Book Review: The Marriage Game by Sara Desai
Let me start this review by acknowledging how happy I am I picked up The Marriage Game by Sara Desai. This book was hilarious in the best laugh out loud way. It had everything a great contemporary romance should have: sass, sarcasm, and sex. I also love that it was based on South Asian culture. While I’m not Desi, I am Filipino and the resemblance of the two cultures is relatable. And to think I wasn’t going to buy this book based on a few bad Goodreads reviews.
Short Summary:
Layla Patel and Sam Mehta are perfect for each other in the typical enemies to lovers way. (It kind of reminded me of me and my husband, although I wouldn’t say we’re enemies to lovers — just sassy.) After an embarrassing break up from her influencer boyfriend in New York, Layla returns home to San Francisco to restart her life. Her dad, Nasir Patel, allows her to work out of the office above their family-owned restaurant forgetting he leased it to Sam, a CEO of a downsizing company. Before Sam moves in, Nasir suffers a heart attack leaving Layla and Sam to figure out how to co-work.
Sam doesn’t mind working with Layla — she’s beautiful, sassy, and can hold her own — but he’d never let her know that. Co-working with Layla doesn’t just mean working in the same space as her, it also means dealing with the ten bachelors her dad set her up with for an arranged marriage. With his own issues around arranged marriage, Sam offers Layla a wager; He’ll help her interview her suitors and if she finds a husband to marry from her father’s pool, she must move out of the office. If she doesn’t, he must move.
The “book steam” (sex) in this book was beyond good. I’ve read a few enemies to lovers books and the sex in those was nothing compared to the sex in this book. One of the sexiest parts was when he wanted to please her without asking for anything in return. The only downside of Layla and Sam having sex was that something major always happened shortly after killing the bookgasm almost immediately.
Based on my review, I think you can guess how this book ends. (Hint: This is the first contemporary romance book that actually made tears fall from my eyes!) My favorite part of the book was all of the LOL moments. I dog-eared my favorites to share with you:
Favorite Laugh Out Loud Moments:
“She ordered the curated wild Alaskan sea cucumbers, sprinkled with artisanal milk thistle foraged at dusk from Springdale Farms and served in a sea of pureed stinging nettles. At least Sam thought that’s what it was. She’d eaten the entire cucumber slice in one bite.”
“ … maybe some of them are his spy friends, or worse, spy enemies. They’re thinking maybe he and I hit it off, and I’m going to marry him, and they’ll grab me at the wedding, and drive off, and my lehenga will be trailing out of the car, and I’ll be screaming Sam! Sam! Save me! It will all be very dramatic, and when it’s over, they’ll make a movie about it with Priyanka Chopra starring as me. She’ll have to gain twenty or thirty pounds, but she’ll do it because she’s a great actress and she’ll want to really get into the role.”
“There’s no sexy way to get this [shapewear] off me, so if you’re imagining some kind of striptease where I slowly peel it off, revealing my body inch by inch, just tuck that image away and replace it with opening a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, or if you’re not familiar with that delicious treat, just imagine releasing any product that’s under pressure. Everything wants out at once.”
“‘A romance? Fuck.’ He slammed his fist into the wall. ‘A romance means marriage. She’s marrying one of the dudes on her father’s list. It’s probably the yoga guy. You know how flexible they are.’”
“Sam tipped his head from side to side, making his neck crack. ‘Okay. I’ll do it. Point me in the right direction.’ ‘You need to be loose and relaxed.’ Sam jumped up and down a few times and shook out his hands. ‘I’m loose.’ ‘You are young, handsome, single man, albeit everyone hates you … It’s going to get nasty … Don’t let them smell your fear. Once that happens …’ Sam bent forward and took a deep breath. ‘I know. I know. They’ll never leave me alone.’ ‘Never,’ Daisy said. ‘They’ll be showing up at your office with boxes of Indian sweets, bumping into your mother in the grocery store so they can invite you all over for tea, walking up and down in front of your house with their daughters and nieces in tow on a pretend Sunday stroll.’”
Did you read The Marriage Game? What did you think?