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The Singles Table is the whimsical, warm-hearted third novel in Sara Desai’s Marriage Game series. Each book stars members of the very large and extended Patel family but you do not have to have read any of the previous volumes to enjoy this one.
Zara Patel is determined never to marry. That doesn’t mean, however, that she thinks no one else ever should. In fact, she has become quite adept at matchmaking and is the reason a group of twenty women are gathered to play paintball in second-hand bridesmaid dresses. To be fair, Zara is only responsible for getting her friends Maria and Tarun together. It was the maid of honor’s idea to have the joint bachelor/bachlorette party be a paintball game and for the bachelorette party attendees to be in hideous former bridesmaid dresses while they play. Zara’s wearing a neon-pink, flounced monstrosity that is sure to make her a target once they get on the field. That’s okay. She’s there to have fun, not win a paint war.
Jay Dayal is in it to win it. This may be his friend Tarun’s bachelor party but Jay takes his paintball seriously and has every intention of playing hardball. Which is why he is horrified when the energetic, zany, mouthy but admittedly scorchingly sexy Zara is put on his team. Jay likes his gals classy, smart, sophisticated and serious. The earthy, irreverent, fun loving but hot Zara is definitely not his type. Especially not after she shoots him in the butt at the start of the game.
Zara had aimed for her team captain’s absurdly perfect bottom in the hopes of dislodging whatever stick he has rammed up there. It’s clear the guy has no intention of letting his team enjoy themselves on the field but plans to use some sort of pseudo-military strategy to win the day while having zero fun doing it. She’s having none of that.
Security specialist (and former military pilot) Jay can’t believe the madcap antics Zara uses to win the game or her wild behavior (beer funnels – multiple!) during the rest of the party. When she insults him to his face after he offers to call an uber for her her drunken self, he determines to have nothing more to do with her. Ever. But fate has other plans. The seating arrangements at Maria and Tarun’s wedding get messed up and he and Zara wind up sitting together at the singles table. And before Jay knows quite how or why it has happened, he’s agreed to let her find him a plus one for the wedding season in exchange for introducing her to some of the celebrities he does security for. He doesn’t even want a plus one! But Zara’s powers of persuasion are such that he finds himself spending tons of time with his matchmaker while she gets to know him in an effort to find his perfect special someone.
Any romance reader worth their salt knows exactly where this is going. As they spend time together, Zara learns that Jay can be fun, he just needs someone who can help him loosen up. Zara also learns that she doesn’t always need to be loud and boisterous to have a good time – sometimes being with the right person can be enjoyable without adding any of the wacky to it.
Jay learns that Zara is smart, caring, kind and pretty much perfect for him. He loves her energy and how she can make a best friend out of the waiter while ordering food. As the only child of a single mother who is estranged from her family, Jay loves how close Zara’s family is. The Patels rally around members going through a tough time rather than ostracize them. Jay especially loves how Zara makes him feel alive and young and ready for adventure. Those were all traits he lost when he joined the military, experienced a traumatic event and developed PTSD.
While Jay is feeling all the love for Zara and her family, I loved the way they couple interact. Once we get beyond the first few chapters – where their behavior is admittedly antagonistic (of the “You are such a jerk/lunatic but you are so, so attractive and I’m in lust!” variety) – they settle into a really great relationship. They become friends as well as lovers, and I appreciated the way both of them bring something special to their connection. Zara shares her friends, family and open hearted kindness with Jay. She’s joyful, cheery and able to look at the bright side of darn near anything, and that pulls Jay out of the somewhat morose workaholic funk he’s been in. Jay is steady and supportive and focused on Zara. Zara’s parents had a bad divorce when she was in her tweens and she has been the emotional support and caregiver for the family ever since, for her father especially. Jay provides the shoulder to cry on/lean on for her that she gives to others. She in turn does that for him whenever he needs it. It was great to see them both fulfilling this role.
I also appreciated that while Zara can be atypical she isn’t dysfunctional. She’s gainfully employed as a lawyer, even if the firm she works for is more than a bit unusual. She may get herself into crazy situations but she is able to get herself out of them as well. In short, she doesn’t need a caregiver as so many of the heroines of slapstick rom-coms do. She is fine without Jay – she’s just better with him.
This story is charmingly clichéd in the sense that it is utterly predictable but is nonetheless enjoyable. The plot follows expected lines but Jay and Zara are very likeable individuals who make a wonderful couple and they are fleshed out enough to add some depth to the tropes they are working through. The author doesn’t get any points for originality but she does do a great job of writing a story that is easy to read with a hero and heroine it is fun to root for.
The main point of contention is that neither character wants to be in a relationship, both are satisfied with hookups but they work through that issue in a (mostly) reasonable manner. Something else I appreciated was that Jay and Zara don’t fix all the broken pieces in each other’s lives. Some of the extended family relationships remain estranged and no effort is made to change that.
One problem I have with combining funny stories with serious issues is that the author is forced to sacrifice elements of one or the other in order to tell her story. In this case, I felt some serious issues were glossed over and resolved too easily in order to keep the positive vibe of the tale, which is all that kept it from being a DIK.
The Singles Table isn’t a perfect story but it is a delightful, humorous book that is sure to please fans of light hearted contemporary romance. I recommend it to those readers.
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Grade: B+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 17/11/21
Publication Date: 11/2021
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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Ooh, intrigued; it’s on my tbr pile!
I liked this better than her first two. It seemed the author came into her own with this one.
This review made me think of the documentary “Meet the Patels”, about Ravi Patel, a young Indian-American man who agrees to try to find a Patel to marry. Patels are supposed to marry other Patels, and since there are many millions of Patels in the world, it theoretically it shouldn’t be too hard to find one who is a match. There are many ways to meet: through matchmakers, biodata sheets, speed dating, etc. The film is quite charming, and his parents are lovely – they had an arranged marriage, fell in love after, and are clearly still quite smitten with each other.
That’s a fun and funny documentary and I recommend it too. Ravi Patel is an actor as well and I just saw him guest star last week on the new CBS comedy Ghosts!
That sounds really fun. I’ll have to watch it.