrayal of PTSD. These two each have so much emotional baggage from past trauma and watching them work through it as they fall in love is everything. Be sure to check your CWs.

This is my favorite book of the series! I loved Zara and Jay so much. From the moment they met, I couldn’t get enough of their back and forth antics with each other. Zara is the kind of person I aspire to be. She just lives life with zero regard to what others think of her. She has so much joy, and focuses on things that make her happy. It’s inspiring!

Jay was like Shrek. In the onion sense. He had many layers to him that needed to be peeled back and discovered. It was great to watch him open up and begin to live his life again because of Zara.

Zara’s family was a lot 😂 but in the best way. They have a lot of love for each other, and while they go about it the wrong way sometimes, they mean well and want happiness for everyone.

I recommend this whole series, but especially this one! Such a great romcom ❤️

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the arc in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a wonderful read!😍😍😍I enjoyed this book incredible much.❤️ The main characters were wonderful, sympathetic and just 100% lovable. I clicked with them immediately!
The writing style is fluent and beautiful and really brings all the emotions and cute and funny moments across so well. The humour is perfect, just what I love in a #RomCom and it made me laugh and giggle so often! But the book also made me swoon, because of some really beautiful scenes.

And then the side characters! Especially the Aunties!😂😂😂 I love them and their matching so much!😂❤️❤️❤️❤️

To be fair I had to google quite a few terms, because for example I didn’t know any of the food 🙈😂, but I loved this insight into another culture and I’ve already started listening to #TheMarriageGame (which technicalle is book 1, but since you can read these books as standalones…. 👀😅) and that once seems to be just as perfect as this one.

#SaraDesai convinced me 100% with this novel and now I need to read everything by this author I guess. 🤷‍♀️
A very cute and adorable #romancticcomedy with many heartfelt moments, the importance of friendship and family, lots of funny moments and a little bit of spice!💖🥰

This one was just okay! I was expecting a lot more because I love Sara's other works but I feel like there wasn't much of a plot -- a lot of vibes but not truly memorable.