Quick take
The Taming of the Shrew remixed & remade—can a love-averse TV doctor and a hopeless romantic spark an unlikely romance?
Good to know
Light read
LOL
Millennial
Enemies to Lovers
Synopsis
Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he’s selling her mother’s home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he’ll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn’t want.
Dr. Prem Verma is dedicated to building a local community health center, but he needs to get donors with deep pockets. The Dr. Dil Show was doing just that, until his argument with Kareena went viral, and he’s left short changed. That’s when Kareena’s meddling aunties presented him with a solution: convince Kareena he’s her soulmate and they’ll fund his clinic.
Even though they have conflicting views on love-matches and arranged-matches, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he begins to believe she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. But for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.
Free sample
Get an early look from the first pages of Dating Dr. Dil.
Dating Dr. Dil
CHAPTER ONE
Kareena
Kareena tore the eye mask off her forehead and straightened her Taylor Swift concert sleep shirt. She had secured her dream job at a company that developed women-owned businesses in the tristate area before her thirtieth birthday. But of course, one text from a client and her boss energy dissipated like mist. She tossed her phone on the rumpled bedspread and rubbed her hands over her face.
She was thirty and single.
No, no, thirty and successful.
Thirty and financially independent.
Thirty and ... still lived with her dad and grandmother.
And single. Very, very single.
Without even a maintenance man to grease the plumbing.
If she had a time machine, she would’ve gone back to her last relationship in law school and said: Sweetie, giving up dating until you achieve your career goals may not be the best idea. Especially if you’re searching for a happily ever after with a man. It becomes way too easy to be alone.
Kareena felt like her family, her aunties—hell, the entire New Jersey South Asian population—had been preparing her for being thirty and single, but did she listen? Nope. More importantly, did she really have to be reminded first thing in the morning?
Like T-Swizz said. Damn. It was only seven a.m.
“I should’ve taken today off,” she mumbled as she crawled out of bed and walked toward the adjoining bathroom.
Even as she showered and mentally reviewed her schedule for the day, the misogynist adages she’d heard whispered at cultural gatherings echoed through her head.
If you’re single at thirty, you have to lower your standards. If you’re single at thirty, your prospects for a happily ever after are diminished.If you’re single at thirty, you are perceived as difficult, and no one will want to marry you.
Her father had never made her feel that way growing up since he had a love marriage versus arranged marriage himself. But now that her younger sister was engaged, it was like ghosts of ancestors past had taken over his body, and he had suddenly become a traditionalist.
Why I love it
Sara Desai
Author, The Dating Plan
There is nothing I like better than settling down for the night with a new romantic comedy. Dating Dr. Dil, Nisha Sharma’s South Asian retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, didn’t just keep me turning pages until the early hours; it gave me the exhilarating feeling of falling in love through characters so real I felt like I knew them.
Kareena Mann has her dream job but not her dream life. Still single and living at home, she is devastated when her father announces his plans to sell her late mother’s house. So they make a deal: he’ll gift her the house if she gets engaged in the next four months. But Kareena won’t settle for just anyone. A romantic at heart, she wants a soulmate.
Dr. Prem Verma doesn’t believe in love. He saves his passion for building a local community health center, financed through his popular The Dr. Dil Show. Sparks fly when he meets Kareena, but their subsequent on-stage argument goes viral, putting his funding at risk. Lucky for him, Kareena’s meddling aunties have a solution: a fake engagement with a romance-obsessed lawyer who has more prickles than a hedgehog.
Prem and Kareena’s journey from enemies to lovers is hilarious, touching, and so much fun. Prem’s attempts to win Kareena’s affection, including a heart-melting grand gesture, made him one of my favorite romance heroes. With delightful side characters, electric chemistry, and some steamy scenes, Dating Dr. Dil is pure magic for any romance reader.
Member ratings (12,505)
Tiffany G.
Lakeland, FL
This book was unexpectedly ????️????️. These cute illustrated covers are LYING to us. I seen so many people dislike this book but I loved it. I loved Rina & Prem. The aunties were a blast and the grandma
Julia S.
Ramsey, NJ
I really loved the format of this book. The addition of the texts and articles. I really enjoyed the pacing, we didn’t waste time with mundane days of the couple apart but it also didn’t feel rushed.
Colleen S.
Evergreen Park, IL
I’ve been loving romance books with South Asian leads and this one didn’t disappoint. Both characters were interesting and working through issues related to their familial roles while falling in love.
Leslie P.
Porterville, CA
The perfect vacation read. Just the right amount of ????, classic romance tropes, and witty banter to make this perfect reading for sitting by the pool with a Pina Colada. The Punjabi culture made it ????
Erin T.
Dwight, NE
couldn't put this down, loved Prem and Kareena but they were frustrating and stubborn at parts. Enjoyed that this was set in the Indian culture, it was so interesting. Also some of the steamy parts????