In the past few months, I’ve read a few series launches that were just awesome, so I thought I’d spotlight a few of them today!
I’ll start with THE MARRIAGE GAME by Sara Desai. (Be sure to check out Sarah Morganthaler & Kwana Jackson too!)
There is so much to love about this book, and if you haven’t already picked it up, you really want to!
When a horrible experience causes her to lose her job, Layla Patel is forced to move back to San Francisco and re-evaluate her life and career.
With the blessing of her father, she takes the office space above their family restaurant to launch her own career staffing company. Unfortunately, he’s previously leased the space to a CEO who has a lease and a will of steel, so after her father suffers a health crisis and they don’t want to risk a relapse, she and the CEO, Sam, decide to share the space until they can figure out what to do about the situation long-term.
Also unbeknownst to Layla, her father has created a profile on a dating site and set up a string of blind dates for her, in hopes of setting up an arranged marriage for her. These prove to be cringingly embarrassing for Layla and surprisingly annoying for Sam, not to mention adding great comic value for the reader!
Meanwhile, Sam has been dealing with excruciating guilt over a tragic accident that left his sister wheelchair bound and which has left him a workaholic, emotionally shut down and distant from his friends and family.
The two reluctant office mates become more like friendly adversaries, then grow closer and closer, and as events around them create complicated stakes, they begin to depend on each other in ways that offer a great future, if they can get over their fears and find the courage to reach past their vulnerabilities, admit their feelings and find forgiveness.
Honestly, this book is so great. It’s fun and funny, but it’s emotional and insightful too. The family dynamics are heart-warming, the secondary characters are equal parts hysterical and grounding, and the dialogue is brilliant. Oh, and the chemistry between the characters is off the charts!
So again – if you haven’t picked up this books, you really, really should.
As for the “this is the beginning of a series” part, it seems like the second book, THE DATING PLAN, will be coming out next spring, and it will feature the darkly amusing Daisy.
I can’t wait!
(And man, don’t you love those covers??!)
Find THE MARRIAGE GAME @Amazon
Find Sara Desai’s books @Amazon (She also writes as Sarah Castille.)
(This review is part of Read-A-Romance Month. Hope you’ll come back every day to check out my book recommendations. You can find the calendar here. Also check out The Romance of Reading, a Facebook “book club” where we’ll have great authors guest hosting every week.)
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Enjoy!