BOOK REVIEW | Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma

Title: Dating Dr. Dil

Author: Nisha Sharma

Pages: 364

Dates: 02/05/2023 - 10/05/2023

Genre: Contemporary romance, Chic Lit

Rating: 1/5 Stars

Hi everyone and welcome to another book review! Second romance review back-to-back! This is unheard of for Andrea! But im glad I read this book as I can now tick it off from a personal reading challenge that I set for myself this year: Read a Desi Book. I came across Dating Dr Dil by Nisha Sharma on TikTok last year. This was another popular book on BookTok and because I find the Indian culture captivating (music, clothing, food etc…) I was extremely excited to get my hands on this book. I think I was gifted this book from a RAOK on Instagram last year but I can’t remember (mum brain). Either way its a pretty cover to have on my shelf.

Synopsis

A little background about this book for those who haven’t come across it yet. Dating Dr Dil is a contemporary, romcom and smutty book based in New Jersey. The book is written in two povs- a 30 year old Indian lawyer named Kareena and a 30 year old cardiologist, Prem. Without going into too much detail and giving away any spoilers, this is an enemies to lovers book of two people who pretend to be in a relationship to achieve their personal goals. One needing access to their wedding fund to purchase a house and the other to gain a sponsor to open up their own business (I say this discreetly to avoid giveaways of the storyline). We go on a journey through the POVs of both protagonists as they fight their attraction to each other.

Review

This is a steamy as hell smutty novel which could potential pass as p**n (if you know what I mean)…but then again, this is coming from a person who has never read a smutty novel LOL! I picked up this book intrigued by the synopsis; this did change as I began reading . The vibe I got when reading this book was similar to when I used to read Wattpad back in high school. THIS is what this book reminded me of… a WATTPAD read. I was ready to DNF this book from early stages, however I promised myself that I would push through so I could give a proper and thorough review.

Let’s begin with the characters. There was not one character in this entire book that I actually liked. Kareena with her sweater vests and boring personality irritated me. Im not a Taylor Swift fan so I can’t really appreciate or connect with her love for the singer. I hated the fact that she wanted a love marriage and perceived a love marriage as a relationship with no arguments and complete compatibility. Come on, you’re 30 years old, stop being so naive about life! Nothing’s perfect so don’t expect your marriage to be! She set an unrealistic standard for a partner without looking at herself and her own flaws.

Prem, now I don’t even know WHERE to begin with him. Not sure what was worse about this character? not believing love is real when he clearly has the feelings of it, or not being able to say “I love you” to someone because his parents never said it? OR saying, “Rina, honey”, or even his reference to his dick as Charlie. Or is it just everything? I can’t stand this guy. The biggest turn off in this entire book was this character, his pov, personality…EVERYTHING! And sorry, but in what reality is a guys night playlist a Taylor Swift playlist? LOL he was so sure of himself and in the wrong ways. There’s Christian Gray who could pull this type of personality off…and then there Prem. Sharma was trying a little too hard to turn Prem into a Christian Gray but just couldn’t do it. Sorry.

Now onto the writing and plot. There was no depth in this storyline- it was back and fourth of the same thing that it became repetitive and boring. Honestly, what kept this book interesting were the s*x scenes. Without them, this book would be completely dull. There were some editorial errors throughout the book that I picked up on and just little things that didn’t add up or make sense within the plot. I did, however, like the description of the traditional clothings the characters wore to events. This was probably my highlight of the story as I would love to wear a saree one day.

I have to give credit to Nisha Sharma though, this book really does give an insight of the Indian culture and the pressures of arranged marriages. I did learn some new Indian dishes I’d like to try as I found myself salivating a little when she was describing each dish the characters ate.

I could not wait to start this book and I was even MORE EXCITED to finish it. I would probably sell this book as I have zero sentimental attachment to it and would never read it again.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Probably not, but if you enjoy smutty reads then give this one a go lol.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

Until next time,

Andrea.