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.

Absolutely enjoyed this entire series. Sonali Dev does a fabulous job creating wholly unique storylines, while weaving in some of our favorite Austen characters’ situations in creative & clever ways. “The Emma Project” is a delightful read!

Even though it took me a while to finish this book, I really enjoyed it!! The beginning was a bit slow, but it definitely paid off in the end.

I haven’t read any Somali Dev books before, but I’ll be reading them in the future! It was a really good slow burn/friends which benefits the storyline. And it’s a retelling of Emma!! I loved how complex The characterization was of all the characters, especially Naina. Her character is always dealing with outside options but remains firm in her strongest convictions.

Overall a wonderful story I’m glad I picked it up!


Thanks so much to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for a digital ARC in return for an honest review!

4/5 for The Emma Project by Sonali Dev

This has to be my unexpectedly good book for the month. All the characters are flawed and the mulitple POVS enhance the experience. My only critic is that are the names. They are so similar that I had to write down who was who.

Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy.

I'm a little torn between 4 and 5 so I'm going with a 4.5 here. This was a nice redemption arc for a previous character and a good growth story for another. I liked the gender swap from the Emma inspiration. Love hearing from the Raje's and watching them grow.

i was legit snickering the whole time! It was funny and cute and my heart was laughing so much from this book! fake relationship to lover edition!

I received an ARC of this ebook by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Wow! The Emma Project is Sonali Dev's 4th book in her series of novels following the siblings of the Raje family. Each novel is a modern retelling of one of Jane Austen's novels. I'd read Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion before being granted an ARC of The Emma Project (I have Incense and Sensibility waiting for me on my kindle). And out of the three I've read The Emma Project is my favorite one! This is how modern retellings of classics should be done. Dev uses Emma as a broad framework for her novel. It's not a scene for scene copy, and at times the story branches out. But in the end the two stories share the same heart. Of all of Jane Austen's novels, Emma is probably the hardest to do a retelling of. The difficulty is to make the character reflecting Emma likeable and someone you want to cheer for but still staying true to the fact that they start off as a know-it-all privileged busy-body.

I've noticed that in all of Dev's novels in the series she does any amazing job in creating her characters. They feel like real people, who have flaws, and Dev nails the backstory every single time. And the story is compelling beyond just being a great romance. Dev explores modern issues such as homelessness in the novel with grace and humanity. The Emma Project is the last novel in the Raje series. I wish Dev would add a 5th book recreating Northanger Abbey, but I'm excited that I still have Incense and Sensibility left to read. I'm going to miss the Raje family. It's been a long time since I found myself so invested in a group of characters.

The Emma Project is my favorite book I've read so far in 2022. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

When we last saw Naina Kohli from Incense and Sensibility, she and Yash ended their 10-year fake relationship. In fact, we did not even care for her much. We found her cold, calculating, distant, and her worst crime, ruthlessly ambitious. She went as far as to try and blackmail Vash into continuing with the fake relationship.

In this book, we now have a much clearer understanding as to why she was like that. We see things from Naina’s perspective giving her the arc and transition and how Vash’s younger brother, Vanshna Raje not only sees her for who she really is but loves her strength and dedication. She is not ruthless but passionate and fearless. Through Vansh and Naina’s commitment to helping the homeless in California through an app, we witness Naina peeling off her hard exterior. We also see the growth of the vagabond youngest Raje finally planting a few deeper roots back in Cali. While most see him as a fly-by charity worker traveling all over the place, Naina has always seen the real him and doesn’t make excuses for him. She challenges him and makes him see that he should not push people out of their comfort zone, just because Vansh had to do that for himself. Not everyone is like him. Please note, that this is a modern retelling of Emma and Vansh is in a gender-switched role of Emma.

A bonus surprise is the development of a relationship between India’s brother, Sid and Esha. I did not see that one for a mile. The unexpected encounter and how they grow together is a very sweet and nice build. They do not try to change each other but instead, try to change themselves in hopes to make the other person happier. They are both the most unselfish, understanding, and a caring couple I have truly come across.

I am positively addicted to this series. 5/5 stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

While this was definitely the steamiest (so far) of The Rajes series, I was hoping for a little more emotion/chemistry between the characters. I'm all for a gender-swapped version of Jane Austen's EMMA, but there were a few things that didn't translate (update) quite as well as I had hoped they would.

That being said, Sonali's multifaceted characters are what keep me coming back to her books. They're flawed, frustrating, and oh so, endearing! One thing to note, it might be a little difficult to dive into this one if you haven't read the previous three books, simply because there are so many secondary characters. I don't think it makes for a great standalone.

I have not read the series, so I went into this blindly.

This is the second Emma retelling I'm reading, and this one came second. It was good but not high up. The way the Raje family disrespected Naina didn't sit well with me. Too many characters were thrown at me in the first chapter, which blew me off.

But as I kept reading, I discovered that there was a reason for that — it was part of how the family did their thing. Naina is the typical rebel who isn't interested in getting married but focused on funding her initiative for women, but soon finds out that Vansh is threatening to take that all away from her. The only way to keep everything in check — work with your enemy.

This was a good enemies to lovers story, but didn't get me excited as I'd hoped.

Thank you, Avon, for the complimentary arc copy.

This book is entertaining, fun and very sexy. The Rajes are back, and Vansh, the younger son, is called the Little Prince by his family, implying everything comes easy to him. Vansh is handsome and outgoing, but there is a side to him that many don’t realize. Naina and Yash have broken up, after Yash, Vansh’s brother, was elected Governor. Naina is immersed in her project to create healthcare facilities in Nepal, when she finds herself competing for donor money with Vansh. A close friendship begins to evolve into more, as the Raje family makes things even more difficult for the pair. I thought it was really enjoyable and recommend for a light read. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity.

I’ve loved all of Sonali Deva books in this series and this one was another great line. I love retellings and Emma is one of my favorite Jane Austen books so I really loved this one. It was really fun and I loved that it was set in a different culture.

I was given a signed copy by Sonali Dev so will be posting my review to IG with that and the other books in the series. Thanks again for the ARC.