Community Reviews
The sweetest rom-com where Daisy Patel got stood up on her prom date with the high school boy of her dreams. Her brotherâs best friend, Liam Murphy not only mysteriously skips out on taking her to the prom, he suddenly moves away without so much of an explanation and good-bye. Her heart broke and hardened that night. She will NEVER allow herself to feel this way again, EVER!!! Even her brother, Sanjay hasnât heard from Liam since Liam left.
Ten years later, Daisy is working at a startup company, Organicare where her boss, Tyler Dawes, CEO of Organicare, needs her to go to the bathroom before their conference, to obtain their competitorâs pads for the demonstration at the Oakland Convention Center. While Tyler is a professor at Caltech, with a Ph.D in chemical engineering, he is the worst salesman Daisy or anyone has ever seen. Heâs trying to get venture capital funding so hence, they are at the conference. Daisy goes to the bathroom when she overhears her ex-boyfriend, Orson, and her ex-boss, Madison pawing at each other like horny teenagers. Talk about awkwardness.
Gathering the needed menstruation pads, she tries to quietly make her exit when her Salena Auntie suddenly shows up, out of nowhere with Roshan, a young man Salena Auntie is trying to get Daisy to meet. All her auntie-jis are on a mission to get Daisy married ever since her cousin Layla has gotten engaged. They would all just show up unannounced everywhere: grocery stores, gym, malls, and always with an innocent bachelor in tow. âOh, we were just in the neighborhood...have you meet⦠(fill in his name here)? You have to love them as they try so hard to match make her. Thankfully she saw Auntie-ji before Auntie-ji saw Daisy so she tried to make a quick turn around.
She becomes off-balanced and drops all of the pads all over the floor when suddenly someone catches her and itâs not Roshan. She looks up at the strong hands that are holding her from falling and it âLiam Freaking Bastard Murphy.â Dang, he looks hot!!
Heâs trying to be charming and sheâs still on the offensive by telling her to let go of her. He asks her, how long has it been and she replies, âten years, eleven months, thirteen days, thirteen hours, forty-seven minutes, and sixteen seconds.â Yes, her brain works that way when back in her high school years, she was known as the geek and nerd. Liam was known as the hunk and the âbad boyâ but he was her brotherâs best friend. He was the guy every girl wanted and every guy wants to befriend. He had a new girlfriend every week and many waiting in the wings but he had taken a shine to Daisy one day and was captivated by how her mind computed things. He also became so close to the entire family, her father even called him son.
While Liam was away, he became employed with Evolution Ventures, a venture capital company based in NYC. They mainly fund start-ups in the food services industry but they have been expanding into tech so heâs there for the pitch sessions. As Liam is talking to her like they are old chums and even asks her to go out for drinks afterwards, Daisy hasnât forgotten how he made her feel on prom night and utters sharp, cutting words to him. She wants him to go away and she feels no matter how gorgeous he has possibly become, and the pull of the attraction, no means no. Until of course, Madison comes out looking like she just had sex in the bathroom with Orson. Oh wait, she did. The walk of shame she proudly wears, with Orson in tow. Just then, Salena Auntie-ji with Roshan comes up to her and just as sheâs about to lose her cool, Liam knowing how all her aunties are probably trying to match mate her and her ex-boss practically eating Liam up with her eyes, he swoops in and dips her as he gives her the romantic kiss. She melts like butter as they linger in the kiss. Madison licks her lips as she asks Daisy who this tall drink of water is and she says, âMy fiance. We are engaged.â To this, Salena Auntie-ji proclaims, âYou are secretly engaged and his name is Limb? Who is his family? Your poor father...does he even know about this as heâs on another vacation with his fiance?!â
Later after that debacle, Liam has to meet up with his family. The real reason he came back to Oakland is because his beloved but estranged grandfather has passed. He doesnât want to go because heâs still very angry with his family and relatives for allowing his mother to be beaten so severely by his father and nobody ever stepped in to help her. He was 13 years of age and even he stood up to his father. His suck-up older brother Brendan was a piece of work and he inherited their fatherâs car dealerâs business. Their grandfather, Patrick Murphy, owns a distillery and when he passes, everybody knows it will go to the eldest son of the family, which is Brendan. The only person heâs looking forward to seeing is his little nephew, Jaxon, Brendanâs little son. Jaxonâs mother, Lauren is also very nice, even for a corporate lawyer and the least likely person Liam would ever have expected his brother to marry. They held a traditional Irish funeral and the clan were all gathered there at the house. The lawyer comes in and tells them who inherited what. Then comes the announcement, itâs Liam Murphy who will inherit the Murphy & Sons Distillery and not Brendan. Of course thereâs a hitch⦠Liam has to be married by his birthday in order to inherit the distillery. Also, the marriage has to be legit and they have to be married for a minimum one year. If Liam is not, the distillery then goes to Brendan. Brendan is enraged their grandfather would do such a thing. He desperately needed the distillery so that he could sell it outright and use the money to put it into the failing car dealership. He crows, Liam is as good as done because he doesnât even have a girlfriend. Brendan starts counting his chickens before they are hatched and tells everyone his plans of selling and laying off all the workers, too. James, an old timer who has worked at the distillery, quietly asks Liam if he has anyone in his life to marry. They both concoct an idea of Liam getting married to someone who doesnât want to stay married to him but someone he trusts. Think of it as a business transaction. Enter, Daisy Patel!
Liam proposes this idea as a win-win situation for the both of them. The Auntie-jis will have to back off and stop match mating. Liam will get his distillery and his greedy brother wonât tear the place down so that all the employees will still have their jobs. Shockingly, Daisy entertains the idea and comes up with âthe dating planâ so that it can look more authentic. She later uses a spreadsheet and sends it to Liam to outline all seven dates and on the 8th date, they will marry. Only Daisy could make it into a science and business transaction. There are rules such as, no sex and kissing only in front of people. To make it sound a little more loving, she even has a nickname for him: hamazz.
Mind you, only a few dozen people know the truth about their âengagement.â The awesomely protective but cool cousin, Layla, her colleagues, Josh Saldana, Zoe, and Mia, Johnâs cousin who manages the Rose & Thorn, an Irish pub in the Mission, Ethan and the head bartender who has a lot of fun and sass, Rainey Davis and of course, James, the oldest employee from Murphy & Sons Distillery.
This delightful and fall in love rom-com literature is so heartwarming. I canât stop smiling and love all the Auntie-jis and even how the truth of the prom night is revealed but Liam still does not betray the person he was protecting. Yeh, you can figure it out pretty early on but you still have to give him props for keeping his words. I adore how he knows her entire family has to be in on giving permission to her being engaged to him or anyone for that matter. My cup overflows when her father and Liam had a heart to heart talk, as well.
Canât wait to read more of Sara Desaiâs other works.
Ten years later, Daisy is working at a startup company, Organicare where her boss, Tyler Dawes, CEO of Organicare, needs her to go to the bathroom before their conference, to obtain their competitorâs pads for the demonstration at the Oakland Convention Center. While Tyler is a professor at Caltech, with a Ph.D in chemical engineering, he is the worst salesman Daisy or anyone has ever seen. Heâs trying to get venture capital funding so hence, they are at the conference. Daisy goes to the bathroom when she overhears her ex-boyfriend, Orson, and her ex-boss, Madison pawing at each other like horny teenagers. Talk about awkwardness.
Gathering the needed menstruation pads, she tries to quietly make her exit when her Salena Auntie suddenly shows up, out of nowhere with Roshan, a young man Salena Auntie is trying to get Daisy to meet. All her auntie-jis are on a mission to get Daisy married ever since her cousin Layla has gotten engaged. They would all just show up unannounced everywhere: grocery stores, gym, malls, and always with an innocent bachelor in tow. âOh, we were just in the neighborhood...have you meet⦠(fill in his name here)? You have to love them as they try so hard to match make her. Thankfully she saw Auntie-ji before Auntie-ji saw Daisy so she tried to make a quick turn around.
She becomes off-balanced and drops all of the pads all over the floor when suddenly someone catches her and itâs not Roshan. She looks up at the strong hands that are holding her from falling and it âLiam Freaking Bastard Murphy.â Dang, he looks hot!!
Heâs trying to be charming and sheâs still on the offensive by telling her to let go of her. He asks her, how long has it been and she replies, âten years, eleven months, thirteen days, thirteen hours, forty-seven minutes, and sixteen seconds.â Yes, her brain works that way when back in her high school years, she was known as the geek and nerd. Liam was known as the hunk and the âbad boyâ but he was her brotherâs best friend. He was the guy every girl wanted and every guy wants to befriend. He had a new girlfriend every week and many waiting in the wings but he had taken a shine to Daisy one day and was captivated by how her mind computed things. He also became so close to the entire family, her father even called him son.
While Liam was away, he became employed with Evolution Ventures, a venture capital company based in NYC. They mainly fund start-ups in the food services industry but they have been expanding into tech so heâs there for the pitch sessions. As Liam is talking to her like they are old chums and even asks her to go out for drinks afterwards, Daisy hasnât forgotten how he made her feel on prom night and utters sharp, cutting words to him. She wants him to go away and she feels no matter how gorgeous he has possibly become, and the pull of the attraction, no means no. Until of course, Madison comes out looking like she just had sex in the bathroom with Orson. Oh wait, she did. The walk of shame she proudly wears, with Orson in tow. Just then, Salena Auntie-ji with Roshan comes up to her and just as sheâs about to lose her cool, Liam knowing how all her aunties are probably trying to match mate her and her ex-boss practically eating Liam up with her eyes, he swoops in and dips her as he gives her the romantic kiss. She melts like butter as they linger in the kiss. Madison licks her lips as she asks Daisy who this tall drink of water is and she says, âMy fiance. We are engaged.â To this, Salena Auntie-ji proclaims, âYou are secretly engaged and his name is Limb? Who is his family? Your poor father...does he even know about this as heâs on another vacation with his fiance?!â
Later after that debacle, Liam has to meet up with his family. The real reason he came back to Oakland is because his beloved but estranged grandfather has passed. He doesnât want to go because heâs still very angry with his family and relatives for allowing his mother to be beaten so severely by his father and nobody ever stepped in to help her. He was 13 years of age and even he stood up to his father. His suck-up older brother Brendan was a piece of work and he inherited their fatherâs car dealerâs business. Their grandfather, Patrick Murphy, owns a distillery and when he passes, everybody knows it will go to the eldest son of the family, which is Brendan. The only person heâs looking forward to seeing is his little nephew, Jaxon, Brendanâs little son. Jaxonâs mother, Lauren is also very nice, even for a corporate lawyer and the least likely person Liam would ever have expected his brother to marry. They held a traditional Irish funeral and the clan were all gathered there at the house. The lawyer comes in and tells them who inherited what. Then comes the announcement, itâs Liam Murphy who will inherit the Murphy & Sons Distillery and not Brendan. Of course thereâs a hitch⦠Liam has to be married by his birthday in order to inherit the distillery. Also, the marriage has to be legit and they have to be married for a minimum one year. If Liam is not, the distillery then goes to Brendan. Brendan is enraged their grandfather would do such a thing. He desperately needed the distillery so that he could sell it outright and use the money to put it into the failing car dealership. He crows, Liam is as good as done because he doesnât even have a girlfriend. Brendan starts counting his chickens before they are hatched and tells everyone his plans of selling and laying off all the workers, too. James, an old timer who has worked at the distillery, quietly asks Liam if he has anyone in his life to marry. They both concoct an idea of Liam getting married to someone who doesnât want to stay married to him but someone he trusts. Think of it as a business transaction. Enter, Daisy Patel!
Liam proposes this idea as a win-win situation for the both of them. The Auntie-jis will have to back off and stop match mating. Liam will get his distillery and his greedy brother wonât tear the place down so that all the employees will still have their jobs. Shockingly, Daisy entertains the idea and comes up with âthe dating planâ so that it can look more authentic. She later uses a spreadsheet and sends it to Liam to outline all seven dates and on the 8th date, they will marry. Only Daisy could make it into a science and business transaction. There are rules such as, no sex and kissing only in front of people. To make it sound a little more loving, she even has a nickname for him: hamazz.
Mind you, only a few dozen people know the truth about their âengagement.â The awesomely protective but cool cousin, Layla, her colleagues, Josh Saldana, Zoe, and Mia, Johnâs cousin who manages the Rose & Thorn, an Irish pub in the Mission, Ethan and the head bartender who has a lot of fun and sass, Rainey Davis and of course, James, the oldest employee from Murphy & Sons Distillery.
This delightful and fall in love rom-com literature is so heartwarming. I canât stop smiling and love all the Auntie-jis and even how the truth of the prom night is revealed but Liam still does not betray the person he was protecting. Yeh, you can figure it out pretty early on but you still have to give him props for keeping his words. I adore how he knows her entire family has to be in on giving permission to her being engaged to him or anyone for that matter. My cup overflows when her father and Liam had a heart to heart talk, as well.
Canât wait to read more of Sara Desaiâs other works.
Super funny story!
I have a full review up on The Lit Buzz!
https://thelitbuzz.com/2021/03/dating-plan-sara-desai
I have a full review up on The Lit Buzz!
https://thelitbuzz.com/2021/03/dating-plan-sara-desai
This was a pretty good book - but I was not completely sold. Great if you're into a really cheesy romance (which I typically am not). Good cultural elements and a pretty solid ending.
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