The Dating Plan

I fell in love with the romance genre long before I started writing. From the much needed guarantee of a happily ever after, to the butterfly-inducing first kisses, I could lose myself in the pages of romance fiction. Sara Desai’s The Dating Plan is a masterclass on everything wonderful about this genre and includes some of its most popular tropes, like marriages of convenience and enemies-to-lovers plotlines. However, it’s everything that takes place between these tropes where Desai really creates magic.

Daisy Patel believes in logic over love and Liam Murphy is too busy proving he’s nothing like his father to settle into a relationship. But when they crash into each other—literally—at a tech conference, ten years after he ghosted her at high school prom, they put aside their old grudges and a dating plan is born… Daisy needs a way to get her well-meaning, marriage-obsessed Aunties off of her back and Liam needs a wife in order to get his inheritance. They both agree a marriage of convenience is the answer to their problems. With promises of no feelings and definitely no touching, what could possibly go wrong?

The Dating Plan had me laughing from the first page and kept me smiling until the very end, yet Desai doesn’t skip over the hard stuff. This clever romance is also about family—from a close-knit family who can teeter on overbearing to a dysfunctionally distant family who favors secrets over affection. Desai takes us on a journey of growth and healing, guiding us to a happily ever after that doesn’t just feel believable, but deserved and satisfying.

Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can't give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiancé.

Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend's little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy's matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather's will. If only he hadn't broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago...

Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren't about to follow the rules of this engagement.