Dating Dr. Dil features a love-phobic TV doctor who must convince a love-obsessed homebody they are destined to be together. Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Nisha Sharma’s Dating Dr. Dil, which releases on March 15th 2022.
Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he’s selling her mother’s home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he’ll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn’t want.
Dr. Prem Verma is dedicated to building a local community health center, but he needs to get donors with deep pockets. The Dr. Dil Show was doing just that, until his argument with Kareena went viral, and he’s left short changed. That’s when Kareena’s meddling aunties presented him with a solution: convince Kareena he’s her soulmate and they’ll fund his clinic.
Even though they have conflicting views on love-matches and arranged-matches, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he begins to believe she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. But for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.
Dave motioned to two armchairs facing each other next to the fireplace. It was a quiet corner, and casual enough that they didn’t have to worry about being too close to Dr. Dil.
“I can get drinks,” Dave asked after Kareena sat down. “What would you like?”
“A medium latte, please, with no foam. And definitely no cinnamon. Not even on top.”
He grinned at her, flashing straight white teeth. “For a second I was thinking you were going to give me a super complicated order. Half caf soy whatever. I was ready for it, too.”
Kareena smiled. “Medium latte, no foam, no cinnamon is as adventurous as I get.”
He nodded. “Yeah, now that you mention it, you look like a straight black coffee kind of person with that plain latte for special occasions.”
“Uh, I don’t—”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Dave said. He pointed a finger-gun at her.
“I have made it a game to guess my date’s drink based on what I think their personality will be like. I’ll be right back.” Dave turned without another word and walked toward the counter.
Kareena whipped out her phone from her small bag.
KAREENA: Do I look boring?
BOBBI: What?
VEERA: No, of course not. Why? Aren’t you supposed to be on your date right now?
KAREENA: I’m on my date. Dave. Hedge fund guy. Really nice teeth. He just said that I looked like the type to order black coffee, and then plain lattes with no foam for special occasions.
BOBBI: Did you tell him you freeze bottles of peppermint coffee creamer so when it’s the off-season, you always have it?
VEERA: Or that you only order lattes to avoid an allergic reaction?
KAREENA: I didn’t tell him any of those things! Ugh, I’m so off my game as it is. DR. DIL IS HERE.
BOBBI: What?
VEERA: What??
KAREENA: I’ll tell you later. For now, I’m counting this as a red flag. I need a way to weed out dates without wasting time. Three red flags you’re out.
She glanced up, and Prem was looking right at her from a small table across the café. He’d gotten what looked like iced black coffee, and smirked in that I-know-I-look-good way that drove her insane. No, she was not going to be attracted to someone who put her in this predicament in the first place.
Kareena put her phone away right as Dave returned with two large cups in hand.
“The mediums looked pretty puny, so I got you a large one. I hope that’s okay.”
“Oh, uh. Thanks.”
She took the cup from him and glanced around to see Prem sitting at one of the bistro tables directly in her line of sight. As if he knew that she was watching, he saluted her with his cup and went back to scrolling on his phone.
“I hope it’s not too much caffeine for you late at night,” Dave said. “I’m a night owl, so it doesn’t bother me. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Law school was where I lost my sensitivity to caffeine,” Kareena said with a smile. “I appreciate it.” She cupped her hands around her drink and sat straighter, remembering that she shouldn’t hunch during these things. Some magazine article once told her that hunching gave off signals of low confidence.
And Prem was still . . . there.
After a moment of staring at the floor, Kareena realized that they were dangerously close to creating an awkward silence. “I appreciate that you didn’t want to spend a month texting,” she started. “I’m back online after a while and that’s the one thing that I was dreading the most.”
“Oh no. At our age, we have no time to play games, am I right?”
“Right,” Kareena said. Wait, was he calling her old? “Uh, are you local?”
Dave spread his knees and leaned back against his chair. “No, but my parents still live here in Edison. I’m trying to get them out of New Jersey, though. Maybe Delaware. The property taxes in this area are just too difficult to manage, especially since my father is going to retire next year. It’s such a burden, you know?”
“I know,” Kareena said. “I’m a Jersey girl through and through, though.”
“Yeah?” he said. “I can see that.”
Now what in the hell did that mean?
“Where do you live?” Kareena asked.
“I’m in Guttenberg. Awesome apartment. Right across the river. I even have a little balcony. I do scotch tastings on my balcony with some of my friends. It’s classy.”
That sounds like the most boring thing in the world, Kareena thought. Was that in his profile? No, his profile basically said he liked movies and hanging out with friends.
“Sounds like a lot of fun.”
“Oh, it is,” he said. “In fact, my roommate and I are thinking of going into business together and starting our own premium liquor brand.”
“Roommate?” Kareena couldn’t tell quite yet if that was a red flag. At their age, tons of people still had roommates. The tristate area was expensive, after all. But he’d said he lived alone when they texted.
Dave leaned back in his armchair, legs spread. “She’s working in publishing, but she has the best tongue for tasting ever. Tasting scotch, I mean.” He laughed at his own joke. “She’s never tasted anything else of mine, if you know what I mean.”
Kareena looked up at Prem who was now watching her like a TV show. He had to have heard Dave’s comment. Judging by the smug smile on his face, he was enjoying every minute of it. There was nothing for him to be smug about, though. She’d give Dave the benefit of the doubt that he had a platonic, healthy relationship with his co-ed roommate. They probably only shared utilities and a common area . . . right?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dave said with a laugh.
“You do?”
“I do. How do my Indian parents let me live with a straight, single woman? Well, I’ll be honest. They don’t know. They think my roommate is a guy. But I’m not worried. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
“Oh,” she said.
She looked at this too-cocky, legs-spread-wide finance guy who lied to his parents about his roommate, who lied to her, and realized that he wasn’t attractive at all.
From DATING DR. DIL by Nisha Sharma, published by Avon Books. Copyright © 2022 by Nisha Sharma. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers
