Glamor & Family Drama | Marriage by Arrangement by Sophia Singh Sasson

Title: Marriage by Arrangement
Series: Nights at the Mahal #1
Author: Sophia Singh Sasson
Published: August 1, 2020
Genre(s): Romance: Contemporary
Page Count: 224
Rating:

Summary from Goodreads:

Rule #1: Don’t fall for the client.

Because he’ll rock your world…

Architect Rani Gupta will never let a man compromise her career or freedom again. Which is a problem now that her newest client is irresistible hotelier Arjun Singh—aka the sexiest bachelor in India. A little fling with this gorgeous man would be scandal enough. But a fake engagement might just be more trouble than they bargained for—especially if Arjun has a prior arrangement!

After reading Marriage by Arrangement, I can only say that I’m conflicted about the book. On one hand, I really enjoyed Sophia Singh Sasson’s writing, and I thought the chemistry and connection between the protagonists, Arjun and Rani, was top-notch. I also deeply appreciated how every aspect of this love story is fully immersed in Indian and Indian-American culture. But on the other hand, Marriage by Arrangement functions essentially as two books in one, and the tone-shift around the halfway mark is jarring. I spent much of the last chapters wondering where the sensual, glamorous romance I’d been reading up to that point went, and that obviously did sour my enjoyment overall.

The first half of this novel is about the main characters’ sexy, secret affair as they collaborate on designing Arjun’s new hotel on the Las Vegas strip. Rani is an ambitious interior architect, chafing over the many promotions that have passed her by. Arjun is the mega-billionaire son of an old family from Rajasthan, with all of the expectations and privilege that go along with it. Primarily, I liked this part of Marriage by Arrangement! I liked how Singh Sasson wrote the interplay and chemistry between her characters.

My main complaints during the first half were small—i.e., Rani is promoted to senior architect and remarks that she finally has enough funds to open her own firm, but in a different chapter, she’s eating ramen for a week in order to afford a new outfit from the bargain clearance rack. Which is it? The money needed to buy a new dress is much smaller than the money needed to start your own business. I was also a bit iffy on Arjun’s high-handed, dictatorial attitude at times, but his intentions were always good, so I let them pass by.

Then we get to the 50% mark, and I feel that Singh Sasson began to lose her grip on the plot.

Rani’s father suffers a medical emergency, so she has to fly to her parents’ home. Arjun brings her in his private jet—as one does. At the hospital, Rani’s parents are pretty dickish to her, because as a divorcée, she’s brought a lot of shame on the family. Then Arjun unilaterally decides that a fake engagement is just the thing for Rani to reconcile with her conservative parents. Boom. But then by the end of the chapter, they just decide to get marriage for real. That’s the extent of the “Fake Relationship” trope in this book. (It looks more like Arjun manipulating Rani into becoming his wife than anything, to be honest.)

So after all this, literally the entire final chunk of Marriage by Arrangement is all about issues with Arjun’s parents. It turns out Arjun never told Rani that he was actually engaged to another woman back in Jaipur at any point! (Bastard). His ultra-conservative, richy-rich parents are Not Pleased by any of this. They come to Nevada and raise a big stink about how they need an obedient, submissive bahu (daughter-in-law) who respects their house’s parampara. No unapproved friends! No working outside the home! No unnecessary spending! Deference at all times to elders, even when they abuse you! Etc.

Rani, obviously, isn’t here for this. But Arjun? He pretty much just lets his parents rampage around and say absolutely awful things to “the love of his life” because he respects his parents. Arjun just expects that Rani will “compromise” on all of her goals and dreams in order to make it work. (Note: “compromise” to Arjun basically means “give up” to any other human being.)

I just…ugh. Look, I’m am not here to drag an entire culture that I am not familiar with, but fact that the main conflict of Marriage by Arrangement turns out to be a contest of wills between Rani and her future mother-in-law is exhausting. (Like all useless men, Arjun refuses to pick a side until the final few pages.) Also, I think that it’s okay for me to say that manipulation and abuse of women is NOT a shining aspect of Desi culture. I didn’t get much of a sense that this marriage would ever work, because honestly, the only way to deal with an overbearing mother-in-law is for that mother’s son to stand up to her and come to his wife’s defense. Singh Sasson doesn’t really show that in this book.

Throughout Marriage by Arrangement, I felt so bad for Rani. Her first husband and his parents treated her terribly. She gave up a stunning career for her ex and has had to work all the way back up from the bottom—again. Rani’s own parents have refused to speak to her since her divorce (one time they left her standing on the porch, knocking and crying for hours). Arjun is sexy and hot, but seems like a spineless asshole when Rani needs him most. And Arjun’s parents are just…a lot. It’s all a big mess.

All in all, I would have adored this book if Singh Sasson had been able to maintain the glamor and sexual tension of the first chapters. While I 100% believe that the family drama was a necessary part of the plot, the motifs of obedience and tradition unfortunately overpowered the actual love story. Slowly, Arjun and Rani’s romance was pushed from center-stage. I did like Marriage by Arrangement, not least because of how unapologetically Indian this entire story is—but I wonder if there was too much of a focus on aspects of Indian culture that are actively harmful to women.