I really enjoyed this last book in the quartet - a great ending to this body of work.
I liked the mother-daughter aspect of the book and Naina's redemption book.
I enjoyed how Vansh saw her - the real her.

‘The Emma Project’ by Sonali Dev, the fourth book in ‘The Rajes’ series, a retelling of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma,’ was a poignant and lovely read. Absolutely recommend!

This series went out on a bleh ending. I wasn't that into the main characters' relationship. There wasn't enough spark between the two. I really enjoyed this series until this book which was just ok.

3.5 stars - I love these fresh retellings of Jane Austen stories, but this one just wasn't my fave. If you like the story of Emma and can handle unlikeable characters, this will hit the spot more for you than it did for me.

I struggle with contemporary romance novels with a male MC/POV character for obvious reasons - as a cis woman, I fail to relate.

Still, a strong ending to the series!

this is one of the jane austen retellings that this author is known for. I interviewed her with the authors Christina Lauren for an event, and it was very interesting to hear her talk about Austen and why retelling these stories were so important for her.

I really love the Jane Austen retelling series by Sonali Dev. She writes adaptations of Jane Austen books, and I love Jane Austen so naturally I am always interested in new retellings and adaptations. Sonali Dev is a great writer and all the books in her series are always great.

This one is called The Emma Project, because it is based on Jane Austen's Emma.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Jane Austen, so I was really excited to hear that there was a new Emma adaptation being made. There are many film, television and stage adaptations of Emma already (as well as fiction and comic book re-tellings), but my favorite two are the are the 1996 Emma comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow and the 1995 Clueless movie starring Alicia Silverstone. My favorite Emma movie is still the 1996 version, but this was a really enjoyable adaptation that I am happy to add to my collection of Jane Austen retellings! This one is great because it offers some variety and diversity to Emma as a character.

Jane Austen herself was fond of Emma, but did not count on her being a general favorite among readers. When commenting that work, she said, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” This, to me, suggests that Austen wrote Emma to be dislikeable, but the modern adaptations just don’t really ‘get’ it. Not to say that Emma isn’t likeable, but I think that Austen wanted her shortcomings to be prominent, and therefore important for her character growth. There are other Emma retellings that paint her in a very forgiving light, but this one did a great job of presenting her flaws. There are more than a few unflattering passages that were written to make this character appear more human and less ideal. Overall, this was a really good adaptation, and I think Jane Austen would approve.

Despite my high rating, I have to admit that I am quite sad, because I think this is the end of the Raje books. I’m not ready to say goodbye to this fictional family that I have grown to love so dearly. In terms of where this book lies towards my favorites of the series, this one takes third place, sitting right behind Recipe for Persuasion the second book, and right in front of Incense & Sensibility, the third. I highly recommend this amazing collection of Jane Austen retellings, with incredible representation.

There is a lot to love in The Emma Project, and while this one felt like it adhered a little less to the inspiration material than some others in the series, I enjoyed it more than enough on its own. It's an age-gap romance that hits on so many things the characters have experienced as individuals and you really get to understand their connection and how they end up together.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Sonali Dev’s latest installment about the Raje family features a gender swapped retelling of the Austen novel “Emma”.

Vansh and Naina have known each other since Vansh was in diapers. When Vansh returns from his latest philanthropic endeavor, he finds himself battling head on with Naina for funding for a new app idea from the same philanthropist who has already earmarked the money to support her work in Nepal.

As these two are thrown together over and over again - they start to realize that maybe there is more there than an old friendship and some work animosity.

Add in a wonderful cast of background characters and nosey “Aunties” - The Emma Project is a fun and delightful read.

I really enjoyed this installment of the Raje family - it was interesting and multi-faceted cultural view of a diverse family. I wish there was more chemistry between Vansh and Naina - but overall a solid romance!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

As a thank you to NetGalley,Avon, andHarper Voyager, I am writing this honest review for having received an advanced copy. Coming into this novel I requested it knowing it was a series based on Jane Austen novels. I was pleased to see how adaptable it was for readers who had not read the previous three books. However I did read the book prior to this one Incense and Sensibility and enjoyed it immensely. In this gender swapped Indian-American adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma does author Somali Dev conclude her “Rages” quartet. The novel follows the youngest Raj sibling Vansh and Knightlina (Naina) Kohli who has recently broken up with by Vansh’s brother. Tropes present were grumpy/sunshine, age gap romance, friends-with-benefits arrangement. This novel is layered with character development and reflects the emotional tone of its predecessor. Overall I gave this novel 3.5 stars and 4 stars on goodreads.

Sonali Dev can do no wrong! Adapting one of my favorite authors books to a modernized, poc lead story is just what I need in a book! Her writing is phenomenal and continue to look out for her writing and any events she’s apart of!

The sisters relationship felt so immature and almost not even real to me. Other parts I really liked. I haven’t read the others but this works as a standalone

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

While I think The Emma Project offers the most romance, heat, and tension of the series as we come to its close, it was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of underlying issues that have increasingly bothered me throughout all four books.

But first, let's talk about the characters and their love story because there's a lot to like. I was glad to follow Naina's redemption after Incense and Sensibility. We see how she thinks and what she's up against, the way a lifetime of emotions and ambitions are tangled up inside her. Vansh is meant to be self-involved if well-intentioned, to fit his gender-bent Emma image. Knowing the purpose didn't help me get through all the babying he enjoys and the countless comments about his manly physique and charm (some made by Vansh himself). Luckily, Naina has much the same reaction to him (not impressed). His small touch of humanity is the way he's struggled with dyslexia in a family that is academically gifted and how he could feel the way expectations were lowered for him when he faced challenges in school.

For romance, we have an age gap, sunshine/grump, rivals-to-lovers, friends-with-benefits tale on our hands. I found it more exciting than the last couple books in the series, and the door is open a crack wider when things get steamy. Maybe because the angst between them doesn't have as deep roots as its most recent two predecessors, it's easier to have fun seeing them battle it out. Esha and Sid's minor romance plot was a fun addition if rushed. Esha's status as the clairvoyant, empath cousin who never leaves home already elevated her as an interesting side character throughout the previous books. I've been hoping she'd get her due, and she has a nice love story here. I was only bummed to see it squished in the margins of the main romantic plot.

Ok, so the crux of my issue with this book has to do with the way wealth and philanthropy are approached. So let's start with Vansh. Early on, Naina criticizes Vansh for jumping from project to project without connecting on a deep level, but she retracts that statement rather than Vansh learning from it. He settles down for romantic reasons, not because he addressed his need to make himself feel important and benevolent by bouncing around to different causes as it suits him with no skin in the game.

The specific projects mentioned in the book come with particular attendant issues, as well. It was a drive-by comment in Incense and Sensibility how Vansh used a Peace Corps contact to get BLM and a police union to bargain. And it always got under my skin because what part of a "defund the police" platform is hard to grasp? It's not a find-a-compromise type situation. That's kind of the point. So to see Vansh crow about his role and then fold it into his "selfless" persona was more than I could handle. Things proceed in that vein as Vansh starts a campaign to help with homelessness (for some of the population, anyway-- the "employable" part) which manages to ignore its root causes as Vansh opines that it's an overwhelmingly complicated issue. Vansh uses his rich-boy connections to get corporations to offer jobs to qualified individuals who are currently without a home. And this is championed as capitalism solving problems it helped create. As if the answer is to fix systemic problems by supporting that system. Cool. Furthermore, a gentleman named Hari is Vansh's inspiration to take up the cause. Throughout the book, Hari is a largely one-dimensional character, the poster child of anxiety, naivete, and homelessness. Differing stances on how to support Hari are a big source of conflict between Naina and Vansh. Hari is set up as a child between them, subject to their decisions and guidance as he looks on them with hero worship. And I think it's weird and yucky to not portray Hari as an adult person with agency and many facets. It sets up a gross power imbalance with our paternalistic protagonists on one hand and a childlike person with less privilege on the other.

The final, related issue I want to touch on is the main villain of the story. Jiggy Mehta is this misogynist capitalist and terrible, manipulative investor who funds both Naina and Vansh's projects, pitting them against each other for his amusement. He's transparently in philanthropy for the reputation boost with no real interest in the impact on others. In addition, Mehta holds a grudge against the ease with which people like Vansh lead a charmed, golden existence. And this is portrayed as part and parcel of his other evil tendencies. Vansh grumbles on multiple occasions about how Mehta now has more wealth than the Raje family as if that erases the difference between being born into literally royal wealth versus Mehta having to scrounge for his fortune in life. I'm intrigued by villains that share some of my values or issues and take them in a bad direction, but that wasn't the situation here. It felt weirdly defensive about generational wealth and privilege, with the villain set up as petty and conniving for wanting to take rich kids down a peg.

I don't know, people. This is one of those times where I genuinely didn't want to find myself here writing a bad review, but that's where we're at.

I love, love this series. But the problem I had with this book is that Naina was the villain in the last book. They made her such the bad guy that I absolutely couldn't like her in this book. I also just didn't feel the chemistry between her and Vansh.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was the first book in this series that I have read and I'll start by saying that you don't need to read the other books to read this; it works as a standalone.

Naina was an uncomfortable character for me in the beginning but I started to really like her the more that I got to know her. Kind of the same for Vansh. Their dynamic was a bit awkward at first and the only thing that wasn't consistent for me was the talk of "how close they were" when they were younger compared to other mentioned of their age difference and how they grew up at different times among the siblings.

I really struggled to follow the sisters' characters and found them to be 100% catty and uninteresting so I would like to add that if the other books involve them, it could really be a toss-up for me to enjoy any of the other books.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys (loose) adaptations of a classic!

I love that Emma gets a different twist with this adaptation. Vansh Raje takes on the role of Emma in this fresh new perspective. If you have read Dev's other books, these characters will be familiar to you by now. I liked this book and I love the way Dev changes the story while still being true to the heart of them. I do not love Naina and this story involves her a lot. While we get to see things from her perspective, which makes her more likable, Dev did too good of a job making me dislike her in the last book.

In this final installment of The Rajes series, we (officially) meet the youngest Raje, Vansh. Vansh had returned to San Francisco to help with his brother's gubernatorial campaign, but he doesn't quite feel ready to move on to a next project yet, as he normally does (wanderlust is big for him). Along comes Naina, Yash's ex-fake-girlfriend, and Vansh finds himself immediately attracted to her. And they both have professional goals that are very similar. When Naina's big donor--the one allowing her to finally make large strides in providing medical care for women in South Asia--meets Vansh and forces the two of them to work together and share funding, she is wary that everything will be taken away from her by another Raje. As Vansh begins his next philanthropic project of trying to help the homeless in San Francisco, he also can't ignore his attraction to Naina--or her attraction to him. They begin a friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached deal, because Naina is sure she can't fall in love and doesn't want to get hurt, or hurt, anyone. As the weeks go on, the professional projects consume their lives during the day, and they can't stay away from each other at night. Naina and Vansh must decide what's most important--love, family, or professional goals.

This was a good ending to our love adventures with the Raje family. I liked the exploration of different families and how they dealt with adversity throughout the years. I also liked that Esha, a family member who was always important to the Rajes yet was placed on the backburner of these stories, was able to also get her own happy ending. My only complaints are that some plot points felt a bit rushed and I would have loved to have seen more of Esha and Sid's relationship. Overall, a good read.

I've been reading this book for months. I kept picking it up getting bored or distracted and putting it down. Finally today I was able to finish it. Hallelujah. 👏👏

This is the 4th book in the series and the first I've finished. 😝 It wasn't my favorite I didn't really get invested in the characters. I really didn't like the main character Naina. 🤷 I thought Vansh deserved better.

Women's fiction is not for me. I keep trying and not enjoying it. If you like women's fiction this might be the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this one! I like all of the books in the Raje series, but this one is definitely my favorite. I loved the side plot with Esha and Siddhartha almost as much as seeing Naina and Vansh navigate their relationship. I'm guessing that we may be finished with the series now that all the Rajes are happily paired up now though? But I would gladly continue reading books in the series if there are more. Definitely recommend for any Jane Austen fan!

This is the first book of the series I’ve read and I look forward to catching up on the rest. I thought this worked fine as a standalone, but there are many characters and storylines referenced throughout that would probably make the reading experience richer for those who’ve read the series in order.

Things I loved about this include the age gap trope (she’s 12 years older than him) and the friends to lovers component of Vansh and Naina’s story. It’s also steamy in such sexy ways (that dinner table scene 🥵) that really fit the characters and their dynamic.

The book is pretty long and so I felt some storylines were unnecessary to advancing the plot, and others never really got wrapped up. I have to admit I really struggled to follow Esha’s storyline - maybe that’s because I lacked history in the other books or maybe I just missed some details early on.

Content warnings: Naina has a physically and verbally abusive father and there are flashbacks to physical abuse of her mother. One of the side characters survived a plane crash.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.