The Design of Us by. Sajni Patel | Book Review – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: The Design of Us

Author: Sajni Patel

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 7/16/24

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, STEM Romance

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?

Content Warning: toxic ex

+ I admit this cover sucked me in because of the vibrant colors and then the story takes place in Hawai’i (the Big Island) and I’m on Oahu so I wanted to see how the author portrayed the Big Island.

+ Bhanu and Sunny are coworkers. She works in UX (user experience) and he’s a coder and I thought them being in this tech job that I don’t know a lot about was fascinating. Sunny’s ex thinks he’s a robot with no feelings, and always working. Bhanu is always working just like him, but she also has social anxiety. They do not get a long at work, but when they coincidentally find one another staying at the same island in Hawai’i – things get interesting.

+ I think the author did a great job portraying the Big Island. I have family that live there and sadly haven’t visited in years but the beauty, the humidity, the various landscapes, culture, and food is showcased really nicely in this story. She also even brings up the issue of tourism in our islands, where it is our main economy but how it takes it’s toll on the islands and the workers of the industry. My mom worked in a hotel so Bhanu’s sister working at a hotel was spot on.

+ The romance is a very slow burn. But I loved how they went from enemies to wild for each other mostly because of their personalities. Sunny, despite his name is grumpy and closed off. Bhanu is much more free-spirited but she also likes control and she has social anxiety – the two of them are workaholics and ambitious but also like to have space.

+ The themes of friendship and family was great.

~ Sunny’s ex, Sejal, is really awful, especially causing that kind of drama during their friend’s wedding. Not cool. But her making Sunny feel like he was not good enough irked me.

~ I wish this wasn’t a closed-door romance. It’s totally fine but they had so much tension, it would have been fun to have their sexy scenes detailed a bit more but that’s a personal request lol.

~ Also, I think the author mentions Sunny’s voice sounding like Denzel a little too many times! 😅 I was starting to picture Denzel Washington in Sunny’s role.

Final Thoughts:

This is a perfect romance to read by the pool or at the beach during a hot summer’s day. It’s got fun tropes like one room, one bed, destination wedding, fake dating, and co-workers. Overall, I enjoyed this one!