The Dating Plan

Sara Desai

The only reason I joined the Book of the Month subscription was so I could get my hands on this book early. It won’t be available to the public until March, and I just couldn’t wait that long. I heard really good reviews from authors that I love and trust and I was not disappointed. 

The Dating Plan takes place in the Bay Area of California and follows the romance of Daisy Patel and Liam Murphy. Daisy has been in love with Liam, her older brother Sanjay’s best friend, since she was in middle school. But when Liam stands up Daisy on her prom night, she hates him. He disappears from her, her brother’s, and her father’s life after that night. Fast forward 10 years, Daisy is a super genius and a master software engineer and Liam is a very successful senior Venture Capitalist in New York. After catching her ex-boyfriend and ex-boss hooking up in the bathroom of a conference, Daisy sprints out of the bathroom with her arms full of pads from the dispenser. Bumping into her long lost love’s arms, she is reminded of the worst night of her life. Liam is so surprised to see her and is reminded of how beautiful and smart she is. While this is happening, Daisy is trying to avoid her meddling Auntie Salena and her match making ways. In that moment, Daisy tells her Auntie that she and Liam are engaged. Being from an Indian family, marriage is sacred and has a process. 

A few days later, Liam discovers that in order to inherit his grandfather’s distillery, he must marry before his next birthday (conveniently six weeks away) and stay married for a year. Liam isn’t a relationship kind of man so he needs a fake wedding of convenience. He doesn’t want a stranger, or an ex that will get the wrong idea, he needs someone he knows and can trust that won’t want a real relationship. Hmmm I wonder who he’ll ask? 

After Daisy finally relents, she sets up a dating plan of seven dates and a Vegas wedding to make their engagement legit. You can see what’s going to happen, right? We watch the couple slowly drift into forgiveness and love. Of course there’s going to be bumps, but every relationship has obstacles. 

Loved this. It was cute and light and an easy read. The only thing I didn’t really like was we didn’t get to see much of Daisy’s brother. And I also didn’t like the reason for Liam’s disappearance and the fact that there were no consequences for all the parties involved. Overall, such a good book. I love how important family is. I did tear up at the end it earned its spot on my shelf.