THE MARRIAGE GAME: Enemies-to-lovers like you've never seen before

This book is smooth and very well written. It's a perfect combination of witty and sweet romance where you will be hooked from the start and won't leave it until you finsih it.

Note: I received e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. That doesn't affect my review or rating.The Marriage Game was fun chick-lit that revolved around Layla and Sam’s marriage game. It was about burden of guilt, coping with loss, desire for requite and its consequences, family, community, Indian culture and cuisine, and love.Writing was excellent, entertaining and fast paced. It was set in San Francisco, written in third person narrative from both Layla and Sam perspective that gave insight on what was going on in their life and what they thought about each other, making it easy to understand characters and their different perspective on same culture.It started with Layla’s father writing marriage resume (so very Indian and fun to read), character introduction, Layla’s family background, and Layla returning from NYC to San Francisco to her family with thought of starting her own recruiting company in her father’s office above their restaurant. But problem was his father has given that office on lease to CEO of corporate downsizing company, Sam Mehta and his partner Royce. Her father couldn’t cancel the lease due to heart attack and now Layla was stuck with arrogant, uptight, and handsome Sam. And then Layla’s blind date walked in the office. Turns out Layla’s father had set up 10 blind dates for Layla through that marriage resume. She wanted to try these dates after series of disastrous boyfriends in her life but she didn’t want to deal with it alone and Sam wanted to save her from arrange marriage after what happened to his sister. They made a deal if she found a suitable husband, Sam could take the office but in exchange he would chaperon her on all 10 dates for support and safety. So that’s how the conflict of who would take the office turned into a marriage game.First half of the book brilliant. I couldn’t stop smiling. All characters were interesting and quirky. Family members were fun to read. I can see my family in them and let’s not talk about aunties and relatives. Layla’s cousin and best friend Daisy stole the show. I loved her sarcastic and witty comments and enjoyed all scenes she appeared in.Layla was fiery, witty and full of life heroine. Her brother’s death still affected her. She took bad decisions, made many mistakes, but I liked her determination of moving on in life make things right and settle down with a man of her dream. She was romantic and filmy by heart. She believed in love than arrange marriage but that didn’t work out so far and so she was trying blind dates her father had set. But she didn’t anticipate falling for Sam. I liked her growth in book, the way she learned what real love is and taking risk in love to find her happiness and happily ever after.Sam was interesting and complicated character. He was arrogant, uptight, serious and lived with self-constraint but behind this demeanour was fun, smart, loving, witty, caring and protective person. His conscience was buried behind the drive for justice, guilt, and requite for what happened to his sister. I could understand why he was behaving differently and how much burden he was carrying for something he was not responsible for. It took long for him to realise that and he messed things a lot in book but I like the way he turned around and made things right.Romance was slow build and passionate. I enjoyed banter between Layla and Sam over office and during dates. It added spice to story. It was lovely to see their arguments and banters turning into attraction and love. There was lot of drama caused by misunderstanding and silliest decision. It was sad to see what Sam did before climax and heartbreak was messy.Indian culture was at the centre of the book. There were mention of many delicious Indian food and Bollywood references. Everything the plot and character gave the story Bollywood vibe. All those dates were epic, hilarious and so fun to read. I liked this book most for those dates. I liked characters’ view on arrange marriages and relatives’ behaviour. It was apt and realistic. Parents and elders still believe in it and sometimes even force their children for arrange marriage and yes sometimes it turns out unpleasant like it did in this book.Climax made me a bit tiresome at characters for being silly and dramatic. Why can’t they just talk rather than jumping to assumptions! But events after that made me smile and laugh. It was actually crazy and I loved the big gesture at the end. End was lovely and cute.Why 4 stars-Second half was bit long and overly dramatic. Definitely filmy.Overall, The Marriage Game entertaining, laugh-out-loud, Bollywood style romance with interesting characters and Indian culture. I recommend this book to fans of chick-lit and romance.

A very undemanding, easy read with mostly likeable characters. It’s a great read for a rainy afternoon. I highly recommend.

There is a lot going on here. I have 22 highlights in this book. Like that is quite a lot of thoughts to feel strongly enough about and make note of. It was very compelling, the chemistry between Layla and Sam. But individually, phew, they had a lot of growing to do!Layla moves back to San Francisco feeling like she's hit rock bottom. When she finds out that her father is searching for a husband for her, things get even more dire. Especially because she's in an all out war with Sam Mehta, the CEO of the new company that has moved into her family's office. The very office that her father promised to her to help her kick her new business off on the right foot.Sam has his own demons he's fighting though. One of them being the culture of arranged marriages, and he has one of the biggest hero complexes ever, rivaled only by his own guilt complex. So when one of Layla's husband prospects comes into the office, he just can't stand by while she gets to know him. What if he took advantage of her in the board room, 10 feet away from him and her cousin, and one floor away from her family's restaurant?! He couldn't possibly stand by while that happens!So the game. They go on Layla's dates with the marriage prospects together, and if Layla finds a husband, Sam gets the office to himself. If Layla doesn't get married, she gets the office. Hilarity ensues. Truly, they are so ridiculous.But the growth was really good. I actually had to put this book down right before the third act breakup because it was so well written that it was making me physically uncomfortable. It's been awhile since I didn't want to zoom through a third act breakup to get to the good part! So huge ups for that!

I think I knew this book was for me when Lakshmi Auntie said she knew something bad was going to happen because she “felt it in her face.” I love the premise of this book as far as the "game", and loved seeing the dates. I liked Layla as a main character, she had been through a lot but was fighting to make her own way in the world. I liked Sam enough as a hero, but I didn't love him, which was a little disappointing. He definitely came off as hot and cold. I didn't love that he wouldn't stand his ground with his partner which lead to the main conflict/breakup. I felt like parts of the book were predictable, and some parts felt rushed. Now with all that said this book had some pretty swoony and steamy moments. It was full of drama, culture and love. The thing I loved most about this book was the Patel family. Like all of them. The drama and comedy that came from them made me so happy. I also really, really liked Nisha. Ultimately it was such an enjoyable read. If you are a fan of big noisy families I would definitely recommend.

So Whitt’s, funny and a fantastic romance read! I could not put it down! Can’t wait for another book to read from her. Or some kind of part 2!

I was so excited when I first read the introduction to this story--the world and the characters were so vivid and magnetic. Unfortunately, the author does not keep that momentum throughout her book. There were choppy transitions between scenes, heavy dialogue and sparse descriptions, which made it feel like a fast paced film.The behavior and the dialogue of the characters were so inauthentic that I eventually became disenchanted with them. However, I am not giving up on this author because she is very talented. There were moments in her book, especially at the beginning, where she exhibited a special soulful knack for describing her characters and environment. These parts were priceless and resonated deeply with me.