A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.
After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door…
As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.
As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.
Source: ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
I wanted humour and witty repartee and it was all here in The Marriage Game. This opposites-attract, forced-proximity romance pits Layla, a whirlwind of a personality HR recruiter against Sam, a disciplined CEO. They are like fire and water but the attractive kind that you can't help to tear your eyes away from. Returning home to San Francisco after she discovered her reality tv boyfriend was cheating on her, Layla has to restart her life and her career. Her father offers her the office space above their restaurant with the intent to renege on the lease that he had agreed to with Sam. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sam doesn't get the message so his and Layla's first meeting does not go off well. Both are insistent on the right to be there and boy do they butt heads! When a stranger shows up responding to her dad's ad, Layla thinks it's the perfect opportunity to take the guessing game out of dating and go on these dates to eventually find someone to marry. Sam thinks it's the worst idea ever but because her father is unavailable, he agrees to chaperone these dates. They have an agreement regarding the office that is dependent on the result of these dates. Shenanigans ensue.
Layla and Sam can deny up and down in front of everyone how much they detest each other but the truth is that they're not only intrigued but rather in lust. There's so much self-sabotaging of dates and crazy run ins that I was eager for the next mess they'd land in. I truly got a kick out of Sam's reactions to her dates. He had the best zingers and comebacks that I fell a little for him. Layla, though could not be suppressed. Not only did she trudge through the dates, she actually enjoyed giving Sam grief. It's been a while since I've felt two characters challenge each other the way they did and I was so into them. Honestly, these dates just gave them an excuse to be nearby but it proves to become a conundrum for Sam who's bent on achieving his own agenda which is to exact revenge on someone who hurt his family. It's an incident that's part of his past that he has purposeful left behind but continues to haunt him. Being around Layla is a reprieve from his guilt. But when the borders he's built to separate his worlds start to break down, so does he.
The only thing that's iffy to me about The Marriage Game is the initial set up where Layla wants to oust Sam from an office space that's legally his. That scenario is flimsy and let's be reasonable, rude. Anyway, it can be easily discarded as Layla and Sam's interactions pick up steam and become this ridiculous crazy train of blind dates, meddling but well-meaning aunties and constant ribbing. I live for this stuff and The Marriage Game delivers all that and the laughs brilliantly!
~ Bel
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