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Do you ever rate a book 5 stars and then see the Goodreads rating is like…3.5…and question both your taste in books and the taste of everyone on Goodreads?

Well, that’s currently how I feel about this book. I’m going to write my review before I dive in to see what everyone else has to say about it, so you’ll get my fresh, unfiltered opinion…

The Marriage Game 
By Sara Desai
🎧 Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Marriage Game, Book 1
Book 11 of 2024

I thought The Marriage Game was so much fun. It definitely gave me The Hating Game vibes, because our main characters were forced to share an office and started out enemies! 

Layla has just returned home to her family in San Francisco, and wants to start a recruitment company. Her father says she can use the office space upstairs, but isn’t able to communicate with the person he was going to rent it to before he is hospitalized. So Sam Mehta, CEO of a corporate downsizing company, moves in. And they decided to make a bet – the winner gets the office. 

They have the perfect enemies to lovers set up – everything about them clashes but they also are super attracted to each other the second they meet. I absolutely loved their banter. 

Layla has also decided that she is done looking for true love through modern dating, and agrees to go on a series of dates with men that her father found on an online matchmaking website. Since it is tradition for her to be accompanied by a male relative, and her father is hospitalized and her brother has passed away, Sam decides to go with her on all of these dates. 

Is it a bit silly, goofy, and cheesy? Absolutely. Kind of far fetched? Sure. Absolutely cartoonish villains? Yeah. But I absolutely eat up all of those things, I like my romcoms ridiculous. I love when there’s a bet and they watch each other on dates. This book is basically all of my favorite things. 

In  conclusion, I will not be reading the less than 5 star reviews, because it will hurt my feelings. 

QotD: Do you ever read negative reviews of books that you love? 

[book synopsis]

A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.

After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door…

As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he’s forced to share his space with the owner’s beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.

As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.