Title: The Dating Plan Author: Sara Desai Genre: Romantic Comedy
Even with a step-by-step plan, these fake fiances might accidentally fall for each other in this hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of The Marriage Game.
Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can’t give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiance.
Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend’s little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy’s matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather’s will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago… Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren’t about to follow the rules of this engagement.
It wasn’t the acceptance a man dreamed about, but it was a “yes” just the same. He pulled out his phone.
“I’ll tell my assistant to get us on the first flight to Vegas tonight.”
“Vegas?” Daisy’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“They do quickie weddings,” Liam said. “I know a good chapel. Some of them are tacky, but this one has class. We can fly out tonight. The Elvis wears a three-piece suit and a tie . . .”
His spider senses tingled, warning him that something was wrong. Or maybe it was the scowl on his fake fiancée’s face. “If you don’t like Elvis . . .”
“Are you kidding?” Daisy walked over to the whiteboard and picked up a marker. “We’re not going to Vegas. We need a plan for this whole thing.”
“I don’t do plans.”
“Well you’re going to do one now because otherwise you won’t have your marriage of convenience.” She turned to the board, giving him perfect view of her lush behind. His thoughts immediately went somewhere the thoughts of a fake fiancé shouldn’t go, a small indication that this was going to be harder than it looked—in more ways than one.
“We can’t just jump into a marriage,” she said as she wrote on the board. “It won’t be believable. We’ll have to plan out some dates to legitimize our relationship before the wedding. We’ll need to be seen together by friends and family, and we’ll need photographic evidence we’ve been together.” She turned around and pointed to the board. “This is what we need.”
Liam read the heading and laughed. “A dating plan? I don’t plan dates, sweetheart. I go where the wind takes me.”
“When Orson and I used to go out with friends, we’d talk about restaurants we’d been to, or an interesting documentary we’d watched on Netflix, or an art exhibition we’d seen, maybe an energetic walk along the coast. Those are the stories that make a relationship sound real.”
Liam faked a yawn. “Orson sounds like a boring guy.”
“He was easy to be with. We didn’t have to talk much.”
“My kind of relationship.” He gave a sly smile.
Daisy raised an eyebrow. “If you are suggesting that all we did was have sex, you would be very wrong. We had an intellectual relationship. We saw thought-provoking films, and we discussed philosophy, religion, politics, programming issues . . .”
Liam dropped his head and then jerked it up again. “Sorry. I fell asleep after you said you and Orson never had sex.”
“I didn’t say . . .” She trailed off, her eyes narrowing. “It’s none of your business.”
“I’m your fiancé. I think your sex life is very much my business. I need to know what kind of woman I’m marrying.”
“The kind that doesn’t kiss and tell,” she snapped.
Thoroughly enjoying her discomfort, he leaned back in his chair, hands crossed behind his head. “Who is a better kisser? Me or Orson?”
Daisy’s eyes widened and she froze, her hand hovering in midair. Liam remembered that look from the afternoons he’s spent at her house, when she’d been caught doing something wrong. Daisy couldn’t lie.
“I have my answer.” He puffed out his chest. “The old Murphy charm wins again.”
“That was the only kiss you’ll ever get from me,” she said firmly. “My feelings for you haven’t changed. This is a marriage in name only. That means no physical contact except for holding hands or a peck on the cheek for appearances.” She turned back to the whiteboard. “I’ll write that down so you don’t forget.” “I’m liking this plan less already,” Liam grumbled. “Write that down, too.”
Sara Desai has been a lawyer, radio DJ, marathon runner, historian, bouncer and librarian. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, kids and an assortment of forest creatures who think they are pets. Sara writes sexy romantic comedy and contemporary romance with a multicultural twist. When not laughing at her own jokes, Sara can be found eating nachos.
What they crave the most comes with a brutal price.
As the youngest brother of the notorious Falcone clan, Adamo grew up surrounded by blood and violence. Drugs soon became his way of coping.
Becoming a Made Man like his brothers was his destiny but never his passion. When he becomes the organizer of his family’s successful illegal street races and one of their thrill-seeking drivers, he finally asserts his own path in the harsh mafia world.
His purpose isn’t the only thing Adamo discovers on the fuel-soaked roads he calls home…
Dinara Mikhailov is one of the few female race drivers and hard to ignore. Not only because of her flaming red hair and ruthless driving style, but also because the Bratva princess is allowed to drive in enemy territory.
Soon Adamo and she find themselves entangled in a passionate game that goes beyond the race track. Yet, both haunted by events of the past, their dark cravings put everything on the line.
As what they crave the most comes with a brutal price.
She was stunning with her high cheekbones, plump lips and long legs. The fire in her eyes and that confident smile curling her lips made her look like a fierce goddess, especially with that red hair flaming up in the sinking sun.
She stopped right in front of me. “And? Did we pass the inspection? Are we allowed to participate in your race circus?”
I smirked. “You’re allowed to participate in the qualification race today. If you make it into our racing camp that’s up to you and your driving skills.”
Dinara tilted her head. “I’m not worried about my driving skills, Falcone. What about yours? When was the last time you did a qualification race? You’re set in the main races, aren’t you?”
She had quite a mouth on her and bravado, I had to give it to her. Most people, even in the racing camp, either kissed the ground I walked on or tried to stay clear of my path from fear.
“I’m a part of the camp, because I’m one of the best drivers, Dinara. If I’d join the qualification race, that would only mean that fewer new drivers would get a chance to qualify.” The racers who participated in all the main races in the season were part of our racing camp, which was what the name promised: a camp where we all lived in the months of the races.
She leaned closer, giving me the chance to really admire the blue-green of her eyes, a shade I’d never seen. “Then why don’t you join the race today? Show off your amazing driving skills. Let’s see what you got, Falcone.”
I usually wasn’t easily baited but Dinara had me on her hook. I wanted to impress her, and I wanted to know why she was here. What her endgame was. “All right,”I said, grinning. “I’ll race today but don’t come crying to me afterward because your brother didn’t make the cut.”
“Dima’s a big boy. He can handle himself. Don’t underestimate him.”
“I don’t underestimate either of you. But you better not underestimate me either. I’m a Falcone, winning runs in my blood.”
“Arrogance too?”
I smiled. “I think you and I both don’t lack confidence when it comes to racing. Now let’s stop the chitchat and prove we aren’t just words.”
Dinara stood on her tiptoes, leaning even closer and bringing her lips close to my ear. “Yes, let’s do that, Adamo.”
She stepped back and turned around, walking away, giving me a perfect look at her ass in her tight pants. I ran a hand through my hair. She was a hot piece of ass, but I preferred less trouble in my sex life. Hooking up with grid girls or the rare racer girl had proven a hassle in the past, so I’d stopped reacting to advances. Business and pleasure better stayed separated.
Cora Reilly is the author of the Born in Blood Mafia Series, The Camorra Chronicles and many other books, most of them featuring dangerously sexy bad boys. Before she found her passion in romance books, she was a traditionally published author of young adult literature.
Cora lives in Germany with a cute but crazy Bearded Collie, as well as the cute but crazy man at her side. When she doesn’t spend her days dreaming up sexy books, she plans her next travel adventure or cooks too spicy dishes from all over the world.
Despite her law degree, Cora prefers to talk books to laws any day.
I’m living my dream. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a rock star. And now here I am, about to start my first big tour, when she comes along.
Ariana.
From the second we meet, she’s all I can think about.Asking her to come on tour with me is easy. But she’s shy, insecure, and the paparazzi scare her. We live in two completely different worlds.
I love her and I know that she’s worth fighting for. The problem is, I’m not sure if love is enough.
Gabriel’s Album is the first book in the Cruise Control Heroes series. It’s the companion novel to The Album. Fall in love with Gabriel and Ariana all over again as Cruise Control embarks on their first world tour.
Our next song is “If I Were You,” which is a ballad Harrison wrote about Heather. I sing it to Ariana tonight, though, making my way to the middle of the stage, and I lock eyes with her as often as I can allow so that she knows I mean these words for her.
I see Heather lean over to Ariana and say something to her, then they both start laughing. I’m confused and make a note to ask her what was so funny later. Here I am, trying to be her romantic boyfriend, and she’s too busy giggling to be wooed by my gesture.
Ariana catches my gaze again and stops laughing at once, just beaming at me as I sing to her. I give up on looking around the crowd and sing to her for the rest of the song. The rest of the concert passes without incident. We’ve got all of the songs on Cards Have Been Dealt on the setlist tonight, along with some of our favorite classic rock covers. Sebastian insisted that we do “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses. It’s his favorite song to play live, and whenever he’s given a choice, he will try and get us to play it.
As we’re coming off stage before the encore, we’re all running on a high, and he says, “Tonight was awesome; did you see the fans go mental when I did the guitar solo for ‘November Rain’?”
“Dude, you’re not Slash, and you never will be. You know that, right?” I give him a cheeky grin.
Sebastian rolls his eyes at me. “That’s fine because I’m better than Slash.”
“Sure, bro. If you say so,” Hayden scoffs.
The lights come back up, interrupting our conversation, and we go back onstage for the encore, which is the only song on Cards Have Been Dealt that we haven’t played tonight, and the crowd goes mad before we say goodbye for a final time.
As we wrap up the encore, Ariana and Heather stand and cheer and clap with the rest of the crowd. I smile at Ariana one last time before we head offstage.
“I’m cut that you guys don’t agree that I’m better than Slash,” Sebastian says, continuing our conversation from before the encore.
Hayden laughs and smirks at him. “It’s not that I don’t agree, per se. It’s just that I don’t think Slash would screw up the outro.”
“What can I say? I was distracted by this hot-as-shit fan in the front row. Hopefully, security will get her backstage for me.” Sebastian has his own smirk on his face when he says it.
Harrison shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Anyway, great show, guys.” I high-five him as Ariana walks up to me. I step forward, place my arms around her waist, and spin her around in circles, causing her to laugh.
Hi, I’m Sian Ceinwen and I live in Western Australia with my husband and two kids. I started writing this in the third person but it was just odd. A little bit about me, I’ve enjoyed writing all my life, getting the worlds and characters in my head down for other people to enjoy is my passion.
Writing a book wasn’t something I ever thought I could really do but inspired by a song, I aimed to do it. With a lot of coaxing from my friends for me to finish it so they could find out the ending.
I released Gabriel and Ariana’s story, The Album, on March 14th, 2020. Harrison and Heather’s story, The Wedding, came out on June 6th, 2020. Sebastian and Lita’s book, The Baby, was released on November 18th, 2020.
The first book in the companion series, Gabriel’s Album, is available for pre-order and will be released on March 14th, 2021. It’s Gabriel and Ariana’s story retold from Gabriel’s point of view.
I hope that you will fall in love with the Cruise Control world the same way that I have.
