Sara Desai – dinipandareads

The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3)
Publisher: Berkley
Pub Date: 16 November 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

_{(4.5 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

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.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

PTSD, panic attack, car accident (happens to secondary characters off-page), war-time flashbacks

TL;DR: I ended up loving The Singles Table! From the moment Zara’s beautiful vibrant personality is introduced and they get their meet cute (she shoots him in the ass with a paintball gun as he’s being an insufferable prick!), I was fully sold on their romance. We get more meddling aunties, badass mums with sweet biker boyfriends, an eccentric artist father who… paints intimate portraits and so much great banter. This is by far my favourite in this series and I would recommend it if you love the grumpy/sunshine trope because Zara and Jay were the perfect pairing.

The Marriage Game (Marriage Game #1)
Publisher: Berkley
Pub Date: 9 June 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

_{(4 pandas)}

📖 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.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Alcoholism, death of a sibling, domestic violence (recounted), cheating (recounted)

TL;DR: With the average to low ratings for this book, I was honestly unsure how I’d feel about it but I have to say I enjoyed it more than expected! Layla and her family, all the dates she goes on, even the sexy moments with Sam—I thought they were great and made for a pretty fun read. What made me not rate this higher was the way Sam’s actions (and those of his “friends”) were brushed over and even kind of “redeemed” in the end when honestly, there should have been a hell of a lot more grovelling involved. All his apologies, of which there were a few, felt undeserved and I think this man got off way too easily for the things he did and said. Ultimately, I’m glad they got their HEA but I wish Layla made him work for it a bit more! 😜