Thank you to NetGalley, Sonali Dev the author, and the publisher Amazon Original Stories for providing this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think I prefer Sonali Dev's novels to her short stories. This one did the job of fleshing out our main character with a back story that added depth to her character, but there were moments when I felt she was hitting us over the head with the New Ayesha/Old Ayesha comparisons.

There were also moments where the wording felt really awkward to me, and I felt they were things that a good read-over would have caught.

Overall it was a decent read, and I did enjoy the side moments with the aunties a lot. I think I generally just seem to like meddling aunties as a character trope.

3★
“You’re twenty-eight years old, Ayesha. At your age, I had two children!”

Okay – you get the premise of the story. For the last several years, Ayesha has been flat out helping her mother, Amma, make a go of their restaurant after they were left with it. It is successful, but she’s had no time for herself.

Then Amma springs the news that there is a special “doctor boy” invited to the wedding of Ayesha’s best friend, Bela.

“When it came to marriage, Indian parents always turned adults into boys and girls. ‘It’s so they can take the sexuality out of it.’ That was Bela’s explanation. Or maybe that made it easier to direct their grown children’s lives.“

At the wedding, she hears another voice.

“She hated his voice. Hated how much she’d missed it.”

Enough. This is fine for those who like their romances predictable, but in spite of the fact that I love short stories, this one falls pretty flat.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the copy of #TheWeddingSetup for review.

Sometimes romance short stories feel rushed to me, but The Wedding Setup was perfect. Ayesha's grief and her relationships with Emmett, Bela, and her mother were all so well done is so few pages. It was a quick, emotional read, and I loved it.

I’ve been wanting to read something from Sonali Dev for quite a while; thank you to NetGalley for approving my request to read this very short story (less than 60 pages).

It was a wonderful way to learn about Indian customs, in particular a wedding celebration.

I did see the ending coming, but loved everything about the story. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sonali Dev the author and the publisher Amazon Original Stories for providing this advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 11 Jan 2022.

A beautiful short story of love and loss. After Ayesha’s brother dies she becomes the dutiful daughter she thinks her mother wants her to be. She lets go of her dreams, her fierce personality, and her life to become someone she believes her mother needs her to be.

This was a quick but emotional read. I grew to love the characters in no time and really felt that I was watching everything unfold. The stubbornness, the fear, the guilt- it’s written in a way that will leave you speechless.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this short and sweet story by Sonali Dev. The Wedding Setup introduces us to Ayesha and her Amma, both of whom have never recovered from the sudden loss of Ayesha's brother Ajay seven years ago. Ayesha has since given up her dreams to help her mother run their restaurant, but everything turns upside down when her long lost love returns for the wedding of Ayesha's best friend.

A well written story about grief, love and family. I enjoyed the dynamic between the MC and her mother and liked how the story unfolded. I would definitely recommend this short story. Thanks NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev was a delicious short story! I love a love story and this one delivers! I read it in one sitting and it got me back into a reading groove what more could I ask for?

Sonali Dev. Short Story. Second Chance Romance. YES PLEASE!!!!!!!

I am such a huge fan of Sonali's storytelling , I have read everything she has written, and I was so excited to see she had a new short story coming out. I was excited to get my grabby hands on an advanced copy!

Ayette Shetty is such a well-developed strong character, she is fierce, loyal and a bit broken after her brother's passing 7 years prior. She has taken on her family's restaurant responsibilities, and she is looking forward to her besties Big Fast Indian Wedding!

Her mom has set her up with an "appropriate" suitor as a date for the wedding and Ayette and her mom definitely have different ideas of what is appropriate. What she wasn't expecting was her ex to show up, the ex who was her brother's best friend, the ex that SHE left to take on the duties at the restaurant.

Second chance romance is my favorite trope and I swear Ms. Dev nails it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

The author is a magician with her pen. I love how well the author writes about grief and family dynamics and how it is addressed in this short story in a way that makes you really think.

This is a short story, but honestly it packs the punch of a full-length novel.

A second chance romance novella with a misleading title. It is about a wedding setup but not the way you would expect.

The 60 pages flew by very quickly, yet I didn't feel that the story was lacking anything. It's full of emotions, the plot is well constructed and the story is complete as it is. I liked the twist in the end, and would be happy to see this book turned into a movie.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an Advance Review Copy.

A beautiful South Asian second chance at love story featuring Ayesha, who has put her own desires on hold to help her mother after the accidental death of her brother. Full of deep emotions for such a short story, Sonali Dev fans are sure to be pleased! I love the gorgeous cover too. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

For all that this is a short story, I didn't feel unsatisfied with it. It didn't feel rushed or like more words were needed to get the point across. Even though there is a history between Emmitt and Ayesha that we're not privy to, I didn't need that information to understand the feelings they were grappling with. Ultimately I would say this is about grief and family, and how losing a loved one can make you lose parts of yourself without even realizing it.

I wasn't expecting the story to unfold the way it did, but the author managed to take the well-used meddling mom trope and give it a nice tweak.

This is fun novella that I absolutely loved, when I saw it on NetGalley I knew I wanted to read it immediately!
Ayesha lost her beloved brother Ajay 7 years ago, and the shock of his death made her give up her dreams as well. She’s been a dutiful Indian daughter ever since, because she doesn’t want to hurt her mother, and she goes to work in the family restaurant, which was Ajay’s dream.

Her best friend is having an elaborate Indian wedding, and Ayesha’s mother has set her up with a dream guy, on paper at least. When she arrives, she comes face to face with Emmitt, Ajay’s best friend and the love of her life.

Emmitt is the guy who really knows and understands the old Ayesha, the one before she muted her personality. Old Ayesha ignored her family responsibilities for Emmitt, but after Ajay’s death she broke up with him and focused on making her mother happy. Ayesha didn’t realize that her mother was happy when Ayesha herself was too.
Can she figure out a way to be happy again and still respect her mother and the family restaurant?

Ayesha is haunted by her brother’s death, and makes assumptions about her mother and the business. I was amazed at the complexity of the story and the depth of emotion Sonali Dev was able to fit into a short story. I recommend this book, 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Wedding Setup is a short story that is a fun, atmospheric, somewhat angsty tale. I found myself unable to connect to the characters, perhaps because there wasn’t fully time to develop them in a story of this length, but I did enjoy this quick read.

What a delightful read! I had never read anything by the author, so it was very nice to have this first contact in a short story. The premise was great, and it was beautifully written, as a love story and much more than that.

I really enjoyed the main couple, the chemistry between them was palpable from the first time they interacted on-page, and their relationship was one of respect and understanding, which was great. The family issues brought up here were nicely done, and as someone from a very family-centered culture, it was good to see how it affected the protagonist's life (for bad but also for good) and the story itself.

At the end, it was a really cute and fun read, ending the year in a very positive note.

No one does second chance romance or longing like Sonali Dev! With sizzling chemistry and loads of baggage, our heroine and hero navigate the intricacies of a family wedding and some misconceptions about what parental expectations really mean for them. Some delightful scheming from our supporting characters - this is a fun, quick, and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dev explores the themes of love, grief, family, friendship, duty, and sense of self against the backdrop of an Indian wedding in the Chicago suburbs. Even though this is a short story, Dev still manages to capture and convey the depths and motivations of her characters.

Her writing is beautiful and always feels elevated (in a good way) to me.

The story is self-contained and short enough to read in one sitting. It falls into the second chance romance trope without feeling like a cliche.

5 Stars - I highly recommend this one.

Her best friend’s big, fat Indian wedding is a chance to get away from her endless duties at the restaurant and maybe even have some fun (if she remembers how). But a setup arranged by her mother, with a doctor no less, is the last thing she needs. The fact that he checks all her mother’s boxes just makes everything better…and worse.

Then Emmitt Hughes shows up. Her brother’s best friend. The love she once chose over family duties and her responsibilities. The one she asked to leave, and who did. The one who knows the real Ayesha. Torn between a love from the past that could cost her the only person she has left and her sense of obligation to her mother, will Ayesha find the strength to stop thinking about what everyone else wants and finally put herself first? Or is the old Ayesha truly gone for good?

This is a fun, short story set in the same world as the Rajees. I love all her other books and this is another excellent one. This second chance romance is sweet, romantic and emotional. Totally love it. The characters are terrific. They are complex and totally complicated in the best way. :) Another wonderful book by this writer.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Great, fun short story loosely set in her Rajes world. This is a quick romantic read and perfect for fans of Dev or new readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy to review. I enjoy Sonali Dev’s writing so when I found this available, I jumped at the chance. I do prefer to listen to her books on audio so the narrator has an accent that fits. However, reading this story was enjoyable. The beginning didn’t seem to set the story up much but that often happens in short stories. Ultimately, I liked how the story played out and I like the dynamic between both Ayesha and Emmitt as well as Ayesha and Amma.