forced proximity

Review: The Design of Us by Sajni Patel

~ megs14malloy ~ Leave a comment

The Design of UsThe Design of Us by Sajni Patel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up **

The Design of Us is an Adult Contemporary story following Bhanu and Sunny, coworkers in the tech field, who frankly, drive each other batty in the workplace.

Bhanu, needing a break from work, where she is currently up for a big promotion, travels to Hawaii to visit her sister for a bit. Sunny, not needing a break from work, but needing to attend the wedding of two of his best friends, ends up traveling to Hawaii as well at the very same time.

As luck would have it, they end up at the very same resort, one which happens to be overbooked due to an Iron Man competition happening that weekend and a malfunctioning booking system. Whoopsie.

After Bhanu rescues Sunny from a highly-uncomfortable confrontation with his ex-girlfriend, another wedding attendee, the two begin to relate to each other like never before. It’s actually an enjoyable conversation.

When Bhanu hears that Sunny is currently without a place to stay, a victim of the overbooking fiasco, she offers him lodging in her suite. We have forced proximity, y’all!!! One of my favorite tropes.

During the rescue mentioned-above, Bhanu told the hyper-ex that she was Sunny’s girlfriend. Potentially a regrettable proclamation, involving a whole host of complications, but it was the only thing Bhanu could think of at the time to make the other woman go away.

Now she and Sunny must continue the ruse in order for him to save face and not cause unnecessary drama for the bride and groom. He doesn’t wanna be that guy. We have fake dating! Another of my favorite tropes!!

With this in mind, it may surprise you to hear that I almost DNFed this one at the start. Bhanu and I did not get off on the right foot. At 14% into the audiobook, I made the following status update:

1st impressions: Female MC, Bhanu, is insufferable.
I’ll keep reading for the Hawaiian setting and the Male MC, Sunny, but secretly I am already hoping he doesn’t end up with Bhanu.

Looking back on that now, that seems very harsh. I’m not even sure what it was about her that rubbed me the wrong the way, but yeah, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this as much as I did.

But I did definitely come around on Bhanu when she helped Sunny out of the jam with his ex. She was so helpful and kind to him, even when she could have just walked away, or given him an even more difficult time about it all.

The synopsis does describe her as being Sunshine to his Grump, but I never felt that. IMO, this wasn’t really a Grumpy-Sunshine pairing at all. They both had their moments where they could have been either/or.

Regardless, by the mid-way point, I was fully hooked into the story. I loved the incorporation of both of the MCs families, and also all of the wedding-related activities. I definitely ended up rooting for these two to end up together, and they did face some real challenges getting there.

Overall, I ended up really enjoying this. I thought it was a great fake dating set-up and I loved the wedding aspect, as well as the tropical Hawaiian setting.

Thank you, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m anxious to read more from Sajni Patel!!

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Review: Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney

~ megs14malloy

Take Me HomeTake Me Home by Melanie Sweeney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Take Me Home follows Hazel and Ash. Ash has been in love with Hazel since high school when she was dating his best friend, but of course, he’s never told her that.

Even years later, Hazel acts like Ash only exists to annoy her. He works at her favorite coffee shop, where he’s constantly battling her for her favorite chair. Just why?

With the holidays approaching, Hazel gets a summons from her father to return home to their small-town of Lockett Prairie, Texas, to attend his wedding.

Hazel hasn’t been back there since she fled for college. It’s the last thing she wants to do, and even though she and her Dad aren’t that close, she feels obligated.

Coincidentally, at the same time, Ash needs to get home as soon as possible to deal with a pressing family issue. Of course, his junker car breaks down just prior to him wanting to leave and he doesn’t have the funds to repair it.

Watching him struggle trying to figure out a way home, Hazel eventually succumbs and offers to give him a ride, but there will be rules.

I’m not gonna tell you the rules, just know the stage is set for a wonderfully-adorable road trip, which includes cute car banter, inclement weather, strange diner experiences and a B&B stay with only one bed.

All this is just the start though. Once they hit Lockett Prairie, the gloves come off, and these frenemies begin to rely on each other for a lot more than an impromptu ride home.

Y’all, I can’t believe how much I enjoyed this. It was so unexpected. I mean, I shouldn’t say it that way, I thought I would enjoy it, but like, I loved this.

It pulled me in so quickly. I read it in less than 24-hours, absolutely flying through it, just eating it up. Both Ash and Hazel brought so much to the story. I loved watching them really get to know one another.

This book does feature a lot of my favorite tropes, so that def worked in my favor. The road trip, the witty banter, the forced proximity, frenemies to lovers; it had it all.

My only small gripe would be how much these characters went through emotionally in such a small frame of time. We’re talking mere days. That felt a little unbelievable to me, but that was such a minor thing, it didn’t impact my overall experience too much.

Also, with this being said, I did truly appreciate how the author balanced all the difficult real world family issues, with the cuter romantic bits. I felt that was well executed.

One small side note, even though this is categorized as Adult, I would point out that it is more specific to call in New Adult. I feel like that’s an important distinction to make, because some Adult Readers may feel like this reads a little young, even though the characters are technically adults.

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I need more Melanie Sweeney in my life!!!

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