The Design of Us is about two work enemies who cross paths while coincidentally on vacation in Hawaii. They land in a situation where they need to pretend to be a couple until the end of their stay on the island. Will their trip end in love proclamation or an awkward time back at work? Read to find out 😉

Here's my review ~

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Okay, while reading this, I literally thought I was reading about me. Bhanu, the main female character, is probably the first book character I can truly see myself in from her Marvel binging, flirty banter, and social anxiety. The main male character, Sunny, was so adorable! I loved the banter, tension, and fake dating concept. Plus, UGH he had the cutest nickname for her 🫠

I loved this so much and highly recommend it! Perfect for a beach day 🏖🐢💜

So glad I went to an author signing with Sajni and got to hear firsthand about this book! She also lives in Hawai'i so the Hawai'i representation felt very authentic! From ube to warning tourists about caring for the land to honu (turtles) and hospitality/tourism careers to family parties, I felt so seen! I could really picture the setting because I've BEEN THERE (Big Island) and I loved that Bhanu noticed Diya mature just by living on the island and among locals. The main characters weren't my favorite, but their banter was fun and the fake dating scenes were cute. A great beach read!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an E-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Sajni Patel’s "Design of Us" is a delightful destination wedding rom-com that perfectly blends humor, romance, and the classic trope of fake dating. If you're looking for a swoony, light-hearted read, this book is a must!

**What I Loved:**
- **Engaging Characters:** Bhanu and Sunny are the quintessential sunshine-and-grump duo. Bhanu's vibrant personality and Sunny's brooding charm create a dynamic that is both hilarious and heartwarming.
- **Compelling Plot:** The story kicks off with a single impulsive lie that leads to a week of fake dating. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Hawai’i, the plot is filled with witty banter, laugh-out-loud moments, and genuine emotional growth.
- **Cultural and Family Elements:** Bhanu's meddling yet lovable family and Sunny's supportive friends add depth and richness to the narrative, making the story more relatable and engaging.

Thank you @berkleypublishing and NetGalley for the gifted galley of this mesmerizing romcom. This perfect for a beach read or anyone in need of a feel-good love story is available for purchase in your nrearest bookstores!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is exactly what I look for in a summer read! Set in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, two rival coworkers end up at the same resort for different reasons. They are forced to act like they are dating and you guessed it, they end up falling for each other. The slow burn unfolds into a tension you can cut with a knife!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

This book is a fun summer read if you want something relatively mindless, but if you're looking for something more substantial, it's not this book.

A fake-dating trope between two rival coworkers in order to show up his ex at a wedding is not necessarily overdone, but it certainly lacks the creative spark needed to craft a truly masterful story. The writing style for this book was relatively juvenile, focusing on stilted sentences and overwrought explanations before diving into the meat of the story. And I wish there had been more in that regard.

Bhanu and Sunny are not very likeable as characters initially, which makes it difficult for people to root for them at the end. They were fairly lackluster, not super amazing about then that stuck out.

Overall, it's a good book, just not the book for me.

*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I want to go to Hawaii and gorge on ube now, please.

It just really didn't hit for me and I don't know why... Maybe because I was more invested in her sister's romance? Maybe I didn't like the constant barbs and animosity between Bhanu and Sunny? I did love the references to The Trouble with Hating You and the fake dating elements. May have just been a wrong time to read sort of thing.

I was drawn to this book by its absolutely gorgeous cover art and was not disappointed in the least. I loved the enemies to lovers trope here and the stumble into fake dating. I appreciated the commentary on women in stem and how Hawaii is denigrated by American tourism. The sisters' relationship and banter was A1! The chemistry between our main characters was divine. The mental health rep was approached with tact and care along with issues of consent. This novel just really hit every point perfectly. I enjoyed my time with these characters and can't wait for readers to get their hands on this novel.

The design of Us is fake dating trope done right! This is the story of Bhanu and Sunny who are co-workers but cannot stand each other after a very disastrous first meeting at a party.

But things heat up faster than a tropical sun when Bhanu and Sunny both end up in Hawaii. Bhanu is visiting her sister and Sunny is attending a friend's wedding. After an interesting turn of events, Bhanu and Sunny decide to fake-date each other while they are in Hawaii!. What could go wrong, right?
I had a blast reading this book and here 's why:
(1) Relatable MCs: Bhanu works in UX design and Sunny is a developer. Their conversations are so realistic, I half-expected a Slack notification to pop up. Too often, authors give their characters flashy jobs without doing the homework, but Sajni Patel nails it. Plus, the title The Design of Us is just chef's kiss perfection!
(2) Hawaii: I love Hawaii and I have to say that the writer Sajni Patel was able to capture the soul of Hawaii in her book. I’m two clicks away from booking my next vacation to Hawaii, thanks to this amazing book.
(3) Slow burn: I love a good slow burn and this had all the feels <3
(4) Confident FMC: I loved how sassy Bhanu is. She is at a senior position in the firm and protects her team like mama hen. But she has her moments of weaknesses and vulnerability that make her real.

I usually do not love work place romances but this one hit right on the spot! Do yourself a favor and dive into this gem. You won’t regret it!

I believe this is the fourth enemies to lovers, fake dating at a destination wedding book I have read this summer alone. These are two of my absolute favorite tropes, and a destination wedding is a great set-up for that situation. So, I’m definitely not mad about it. But, I love the things about this book that make it different from the others I have read recently with a similar premise.

The main characters are both in STEM working on the same team. Bhanu is a UX designer and Sunny is a developer. The book takes a look at the conflict in Hawaii between tourism and the local culture as well as touches on environmental issues Hawaiian wildlife faces. Bhanu and Sunny are both Indian, specifically Gujatari, so we get a glimpse of some of their customs as well.

The evolution of the relationship between the two main characters feels really natural. Their dynamic is really fun and the banter is solid. The book overall is a very enjoyable read. Perfect for lying on the beach, or making you feel like you are.

Thank you to Sajni Patel, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Cynical UX expert Bhanu is facing off against her work nemesis, gruff but undeniably attractive Sunny, for a promotion. When they both end up at the same Hawaiian resort, Bhanu impulsively claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend to shut down his ex’s unwanted attention. Stuck playing a fake couple, Sunny and Bhanu navigate meddling families, enthusiastic friends, and the mounting pressure of their work competition. As they let their guards down, will their Hawaiian vacation turn into something more?

This book brings a satisfying, fresh twist to the “fake relationship in a tropical paradise” trope. Bhanu is naturally diplomatic but has a straightforward communication style under pressure, so she can be just as grumpy as Sunny is at times. Plus, her social anxiety sometimes overwhelms her. Sunny, for his part, isn’t really a grump but an introvert whose toxic ex has made him feel inadequate for not anticipating and catering to her every romantic whim. It’s really beautiful how Bhanu and Sunny instinctively support each other through their respective struggles and earn their happily-ever-after.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

🏝💘💫 Book Review 💫💘🏝

The Design of US by @sajnipatelbooks

4.5🌟 /5

There is always something so unique, beautiful, and relatable in her books that it always strikes the correct chords for me.

Bhanu and Sunny being office rivals communicate only through snarky comments end up in the same resort in Hawaii. Nonetheless, a dramatic situation also ends them up in a fake relationship and sharing one suite. Bhanu is here to spend some quality time with her sister, and Sunny is here to attend a friends destination wedding. So, they agree to entertain the facade for the sake of getting some much needed peace from hilarious interfering friends and relatives.
Their journey from hating to tolerating each other to grow feelings and falling for one other is captured in a very raw and charming manner. Their banters and chemistry have you giggling at times.

I really enjoyed reading this one. It's a sweet and breezy read with a beautiful storyline and unique characters just perfect for summer.
I loved how it has a dash of Indianness with being introduced to Hawaiian culture. The subtle mention and dealing with the social anxiety issue in the story made it soulful for me.

Thank you, @netgalley and @sajnipatelbooks, for the arc review.

PS ~ Everyone wants Jay Shah in their lives from TTWHY. 🫠🩷 #IYKYK

Thank you for the early advice copy!

I’ve read 2 other books by this author and I enjoyed them very much, I was excited for her new book. This one missed the mark for me. It was cute, beach, vacation read, but it wasn’t memorable or different.

Read if you like:
🌏 South Asian Rep
🌺 Hawaiian Vacations
💻 Computers & IT
📊 Workplace Romances
🔀 Opposites Attract
🌤️ Grumpy x Sunshine
😘 Fake Dating

This book literally has it all and I am so excited about this new to me author and that I dove in head first to this romance!

When I say it has it all, I really mean it, it’s got the tension, the enemies, the summery vibes, workplace romance, forced proximity, he falls first… truly just all the romance yummy goodness you could ask for!

I really loved the accidental whoops I guess we are fake dating plot and how it was for a limited duration during a wedding celebration in Hawaii that these coworkers and enemies run into each other and end up stuck in a fake dating scheme.

All in all, this truly was a great romance, the only think I wish is that the wrap up wouldn’t have been so quick and that there had been an epilogue as the ending felt a bit abrupt.

Thank you so much to Berkley and PRHA for my gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to Berkley for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for this book.
Fake dating and forced proximity are two of my favorite tropes, and the big island of Hawaii is a gorgeous setting for a romance! The main characters are work rivals which makes the idea of them dating even more intriguing.
Their love story felt real and I liked how they worked out their feelings and resolved their job situations after they got back to real life, 4 stars.

Synopsis:
One impulsive lie leads to a weeklong adventure of fake dating for two bickering coworkers in this swoony destination wedding rom-com.

…Bhanu brings big energy to whatever she does, including going for the promotion where her only serious competition is her work nemesis, AKA Sunny, the grump with the Denzel voice. When Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel where she’s staying while visiting her sister, she witnesses his ex criticizing him about being single. Bhanu does the first thing that comes to mind, she impetuously claims to be Sunny’s agirlfriend. Except Sunny is on island for a friend’s wedding…

Between Bhanu’s hilariously meddling family and Sunny’s ecstatic friends, the two are pushed closer together. They say what happens on island, stays on island. But as Sunny and Bhanu let their guards down, will either of them be able to resist this romantic getaway without crossing the line?

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

This was summer romance goodness! I loved so many things about this book and at the end of reading, I was so sad that there wasn't an epilogue! I wanted MORE of these two characters and their happily ever after.

Sunny was so respectful of Banu and made sure she was comfortable with all their lovey interactions in front of his friends. But he was also really playful and I loved watching her react to his flirty comments (licking comments to be exact) 😜.

The paradise setting was perfect and I could clearly picture all the food that was described. I connected with these characters on so many different things and I think that’s what made me love the story more (fear of large bodies of water b/c sharks are real, respecting the native land, learning how to pronounce people's names correctly, love of family, etc.).

This was my first book from Patel but it will not be my last! I'll be recommending this cute summer read to every romance lover I know.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Romance for the advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Bhanu brings big UX energy to whatever she does, including going for the promotion where her only serious competition is her work nemesis, AKA Sunny, the grump with the Denzel voice. She expected to get a reprieve while visiting family in Hawai’i, but when Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel, she claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend top save him from his ex. Sunny not wanting to cause drama during his friend's wedding, has no choice except to play along. Between Bhanu’s hilariously meddling family and Sunny’s ecstatic friends, the two are pushed closer together, even as stress mounts over the impending promotion.

Review:

This was a cute enemies to lovers romance set in Hawaii. I love that the characters were in STEM and that Bhanu was a badass leader in the industry. Their chemistry was palpable and I loved the crossover of American/Indian/Hawaiian culture. I also really enjoyed the resort/Hawaii setting because I feel like it's more realistic for those kinds of feelings to develop quickly in an environment like that - where the day-to-day mundane doesn't interfere with building a connection. I want to try some of the ube treats they described in the book ASAP.

Thank you to Berkley for my digital copy for review!

Going into The Design of Us, I was excited to see how the story would unfold. Enemies-to-lovers, a destination wedding in Hawaii, fake dating… what’s not to like? That it also features main characters in STEM, mental health representation, and desi culture should have sealed the deal. But while it was an easy and enjoyable read overall, it sometimes left me feeling a bit dissatisfied.

Firstly, Bhanu and Sunny are meant to be enemy co-workers, but there’s virtually no basis for their mutual animosity. Their first interaction a year prior was awkward, but in no way enough to make enemies out of each other. Why don’t they get along? It’s never very clear. They just seem to randomly rub each other the wrong way and are too immature to act any better, even in the workplace.

Another problem I had was with their characterization. Despite his name, Sunny is meant to be the grumpy one here, but he never actually comes across as grumpy. Serious and conscientious, sure, but not grumpy. Conversely, Bhanu is in theory the sunshine character… but to me she seemed grumpier than Sunny. And when they’re together, they both just seem annoyed with each other. This at least should have made their bickering fun to read, but it came across less like witty banter and more like childish disagreements and inexplicable misunderstandings.

Those issues aside, I enjoyed the overall plot, overly coincidental as it may have been. Though they both live and work in the Seattle area, Bhanu and Sunny are each on vacation in the same area of Hawaii at the same time. She’s there to visit her sister; he’s there to be a groomsman in his best friend’s wedding. They run into each other in a hotel lobby, but when Sunny’s ex-girlfriend shows up and starts loudly berating him, Bhanu shuts her up by announcing she’s Sunny’s new girlfriend. Thus fake dating ensues, only escalating as Sunny’s friends, then Bhanu’s family, find out about their apparent new relationship.

Bhanu and Sunny slowly get to know each other and realize their bad opinions of each other may not be so fair. They’re rather similar, which can make for a solid relationship, but it takes time to develop here. It’s a slow-burn romance, giving the couple plenty of time to feel like their feelings are truly progressing. I appreciate the space they have to develop a deeper relationship; it makes them more believable as a couple.

I enjoyed the side characters (especially Bhanu’s sister) and getting to experience Hawaiian culture, sights, and cuisine. There’s also great exploration of Bhanu’s social anxiety and Sunny’s concerns over his father’s health. The self-imposed, totally unnecessary miscommunication towards the end of the book felt pretty forced, but I like how Bhanu and Sunny eventually figure out where they stand with one another.

The Design of Us is a cute book that offers a lot of great themes and desi culture, though it sometimes feels unbelievable and immature. Not my favorite, but an enjoyable read overall.

This was a cute story with rival coworkers that had a knack for bickering. It’s always nice to have a FMC who is in STEM and knows her worth. The fake dating thing pretty good, even if sometimes I got annoyed at how meta it all was. I also didn’t like that Sunny kept calling Bhanu “Bane” throughout the whole book.
Sunny was grumpy and dealing with some serious emotional wounds from a toxic relationship. He sucked at communicating, but did make an honest effort. Bhanu was mostly sunshiny, though not to the degree that she never got pissed off or stood up for herself. It was a cute book overall.

Spice: 1/5 - very little detail, mostly closed door

Triggers: toxic relationship, hospitalization of family member, panic attacks, brief depiction/description of injured animal, mention of racism, mentions of sexism

🏝️Fake dating
🏝️Rival coworkers
🏝️Reverse Grumpy/Sunshine
🏝️Dual POV
🏝️One bed in paradise
🏝️Slow burn, Scorching tension
🏝️Closed door romance
🏝️Third act breakup
🏝️Anxiety rep

Okay, for real though, this book has all the tropes and it’s so much fun!

I had an absolute blast with this story! Rival coworkers find themselves vacationing in Hawaii at the same time and at the same hotel, then in an annoying turn of events they end up fake dating to preserve the peace and also to prove a point.

The grump is Bhanu, a UX designer who struggles with anxiety and LOVES her work from home life. She knows what she likes and knows how to make most things flow down the path of least resistance. She’s lively, charismatic, a workaholic, and understands when she needs to draw her boundaries when situations get past her tolerance for anxiety.

Sunny is our sunshine lead dev coder and he’s tall, handsome, and has a voice like Denzel! (Which I absolutely cannot wait to hear portrayed on audiobook!) He is funny, considerate, and worried about taking care of his family and making sure his friends have a great time during their vacation.

(Their jobs are kind of techy, but you don’t have to be a tech expert and all the terminology is explained early on!)

Bhanu’s sister Diya stole the show - she had me howling! She was my favorite every time she appeared and I found myself wondering what antics she’d get up to next, whether it be cursing, scheming, or being the sweetest sister. I love how clearly we see the joy Diya gets from teasing and supporting Bhanu.

I loved how Hawaii is its own character in the story. We learn a bit about the island and its history, the people, and the animals. You better help protect the honu (green sea turtles)! The story reminded me I was recently gifted Kona coffee, which was just as amazing as described and fun to enjoy while writing this review! I also have discovered the joy of ube, so Bhanu was speaking my language.

The banter is top notch, and had me highlighting and taking notes so I wouldn’t forget a thing! The burn is slow and so worth it. The sexual tension between these characters is so delicious! While I enjoy spice in my books, this one doesn’t have explicit spice and it was just as thrilling - so don’t let that hold you back.

*Thank you to Berkley Romance, NetGalley, and the author for an eARC for my honest review!

If you're looking for great banter between two work nemesis this is it. Not only was I laughing with the one liners I found Bhanu and Sunny to be both fully developed characters. The moment they realized their fake vacation romance could be more was adorable. Sunny checking in and making sure Bhanu was ready because she didn't like being touched cue the water works. This is fade to black with hint if dirty talk. I loved it, even though the end lagged a bit before the 3rd act breakup. Sajel girl can catch these hands. I do hope this becomes a series.