Match Me If You Can is a delightful debut that delivers a charming and heartwarming friends-to-lovers romance set against the vibrant backdrop of Mumbai. If you're looking for a feel-good story with a touch of desi flavor, this book is definitely one to pick up!
Jia Deshpande, a confident fashionista and magazine writer, spends her days crafting listicles for Mimosa and her nights secretly blogging about the messy truths of love. Her life is a whirlwind of family game nights, meddling in others' love lives, and ignoring her growing feelings for her childhood friend, Jaiman Patil. The chaos kicks up a notch when she must prove her matchmaking skills by setting up a coworker to land her dream column.
Jaiman, the local pub owner with a flair for cocktails, has always been part of Jia’s family chaos, finding solace in their loving and loud dynamic since his own family moved to America. His feelings for Jia, however, complicate things, especially as his pub starts to struggle and Jia's matchmaking attempts go hilariously awry.
The chemistry between Jia and Jaiman is undeniable, and watching them navigate their feelings is both sweet and amusing. The author's writing is vibrant and engaging, capturing the essence of Mumbai's bustling life and the warmth of close-knit relationships. Jia’s journey from a confident matchmaker to someone who reevaluates her own notions of love is relatable and endearing.
The subplot involving Jaiman’s pub adds an extra layer of depth to the story, showing his struggles and his resilience. The Deshpande family’s weekly game nights are a highlight, bringing in lots of humor and heart to the narrative.
While some plot points might feel predictable, the overall execution is so charming that you won’t mind a bit. Match Me If You Can is a delightful read that leaves you with a smile, proving that love can indeed be found in the most unexpected places. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys a good friends-to-lovers romance with a generous sprinkle of cultural charm.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the author's writing style: it was clear, descriptive and engaging. I liked that the novel was based in India and dispelling a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes, which I think is a major win for this book. The FMC was not the most likeable, and the MMC was a bit easier to support.

Jia is a journalist giving readers dating advice in a top women's magazine. Her real passion though is her anonymous blog where she talks all things love and her aspiration of being a matchmaker. She is challenged to find a match for her coworker in order for her bos to give her a matchmaking column. Let's not forget that while she is all about love for those around her, she ignores her obvious feeling for her childhood friend Jaiman.

Jaiman is a chef who owns a struggling pub. He has always felt like Jia's family is his own. His own family live in America and run successful businesses and are always push Jaiman to move to work with them. He has lived his whole like in Mumbai, and is still holding out that Jia will realize he is the one for her.

Circumstances begin to push them both closer to the edge and they will both have to start making some hard choices in life and in love.

This was a very slow burn friends to lovers with a boat load of desi culture. My biggest gripe is Jia did not win me over. She annoyed me for pretty much the whole book, her refusal to she what was in front of her eyes, her ongoing denial, and she was so pushy. It made it harder to root for her love story when I could not connect to her. I did love the fun cocktails in the book.

This is a sweet story set in India! I was surprised how much the story resembled Emma/Clueless, and I think I would have liked it more if I knew that was the case as I found it distracting to compare.

Overall, it’s a bright, fun story perfect for anyone who likes friends to lovers, mutual pining, closed door romances!

There are a lot of different plot points in this one. They are easy to follow, despite being tough to describe. I also get frustrated by the miscommunication trope. The two main characters are just not voicing their feelings to each other, so they keep missing the point of the other, and it drives me a little buts. BUT this story is unlike any other romance I've ever read, despite being full of common tropes. It somehow all fits together so nicely and you root for the two main characters as they're filled with life's challenges, and making many repeated mistakes as you read! You root for them and can't stop reading until they get together at the end!

This rom-com based in Mumbai had all the makings for a book I hoped to love. Unfortunately, I found the book to be just okay and at times I was struggling to get through the chapters. The main character, Jia, writes a relationship column for a magazine while secretly writing a blog on the same topic. Jia's ultimate goal is to use the skills and access gained from the magazine and blog to create her own matchmaking company. When Jia sets out to help her coworker find her perfect match, and use it as the basis for her magazine column, she pays no attention to what actually makes her coworker happy or what she is looking for in a relationship. That pretty much sums up Jia in nutshell - she is generally only focused on herself and doesn't seem to pay any attention to what others want or need. And that explains why she has misunderstood her best friend Jainam's feelings about her for years. She jumped to conclusions in every instance and it took a long time for her to do some self reflection and get to a happier place. I do like that Jia finally set about to make things better for her friends and family but I found the resolution to be too swift and the story to be wrapped up too quickly and neatly in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I think this was a wonderful debut by Swati Hedge, it definitely had a rom-com vibe to it, so it just felt like a feel-good movie, watching two fools pine over each other and then finally doing something about it in the end. It's also set in Mumbai, India and I thought Swati did a wonderful job of depicting it and its culture.
I was initially drawn in by the cover because OH MY GOD it's gorgeous and purple! But also the fact that it had the friends to lovers trope? COUNT ME IN!

Jia, was interesting, she was very much the epitome of everything she does is the correct way, she's extremely confident in herself and her opinions, which definitely show through in the matchmaking project she takes on and in her blog.
I was screaming at her when she was set on her match between Charu and another co-worker. How could she deny Charu and the meet-cute she had with Manoj??? Regardless, I still think she had some great character development and the way she finally went after Jaiman?? I love that she really went out of her way to help out with his business.

Jaiman, he was so down bad for Jia, I lived for it! I also love that he would tell Jia straight up what he thought about her matchmaking (meddling). But even though they would get into these mini-arguments, Jaiman was always present, either to console her or help her, it was very sweet in my opinion. Might I also add that Jia was also always there for him, from bringing her coworkers to his pub to bringing him breakfast every day. Oh these two fools, oblivious and pining hard lol.

One more note, I loved the friendship between Jia, Charu, and Damini. It was nice seeing that grow as well to them all working together at Jia's new business in the end. Their group chat name was hilarious and clever.

As I said before, this was a wonderful debut and I am looking forward to reading more by Swati Hedge.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! Match Me If You Can, by Swati Hedge, follows journalist Jia and her friend Jaiman. Jia is tired of writing clickbait articles and wants to pursue her dream of matchmaking. When she has the opportunity to set up a coworker, she takes it! Jaiman is running a struggling pub and isn’t the most approving of Jia’s desire to matchmake, but he’s been hiding his feelings for her for a very long time so he wants to be supportive. This book was really cute, but the FMC was a little bit too focused on trying to set up her coworkers and not really thinking too much about the people behind the attempted match. I felt for Jaiman, pining from afar too and just wanted to tell Jia to give him a shot for most of the book. All in all, a cute read and if you like the secret pen pals trope too, this book has that!

I had really hard time reading this book so much so that it put me in a reading slump where I did want to read anything. I usually love reading books with desi characters as I can relate to them but I really struggled with this one. I just didn’t enjoy the FMC Jia on one hand she didn’t believe in the concept of love and on the other she acted like she knew everything about love and setting others up with their perfect match. Especially as she was so stubborn about her opinions and acted like anything or anyone opposing her were wrong.

This was sweet romance. While not the most unique story I’ve read, I thought it was really well done and pretty enjoyable. The matchmaker not realizing or believing in love angle does really add to any story, and the childhood friends to lovers vibes was the perfect complement to the matchmaker angle. Overall, I am not upset I read it, and would give the story 3 stars.

This book was engaging enough to finish, but overall fell a little flat for me. I found myself rooting for the side characters much more than the main couple. The main couple's ongoing miscommunications seemed to really drag out and while we got to hear a lot of their inner monologues, there wasn't much substance there. There were also some bizarre hang-ups for the characters that really stuck out to me and bothered me throughout my read - a clinging to millennial vs. Gen Z age gap wars, being a mixologist that hates drinking/drinking culture, family backstory that seemed inconsistent.

Things I enjoyed:
The MMC

Things I didnt enjoy:
The FMC
The lack of communication

As a whole, the story was fine, I don't love miscommunication and there is a lot of it in this book. I love a HEA but this one left me a bit unsettled. For a debut book, its well written, I just didn't like the FMC so for me it was just an okay read.

An aspiring matchmaker hits a snag on her way to attaining her dream career


27 year old Jia lives in Mumbai and writes about relationships for Mimosa magazine, producing columns that spout advice she doesn’t actually believe. On the side, she has started an anonymous (for now, anyway) blog that she believes gives her readers the perspectives that will actually help them find successful relationships, and hopes it will succeed enough to allow her to start a matchmaking business. She has a perfect track record in matchmaking so far, maneuvering first an aunt and then her older sister into relationships that have led to marriage and happiness for both women. Jia is supremely confident in her abilities, and pitches an idea for a matchmaking column at the magazine. Her boss doesn’t share her optimism, and suggests that Jia prove her abilities by making a successful match for someone, with the magazine tracking the results. If Jia succeeds, the magazine will give the column a try; if not, well, she’ll have to make do with her relationship column. She decides to use her new workmate, the sweet but shy Charu, as her candidate. She focuses on the arrogant Eshaan, another co-worker, as the perfect match….Charu seems to like him, and Jia is sure they’ll make a fine match. When Charu meets Manoj, a musician/comedian who works at a pub owned by Jia’s longtime friend Jaiman, she’s attracted to him too and turns to Jia to figure out who to choose. Jaiman disagrees, with Jia’s advice and is annoyed with her meddling. Will Jia be able to find love for Charu, and in doing so get a jumpstart on her matchmaking goals? Will she be able to figure out what to do with the conflicted feelings she has for Jaiman, who is in so many ways a brother but who provokes decidedly unbrotherly thoughts? And will Jaiman’s pub start turning a profit, or will the arrival next door of his culinary school rival crush Jaiman’s dreams and doom him to working at his father’s business instead?
If you took Jane Austen’s Emma and/or the Amy Heckerling movie Clueless and set it in modern-day India, it would look a whole lot like this desi rom-com. Beautiful, kind-hearted girl wants to use her abilities to help a naive girl snag Mr. Right, but her own pre-judgements lead to some comically bad results. Meanwhile, her actions exasperate a close family friend, and she may mess up her own chances for a happily-ever-after before she realizes what she is losing. Jia is strong-willed but genuinely wants to help others find the right connection, even as she doubts she herself will ever experience a love as good as that which her parents had before her mother passed away. Jaiman, under-appreciated and neglected by his own parents who left him behind when they moved to the US, has more or less made Jia’s family his own. He also has long harbored romantic feelings for Jia, but the one time he took a step to make those feelings known did not go well, and he is resigned to not having his desires reciprocated. He is also struggling to make a go of the business that has long been his dream but which his father predicted would be a failure, and the stress of continual red ink is chipping away at his confidence day by day. They are endearing characters, and as a reader I certainly was rooting for the two of them to recognize their feelings for one another (which everyone around them always has). Readers of authors like Sara Desai, Nisha Sharma and Sakshama Puri Dhariwal should give this enjoyable read a try. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dell for allowing me access to an early copy of this novel..

This is a debut romance novel based on the City of Dreams aka our Mumbai, India 🤌🪄💫
The author has penned down the details of indian lifestyle so well, I am sure all the non indians are going to fall in love with it and me as an Indian was literally feeling as if I was watching a desi romcom full on Bollywood style movie in this book.

The characters were amazing and interesting, both the female and male protagonists, oh yes it's a dual POV book as its definitely gets more love from my side as we all know we absolutely love a romcom in dual POV 🤌🤌 The characters were so easily relatable and that added more magic to my reading experience.

It's was a fun and quick read 💗 and all the desi romcom lovers, you need to check it out asap.

2.5⭐ It was okay. It had a lot of great potential, but I think the miscommunication/noncommunication trope was too much. As childhood best friends, I can understand not wanting to ruin that relationship, but the way Jia and Jaiman handled it was exhausting. I think this book solidified my dislike for the childhood best friends-to-lovers trope.

I can’t believe this is a debut! Major 90s/early 2000s movie RomCom energy, but make it exciting and cultural. I loved everything about this

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this! 2.5 / 5 stars
Match Me if You Can is a sweet story of Jia, a writer and secret content creator who has hopes of being a matchmaker, and Jaiman, her childhood best friend and local pub owner. The two clearly have some undefined and unrequited feelings for each other as they navigate their career turmoils and trying to find love.
The pros: I loved all of the Indian culture in this. I felt completely enveloped in Mumbai and the local customs, drinks, and matchmaking culture. I almost wanted more culture, or maybe even more explaining of the culture? But it was immersive, and I loved it. I did enjoy the dual POV of the two main characters: Hegde did a great job giving them distinct voices.
But I think this struggled with the chemistry between Jia and Jaiman: I just really had a hard time believing Jia actually had feelings for him? I understand the motif of making her finally 'realize' the boy next door was it for her, but she was so closed off from him for so long it was hard to really feel it.
I craved a lot more connection.

This was a very enjoyable book! I was very engaged in the story, found the characters likable, and enjoyed the character development.

Friends-to-lovers can be a hit-or-miss trope for me so that aspect scared me at first, but it was executed fairly well. The slow burn was very frustrating at points. I typically love slow burns to an extent, but there were lots of times when I found myself wanting to scream because. Nonetheless, it kept me engaged in the story, and books that have the ability to make me get irritated with the characters in a good way are the best.

Jia and Jaiman had a very cute friendship and their chemistry was to die for. Jaiman was the perfect MMC and I thoroughly enjoyed his character. Jia really frustrated me and points, but she had a lot of character development and I ended up loving her.

Overall, this was a very cute romance, and if you REALLY enjoy slow burns I would recommend this book to you!

3 stars!

Thank you Netgalley & Dell Romance for this eARC, and thank you to penguin random house audio for the audiobook for this one.

I loved getting to explore Mumbai with our FMC Jia who is working at a local internet magazine, Mimosa, and MMC Jaiman, who is running an unsuccessful pub. While I enjoyed the first half of this book as we are introduced to the food, fashion, festivals, and learning the dynamics of our characters, I could NOT get over the miscommunication between Jia and Jaiman.

Jia has successfully matched 2 couples previously and thinks she is qualified to be a match maker for her internet magazine job. While this is crazy to me to think one can do this on such a large scale, her boss agrees to let her prove her abilities by connecting the new girl at work with someone else in the office. Jia takes on the challenge and befriends the new woman with hopes of finding her a husband.

I felt like it was kind of rude to thrust jia on to this poor woman but I’m glad the two found a friendship out of it. At first it felt like jia was very judgmental and shutting down her new friends love interests with 23 year old grad school student and comedian/guitarist in favor for her office match of upper management guy. I just didn’t see the fit happening and Jia was pushing too hard!

Our MMC Jaiman has been in love with Jia forever and they shared one passionate kiss a year ago, never to be spoken of again. But Jia sent Jaiman mixed signals all the time. She wouldn’t date him but she brings him breakfast every day. She won’t date him, but she comes to his pub after work every day? They’re family friends and he has a key to their home, best friends with her brother in law (who she hooked her sister up with) and her father treats him like a son, but she won’t date him. It was confusing and I felt so bad for Jaiman.

It was so obvious to me how perfect these two were for one another and while Jia claims to be a matchmaker, she was so caught up in herself with trying to make an office match happen that she couldn’t see her own right in front of her face. I feel like she was so quick to judge and caused more harm than good with her office Match but thankfully it came together in the end.

I was honestly over the whole thing around 60% as it kept dragging on and on and I knew how it would end. I feel like Jia caused so much more damage than good until she figured herself out. This would be great for any one who loves slow burn, workplace environment, friends to lovers, and mutual pining.

Happy release week to this delightful debut novel about an amateur (but don’t tell Jia I called her that) matchmaker so focused on finding love for others that she fails to see her story right before her.

This was a fun and fluffy read, and I genuinely wanted to shake both Jia and Jiamin the entire time. Jiamin is clinging on for dear life to make his pub successful and avoid moving back home to join his father's business. At the same time, Jia is determined to help her new coworker find her future husband to prove that her matchmaking column is a viable option for her employer.

These two made me laugh while genuinely ripping my heart into pieces. When people talk about soulmates, it’s Jia and Jiamin. The chemistry is unreal and their ability to fall back into the comforts of their lifelong friendship gave me endless warm and fuzzies.

I had such a blast and can’t wait to see what Swati writes next!

‘Match Me If You Can’ is available everywhere now!