I really enjoyed this book. The romance wasn’t the best but the story was really good. I love reading books involving Indian culture and life. I myself am not Indian but there’s just something about it that I love learning more about. I will definitely read more by this author.

I was reading the authors post on Goodreads and saw her mention Jane Austen and it resonated in my mind. This book gives big Jane energy but also in such a bright colorful way. I love the cover and the concept of matchmaking and figuring out that the person you want has been there all along

“Match Me if You Can” is a sweet debut romance! Jia is a secret blogger and relationship writer for a “woman’s” magazine, Mimosa. Her ambition is to open her own matchmaking business, so her boss tells her if she’s able to set up someone in the office, they’ll give her a matchmaking column. Jiaman, her childhood best friend, runs his own pub, which is struggling. The two have a bit of ~history~ they are trying to work around.

This book especially shines in its best friend characters: Charu, the horoscope writer Jia is setting up; Manoj, the musician that attracts a crowd to Jiaman’s pub; Jia’s sister Tanu.

Very Emma-inspired, but I’m here for all love letters to Jane Austen.

Match Me If You Can

3/5 ⭐️

You will like this book if you enjoy;
•frenemies to lovers
•slow burn
•closed door spice

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC opportunity to read this book!

This FMC was hard to connect with, she was very obtuse, self absorbed, and unrelatable. Horrible communication until rhe end —- but I’m glad I pushed through to see MMC get the HEA he deserves, I did not leave this story feeling satisfied with how it went down. It fell flat, and felt like it was glorifying poor communication and treating your partner badly.

This is a quick, shorter read that has no explicit or raunchy scenes.

Thanks so much for the chance to read and review. I love Clueless and most Emma retellings, so I was excited to read this one. The setting was great, and I thought Jaiman, in particular, was a compelling character. It's a very slow burn with rampant miscommunication--frustrating to read at times.

Overall, this was a solid story and a fresh, modern spin on a classic tale. But I think I would have enjoyed it more (and bumped it up to 4 stars) if there had been a few more cute moments between Jia and Jaiman to sell their chemistry and enjoyment of each other. That said, I liked it enough to check out whatever is next from Swati Hegde.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


This was a great desi romance and it was a debut! Like waht, how?! The writing was so flowy and pretty. It was so easy to read and flow through. I loove matchmaking romances. This was done so well.

Swati Hegde's debut is a charming hug of a romance. With witty and lovely voice and characters, it embodies all the sweetest parts of Austen retellings and friends to lovers romances. So looking forward to what Swati does next!

Okay, so, it was both really good and then it sorta drove me crazy. I love that there was a clearly demisexual character and her coming to terms with what that meant for her. And I love love LOVE the setting and all that it encompasses in the book...just casually mentioning the view of the sea and knowing it's the Indian Ocean! Or the comments about the matchmakers that are so casual and commonplace!

But some stuff just made me crazy. Like, how does he still want to be with her when she is so oblivious??? And why does she think it's okay to mess with lives the way she does??? I should just get over it, but it bugged me the whole time. I'd say the 4 is generous, truly.

I tried so hard to love this book. It had cute/sweet vibe to it. Matchmaker gets her match that kind of thing. The right man was right there all along. The problem for me was there wasn’t much chemistry between the two main characters. They have a past but it is mired by misunderstandings. And it is just too hard to figure out why they don’t just have a conversation. I will try another Swati Hegde book, because the individual characters had charm. But the love story was not a match for me.

I overall enjoyed this romance - and as someone who is a=not a meber of the Indian/Indian-American community, I really appreciated the details in this book and the vivid imagery of Mumbai.

One small thing that bugged me throughout is that the protagonists' names are Jia and Jaiman (which read as Jia and Jiaman sometimes). Jia also is not the most likeable of characters at first, but that did not give me pause, as I knew this was a (loose) adaptation of Jane Austen's _Emma_.

The writing is bright and easy to read, and if you enjoy witty romances, this is a good one.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC copy.

Match Me If You Can, a contemporary romance about a modern matchmaker and her lifelong friend, was a fun, bright, and romantic read! I didn't know going into reading this book that it was based on Jane Austen's Emma, but as a huge Austen fan, I felt like the parts of the story inspired by her were little easter eggs. I loved seeing how Swati Hedge took her creative liberties with such a well-loved story, still creating a fresh and new romance.

Jia and Jaiman were both such real and lovable characters. I loved seeing them grow into themselves and grow together throughout this book. While I loved their romance, in some ways, I was even more compelled by the other plots present throughout the book. The author did a great job balancing the romance along with these other parts of the story- it all flowed together so nicely and kept me wondering about what would happen in the end.

I also loved reading a book set in Mumbai! As someone who has never been to India, this made me feel so compelled to visit. I loved learning about various parts of the Indian culture that were introduced throughout this book.

All in all, a delightful, romantic, and heartwarming story. Congratulations to the author for such a fantastic debut novel! I can't wait to see what she puts out next.

Thank you to Netgalley, Swati Hedge, and Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A charming premise and wholesome friends-to-lovers romance. Two childhood friends navigate their feelings for one another as they struggle in their careers.

I enjoyed the setting of Mumbai, Jaiman’s recipes and cocktail concoctions, and the culinary school rivalry plot. I do not think the You’ve Got Mail-esque anonymous blog subplot was necessary and detracted from the story for me. The obliviousness of and constant miscommunication between the two leads made it difficult to root for them (I was however rooting for Charu and Manoj and Flora and Harish!).

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Match Me If You Can was so cute! I have not really read any romance novels that involve match makers so this was very nuie!

This was a cute slow burn, friends to lovers romance set in fast paced Mumbai. While the characters were relatable, I occasionally found myself irritated by Jai and her behavior. Thankfully, there is decent character development for her over the course of the story. I absolutely love the friends to lovers trope so I really enjoyed watching Jai and Jaiman's relationship grow, however I wanted more romance. Also, the slow burn was a bit too slow for me. I really enjoyed the matchmaking aspect to the story and use of the dual POV.

Overall, this was a sweet, fun, fast read that romance fans will enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy.

Set in Mumbai, Jia's and Jaiman's story is a very slow burn romance between life long best friends. Both are millennials with big dreams. Jia wants to begin a modern matchmaking service that helps young people find love on their own terms, not their family's. Jaiman wants to make his pub a place where people can experience community. While Jia and Jaiman pine for each other, they let miscommunication and misunderstanding get in the way throughout the book. (This is a closed door romance and the main characters don't connect romantically before the end of the book.)

I was frustrated by Jia's character. While she wants to help people find their persons, she is clueless and sometimes presumptuous. She doesn't see the love that's in front of her; she misreads cues that someone is attracted to her, not her friend; she pushes her friend toward someone who doesn't really care based on factors like job and income.

The setting in bustling Mumbai adds spice to the story. I enjoyed the descriptions of the city, the food, and the clothing.

Thanks to the author and publisher for an advance copy. This is an honest review.

Picture this: it's a slow burn, teasing you with that classic "will they? won't they?" scenario that'll have you hooked from start to finish. Sure, some might say it takes its sweet time, but trust me, the love story is just too adorable to resist.

The characters are relatable and loveable. They across very authentic. Which made the angst that much more real and painful (in a good way!!)

Swati Hegde's writing—it's like a delicious addiction. Every page will have you squealing with joy, I promise. And what really makes this debut stand out is its unique Desi vibe. It's like a breath of fresh air in the world of American publishing, with Mumbai coming to life in such a beautiful way.

Definitely enjoyed this one!!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this book!

Swati Hegde’s Match Me If You Can stars Jia Deshpande, a writer for Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. Stuck writing articles about finding “The One”, she channels her true feelings about relationships and finding romance into her anonymous blog, which is rapidly growing in popularity. On top of her blog and career, she’s balancing ultra-competitive family game nights, and growing feelings for her childhood friend. As of all that wasn’t enough, Jia has been tasked with playing matchmaker for a coworker to get her boss’s approval for the matchmaking column she’s been longing to write.
Jaiman Patil has known Jia since childhood, where they bonded playing while their fathers bonded over business. Now he's an honorary part of her family, ever since his own moved to America, leaving Jaiman behind to pursue his dream of running a local pub. As chaotic as life with the Deshpandes is, it's more a lot more love than he ever had growing up. It's also a lot to lose, so confessing his deep feelings for Jia is completely out of the question. When Jia's attempts at office matchmaking go awry, putting her friendships at risk, she must reevaluate her own thoughts on love.


This was such a cute read! Truthfully it was a bit slow for me at the beginning, but once I got past that I couldn’t put it down!
Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, Emma is one of my favorite Austen stories, and that combined with Indian MCs and it being set in Mumbai… it’s like this book was made specifically for me!
The pacing was perfect (we love a slow burn!), and I adored the dual-POV.
Thank you to Swati Hegde for creating an absolutely stunning South Asian Jane Austen adaptation that I look forward to reading again and again 💜

Such a sweet and charming debut! Swati Hedge is a fresh new voice putting all our favorite romcom tropes together in this fresh and delightful story! I loved the Mumbai setting fans of the classing SRK Bollywood romcoms of the 90s will love this book!

The blurb of this book was what made me want to read it. I love a good friends-to-lovers romance that is filled with angst and longing. Especially set in Mumbai, I was so excited to read a story with South Asian characters that explored themes of family and matchmaking. Jia is an aspiring matchmaker who is currently unfulfilled by her job as a romance magazine writer. Jaiman is a pub-owner who struggles to keep his business afloat. Although the writing was easy to follow and flowed well, I had some problems with the story itself.

I'll start with the main characters. Both Jia and Jaiman are nepo-babies who come from affluent families and have cooks/maids waiting on them. While I can appreciate characters who realize their privilege, their background made it challenging to relate to the characters. Jia, after a broken heart, goes rampaging in a shopping mall, spending more money than I can ever imagine. It's hard to relate to her coping mechanism at all and she doesn't express any effort to resolve her emotions in a healthy way. Jaiman is more tolerable because if he fails his business, he has to move to the US to work for his rich dad. However, even then, he doesn't acknowledge how much of a privilege this is. They both stress about their career goals, worrying that they'll fail and not make it, without acknowledging the huge privilege they have as nepo-babies. Maybe this is a personal problem, but I could not relate to such characters.

In addition, Jia as a matchmaker was so meddlesome, presumptuous, and at times sabotaging to her clients. She is so stubborn that it was unbearable to root for her growth. I know she gets better and acknowledges this flaw but for 2/3 of the book, I wanted to scream at her. Jaiman also has this annoying inferiority complex about his abilities. He gets angry at his classmate for always beating him and he develops hatred for that person.

For a friend-to-lovers romance, these two are barely friends in my opinion. They don't know anything about one another. They don't communicate until the very ending which draws out this miscommunication trope that could've been resolved with one heartfelt conversation.

While I appreciate the dynamic characters and clear writing, I struggle to empathize with the characters and root for their happy ending,

This was a charming book! I felt like I was right in the setting, even without ever having been there. I personally found the MC a bit annoying at the beginning, but as she develops it's easy to fall in love with her.
I'm usually iffy on friends to lovers, because I find the tension to be lacklustre but I actually really enjoyed this book and was genuinely rooting for the pair.
The pacing was incredible. I have a friend that I think would adore this book as she's a huge Emma fan, and with this being a retelling I think she would absolutely love this book.