This was a great contemporary romance, with a fantastic group of characters!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

this book is the best romcoms on the market this year. it was one of my most anticipated read and ive had a copy since november. i knew i would love it, but damn i wasn't aware i would fall that hard. i'm currently in a book hangover while writing this review. this book was a masterpiece, everything was perfect i have nothing bad to say. everyone that is hyping it and give it 5 stars isn't lying. this book SLAPPED. get your hands on it peeps, youre in for a crazy ride.
5 freaking out of the earth atmosphere stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this modern day retelling of Taming of the Shrew though there is nothing shrewish about Kareena, a successful southeast Asian woman looking for a love match vs an arranged marriage. While some of her traditional family members think she should just settle for compatibility now that she is over 30, she demands more for herself. After a chance encounter with Prem "Dr Dil", who she initially thinks is a perfect match only to have him leave suddenly and without explanation and then find out he is a TV personality who actively doesn't believe in love. A mutual need for funds makes them both consider faking a relationship even as they fight the clear connection and attraction they share. I thought the author uncovered some of the aspects of Southeast Asian culture and first generation struggles I wasn't aware of and I found it both impactful and entertaining.

The reviews on this one are SO polarizing, and I’m really glad that I didn’t read them prior to going into this book. It seems like people either hated this book or loved it.

For me, I thought this book was messy as hell but absolutely hilarious. There were so many parts where I was legitimately laughing out loud.

The audio of this one is fantastic because it’s narrated by two of my faves: Soneela Nankani and Vikas Adam.

I loved both Kareena and Prem, and while they both tried to constantly deny their feelings and chemistry, it was palpable. And the steamy scenes were definitely steamy!

My only gripe with this book was Prem calling his penis Charlie. For someone who is a cardiologist, I don’t really think we need the “pet names”.

I love a fake relationship, so the blurb of this book automatically caught my attention! The enemies-to-lovers fake dating trope is one of my all-time favorites, and Nisha Sharma does it wonderfully in Dating Dr. Dil. Sometimes the "enemies" isn't realistic and the switch to "lovers" is too sudden, but Nisha Sharma has the perfect pace in this book. I also love the meddling aunties and can't wait to read more of this series. I heard so much about this book and it definitely did not disappoint! Not only sweet but PLENTY steamy as well! Buy this book, you will not be disappointed!

I absolutely ADORED this book! We follow a 30 year old South Asian woman as she navigates life being single, while her family pushes her to get married. We hear from the perspective of both her and Dr Dil...a man who she has a less than ideal first encounter with. Super cute hate to love and fake dating trope.

I just have to note that the romance definitely went there in this book, and I wasn't expecting it to do so. This author reminds me a lot of Tessa Bailey.

Solid 4.5 star for me.

✨ Review ✨ Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
Kareena and Prem (Dr. Dil) keep bumping into each other early in this book with varying results -- they had insta-chemistry where they met at a bar, but then Prem deserted her mid-kiss. When they meet again, the encounter isn't so sparkly as they face off. The book moves between these two extremes of love and hate as Prem and Kareena speculate a fake dating relationship to help them both achieve their goals (buying Kareena's mom's home and Prem launching a community health center). Along the way, they have to determine what love means to them, and whether the other provides what they're looking for.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Location: Jersey
Reminds me of: 10 Things I Hate About You
Pub Date: Out now!

This would have been a perfect 5-star book for me - I loved the dialogue, the romance, the silliness and irreverence...except for that the male MC kept referring to a body part of his as Charlie. Again, and again, and again. No context, not even in his dialogue...just in his inner thoughts. It was annoying and distracting. I'm so excited for the sequels, but please Avon, don't let this happen in all of these books.

I love a modern adaptation, and while I've never read The Taming of the Shrew, I've long been a fan of the story line via 10 Things I Hate About You. This book will give you all the Heath Ledger singing in the stands vibes; the paintball Julia Stiles grins. I loved how this book gave me those same feelings; and I love that it did it within a New Jersey Desi culture/setting.

Read this if you like:
⭕️ the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and/or contemporary Shakespeare adaptations
⭕️ Fake Dating stories
⭕️ Characters going on fun, creative dates

Thanks to Avon Books and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

💖what’s with this girl, she have beer flavored nipples💖

ok SO 10 Things is one of my all-time favorite movies (lmao hence the above quote) so obvi when Dating Dr. Dill was announced I LOST IT😍 plus I adored Nisha’s Singh Family Trilogy so I requested this bad boy ~stat~

Kareena and Prem’s romance hit every note for me!!! I think the Taming Of The Shrew setup can be tricky to do in a contemporary (i mean if you’re dumb high schoolers then sure, the whole “pay the hero to date the heroine” is fine, but if they’re supposed to be mature adults and I’m actually supposed to LIKE them, that doesn’t fly) and I really loved the way Nisha interpreted the story for Dating Dr. Dill, infusing it with all the simmering “i hate you even when i don’t hate you, not even a little, not even at all” energy that I LOVEE about 10 Things🙌🏻

I really, really loved the loathe-to-love energy of this one😘👌🏻 Prem was really giving Regency Rake energy with all that “Love Isn’t Real” talk (like hellOOO Tom Severin?!?) and Kareena was such a fantastic, romance reading & car junkie spin on Kat Stratford! The chemistry between them was BANANAS, and all their non-dates were so thoughtful and lovely that despite Prem’s insistence I ✨knew✨ boy was gone for her from the get-go.

I also really loved the way Nisha portrays complicated familial relationships— there’s absolutely a deeper layer that desi readers can speak to, but I think the struggle of “I love you but I don’t always like you/feel loved by you” is one many people can relate to when it comes to their families. Both Kareena and Prem have really beautiful, complicated relationships with members of their family, and it was one of the non-romance related (less so at least) story threads that really spoke to me.

Along with the multidimensional familial relationships, Kareena & Prem also had the ~coolest~ squads?!!? Truly the friends in this book were amazing, and OBVI the besties are gonna get books 2 & 3 (PLEASE Avon the people need it!!!!!) and I cannot wait to read them! It was such a treat to read a Nisha Sharma book again— truly I have several notes that are just variations of “how did I forget that i love her writing, this is fuckin hysterical” — and if you’re on the lookout for a good romcom, I can’t recommend this enough!

love love love! i’d yet to read a book by nisha sharma and now she’s definetly going to be an instant buy author for me! can’t wait to see if this is going to be a series!

I love this book. Honestly, I’m struggling with this review because I loved this book so much.
The characters, the plot, the chemistry, the spice - I loved it all!

I especially love that, in addition to being a romcom, Dating Dr. Dil is a reflexion on South Asian culture, dating and marriage practices, sexism, and the experience of being a second-generation immigrant.

Most of all, I loved Kareena and Prem. I love them individually and I love them together. I love their spicy chemistry. I love their conversations, their friends, their families. I love how their love feels so natural despite the complexities.

While my review doesn’t even begin to express how wonderful this book is, Dating Dr. Dil will easily be one of the best books I read this year. I cannot wait to see what else Nisha Sharma has in-store for us with the next ‘If Shakespeare was an Auntie’ book!

BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: Dating Dr. Dil
AUTHOR: Nisha Sarma
FORMAT: eBook
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
PUB DATE: 3/15/22
RATING: 9/10
4.5 stars

Thank you so much @avonbooks @nishasarma @netgalley for my #gifted advanced copy of DATING DR. DIL, out yesterday!!

MY THOUGHTS

This book had soaring reviews already once I picked it up this weekend & was definitely not surprised by this once I finished. It was very good!

I think my favorite part of the book was the South Asian representation (mainly Indian and Punjabi). I learned so much about their culture and societal norms and familial traditions and expectations through the storyline. The themes of this book as well were just so important; career-oriented women, adult dating, personal boundaries, setting standards for yourself & not lowering them for ANYONE, family expectations, consent, toxicity, grief & loss. I could go on. I think this book touched upon a lot of different things without seeming like there was too much going on. The spice was really well done in my opinion (if you know me, you know this is BIG). The ending was the most important for me. The conversations had, and the loose ends that were tied at the end really needed to happen and I think the characters got their closure for the most part.

This was not a traditional love story, and I went back and forth about whether I liked it or not. But I think it’s important to take into consideration the factors that played into WHY it wasn’t traditional: the South Asian cultural norms and expectations, age, loss & grief, family & upbringing and pure self awareness and determination.

I think both the love phobia and love obsession might have been a little over exaggerated on both ends to the point where I did grow a little annoyed. And the behavior of the MC’s family felt a little toxic at times that it started to seem over the top and frustrating. But at the same time, I don’t know what it’s like to be brought up in a South Asian family surrounded by that culture, maybe that’s typical in some households.

I really did feel like I learned a lot from reading this book, much more than I ever anticipated. And while the love story was complicated and multilayered, I enjoyed reading about it!

This was a lovely romance read. Both characters have reasons to want to make it work, even if they don't think it will. The characters were all engaging and you wanted the best for them. I appreciated the specificity of the identity of the characters and what that meant for their changing relationship. Lovely read.

A cute story, but in the end, it was almost a little bit confusing. I couldn't always follow the storyline or the emotional threads. I think this was probably because she was trying to stay true to the original story and let's be honest, Shakespeare is almost impossible to follow.

As a non Swiftie, I didn’t care for all the references to her, but I’m sure lots of people who read this will thoroughly enjoy them. I did, however, really like Kareena. She was strong, strong willed and loved herself to not want to settle for anything less than she deserves. That being said, when her father decides to retire and sell the family home giving her only 6 months to figure out how to get the money to buy it from him, she finds out that he will give her the money to buy it if she is engaged and on track to have a family so they can stay there.
Prem is incredibly charming and I loved the banter between Kareena and him. Prem needs to restore his reputations in the Indian community, so he’s looking for a quality candidate to play his fiancé. When Kareena and Prem decide to work together to get what they both want, they end up falling for each other.
Lots of steam with a cast of characters that were all likeable made it a fun Taming of the Shrew inspired romcom.

Cute, steamy, smart, and hilarious – DATING DR. DIL is absolutely everything I wanted it to be. I gasped and laughed out loud multiple times, and I couldn't stop highlighting my favorite passages the whole time.

This will almost definitely make my list of favorite 2022 romances. Absolutely incredible!

Friends had been raving about Dating Dr. Dil and it did not disappoint! When Kareena's failed hook-up turns out to be the talk show host interviewing her influencer sister, things get heated ...and go viral. But when a fake engagement seems to be the answer to both their problems, these two enemies become something else entirely.

This one was fun to read and especially steamy, in all the best ways. There was some redundant phrasing in the writing that snagged my attention occasionally, but the overall story was such a blast and felt so fresh it didn't detract from my overall rating! It's a great, modern, Indian-American romantic comedy that had me binge-reading it until the end.

Thanks to Avon for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Listen this had me laughing so hard I was crying, snot down my face gasping for air! It was so cheesy, yet I couldn't put it down! I swooned so darn hard duing this I felt like I was the h and I was in this book myself. If you can get past cheesiness give this a try

This book was SOO good. I loved the way Kareena and Prem interacted with each other. I especially loved how well even when mad at each other they had amazing communication about it. The look into the Desi marriage culture is always interesting for me to read and loved all the Aunty’s. The addition of the text convos and the “articles” was a fun addition to the story as well. I cannot wait to see what comes next in the series!

"At least shape-shifters and vampires understood the meaning of fated mates."// Nisha Sharma

Okay, this book was a delight. The fake-dating adjacent, Shakespearean reimagining, book-loving-main-character, does love really exist, kind of delightful. If the misunderstandings trope isn't for you then maybe pass on this one, but otherwise worth all the praise I've seen for this one from others who've read it already!

It just came out last week, thanks so much to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the early e-proof!

Dating Dr Dil: 4/5

Nisha Sharma

Okay, Indian representation, spicy, boy-obsessed? I think YES. I liked this book so much! I am so glad and honored I was able to get an ARC because I enjoyed this one like crazy.

Kareena was such a baddie, never hesitating to say what was on her mind and tell it as it is. I have so much respect for that. Prem is boy-obsessed and it is my favorite thing ever, ugh. I really loved the way he was always in love with her and did pretty much everything for her.

Also, the spice? I mean, wow. I wasn't expecting it and it delivered. The side characters and all-too-relatable Indian aunty commentary made me chuckle because how many of us have dealt with this? I sure have.

A definite read for all South Asians and everyone else!