The Dating Plan by Sara Desai
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pub Date: 3/16/2021

GoodReads Synopsis: 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.

Review: My January BOTM pick was The Dating Plan by Sara Desai. This was my first Sara Desai book and didn’t realize that was part of a series. I had mixed feelings about The Dating Plan. I enjoyed the multicultural aspects in this book. I also liked that we were introduced to several supporting characters. However, there were several parts that didn’t work for me. First, the main character was way too quirky. Her quickness didn’t really match with her personality. The storyline had some scenes that felt way too far fetched and too cheesy. The conflict-resolution of the book happened way too quickly and wrapped up too easily which seemed really odd given the circumstances. As for the writing style, it felt choppy to me. There were times where the story was dragged out with unnecessary back story or description or felt too rushed from one scene to another. Overall, it was a decent read, but not my favorite.