{"id":25611,"date":"2020-06-11T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T14:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=25611"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:58:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:58:52","slug":"review-the-marriage-game-by-sara-desai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/11\/review-the-marriage-game-by-sara-desai\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f The Marriage Game by Sara Desai"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-25611\" data-postid=\"25611\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-25611 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/the-marriage-game-sara-desai.jpg?w=640\" title=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f The Marriage Game by Sara Desai\" alt=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f The Marriage Game by Sara Desai\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.<\/strong><b><br \/><\/b><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">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\u00a0an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door\u2026<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">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&#8217;s forced to share his space with the owner&#8217;s beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family,\u00a0and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">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.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25881 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jun 9, 2020<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong>\u00a0Hot<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Layla Patel got fired and caught her man cheating on her. With her heart broken, she returns back home from New York to start her own company. She needs time to heal so her father allows her to use an office space above his restaurant. The problem is that he already agreed to let Sam Mehta lease the space for his company. Layla wants Sam gone but since her father is now dealing with a health crisis, Layla really has no choice but to try to share he space with Sam.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam thinks Layla is a bit crazy despite being attracted to her. He allows her to stick around for a while once he sees that her father set up a \u201cmarriage\u201d profile on a website. As the men swing by to interview Layla, Sam can\u2019t help but to interject himself into the process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I love the concept of this. The story is so over the top and quirky but it still works for me. There are so many characters to love. The Aunties are spot on in this story. Everyone has their noses in Layla\u2019s business. The food and culture is perfectly represented.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam escorts Layla on each of her interviews. The banter between them is hilarious. He finds flaws in all of the guys showing his jealousy. Layla can\u2019t help but notice she doesn\u2019t feel one spark with anyone but Sam. The thing I like is that the two act like adults once they realize they liked each other. There is no beating around it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam and Layla are a fantastic couple. They both are strong, opinionated, cute and the chemistry is off the charts. We went from funny hot romcom to some seriously steamy scenes. Sam and Layla were not afraid once they cross the threshold of being friends to lovers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The author does a great job of showing the family dynamic and definitely how it impacts the relationship. Sam\u2019s outlook on what happened to his sister definitely defined how he viewed marriage and even showed his protectiveness of Layla.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is surprising little gem. Great debut by this author. I look forward to other books by her\u2026maybe there will be some other characters (hint: Daisy) who get their own story.<\/p>\n<p><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2AX17wz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-marriage-game\/id1480155757?mt=11&amp;app=itunes&amp;at=11l88k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-marriage-game-sara-desai\/1133552816?ean=9780593100578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-marriage-game-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Sara_Desai_The_Marriage_Game?id=BKqvDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,48,50],"tags":[152,217,238,365,404,405],"class_list":["post-25611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-reviews","category-samantha","tag-4-stars","tag-contemporary-romance","tag-diverse-romance","tag-multicultural","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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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\u00a0an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door\u2026<br \/><br \/>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,\u00a0and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.<br \/><br \/>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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p> <hr \/> <p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jun 9, 2020<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong>\u00a0Hot<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p> <hr \/> <p>\u00a0<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Layla Patel got fired and caught her man cheating on her. With her heart broken, she returns back home from New York to start her own company. She needs time to heal so her father allows her to use an office space above his restaurant. The problem is that he already agreed to let Sam Mehta lease the space for his company. Layla wants Sam gone but since her father is now dealing with a health crisis, Layla really has no choice but to try to share he space with Sam.\u00a0<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam thinks Layla is a bit crazy despite being attracted to her. He allows her to stick around for a while once he sees that her father set up a \u201cmarriage\u201d profile on a website. As the men swing by to interview Layla, Sam can\u2019t help but to interject himself into the process.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I love the concept of this. The story is so over the top and quirky but it still works for me. There are so many characters to love. The Aunties are spot on in this story. Everyone has their noses in Layla\u2019s business. The food and culture is perfectly represented.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam escorts Layla on each of her interviews. The banter between them is hilarious. He finds flaws in all of the guys showing his jealousy. Layla can\u2019t help but notice she doesn\u2019t feel one spark with anyone but Sam. The thing I like is that the two act like adults once they realize they liked each other. There is no beating around it.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sam and Layla are a fantastic couple. They both are strong, opinionated, cute and the chemistry is off the charts. We went from funny hot romcom to some seriously steamy scenes. Sam and Layla were not afraid once they cross the threshold of being friends to lovers.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The author does a great job of showing the family dynamic and definitely how it impacts the relationship. Sam\u2019s outlook on what happened to his sister definitely defined how he viewed marriage and even showed his protectiveness of Layla.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is surprising little gem. Great debut by this author. I look forward to other books by her\u2026maybe there will be some other characters (hint: Daisy) who get their own story.<\/p> <p><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2AX17wz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-marriage-game\/id1480155757?mt=11&amp;app=itunes&amp;at=11l88k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-marriage-game-sara-desai\/1133552816?ean=9780593100578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-marriage-game-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Sara_Desai_The_Marriage_Game?id=BKqvDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}