It took me three months to finish this book. I’m sad this book didn’t work for me. Do you see that cover and title pun? Dr. Dil = heart = love = Prem. I wanted to like it, hence why I forced myself to finish it.

Though I read an e-ARC graciously provided via Netgalley so final copy might be different, this book did not read cohesive. Characters were not fleshed out or given the slightest depth, besides marriage. I grew up in this culture and society - I know how much marriage is pronounced, but it is never the *only* thing emphasized where every single conversation revolves around that. I understand lived experiences and representation varies a lot, but if the representation only focuses on one aspect of the general stereotypes without added depth, then it’s not doing its intended goal, which was to de-stigmatize arranged marriages.

Prem and Kareena’s love story is totally skimmed and told. Their first date was three hours long and the author skips right over it, revealing snippets of their conversation whenever Prem conveniently does something she’d ‘off-handedly’ mentioned. Romance is about watching characters learn each other, connecting emotionally, their body language. In establishing them as already knowing everything about the other from an off-page conversation, the intimacy/connection was skipped and I didn’t root for them to be with each because I didn’t care since I didn’t witness their journey.

Prem was an attempt to be a alpha mafia-type character in a contemporary romcom. It doesn’t translate across sub-genres. Prem wouldn’t call Kareena by her name preferring his nickname Rina, over her requests to use her full name. I’ve read that type of scenario before and usually there is a poetic reasoning that softens the heroine. There was none here. He also shows up to a few of her dates unannounced which is stalker-ish. He didn’t give her space. She still hadn’t agreed to the fake dating and he was already telling everyone in his life that he met someone. The fight he had with her parents at the end felt straight out of a bollywood movie. It was so unexpected and over the top. Also how did he know how her family treated her? It wasn’t developed and every thing goes back to the three hour conversation that was skipped.

I have no idea what Kareena does. Through bits and pieces, I figured it out but if I was shown her daily life apart from her aunties, it would have gone over well in connecting with the character. Then every single side character was flat and two-dimensional, with no redemption arc, but everyone changed their behavior.

Side note: The sex scenes were not written well. And I’m not usually judging them. It was just so categorically bad that I noticed. And the amount of times I read ‘Rina, honey’ - *facepalm*

I enjoyed this book once I got past the first few chapters. It’s got big Taming of the Shrew meets Pride and Prejudice vibes and I had a good time getting to know the characters.

It started out slow, the protagonists seemed almost pathologically stubborn, and I spent the entire book wanting to roundhouse kick the FMC’s bridezilla sister in the face, but it was a pleasurable read.

This book was an absolute joy!! I had so much fun reading it and genuinely enjoyed every single minute!!

I’m obsessed with the characters — hot tv personality doctor who doesn’t believe in love and a sassy hot lawyer looking for her happily ever after?? Sold. The humor, the banter, the tension, the spice, the enemies to lovers, the fake dating, and the Taylor Swift references? — all perfection. This book was stacked with all my favorite things!

The main characters are so loveable! I found myself so emotionally invested in their relationship as a couple, but also just in Kareena as a character. I was sad & annoyed for her at times, but also outright giddy (some parts of this book had me laughing out loud & smiling so big). She’s sassy, smart, independent, caring & a 100% under-appreciated sister & daughter! She’s such a loveable and relatable character! I also loved Prem, while his view on love sometimes annoyed the heck out of me (especially at the end), I enjoyed his journey and watching his relationship with Kareena grow! He’s snarky and funny, but also so sweet! By the end these two had me in a chokehold.

I also really enjoyed the familial relationships and the meddling aunties in this story! It added more depth & humor to the story! I also really enjoyed getting to learn more about parts of Indian culture when it comes to dating, marriage, family, and food!

Basically, I’m obsessed with this book and hope it will get the hype it deserves when it’s released on 3/15!

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars rounded up

“That’s why you’d rather listen to Taylor Swift under a weighted blanket and drink chai while reading romance novels than go out and meet people.”

Kareena believes in love marriages while Prem thinks love is an illusion. When a fight between the two of them goes viral, both want nothing to do with each other. But they also both need to get engaged within four months to prove to others that they are engaged to get what they want. What happens when they start to fall for each other but they both want different things?

Kareena is my new book bff. She is hilarious, opinionated and relatable (a romance book and TSwift loving girl who would rather stay in than go out). And Prem is a new favorite book boyfriend. He’s supportive, attentive, caring, and not to mention attractive. the lengths he goes to make her happy made me swoon.

Some of the things I loved about this book:
Learning more about South Asian and Punjabi culture
-Enemies to lovers banter
-Supportive best friends
-Discussion on the importance of “love” vs. compatibility
-The text transcripts
-Laugh out loud jokes
-Kareena’s hilarious aunties
-The STEAM
-The TSwift playlist at the end
-The character growth for both Kareena and Prem

Read if you like 10 Things I Hate About You (both based in Taming of the Shrew), have ever been asked uncomfortable questions by your family, and believe in soulmates.

Thank you @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC.

Dating Dr. Dil was such an adorable romance. Prem and Kareena were likable characters and readers had no choice but to root for them to end up together. The integration of the Indian culture was perfectly done and easy for non-Indians to follow. Highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Kareena is 30 and still single, she wants to find true love and a bollywood style romance but time is short because if she wants to keep her mother's house she has to get married in four months. Prem doesn't believe in love, he is dedicated to building a health center.

Kareena and Prem meet at bar and even though they hit off at first it ends badly which leads to Kareena calling him out on his talk show. The video of their argument goes viral and Prem loses donars for his health center. In order to get donors back he has to present himself as a family man. He spends the rest of the book trying to convince Kareena to get fake engaged so both of them can get what they want.

Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the characters as annoying as her family was, Kareena herself was infuriating. Their relationship barely had any development. There were still some good moments but overall the book fell flat for me.

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The way that I devoured this book. I couldn’t stand putting it down today. I took it with me to every errand— I even read it while stuck sitting in traffic.

This story is absolutely delightful! It was laugh-out-loud hilarious through and through. It’s one of those books that you’re reading with a grin permanently plastered to your face. There are so many fantastic characters to fall in love with.

The dual POV was *chef’s kiss*. I’ll be swooning over Kareena and Prem for the foreseeable future. Their chemistry was instantaneous and palpable. The tension? Are you kidding me?! I loved Rina as the confident, self-assured heroine not afraid to demand what she wants in life and not willing to settle for less. Now Prem - though initially a work in progress - was quite the generous love interest. When that slowburn hits to spice, it got HOT! Both of them had some fantastic character development and growth.

[My only complaint about this story is Charlie. IYKYN. No thank you.]

I’ve read a few Desi romances and I greatly enjoy being enveloped by the richness of the culture. The loyalty of their family unit always tugs at my heartstrings. I think it’s incredibly beautiful to experience even in passing through a story. I really appreciate how much Nisha shared with us.

Fake dating reigns supreme. I’ll be taking no criticism on the matter. I don’t care how predictable the HEA is going to be— I LOVE IT! Nisha blew me away with this one and I’ll be so excited to see what comes next.

I have been on such a lucky streak with reading good books lately! Dating Dr. Dil was a cute romance that had me swooning the whole time. I can’t even tell you how many times I had to put my phone down because I was blushing so hard. Prem and Kareena were so good together!!!! I loved every single interaction they had together. Really hoping we get to see their friends get their own stories too (especially Bobbi and Bunty!)

𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼:
We are about two weeks away from publication, so I feel it's time to do a full review. If anything, sitting on this book made me realize how much I really really liked it. The first thing I can say about this book is it values honesty and I LOVED THAT! Miscommunication is such a cheap, but easy trope, but this book avoided that trope like the plague. Everyone was honest from the beginning.

I loved the Desi representation, even though I got a little confused from the references at times haha. I loved the blend of modern and traditional values, simply because it is the reality for so many people in this community, and in others.

This story has such a fun twist on a classic trope, and it is honestly probably my favorite book I've read of this trope. I loved the main, and side characters; and by love, I mean I hated some so much, but I loved the fact that I felt anything for them.

There was spice in this book, like GOOD SPICE, and I didn't know that going into it!!! I was pleasantly surprised. The one, and I truly mean the one, negative thing about this book is the lack of an epilogue. WHY NO EPILOGUE! The book was going to well, I was debating 4.5 or 5 stars, and then I got to the end and nothing. An epilogue isn't only a want, it is a NEED. I know we are going to get books from the friends, and we will revisit these characters, but I still needed something. It really pissed me off, and kinda ruined the experience a little.

Overall, though, I still highly HIGHLY recommend like...READ THIS!

This book is for those who love
-retellings(this is a desi retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew)
-opposites attract
-instant attraction
-let's fake date because we'll both get what we want

Kareena Mann is single, strong, and independent; the three things that make her South Asian family determined to "marry her off". Kareena wants to fall in love but she put off dating to focus on her career until now when it's imperative that she must find her soulmate and get engaged if she doesn't want to lose her mom's house.

Enter Prem Verma or Dr. Dil whose name is the complete opposite of his beliefs and Kareena's. Prem is a cardiologist and hosts a TV show where he talks all about the heart. He doesn't believe in love but needs to get hitched to get the money for his clinic.

Girl and Guy meet at a bar but things do not go well in the end. Their second meeting ends up being somewhat of a disaster and what's worse, it's public. However, with the help of some aunties and some accidents, they agree to a truce. Will Kareena be content with a loveless partnership? Or, will Prem reconsider his views on love?

Kareena and Prem had great chemistry both inside and outside the bedroom. I loved Kareena as a character and it wasn't only because she's a fellow Swiftie. Although her family constantly demeans her, Kareena never gives up on her beliefs and fights for everything she loves. This was a little unnerving to read but Kareena was not alone as she had some amazing friends. Later on, we also see Prem stand up for her against her family and that was delightful to watch.

Prem is not at all a 'desi fuckboy' which Kareena calls him but his only imperfection is that he has outdated theories on love. This idea generally stems from the fact that his parents have a love marriage or so they have told him but he has never witnessed them saying those three simple words to each other or to him. Kareena, on the other hand, has witnessed the love her parents had before her mother passed away and wants it for herself but her family ridicules her for it at every moment. I would have loved to see some growth in any of Kareena's family members but we never got around to it. There's also a lady Whistledown like character who writes advice columns for desi couples but it didn't add any value to the story.

Overall, I really loved the romance and the drama! I love the aunties who weren’t the stereotypical ones as you see in media and in reality. I would have loved this book more if it also turned around another stereotype; Indians do consume meat, Hindus do that, and have beef as well.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review!

Dating Dr. Dil was my first book by Nisha Sharma and I can’t wait to read the upcoming books in this series - I loved this world that she created and all of the unique and funny characters in it!

Kareena Mann has put finding her love match on the back burner while accomplishing her career goals. But, now that something she loves is on the line, she’s more dedicated than ever to find the love of her life. She’s opinionated, outspoken and driven to buck expectations and help people accomplish their goals. I loved that she was a little sassy, independent and insistent that her standards weren’t too high even when everyone doubted her. Prem forces her to constantly defend her opinions, but she never gives in.

Dr. Prem Verma is a cardiologist, a South Asian local TV personality and a firm believer that love is detrimental to a marriage and to your health. He’s up against the ropes to make his dream of opening a South Asian community clinic a reality but he needs a little help to make it happen. He’s incredibly thoughtful, a great listener and a little clueless when it comes to feelings. Kareena pulls him out of his comfort zone and forces him to confront some feelings and misconceptions he’s been holding on to for years.

I liked this take on a fake relationship - it kind of was and it kind of wasn’t and I enjoyed the back and forth between Kareena and Prem trying to figure it out. From the very beginning, there’s no denying that their chemistry is outrageous - conversation flows so easily, their banter is great, they’re so steamy together and they really understand each other. I wish there was an epilogue to see how these two were doing after their HEA, but hoping to see more of them in the next books in this series!

My biggest problem with this book was Kareena’s family. Not her aunties, but her father, sister and Dadi. They treated Kareena like a doormat throughout the whole book in various ways - her father for not speaking to her about the house, her Dadi for her emotional blackmail and Bindu for taking advantage of her kindness while being a complete bridezilla. I’m glad things ended up working out for them, but I was so frustrated for her the entire time. The greatest moment in this book was when Prem took it upon himself to put Kareena’s family in their place - it was honest and epic and made me fall a little bit in love with him.

I really enjoyed all of Kareena’s sweet but meddling aunties and Kareena and Prem’s friends. Can’t wait to hopefully read their stories in the next books in this series!

I loved this story! My favorite trope is the enemies-to-lovers, one where the characters argue and bicker their way into love. There’s something wonderful about all that emotion fixated on each other until the stars align and it morphs into passion and love. Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew embodies all that, for all that the sentiments regarding women are problematic. It’s probably my least favorite of the great bard’s plays, since the whole point is for the “shrew” to submit and become pleasant and biddable. Blech. I was very interested to see how Nisha Sharma was going to pull this off, and not only did she succeed, but she also set the whole story on its ear.

The first thing we learn about Kareena is that she is driven. She has goals, and she is working her butt off to achieve them. She is a lawyer working her dream job at a company that develops women-owned businesses, but the thing everyone else seems to focus on is that she is thirty and single. Not only that, but she still lives at home with her father and grandmother. It doesn’t matter to anyone else that she has deep emotional ties to the house that her deceased mother loved, and that her goal is to someday own the house. Instead, it is all about how she is too intimidating to attract a man, too focused on her work, too… inadequate.

This was one of the threads of the story that I felt Sharma played with the most. In Shakespeare’s play, Katherina’s sister, Bianca, is seen as the desirable woman, the sweet and obedient wife every man wants, her father as a man desperate to get his head-strong eldest daughter married and settled. Katherina is the flawed character, and everything her new husband does to her is for the express purpose of getting her to mend her ways. It is not hard to see how this doesn’t hold up in today’s world.

In Dating Dr. Dil, Prem and Kareena may butt heads over how their relationship should be defined, but ultimately, Prem isn’t trying to change Kareena’s behavior and mannerisms. He spends a lot of time trying to convince her to be fake engaged so that both their goals can be realized, but ultimately, he falls in love with her exactly as she is, and it would be wrong for him to try to change her in any way.

This was an excellent book, and I will most likely buy a physical copy to add to my personal collection.

This is one of the best new romance releases of the year! It deserves all the pre-publication buzz it's been getting. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I read such a great enemies-to-lovers story!

I think I loved just about everything about this book. My only complaint is that I don't think the marketing leans hard enough into this being a retelling of Taming of the Shrew. I think without the framing of it being a 'Shrew' retelling, the first couple chapters might be a little rough as you watch how awful Kareena's family is to her (not that they redeem themselves overly much, but the framing helps). But her 'found family' - aunties, best friends, work that is meaningful - balance their actions and Sharma expertly weaves her immediate family's actions into a broader commentary on the experiences of immigrant families that gives it nuance and insight rather than just a one-dimensional device. I found both leads to be endearing, real, and frustrating (in all the right ways to deliver the narrative) and the side characters did all the right things to make me love them and be impatient for their stories. Excellent start to a new series.
CW: death of a parent (off page, in the past), death of a previous partner (off page, in the past), emotional abuse from immediate family

This was a fun and quick romcom that I’m incredibly excited to pick up my copy of when it’s out. I loved the banter between characters the most.

Dating Dr Dill is the cute story of two people who want relationships for entirely different reasons. Their connection is instant, but life and their own circumstances create "problems" that they have to work through and on themselves in order to overcome. I enjoyed their family and friend connections. I liked the light humor in what could have been a heavy handed story. I loved Prem and how he pursued Kareena so sweetly and with determination.

This was so cute and so funny! A definite rom-com to add to your TBR pile. I loved Nisha’s humor and all of the food talk. I now blame her for all of the Indian food that I had to order now. 🤣

Prem and Kareena are spicy 🌶 and the perfect couple.

Watch my live interview with Nisha: https://amazon.com/live/broadcast/60b18a71-337f-494e-a24b-7b34fb99746e?ref=social&tag=erinmbransco-20&linkCode=ilv

Kareena dreams of finding true love, but might not have the time to find the perfect man. Her father is selling the home she loves and in order to afford it, Kareena needs a fiance.

I really enjoyed reading this. As a white woman, I know very little about the culture surrounding dating as a south Asian immigrant/first generation individual in America, and even less about the pressures placed on women. It was very interesting to learn more about the debate between finding a love match vs going with an arranged marriage.

I did, at times, find it frustrating that both their parents withheld money in an attempt to convince them to marry, but then I would step back and recognize that this frustration was in part, due to a deeply engrained belief of how things should be - based on my own culture and that I was actually being ethnocentric and just because it doesn't make sense to me, doesn't mean it is wrong. This is one of my favorite things about reading fiction - having the opportunity to step into a different life each time you pick up a book. Through Dating Dr. Dil, I was able to better grasp the expectations and societal norms of a culture different from my own and recognize when I was allowing my own beliefs to cloud my judgement. All in all, I am really glad I found this novel and I feel honored to be among the first group of readers.

My only criticism would be that I did, at times, struggle to relate to Dr, Dil. His belief that love is an illusion was...frustrating, to say the least. I could tell he loved her, but he was so hung up on the language and stuck in his ways. I was relieved when he finally admitted it, but I would have liked to see him change his beliefs a bit more gradually throughout the book

3

🩺 Review Time 🩺

Dating Dr. Dil: 💋💋💋💋/ 5

Okay, I have a confession with this one. I scrolled past this book on NetGalley multiple times because of the title. I just didn’t think it would be for me. Then, I saw some things about the book which intrigued me so I figured, what the heck! I requested it, was approved within hours, and I immediately started reading it because I had just finished another book.

Y’all this book is ADORABLE!!! I read it in one day because it was such an easy, fun read. I am a thriller girl, but sometimes I need something lighter, and this one definitely hit the spot! I am so so glad I ended up giving this one a chance because it was such a joy to read! I also thoroughly enjoyed the representation of the South Asian community, and loved learning about their culture more!

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for providing me the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#AnxiousReader #Bookstagram #RomanceReads #DatingDrDil #CuteReads #NetGalley #EBook #ARC #Bookstagrammer

Kareena is 30, single and living at home, and just learned that her dad is going to sell their house - the house her mother designed from scratch - in a few months. Kareena is a lawyer but doesn’t have the cash sitting around to buy the house outright, but her father has said if his daughters want the money he budgeted for their weddings to go toward a down payment on a house, they can. Problem is, she needs to be engaged to get the money and she’s determined to find a love match (even while her meddling Aunties are more than happy to make an arrangement). Prem Verma is a cardiologist who doesn’t believe in love but thinks commitment and partnership make the world go round. His mom is desperate for him to marry and offers to pay him if he gets engaged and he needs the money to open a community health center.

I loved this book. From their steamy first meeting to their explosive second meeting and beyond, Kareena and Prem have serious chemistry. Their friendship develops slowly and I loved that we also see their friendships, the aunties and uncles, parents, siblings, etc. on the journey. This book is steamy…like steamy 🔥but it’s so so good. I loved the epistolary elements and all the texting and online dating messages. The only thing I didn’t love is Prem refers to his penis by a name and it drove me crazy and took me out of the scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.