Liya's parents want her to stop this independence nonsense and settle down with a nice indian boy and since she won't listen to their pleas, they try to ambush her into having dinner with Jay and his mother. Things OBVIOUSLY don't do as planned and Liya is pissed at her parents (mainly her piece of trash father) and even less interested in Jay The Trouble With Hating Youby Sajni Patel is a feisty, enemies-to-lovers office romantic comedy that also grapples with more serious subject matter. Liya Thakkar has a reputation as a wildly unsuitable woman, which is a big deal in her South Asian community in Texas. She doesn't care, and she is determined to remain single. So when her parents try to arrange a dinner with a prospective match, Jay Shah, she flees — only to run into him the next day at work, where he's a new consultant at her company. Liya and Jay can't help but argue every time they meet, whether at work or through chance encounters with mutual friends. The novel is full of rom-com staples — lots of sparky banter and adorably meddling friends — as well as serious consideration as to how a high school sexual assault has shaped Liya's character and how double standards in the community make it hard for her to move on ... until a real hero like Jay comes along to stand up for her and proudly stand by her for now and for a very modern happy ever after." - NPR

The main problem here I think was with Liya. I honestly didn't like her as a character even though she wasn't completely repulsive. There was something about her way of carrying herself that threw me off. Make the characters real enough to struggle with those issues. Make them cry or make them shrug, but give them the ultimate power to believe that they can look their trouble in the eye and annihilate it. What I wasn't okay with was when things took a turn for the worst at about 70% in and just... Stayed like that. I am just done, with this kind of books. I didn’t get it when our these MCs fell in real love? I didn’t find any connection. So while she sprinted to make a grand meal—and made sure it was just the right temperature by the time he ate—Dad sat there with nothing else to do except read a paper that wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Featured Reviews

First Love, Take Two is a story about love, family, loyalty, racism, second chances. Sajni Patel is a talented writer who is able to write about mental health, racism, and cultural issues, with compassion and insight. She balances these issues with a healthy dose of humor and heart. I was drawn into this story immediately and read it all in one sitting. The love between Preeti and Daniel was so real, strong, and palpable, I just couldn't wait until their HEA. One of the cool things about this story is that we get a lot of East Indian culture. The descriptions and detail of foods, clothing, and mannerisms is quite complex. You can almost smell the cooking as you’re reading. My eyes widened as I recognized Jayesh’s name from Momma’s many WhatsApp messages. “Are you kidding me?” r />

I’m very happy to say that I absolutely loved The Marriage Game and I definitely can’t wait to read more of Sara Desai’s novels in the future. The side characters are a delight as well. Daisy’s antics, Layla’s funny stories about her aunts, the days in The Spice Mill (their family business), and Layla’s conversations with her father shows the Patels’ amazing family dynamic. I also appreciate Sam’s best friend, John Lee. He would always put Sam in his place especially when he doesn’t agree with the things Sam does. Jay is a lawyer and helps out with his widower mom, especially now that his older brother has gotten married and now has a pregnant wife. He's a little skeptical when he's invited over to dinner, and his skepticism only increases when he's literally barrelled over by the woman whose family he's supposed to be sitting down with. As it turns out, he's the lawyer from the firm hired to save Liya's company, but because of that terrible dinner gone wrong, they both hate each other.

Customer reviews

I immediately knew this was going to be an amazing book when Liya and Jay's first interaction was a cliche but cute Bollywood moment where they fell and her scarf got tangled up in his arms drawing them together (I eat Indian soap operas for dinner, do not come for me!")