I’m so pleased to welcome Sara Desai to the ball today. Sara Desai has been a lawyer, a radio DJ, a historian, a bouncer and a librarian. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and three children. THE MARRIAGE GAME went on sale June 9th and is an OwnVoices enemies-to-lovers rom-com that is absolutely perfect for fans of Sonya Lalli and Jasmine Guillory.
Read on for a chance to win.
Which talent do you wish you had?
I have to answer this question every day when I take my DD10 out for our daily walk, although the talents we talk about are magical and limited to use by unicorns. As a result, I have wished I could fly, freeze enemies by blinking twice, heal people with my tears, be invisible, shoot rainbow fire from my horn, and attend the unicorn ball in a pink silk princess dress with a cut-out for my tail (not really a talent but who doesn’t want to go to a ball?).
What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?
The strangest job I’ve ever had has to be the one week I spent as a telemarketer. Every morning we had to gather in a room that had been decorated to look like a Kindergarten classroom with small plastic seats in primary colours, big pictures of happy cartoon animals on the walls, bright polka-dot carpet, and speakers blaring “If You’re Happy and You Know It’. We had to stand in a circle and clap and sing the song to get “pumped” for the “exciting” day of calling people who didn’t want to be called to sell things they didn’t want to buy. After the song, we had to dance to “loosen up” and then we would perch on the tiny seats and talk about what we were most looking forward to that day. Any hint of negativity led to immediate dismissal. On the fifth day, the manager showed up with a jug of pink Kool-Aid. That was the day I left.
Tell us about some of the authors who inspire you.
The authors who most inspire me are the ones who can create a world so detailed and believable that I can get totally lost in their stories. Nalini Singh, JR Ward and Patricia Briggs are my go-to authors when I want an escape. I am also inspired by authors like Kristen Ashley, Jodi Ellen Malpas, and Alexa Martin who create drool-worthy alpha heroes.
Tell us what you’re looking forward to reading.
I am loving all the fantastic books coming out by diverse authors and I can’t get enough. I am really looking forward to Sonali Dev’s, Recipe for Persuasion, Sonyal Lalli’s, Grown Up Pose, Jasmine Guillory’s, Party of Two, and Kwana Jackson’s, Real Men Knit. And that’s just the start of my planned summer reading!
What was the first piece of writing you ever published or saw in print?
My first published work was a poem about my then baby brother climbing the stairs. It won first prize in a writing competition, and was published in a university magazine. Now that my brother has his own kids, I plan to pull it out at the next family gathering and share my observations about his chubby little legs, cute diaper-clad tushie, and the trail of drool he left all the way to the top.
**GIVEAWAY**:
For your chance to win a copy of The Marriage Game, share our interview on Facebook or Retweet it.
ABOUT THE MARRIAGE GAME
Layla Santos, daughter of first-generation immigrants from India, has found herself in one bad romantic rendezvous after the next, the last of which culminated in a royally catastrophic break-up, complete with a viral video capturing Layla’s less-than-wonderful response to the situation. Quickly finding herself single, jobless, and despondent, Layla returns to San Francisco, where her parents run a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant.
Layla’s dad only wants the best for his little girl—so of course, he lets her use the office above the restaurant to try her hand at starting her own business. He also secretly signs her up for IndianGirlMatch.com, the perfect place to find a suitable husband. When her dad suddenly falls ill, Layla becomes determined than ever to launch a successful new business and make him proud.
Enter Sam Mehta, also a child of Indian-American immigrants and the self-made CEO of a corporate downsizing agency. When Sam arrives at the office space he rented (which just so happens to be located above a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant), he’s surprised to find the owner’s daughter, Layla, has already settled in. Sam is not about to give up his prime real estate without a fight.
The pair become fast enemies—until a seemingly random suitor comes calling for Layla, the girl he was matched with on a dating site. Utterly confused, Sam and Layla soon learn about Layla’s father’s game of Cupid—and that he has agreed to meet with a number of hopeful matches for his daughter. Sam agrees to accompany Layla on these dates—until an office romance changes all the rules….
One Reply to “Interview and Book Giveaway with Sara Desai, Author of The Marriage Game”
Comments are closed.