Startup Fiancé by Shilpa Mudiganti

I loved the idea of an arranged marriage story, so I was excited to give this one a try! I really loved this romance, and found it to be so sweet. I loved reading about Indian customs and culture. The banter between Arav and Nisha was amazing, and their chemistry made me swoon. I also really loved that there's no steam in this book. I find myself being drawn more and more to closed door/fade to black/no steam romances, and will highly recommend this to patrons who are looking for the same.

Startup Fiancé is a sweet romance. It pictured greatly the modern arranged marriage system in Indian culture and the culture all in all. Entertaining, fun and quick read for those who just want to have a little diversion from reality.

DNF- I am really striking out lately. This was a DNF for me. I got to about 33% and just could not make myself go any further. Characters were just not likeable or “well-developed”. Story had a cute premise- bad execution.

Arav was a self made billionaire. He had started TechNotes eight years ago and he had never looked back. Tall, dark, and ruthless- that's what Time magazine wrote about him. He was known for many things in the world of technology, but he was particularly famous was his competitive nature and compete intolerance for incompetence. Arav feared failure, feared all he built in the last eight years would turn to dust with this product launch. Competition was fierce and it only got more intense when Note Nirvana launched the year before. Within six months, Note Nirvana had swiped two percent of TechNotes users. If there was anything Arav hated more than product failures, it was incompetent people behind those failures. But he wasn’t about to allow failure in TechNotes. Arav’s best friend and CFO of the company was Ryan Penn. Than his uncle called and said a marriage proposal had come in. They both had a lot in common . the woman also own her own company. Than Arav said to email him her details. Getting fixed up this week was not in Arav’s plan. This week was about their product launch and watching his app’s subscribers base climb while Note Nirvana dissolved bit by bit. The meeting could wait a week. He needed to fix his company first. Arav was furious Note Nirvana had been featured in Tech Worlds e-magazine- the most popular and respected ezine among techies. The review had been glowing and they did a dig at his company. Arav marched out of his office the moment he heard the news about the write up. Arav knew the App industry was risky and high competition . He knew there would be companies who threatened his company's number one ranking. What he didn’t think of was being thrown off with no notice. Note Nirvana burst onto the market just a few months before and already amassed a million users close to thirty percent of his companies users base. Users were moving away and he had to stop it. Nisha Jain had one-upped them since she burst on the scene. The idea of marriage did nothing for Arav. If anything memories of his abusive father were all he could conjure up. His mother had sent Arav to the United States with her brother as she feared he would be his father's next target. Nisha had just broken her engagement from her arranged marriage because he didn’t respect her choice to work. Nishe was a heiress but determined to make her company a big success without her fathers help or money. When Nisha and Arav meet they meet for coffee and business but there is an instant attraction but hurtful things were said. Than Nisha and Arav find out they are the ones their family has planned for the arranged marriage. But Arav had left a bad first impression . Nisha wasn’t so sure she wanted to see him again. Arav did stand up for Nisha at a wedding they had both attended, when someone had tried to make her feel bad.
I liked this book. It was short but didn’t lack anything from my point of view. I liked the plot and pace. But I did find this somewhat predictable. I liked how the author showed modern day marriages in an Indian culture. This was a quick, enjoyable read with some angst included. I liked learning about Indian culture. I would have liked to know about what made Arav and Nisha companies so popular and successful. There were spelling errors that needed to be edited. I just don’t see Arav being willing to give up his company after all the time and effort he put into it in the last eight years. Makes no sense to me. I liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend it.

DNF at 28% - Premise sounded cute, execution and plot/character development was sloppy and unbelievable

I really like this story about love, determination and sacrifice.

There were two things small that I would have liked to see more of; firstly that the main characters spending a bit more time together. I felt that I wanted to see them together more to really be feeling the connection between them. Secondly, I found the rhythm of the sentence structure though different sections of the story was a little off for me, I think this will be more of a me problem thank anything.

The story sets up for stories to do with siblings and i would be interested to try these in the future.

This was a good quick read and a super look into another culture. Good characters and a very well written storyline made this a really enjoyable read it is the first book I have read by this author and will be looking out for more.

Startup Fiancé by Shilpa Mudiganti is a short contemporary romance that features an arranged marriage, corporate rivals, and an enemies-to-lovers storyline. It’s a quick read, but the length inhibited all of the emotional development I craved.

Arav Shetty and Nisha Jain are rivals; both are founders of successful app start-ups, Tech Notes and Note Nirvana, respectively. Reading about characters who developed note-taking apps made me realize how much my loves-planners-and-lists brain wants a good note-taking app. At one point Nisha thinks about adding more colorful features to her app and I was like “Yes! I want that!” and it’s not even a real app.

Anyway, Arav built his business from nothing, and it’s become his entire life:

My company was all I cared about. My business’s success represented everything I was–which was not my father. Not a drunkard who almost killed his wife with his addiction. Not a failed businessman. I was a success story and I built that success through nothing but countless hours of hard work.

I just couldn’t get Nisha Jain out of my mind.

That’s right. We’ve got a “I hate you, I can’t stand you, I can’t stop thinking about your hair, dammit” romance here.

Arav is frustrated (and scared) because Nisha’s company is cutting into his app’s success. So he asks her to meet him for coffee and offers to buy out Note Nirvana, and does so in a super crappy way. He gets even crappier when she refuses.

I really loved the premise of this book, mainly because I always had a fascination for arranged marriages and this one being set in modern times within a culture that accepts as norm is an added twist to the story. I did think the pacing was a little slow at first but did pick up that suits the plot. Overall, I enjoyed reading The Start Up Fiance.

I really did like the sound of this book and I hadn’t heard about this author before I saw this book and the blurb. This book was full of hilarity, scorchingly blissful moments and a few surprises throughout the book that made for some captivating, comical reading. The characters were perfectly portrayed and had such sweet romance between them, in a story that this reader could not put down. Such a treat of a book to read! A feel good story that I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to all book lovers out there.

Great start to a new series!
Very different from my normal reads and it was interesting to read!
Can’t wait for the next book!

This book was pretty good. It definitely held my attention and I’ll be checking out the author’s other books.

This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review. I have not read anything by Shilpa Mudiganti previously. Startup Fiance was a quick and easy read. It is a light romance. Arav and Nisha own rival tech companies in NYC. Arav has been at the top for a few years and managed to stay there by buying up his rivals. Nisha's company is nipping at his heels and after a not so pleasant meeting he realizes she won't sell willingly. Little did they know that her Grandmother and his Uncle are trying to set them up for an arranged marriage. The trials these two go through to figure out if they can stand each other much less get married would be trying for anyone even if they weren't your rival.

Not being familiar with the Indian customs might have slowed the story down a little but the author did try to include some helpful info in the beginning. I liked the strong female character breaking from tradition with her culture and building her company. Not being willing to settle for a man to just be his arm candy. Also even though Arav has the same cultural background he respects Nisha for being strong. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a light read with a HEA.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkspell Publishing for providing me with an e-copy to read and review.

I absolutely loved this story. "Startup Fiancé" is a light contemporary romance novel with a captivating plot, endearing characters, and charming love story.

Arav and Nisha are both very similar when it comes to their business, but its the contrasting backgrounds that provides the most contention to war against the attraction they have for each other. There was seemingly no way for their relationship to really thrive when their businesses are in the same field and mean everything to them. I wondered how the characters would handle such an obstacle - because they obviously like each other - and how the author would convince the reader how a love between Arav and Nisha could exist. That obstacle made it hard to see if love was possible but I held out hope from start to finish.

It was all so suspenseful because both characters had much to prove to themselves and others. They would try to talk it out but opposing forces would make themselves known at the worst possible times, hooking me into the story that much more.

In the beginning, I feel Arav's feelings for Nisha made a complete 180 too fast. I would be reading one section where he was feeling one emotion and then in the next a completely different emotion. The pacing of his emotions threw me off somewhat. The epilogue I liked the very beginning of, but the rest I question. It is either one of two things: a hint at something in the future or an attempt to give everyone a happy ending. I'm satisfied with everything up until that point. I also wish we had some information - even if only a small bit - about the features of the note-taking apps Arav and Nisha built or what about them made them so popular and successful.

I admire both main characters for what they've been able to accomplish in life in so short a time. I also enjoyed the cultural aspect and learning more things about Indian culture. This story was just so fun and interesting and delightful. I'd definitely recommend this book.