The Design of Us by Sajni Patel – Delightful Fake Dating Desi Romance

The Design of Us is an entertaining, engaging, and delightful work nemesis-to-lovers, fake dating Desi romance.

Synopsis

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

Sunshine incarnate 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 from him while visiting her family in Hawai’i, but the universe has other plans. When Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel and witnesses his ex criticizing him about being single, Bhanu does the first thing that comes to she impetuously claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend just to get some peace and quiet. Except Sunny is on island for a friend’s wedding and his ex has already texted the entire wedding party about this mysterious girlfriend.

Bhanu truly is the bane of Sunny’s existence. But the last thing he wants to do is cause tension during his friend’s wedding festivities, much less be the object of their pity. He has no choice except to play along, if only he and Bhanu can put aside their quarreling and act like a real couple.

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.

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?

Review

The Design of Us is an entertaining fake dating romance between coworkers- Sunny and Bhanu. Sunny as the lead developer and Bhanu as the lead researcher. Both are vying for the position of project manager at their company, and while they excel at their jobs, they struggle to get along with each other, constantly bickering. Their rivalry intensifies when they discover they are staying at the same resort during a vacation.

Sunny is in Hawaii to attend his best friend’s wedding, while Bhanu is there to spend time with her sister, who is a local. The situation takes an unexpected turn when Bhanu announces she is Sunny’s girlfriend to save him from his ex’s demeaning drama.

This leads to a series of events involving fake dating, exploring the island together, and sharing a villa and even a room. The story becomes even more intriguing as they navigate their complicated relationship and see what happens when their pretense ends at the end of the vacation.

I loved the concept of a romance between main characters working in the STEM field. The writing is engaging and fast-paced, offering refreshing alternative perspectives from both Bhanu and Sunny. The Design of Us is set in Hawaii that adds its own charm to the story, with a focus on tourist exploitation that pollutes the land and endangers sea life, which I appreciated. It made me want to be a responsible tourist.

Both main characters are Indian, and to my delight, they are both Gujarati. As a Gujarati myself, I was excited to see my culture represented in the story. However, this excitement didn’t last long as there isn’t much focus on Gujarati culture. We get a picture of how Desi parents are, but nothing specifically related to Gujarati culture or food. In fact, the story focuses more on Hawaiian culture. Despite this minor issue, I liked both main characters.

Bhanu (we don’t pronounce the name as it was mentioned in the book in Gujarat, and it’s usually a boy’s name, so maybe it might be an Indian-American thing or a short form of a bigger name like Bhanumati or something) is independent, caring, and a workaholic. However, she suffers from social anxiety that she doesn’t talk about with anyone except her family.

I admired how she helped Sunny despite not liking him or the idea of him staying with her during the vacation. Her love for her family and her passion for sea life and preserving nature made me respect her even more. I loved how, as she spent more time with Sunny, she could see past his grumpy exterior and admitted that he was a lovely person who deserved good things in life.

Sunny is grumpy, stoic, and observant who struggling with expressing emotions. I would rather say he is blunt and hates arguments and drama. I immediately disliked his ex for making him feel like a robot without feelings. It hurt to see how much his past toxic relationship impacted his self-esteem.

I loved how he cared for Bhanu, how he was himself, and how he eventually opened up to her. One memorable scene is when he jumped into the sea to remove trash for Bhanu, even though he hated swimming in the sea. That act spoke volumes about his character. My favorite moments were when Sunny stayed vigilant about Bhanu’s anxiety during the wedding and when he brought her favorite food near the end of the story.

I noticed some reviews mentioning that they didn’t like Sunny for calling Bhanu “Bane” throughout the book, but I was fine with it. As I said before, her name’s pronunciation felt odd to me, and after some point, that nickname felt endearing.

The romance is perfect, featuring the work nemesis-to-lovers and fake dating tropes. The witty banter, slow burn, and sizzling chemistry made the story fun and charming. It was heartwarming to read how they realized their bickering was like that of a married couple and how their fake relationship turned into something more than they anticipated.

The climax was dramatic with typical self-imposed miscommunication, but I loved how they finally got together and how things worked out with their job as well.

Overall, The Design of Us is an entertaining, engaging, and delightful work nemesis-to-lovers, fake dating Desi romance.

What to expect from The Design of Us

Slow burn Romance
Fake dating
Work nemesis to lovers
Tourism representation
Indian-American Characters
STEM romance
Social Anxiety rep
Witty banter
Hawaiian Setting

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

#TheDesignofUs by Sajni Patel – entertaining, engaging, and delightful #fakedating Desi romance. Many thanks @BerkleyRomance for eARC via #NetGalley. check out full review –> Share on X

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