“Dating Dr. Dil” by Nisha Sharma was a fun read, albeit a bit corny. There is a tension between arranged marriage and love matches, interfering aunties, and a loose basis on “Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare. Overall, I enjoyed the book but I'm not sure I would recommend it strongly. There was some steam, but it was also corny in places and not well-paced in others. I liked the role that the aunties played in the story, and found the scenes with Kareena’s sister amusing. I look forward to reading more of Nisha Sharma’s books to see how her writing improves. This one came out March 15, 2022, and the second in the series is even out now too. Thank you to Avon Books for the advanced e-copy.

Reena gets a shock when her father tells the family is going to sell the house. She is upset since she has been working on the house and doing the things her mother talked about before she passed. Now she feels equally abandoned by her father and the rest of her family. Her sister takes her to the filming of a talk show featuring Dr. Dil and Lo and beholds she to get into it with the host over love. Here you have the makings of the story and you throw in her aunts and her thinking she doesn’t believe or want love and you have a good and at times funny story. Good characters.

This was a fun and sexy read! I really enjoyed all of the meddling aunts, the connections to loved ones passed, and the way the MMC really stood up for the FMC to her horrible family.

I had to drop a star because the MMC only thinks of his privates as “Charlie” and it was extremely off-putting. On top of that, the FMC really needed her friends in the beginning because her family is downright awful. For the first 25% of the book I kept thinking, “does she have anyone in her corner?” But when her friends come in they are great.

What I love about Reena is that she is us and we are her! Taylor swift fan, romance reader, introvert who would rather be home with her kindle, and a do-it-yourself attitude! I think I liked this book so much because I liked Reena so much. Prem has his moments of greatness. But mostly I wanted to slap him in the face.

The spice was really good and the ending is perfection.

This book didn't really work for me. The premise was good and the story started out strong but it all fell apart. I never believed that the characters were falling in love and the conflict just never made sense. Also THAT nickname. If you know you know. WHY??

Fun and cute romance, with the right tension and frustrating scenarios. Good chemistry, great characters, good banter.

I tend to give leeway when using Shakespeare's plots in romance novels. Either they are going to be alright or not Shakespearian at all. Dating Dr. Dil does alright with Taming of the Shrew meets Much Ado About Nothing in modern times.

It is what you expect; both don't like each other, but a media meltdown forces them to spend time together, and Aunties realize they are a perfect fit.

I received an ARC from Avon & NetGalley for my honest review.

This was a very cute romance that kept my attention. Some parts were a bit predictable but overall it was a good read.

Need a good laugh? This book gave me one. All the slapstick moments, rich with south Asian culture and family dynamics. Gives regency romances vibes in a contemporary romance. I do think this book focused more on family and cultural dynamics than the romance, so I would go into the book knowing this. Charlie was maybe not for me in this moment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Right from the start, this was a super cute, delightful book about love and hope and all the things that can go wrong with it. I adored the chemistry between Prem and Kareena right from the beginning, and I couldn't get enough of them together. I loved that this was truly enemies to lovers and didn't just fix their relationship right away, but rather they actually got to know each other and connect despite their initial differences.

I really loved the insight into South Asian culture and seeing the differences in dating and family values. It was so fun to watch the aunties meddle in the romance and to see their relationship with Kareena and their love for her mother. The insights into their culture added so much depth and life to the book, and I really enjoyed each part of it!

If you're a fan of enemies to lovers and sappy romcoms, definitely check this one out!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

If Kareena can find her soulmate by her sister's engagement party, her father will gift her her childhood home. Prem is a cardiologist, host of the Dr. Dil Show, and doesn't do romance. After their second encounter turns into an on-air argument about love, Kareena and Prem start fake dating to save his reputation.

I am way behind in reviews, so I don't remember a lot about this - I do remember that Prem had a nickname for his member, and I did NOT like that.

Okay...I got through this one pretty quickly and there were some great spicy moments, but like many, I found Prem was just....a problem. Between "Charlie" and his misogynistic ways, I was pretty much fed up by the end. It was a breezy, quick read, but I think there are better ones out there (see: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood or the League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore).

A great book, not surprising from Nisha Sharma, and a great start to her If Shakespeare was an Aunty series. Can't wait to read the next ones

3.5 stars

This was a cute rom-com with a whole lot of South Asian representation which I am always here for. I listened to this on audio and the fact that one of the main characters' names was Kareena confused me at first - I also hated the nickname, Rina, that was used for her. I did feel like we Kareenas were a bit similar in the fact that we're both Punjabi, around the same age, and have focused on our careers - thankfully my family doesn't bother me nearly enough about if and when I'm getting married as the family of the Kareena in the book.

I found the story a bit frustrating and seemed to have a few too many tropes all thrown together, including both enemies to lovers and fake dating which are two of my least favorite tropes. Some of the initial interactions with the characters seemed overall childish and could have been resolved with the tiniest amount of communication. However, near the end of the novel there were instances where I appreciated the sentiment and commentary on the different types of love and marriages within the south asian community, such as love marriages and arranged marriages. There are also insights into the ways in which love is shown and demonstrated rather than the use of words in the south asian community. I saw a lot of my family in the characters in this story which is always so lovely to see.

Overall, I would recommend this one to those who enjoy the romance genre and appreciate some south asian representation in these stories.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

This is such a fun take on Taming the Shrew but much more emotional and sexy. You have a heroine who is trying to keep her childhood home and a hero who wants to have a relationship but is scared of falling in love. It’s such a fun sexy book. The side characters are so fun and I love aunties in a book. I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series.

This was a fun read that made me laugh out loud. I liked that the characters are able to achieve their goals under their own steam. This is a diverse read that embraces the Desi community. The sex scenes are very steamy and a little over the top in my opinion.

This book really didn’t work for me.

Mostly because I couldn’t stand Prem (Dr. Dil).
He was SO into himself.
Because he has a medical degree he literally thinks everyone wants him or wants to set him up with their children: “It sounded pretentious, but he was aunty catnip, and he barely made it out of social gatherings unscarred.” And another time while talking to Kareena: “I may look gorgeous and have a medical degree, but I also have a sensitive side.”

Also he thinks about and refers to his penis as “Charlie”. Just absolutely no. No. No. No. ew and yuck.

But the ultimate to me is that even though Kareena corrects him more than once on the fact that her name is Kareena, he insists on calling her Rina because he “prefers Rina”. And he constantly uses it so patronizingly “Rina, honey, sit down”…”Not on your life, Rina, honey.” Ugh.

This was a fast-paced, charming, funny, spicy romance novel, and I can't wait to read more by this author! I loved the chemistry between the main characters, and the emotions were so realistic. There were so many great comparisons to Taming of the Shrew but the author went above and beyond in making this her own story. I also loved the characters' discussion of Indian culture, parental expectations, and the push and pull between arranged marriages and love marriages. The author skillfully wove all of this in without being preachy.

This is a must read for any fan of romance books!

This was really cute! I liked the main character grown thought the book as well as the relationship that develops between the two main characters.