The Dating Plan
By Sara Desai
Adult Contemporary Romance, RomCom
Paperback & ebook, 352 Pages
March 16, 2021 by Berkley Books
Summary
Even with a step-by-step plan, these fake fiancés might accidentally fall for each other in this hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of The Marriage Game.
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 fiancé.
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.
My Review
THE DATING PLAN is a quirky read about second chances and two broken souls who find that there is still something between them after ten years apart. One of them needs help to keep a family business going by being married and so a marriage of convenience forms, forcing these two characters to renew their friendship and find something more. Recommended to contemporary romance fans who don't mind mature content.
I like to test the waters of different contemporary romance books here and there to see if there is a new author or line of books that I would enjoy regularly reading. This book looked and sounded adorable and like such a fun read, so I picked it up. I really liked both the characters, although Liam felt a bit too cliché. Daisy is so adorably quirky but also whip smart and nerdy with her marvel fan geekiness among other things. I loved it! She's been hurt in many ways before, particularly by her mother and Liam, and has closed herself off from making connections or any lasting relationships besides with her family. She was a great heroine to get behind. Liam is this tortured soul, drop-dead gorgeous, rough and rugged and charismatic. He's made his way in the world and is quite successful. He also wears his leather jacket well and rides a motorcycle, so he's got the whole bad boy persona down. Underneath all that is a man who has a tortured past and is still broken. They have a foundation of childhood/teen friendship and were attracted to each other then. As they navigate their fake engagement and marriage, that attraction comes back full force as they fall back into how it was when they were friends. Banter with plenty of laughs, some emotional conversations, and plenty of sparks ensue.
In the end, was it what I wished for? I think if you read a lot of mainstream romance with mature content, this story will work for you. I had a lot of issues with the content. Lots of swearing and lewd references, and the profanity was really too much for me (that actually bothers me a lot more than the regular swearing). Then there were the pages I had to skip of the love scenes before it was just too much for me to continue. This just wasn't my type of read.
Content: Lots of innuendo, descriptive love scenes, crude references, swearing (including lots of profanity, s-words and f-words), references to prior abuse, some violence.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
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