marriage game – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 322 pages
Author: Sara Desai
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: November 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Opposites attract in this romantic comedy about a free-spirited lawyer who is determined to find the perfect match for the grumpy bachelor at her friend’s wedding

After a devastating break-up, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again. She puts her energy into building her career and helping her friends find romance through the wedding season. She’s never faced a guest at the singles table she couldn’t match, until she crosses paths with the sinfully sexy Jay Donovan.

Former military security specialist Jay has no time for love. His life is about working hard, staying focused, and winning at all costs. When charismatic Zara crashes into his life, he’s thrown into close contact with exactly the kind of chaos he wants to avoid. Worse, they’re stuck together for the entire wedding season.

So they make a deal. She’ll find his special someone if he introduces her to his celebrity clients. But when their arrangement brings them together in ways they never expected, they realize that the perfect match might just be their own.

NOT MY FAV.

Things I did love about this read was how quickly I flew through it. The audio narrator does an amazing job and I read it in a day. Definitely would recommend this series on audio!

I enjoyed Jay and Zara together. I wish their relationship didn’t have the friends with benefits vibes though. Plenty of angst. And you could truthfully feel the chemistry between them. I loved the plot with the multiple weddings, lawyers, security aspects and more. It was a fun combination that led to plenty of hijinks and forced proximity moments that I adore.

The steam was too much for me personally. There’s 4 (maybe more?) open door scenes I had to skip over and they started to feel more there for spice than actually moving the book forward. This is just my take, so read away if you’re all for the spice!

I thought the ending was pretty sweet and it did wrap up some necessary ties between the larger plot and the couple. I didn’t love how the conflict was handled, or I guess dragged out, but it wasn’t too glaring of an issue for me.

The second book in this series is still my favorite, but I never felt like I was hate reading this one. Just wasn’t for me (which might mean it’s for you!).

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: multiple open door scenes
Trigger/Content Warnings: PTSD, panic attack

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Sara Desai
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

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.

YAY FOR FAKE DATING.

This was a charming read!! With one of my favorite tropes: fake dating/fake fiance I was charmed from the beginning. I listened to it on audio too and really enjoyed that format.

I don’t think this was anything ground-breaking in the contemporary romance department but I found it an easy, entertaining read that flew by. I had a hard time putting it down and found myself smitten with Liam. His antics had me bursting out with laughter (especially playing with a sword, NOT a euphemism haha). I loved his story and learning everything about him and his family. His connection with Daisy was instantaneous and the fire was immediately lit again. I adored the banter and romance between them.

What I did not love were the very cringey love scenes. Something about the dialogue and the way it was written did not mesh well with me. It was like the initial banter and flow went out the door to try and add steam when I think it could have been directed in a better manner.

I also haaaated the conflict/resolution. It was roll my eyes, bad Hallmark movie worthy. I couldn’t believe how Liam handled it and everything that went along just to stretch out the story. I wish something else would have been used to further the plot rather than this gross miscommunication.

I love that Daisy was an engineer and found her niche among her friends and her job. It was an aspect I always appreciate in a story. It was nice to get both points-of-view between Liam and Daisy to get the full scoop from both sides.

Overall audiece notes: