Member Reviews

I'm not sure what it is, but there's something about the arranged marriage trope (along with fake dating/engagement) that I just can't seem to get enough of. With a lot of each, I absolutely adored Dating Dr. Dil. I always enjoy getting a bit of a peek into another culture, especially when written by an own voices author, and the aunties were a fantastic part of that! I loved their boisterousness and sticking their noses in all the business.

Kareena and Prem had an amazing chemistry that made them fly off the page right from the very beginning. But I also enjoyed that Kareena really tried to stick to her plan to find her love match instead of just falling into the arms of the charismatic Prem immediately. And it made it all the sweeter when Prem kept trying to convince her.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves romantic comedy!

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I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Everything from the amazing text banter between pretty much everyone to the freaking food fight and the fake dating / real feelings stuff was perfect. I found myself laughing and crying and wishing that the book didn't have to end. And yet I could not put it down. This is a solid romcom from beginning to end and I sincerely hope it is leading to a series so that I can enjoy more of this thriving community of side characters that added so much to the overall reading experience.

One thing I found extremely charming was how much credence was given to traditional culture and norms and how familial expectations of how a woman should behave can be very different from how a man of the same age might be treated. I also loved that the author found a way to create high steam bedroom scenes and still maintain the reluctant romance. Prem is my new favorite book boyfriend because he did a full 180 in this book and honestly swept me away with his actions and then his words. All the stars to this book!! I cannot wait to get a copy to add to my shelves!

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This book was a DELIGHT from start to finish. Not only was the writing funny and smart but the plot was great, the characters were so amazing and the romance was everything.

I had a feeling I would love this book when Nisha Sharma said it was a retelling of "The Taming of the Shrew." not because I read the play (lol) but bc an iconic 90s romcom is also based on the titular play: 10 things I hate about you. That's all it took for me to not only devour this book in under 24 hours but to also love it so much I cried.

Kareena and Prem are my favorite reluctant lovers and I will protect them with my life. The amount of mutual pining in this book was everything I needed and they were also so angsty (which is one of my trope weaknesses) and I ate that up!

Run, do not walk to pick up this book! I promise it will be a favorite romance of the year.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC (advanced reader's copy) in exchange for an honest review.

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Nisha Sharma’s DATING DR DIL is addictive. The family dynamics are as infuriatingly relatable as they are complicated. The romance starts on an antagonistic note that transforms to respect and then love in fun turns. Hot and funny and romantic. I highly recommend this story of sticking to your guns, even when the world insists your standards are too high.

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I definitely could not handle the family dynamic. I will not claim to understand what is like to grow up like that but my goodness was it cringy and horrifying.

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Dating Dr. Dill
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kareena is thirty, thriving, and has a blossoming career. There’s just one problem: She’s single and her meddling auntys, sister, grandmother, and father have a problem with it. Kareena wants a love match but finding a suitable partner has been no walk in the park. Enter Dr. Prem Verma aka Dr. Dill, cardiologist and talk show host. A live streamed altercation on the set of the Dr. Dill show led these two down an unlikely path that neither of them could’ve imagined. Enemies to Lovers/Fake dating tropes get me every time no matter how many stories I’ve read. Dating Dr. Dill is a fun read and I couldn’t put it down. And let’s not forget about those spicy love scenes, we stan a considerate lover 🔥 Make sure this one is on your radar! Happy reading!

Thanks to Netgalley, Avon Books, and Harper Collins for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Dating Dr. Dil is a book that has made it to my favorite of Shakespeare romance retellings. I am also unbelievably excited for the rest of the series even though I know absolutely nothing about them. But I loved this diverse retelling in the way that Prem and Kareena's relationship unfolds. Kareena was an instant favorite - the way she wants to find love, to not settle. While I felt like some aspects of the ending were a bit hasty, this was a book that I devoured.

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That you to netgalley and Avon for the eARC in return for an honest review


Ok. First off this review will be a tad bit hard for me as a 4th generation White American person. There is a very large focus on the experience of not only the Indian/Desi culture, but also the culture of being the children of immigrants. This book seeps with Indian culture, from the food, to how the characters dress and talk and celebrate. So as someone not a part of that culture, I can’t even begin to determine the accuracy of it. However I will say, the author has done a great job of still allowing others outside to immerse themselves into these customs and such, without too much effort.

That aside, the actual romance part of this book? I absolutely adored it. Prem and Kareena were super fun together. I liked their interactions and could believe how they could hit it off as quickly as they did. The whole cast was a delight, supporting Kareena and Prem in their fun romp. I am excited to see that this is a series, as I would love to see more of the other characters.

Another thing I will note, there were some scenes where I just also absolutely adored the writing. As a very visual reader, who loves tiny character gestures, there is one part that makes me smile and I just was so happy to see. It was a simple moment of Prem talking to his friends and he nervously says ‘What if I keep her?’ And bites his fist. And just the visual and the writing of that tiny moment just was really great detail for me.

I also really loved the usage of the flashbacks throughout the book to their first conversation. You slowly get to see more and more of things they talked and shared with each other.

Overall, I really really enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. I am super excited to see more of the series.

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This was so fun and heart-warming! This is an "enemies" to lovers and fake dating romcom with a lot of family expectations in between. I love how generational differences, especially in immigrant families, in views on relationships were highlighted and how Kareena and Prem shared such a strong connection in their shared experiences as children of immigrants. This was entertaining and fast-paced, but I felt like they went back and forth so often as they were figuring out what was "real" from their relationship that I wasn't too convinced that they belonged together in the end. Their banter started off great, but I couldn't help feeling a little underwhelmed by how their main conflict played out.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Dating Dr. Dil will most definitely be in my list of favorite RomComs. A 'Taming of the Shrew" retelling focusing on a brilliant South Asian cast of characters. This book should be read by everyone who loves enemies to lovers, fake dating, and pushing back on societal norms. I highly encourage many out there who come from a culture where marriage as the ultimate marker of success to read this book.

I myself am a 1st Generation Greek American and the amount of similarities I had to Kareena were unreal. I absolutely adored the meddling family and the cultural pressures of getting married because I related to that SO MUCH. I truly felt seen so much throughout the book.

Prem is a heart doctor (with his own tv show) who does not believe in love and Kareena who is a 30 year old successful lawyer believes in finding her soulmate and true love. Kareena and Prem met at a bar and immediately hit it off but only for Prem to leave her hanging. Kareena finds out he is a doctor that doesn't believe in love which leads them to having a televised argument. This causes Prem to lose his funding for his clinic after his biggest investor sees the argument. At this point they both are in need of money (Prem to build his medical center and Kareena to buy her late mother's home) the catch is - the easiest way to get the money is to get married. They both basically hate each other but realize they are also each other's only hope.

There is a lot of push and pull between them and you can clearly see Prem actually falling in love but doesn't admit it. There were so many fantastic moments in this book that made me tear up, laugh out loud and so much DRAMA with the auntys it was legit such a fun swoon worthy read!

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** Received review copy.***
This book was a bit hard to get into. Not sure what it was but the first few chapters were tough. I am so glad that I stuck with it.
I love a story that has a real heated confrontation early on. It makes no sense because he often hate confrontation within a book but when it’s right at the start, it works for me. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just is.
One of the things I really loved about this book was that Kareena is clearly a Taurus. As a Taurus myself, there were some many things that resonated with me. Her peacemaker tendencies. Her giving nature that is taken advantage if. Her attraction to a man who listens to her and remembers what she says. Her stubbornness and fear of change.
Prem made so much sense. He wanted to be right but he is a huge cinnamon roll. He is not prepared for his emotions but damn is he attuned to Kareena.
I really did not like Bindu. I felt terrible for her fiancée and wanted to Gibbs slap her multiple times.
This is a Taming if The Shrew retelling and I loved it.

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From the Publisher:
“Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he’s selling her mother’s home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he’ll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn’t want.”

I absolutely loved this funny enemies to lovers romance. It’s one of those books you can’t put down, and can’t wait to get back to when you stop!
The characters are so memorable, and the chemistry between the main characters is on fire! Kareena’s bridezilla sister and her hysterical Aunties, who know everyone who matters and everything about them, kept me laughing throughout the book. I was interested in learning about the ins and outs of Indian dating too.
It was touching to see how much Prem cares about Kareena as he realizes how important she is to him. Each of them has to make changes to their long held beliefs so they can finally be together.

Definitely in my Top 10 for this year so far, 5 romantic stars!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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It took me about a third of the book to get into the groove of the story, but I did enjoy it once I got there!

I get what Sharma was trying to do here (and it's a tall order): a desi retelling of <i> The Taming of the Shrew</i>, discussing arranged marriages versus love matches, talking about Indian male and family toxicity, and double standards to women in desi communities. It's a lot to cover in a 350-ish page romance novel, but I deeply and honestly respect, and appreciate the effort.

It was sometimes painful for me to read, because I come from a similar cultural background, and, on the one hand, I was thrilled that something like this was out there. However, I think the topics are so intensely nuanced and complicated that it's hard not to have really harsh characters as stereotypes to make your point. For example, the family dynamics were (I thought) really one dimensional, problematic, and really, really toxic. But I also get that it was there to prove the MC's motivations for doing what she did. Did I relive almost identical conversations in my head and ruminate on them for days afterwards? Yes, but I'm still grateful that there's that representation (as traumatic as it is), and I feel seen.

I will add that I straight up bookmarked the scenes where the MC's romantic interest is hanging out with his friends (or making Bollywood worthy entrances). Sometimes a little stilted, and sometimes a little repetitive, I loved the representation of Indian food (I need to find myself some pani puris), friendship, and family. Most importantly, this was all based in New Jersey (WHOOP WHOOP).

<i>ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

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The best decision i made this year is reading this.

The main characters are total opposite but in the best way, Dr. Prem Verma, a cardiologist with a tv show that doesn’t believe in love marriages and Kareena Mann, a lawyer that believes in true love and is willing to find it just like her parents did. They felt an instant connection but some things happened that lead to them being annoyed with each other. Their families play a great role in this since they are trying to help them find a match.

Kareena is a strong independent character that stands up to voice her opinion and fights for what she wants even tho her family is trying to tell her otherwise.

Prem is loyal to his cause, kind and super thoughtful. He remembers every little thing Kareena said from their first encounter and is always looking out for her.

Their chemistry can’t be denied, these two were funny and relatable! their development is amazing. They understand each other so well and the way they both are trying to achieve their goal to honor someone close that they loss.

Don’t let this cover fool you, at first glance we see a cute rom com BUT THE SPICE IN THIS IS JUST WOW WOW

I loved learning about Indian culture! we see a lot of food (Which made me hungry while i was reading) and family dinamics in this.

You know what makes the book even better? These two are swifties and there’s even a playlist!

Read this now or add it to your tbr, you won’t be disappointed!

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Absolutely adored this book! 5/5! Literally read in one sitting! One of the best Romcoms I read this year! Lovers to enemies, to lovers. Deserves every bit of hype it’s getting.

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***Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for sending me an advanced reader copy of Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma! All thoughts are my own!***

Dating Dr. Dil is a Taming of the Shrew inspired romance. Being that The Taming of the Shrew is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, I was highly anticipating this book. I was very pleased to see this book did have the Taming of the Shrew elements and it enhanced the story immensely.

My favorite aspect of this book was the setting. The novel is set in New Jersey, Kareena being from Edison and Prem living in Jersey City. My hometown is close to Edison, so I had a connection to the setting and it felt like I was back in an area so familiar to me. The setting being in New Jersey was very fitting since you see lots of the South Asian community and culture there.

Kareena Mann is a hopeless romantic who after getting her career finalized is ready to find love and marriage. She meets Prem Verma while she is out celebrating her 30th birthday where they instantly connect, but after getting to know each other throughout the night, Prem leaves her. Kareena swears herself off him, but when she joins her sister from an interview for The Dr. Dil Show, Kareena finds out that she has met Dr. Dil, who is Prem. When Dr. Dil starts taking about how love is not something someone should look for when getting into a relationship, Kareena is furious that Prem, the night before, said the opposite. A video goes viral of Prem and Kareena arguing and Prem's community health center investor pulls out his contribution. Kareena finds out that her father is planning on selling her family house and moving to Florida for retirement, but she wants to keep the house her mother built from the ground up.

Kareena and Prem both are propositioned to get married by their parents in order to get money for their respective causes. Kareena wants to buy her mother's house that she has worked so hard to restore, while Prem wants to start a community health center targeted to the South Asian community. The two plan to fake date and get engaged so they can get the money they need for futures.

I really enjoyed this story. You get the big Indian family dynamic, and how involved they are in wanting them to get married, hopefully to each other. These characters are complex in their pasts and what they are looking for in life going forward. Their relationship is pretty roller coaster at tines because of their respective views on love and marriage. This romance is also pretty steamy which I always love to read. If you like fake dating and enemies to lovers, you will really like this novel.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

Dating Dr. Dil is a fun and fresh take on The Taming of the Shrew. It centers around Kareena, a 30 year old woman who refuses to settle for less than the love story of her parents (despite much pressure from her family). When her father announces he is selling her mother’s beloved home, Kareena makes a deal with him that if she gets engaged in 4 months, he will gift her the house. Enter Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show. Kareena and Prem hate each other, but they need each other. Kareena needs her house and Prem needs money for his dream clinic. They enter into an arrangement that definitely does not end in love…

This was a fun romcom with a ton of chemistry and banter. It took a bit to get into it, but I loved the dialogue and the side characters. It’s a great twist on a classic story. I loved the world Sharma has created and can’t wait to see what she writes next.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be posted on publication date.

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I just reread the description of this book before writing my review and the description sounds pretty different from the book itself. Maybe that’s because I read an early copy? Though I wouldn’t have expected the storyline to change. Maybe the description is just a little off. I’m going to describe the book as I read it, which was an early ebook edition from NetGalley.

On Karenna 30th birthday she gets some shocking news, her father is planning to sell the family home. With the exception of college, Karenna has always lived there. She wants to own the house herself some day. The house was her mother’s pet project and Karenna feels connected to her through it. She asks her dad to let her buy it. She can’t afford it but her dad always promised that he’d either pay for her wedding or help with a down payment on a house. Karenna never knew there was a catch until now. Her dad only plans to give her the money after she’s engaged.

Prem has a day job on a talk show that is mainly to raise money and recognition for the project that he actually cares about. He wants to open a center to deal with Asian women’s health in honor of someone he lost.

Both Karenna’s parents and Prem’s parents had love marriages. Karenna only wants to marry for love. Prem wants an arranged marriage.

Karenna and Prem meet and have an immediate connection. Then Karenna learns about Prem’s talk show. As Dr Dil he is actually encouraging people against love marriages. He’s going so far as to say that love is bad for your health. Karenna is furious, she feels that he wasn’t honest with her and she tears into him on live tv.

As a result, Prem definitely looks bad. His investors start to pull their money out.

Suddenly it seems like the only thing they can do is pretend to be together. If they announce an engagement within four months, Karenna will get through money to buy her house and Prem’s investors won’t back out.

The fact that the two of them obviously have feelings for each other complicates things even more. Prem would sooner marry Karenna than he would admit that he could love someone.

I feel like this definitely isn’t just about love matches versus arranged matches. Because I’m sure plenty of people who started out as arranged marriages grew to love their spouse. Prem is actively fighting against the idea of love. If Karenna and Prem wound up together, he doesn’t want to love her. He’s scared to ever love anyone.

So Karenna has some really tough choices ahead. She knows she could fall in love with Prem. They have fun together, he pays attention to her, they’re very attracted to each other, but they want two different things. Karenna doesn’t want to settle for less than love.

I definitely liked Karenna best. Her aunties were entertaining and her friends were supportive. I liked Prem most of the time but he was frustrating at times (I was probably more frustrated for Karenna than as a reader though). Karenna’s dad was the worst.

You’ll definitely root for Karenna and Prem to get things figured out and for Karenna to get what she wants on her terms rather than her father’s.

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thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book!

this was a great story, with relatable and interesting characters. it did take me until about 25% of the book to be invested. it had me laughing all the way until the end!

I really liked seeing both Prem and Kareena's side of the stories. Kareena is strong and outspoken, and stands up for herself. Prem did feel a bit juvenile to me, especially at 35 years old. normally I don't like miscommunication/not sharing feelings in books but I understood why it happened in this book specifically.

I will say - there are some wording choices in this book that made me cringe (ex: "charlie" being used multiple times was BEYOND cringe. these characters are 30+ years old, come on.)

overall, if you're a fan of romantic comedies, I think you'll enjoy this one!

#DatingDrDil #NetGalley

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~Thank you to Harper-Collins & NetGalley for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review~
I was genuinely so excited when I got around to reading this book, but ultimately disheartened to say I had a lot of mixed feelings upon finishing it. There were a lot of great things going for this book that I really appreciated, but the writing style ultimately made it feel very choppy, cliche and cringey.

Let's start with the great things this book had going for it because they're incredibly important and need to be emphasized: I really loved the fact that we get MCs in their 30s with established careers going for them, and throwing into the mix the fact that they're both first generation children of immigrant parents. Although I'm obviously not in my 30s yet, I could relate so much to their lifestyles as well as the values that they were raised with as a first gen child of immigrants myself. It's so incredibly important to have stories featuring characters going through situations indicative of POC & especially first generation children of immigrants. I also really appreciated that it didn't glorify certain toxic behaviors that can present themselves in immigrant families but on the other hand didn't overshadow the highlights and strong values of love in these families.

Now for what made what could have been a 4 star read more of a 3.5 star read: the writing style. It was very choppy especially in the beginning which made it difficult to get into the story and the word choices throughout the book were very cliche and cringey, ESPECIALLY during the smut scenes. The smut scenes were honestly done such a disservice by the writing style and word choices. It didn't do any favors for the chemistry between the two characters. The cringiness of the dialogue, most often when we're in the love interest's POV, was a lot at times and just cheapened a lot of the interactions the two characters have. Again, there was so much potential, but these issues consistently ruined the moment (especially with the 5 too many mentions of naming the love interest's nether-regions as "Charlie").

DATING DR. DIL had the making of becoming one of the biggest romance novels of this year and while there are many things going for it, the writing style tarnished its potential.

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