DNF: 25%

At first, things were slow and weren't catching my interest. I wasn't immediately drawn into the story. As I read more and saw more of Jia, she really started to frustrate me. I quit because I could see where the story was going and knew it'd be an annoying, unenjoyable ride to get there.

This reads like a modern version of <i>Emma</i> set in India. That could be fantastic if done well! Unfortunately, this story focuses and highlights all of Emma's worst qualities. When you combine that with a predictable plot and "best friends" who come off more as indifferent or annoyed forced friends, everything falls apart.

The synopsis promised a story that we didn't get. The cover is much cuter than any interaction between Jia and Jaiman. I'm incredibly disappointed -- I would've loved to read the story I thought this was.

I didn't see the point in continuing. I don't see myself recommending this one.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Dell, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Match Me If You Can is a story set in Mumbai, which in itself was reason enough to make me read it, but add romance to the equation and Im sold.

Now I’m not sure if this is an official “Emma” retelling but it certainly felt like one when I first started reading, which in turn made it a little hard for me, since Jia was a little hard to swallow at first, she is this bubbly writer for a Women’s magazine that plans to become a matchmaker, and like one, she is always trying to set people up and is convinced she has a gift for it. She did not. Or I mean yeah, sometimes she got it right but other times it was painfully wrong, but of course we got a strong minded heroine who had to get her way.

Now the hero of our story is Jaiman, life-long friend of Jia and her family. While he really was super sweet, it felt like sometimes he just let Jia get away with everything and that kind of put me off a little.

But I persevered and I was rewarded qith personal growth from everyone, albeit a little too slow for my liking, but in the end, the story resolved itself pretty satisfactory, so I’m glad I gave it a chance.

Match Me If You Can is a cute story about two people who grew up together yet don't realize the other likes them. I enjoy learning about the Indian culture, especially the matchmaker industry in India. I always enjoy Aunties but there weren't any in this story. I did get a little tired of just how long it took for Jia and Jaiman to get together. Match Me If You Can was well written.

This was a cute, quick read; however, I admittedly felt a bit bored at times and took a fair number of breaks while reading (which is why it took me longer than I initially expected to finish). I enjoyed the writing but unfortunately didn't connect too deeply with any of the characters, so I felt like the stakes weren't as important/heightened.

I had to take a couple breaks through the book, and while the writing was strong, I didn’t feel connected to the plot or the characters. I wish there had been a bit more plot and faster paced

I really enjoyed Match Me If You Can! It’s a sweet, fun, and light read—perfect for summer if you’re craving a little sugar with your chai. The vibrant characters and settings Swati Hegde creates are so vivid, you can almost smell the food cooking. This book will definitely have you craving some delicious Indian cuisine! I also loved learning about matchmaking in traditional Indian culture and seeing how it’s evolved into modern online dating. This book was a delightful surprise!

I adored the cover and overall concept for "Match Me if You Can" however; the changing points of view throughout each chapter confused me and eventually led to a "do not finish" at the 50 percent mark. I adored the cultural background information shared and now want to go eat some Indian food.. and perhaps, try again with Hegde's next book!

The FMC is what made me DNF this, I found her annoying and insufferable. Not my cup of tea. Overall, while some elements in this were great, I just had a hard time getting into it, it wasn’t for me. I found the romance to be messy as well.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dell for this e-ARC.

I must admit that I've never read a Jane Austen novel, but I am familiar with the Emma story because Clueless is one of my all-time favorite movies. I thought this rendition was quite beautiful and new, and I really liked how it was set in Mumbai! I always love pining, and Jaiman did a great job of it in this instance. The friends-to-lovers trope was done pretty well.

Jia spends her days writing cliche articles for Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. But at night, she writes the messy truth about love on her anonymous blog. She wants to start a matchmaking column for the magazine, but in order to prove herself she has to successfully set up her coworker. This project quickly becomes more complicated than she ever expected, especially when she realizes the local pub owner and her longtime family friend has had a secret crush on her for years.

This is a messy slow burn as Jaiman and Jia navigate the transition from being kind of “frenemies” to lovers, which is even more complex with their family history. I loved Jaiman and thought he was just the sweetest and so patient as Jia found herself. I loved the Desi culture throughout the story. I also loved the matchmaking aspects!

Thank you to Random House Dell and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Dual POV, Closed Door, FMC Doubtful of Love, Slow Burn, Desi Romance, Friends to Lovers, Matchmaking

I tried to be understanding of Jia but I found her to be an FMC who was hard to root for and generally unlikeable. Some of her decisions were so questionable and I couldn't fathom why she was spending some much time trying to set her best friend up with a man who was a walking red flag.
Jaiman deserved better in my opinion.

Got to about the 35% mark and just couldn’t do it anymore. The main female character was so insufferable. I didn’t want her with the main male character.. I wanted him with anyone BUT her.
I just didn’t care for her and that made it hard for me to finish because I did not root for her.

I unfortunately had to put this book down part way through. Why? Jia was just a very frustrating character for me. She seemed very unlikeable. Interesting, but just incredibly difficult to like. I felt like how she handled this whole romance thing was pretty inappropriate and rude. I couldn't tell what the main love interest liked in here.

What I did like though, was the unique setting for a romance. It was FRESH it was FUN. But the characters in that unique setting just were not tolerable for me.

Rounding up from 3.5⭐

What I really liked. The gorgeous cover. The Mumbai setting and culture. The idea of young woman interested in becoming a matchmaker while working at a sleazy click bait website.

What bothered me. I hate the miscommunication trope, with a few exceptions. The entire relationship between the MMC and the FMC based is a gigantic miscommunication. And frankly, people keep telling you that Jia, the FMC, is supposed to be a kind caring person, but I didn't see any evidence of that until the end. She is more concerned with making her match work and is quite self centered.

An overall positive reading experience with some caveats. Definitely will try more from this author.

If you only read one book this year, THIS IS IT. There's drama, there's intrigue, there's love, and there's war. Also amazing descriptions of cocktails and food, not to mention amazing outfits! I LOVED being taken along for Jia and Jaiman's journey, it was truly a tale of love. Don't waste a second and read this now!!

I have a really hard time getting intoa. book when we can see inside the minds of both protagonists, and they are both into the other person - but they refuse to act on it in any way, even if the other person makes it clear they are interested. Is there a misunderstanding? Does someone have unnecessarily low self-esteem such that "they couldn't possibly actually like me" ? or would it truly ruin the friendship to take a chance? The premise of this book is a solid one -- journalist wants to start a matchmaking business and talks her boss into letting her start it via writing a column, so she can get her start and profile the matches she makes. But I just couldn't get into the writing style (which lacked subtlety in telling the story and setting the scene) and trope. Its a DNF for me.

Writer Jia prides herself in her matchmaking abilities. When she offers to help set up her new coworker things don’t go as planned. Frustrated Jia turns to her best friend Jaiman for comfort and advice. Jaiman has wanted to tell Jia how he really feels about her but after a kiss that did not end as expected he has kept to just being Jia’s friend. As Jiaman tries to convince Jia that the most logical match may not necessarily be the right match, Jia has to confront her feelings for Jaiman as well.

This was a charming cultural romance!

A young magazine columnist in Mumbai has a secret blog where she talks about Love and her matchmaking skills, as well as her desire to open her own matchmaking business. Throughout the book you sympathize with her struggles with work and them realizing her worth and great ideas. When she is given the chance the prove herself she gets so caught up in what she thinks should happen instead of letting love happen the way it should. She insists that she isn’t ready and doesn’t need love but as the story unfolds her walls start to come down and then she realizes that she’s never wanted anyone other guys love is because she is already loved by one you least expect.
Good Book, took me a little longer to read than normal because the story doesn’t keep you engrossed but it was something different that I hadn’t read before and would recommend if needed

Don’t get me wrong, I love a slow burn, but this slow burn didn’t quite make me believe their chemistry which just had this falling a little flat for me.

A young magazine writer in Mumbai must prove her matchmaking skills—and contend with growing feelings for her close family friend—in this debut desi romance.

“A delightful friends-to-lovers romance that will curb your sweet tooth and leave you feeling warm and happy!”—New York Times bestselling author Sarah Adams