Even though the plot is nothing groundbreaking and it’s a very typical one, it’s the themes it discusses and the interesting characters that set it apart. Both Daisy and Liam have some trauma issues as Daisy’s mother left their family and she’s always thought it was because of her as she was weird for the things she liked. On the other hand, Liam is quite lost and struggles with self worth, his dad was abusive and repeatedly told him he was worthless. The reactions and habits from each character were realistic for someone with trauma. Their flaws are one of the main focuses of the stories and so is their personal development. Both Daisy and Liam went through a big change throughout the story, and it’s great to see them grow confident by the end of the book. Their relationship is nice and cute and they balance each other out. Speaking of balance, the author did a great job balancing the more serious topics with the light-hearted and romantic moments. The tragic and deep topics are not explored in great lengths though, just enough to understand why each character is the way they are and chose the paths that they did. Daisy?!" His voice rose slightly in pitch, and her gaze snapped up to eyes as blue as the ocean she had wanted to drown herself in after Liam stood her up on the night of her senior prom and scurried off into oblivion like the lowly night-crawling scumbag he had turned out to be. It also says here that you’re a good girl.” His voice dropped to a sensual purr and he leaned toward her. “Are you a good girl, Layla? You seem very bad to me. If you need a husband who can keep you in line, you’ll have to up your game.”

Like l love Cardan ( The Cruel Prince), Victor ( Vicious), Matthias ( SoC ) and of course the love of my life Wolf ( The lunar chronicles)The menstrual pad dropped into the dispenser with a soft thud. Her new boss, Tyler Dawes, CEO of Organicare, only needed one of the competitor's pads for the demonstration, but what if something went wrong? If they didn't secure more venture capital funding soon, the company would shut down and all of Organicare's employees would be out of work. I loved the main characters Layla and Sam and the chemistry between them. They had such great banter and I was rooting so hard for them. I also really liked Sara Desai’s writing style. This is her debut novel but it absolutely doesn’t feel like it is. Additionally, I also really enjoyed learning about Indian culture and I loved Layla’s family so much. They were all such great characters and it was always so entertaining when they all spent time together. The most hilarious parts of this book however were the dates Layla’s father had set up for her to find a suitable husband because each guy was for some reason or another an absolute disaster. Furthermore, Layla is a very outgoing person and seeing her interact with some of her more traditional family members or the date partners who still had a very traditional view of women was so funny. Curiously numb at the sight of her ex wrapped around her old boss like the most tenacious of invasive species, Daisy slammed a quarter into the disposable menstrual product dispenser. It didn't help that Tyler was a terrible salesman. A professor at Caltech, with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, he had become involved in developing sustainable, organic menstrual products after his daughter, Kristina, realized there was a gap in the market. With hard work and millions in venture capital funding, they had built a successful subscription-based, direct-to-consumer business with an app-based product for lifestyle health and wellness. And then everything had gone wrong.

She has great sense of humor! Your stomach hurts after laughing too much! You fall in love with those crowded, loyal, deeply connected, genuine Indian relatives!

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Both characters were so realistic, with baggage and issues of their own that they needed to work on, making me feel like I had stepped right into the shoes of the characters. It is realistic romances like these that hit so hard. For me, reading about characters that look like I do means everything. Growing up, I read a grand total of three books with South Asian main characters and they were either about the immigrant experience or about first gen kids who wanted to fit in (which in these cases meant be white). Those are absolutely valid stories, but I love to see myself represented in things like romcoms. Sara Desai tried to create a cast of characters that are so relatable and lovable, you'll feel like you're part of the plot. The main character, Lily, is a hopeless romantic who is determined to find love, even if it means joining her family's singles table at weddings. But things get complicated when she meets the charming and mysterious Rishi, who is not what he seems (the usual male trope). Also if you’re fake engaged and trying to convince everyone that it’s real, why would you tell literally every single person you talk to that it’s just fake?? Also at first I was like really you’re still not over your prom date?? But now I realize that they had more history than that.

Liam Murphy is an old family friend. He was best friends with Daisy’s brother growing up. And Daisy always had the biggest crush on him. When he offered to escort he to her prom she was over the moon. That is until he stood her up, and was never heard from again.

The book is actually second in a series, The Marriage Game trilogy, but it isn’t necessary to read the first book to understand the second or third, as they aren’t really related. Further further, the fake dating trope was completely ruined by the main characters TELLING literally everyone besides a few family members they weren’t actually dating. Again, destroying the tension.