27 Aug / The Marriage Game by Sara Desai [in Booklist]
Soneela Nankani continues to grow her resume as the South Asian American rom-com narrator-of-choice, once again convincingly transforming truculently mismatched sparks into eternally burning flames. In Canadian Sara Desai’s debut, Nankani introduces sparring partners, Layla and Sam, suddenly forced to share a San Francisco office space (it’s complicated).
Layla has just returned from NYC to her extended family after a gone-viral-via-social-media break-up with yet another cheating boyfriend that also got her fired. Sam is a corporate downsizing expert who quit his surgical residency after his sister Nisha was left paralyzed by her abusive – but untouchably high-power – ex-husband; years later, he’s still nursing his crushed savior complex: How can he help others when he wasn’t able to save even his own little sister? Spooked by Nisha’s near-fatal arranged union, Sam – despite their animosity – can’t let Layla interview her father’s chosen spousal candidates alone.
Let the marriage game begin. Never mind that it’s predictable, overwritten, with side-plots galore – Nankani always delivers a frothy confection with energetic, entertaining aplomb.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, July 2020
Readers: Adult
Published: 2020