This one was just ok. It was missing what I love about romance books…witty banner and swoon-worthy moments. The MCs were tolerable but I was never invested in the story.

Synopsis:

Confident fashionista Jia Deshpande spends her days writing cliché-ridden listicles for Mimosa, Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. When she can, Jia dishes about the messy truth of real love on her anonymous blog, attends her family’s weekly game nights, and ignores her true feelings for her childhood friend. Local pub owner and cocktail genius Jaiman Patil can’t help but be enamored with Jia and her meddling spirit. He’s always been an honorary part of her family, but even more so since his own moved to America. His feelings grow deeper as his pub starts to fail. When Jia’s attempts at office matchmaking go haywire, risking new friendships and her relationship with Jaiman, she must reevaluate her own thoughts on love. For the first time, Jia Deshpande realizes that love may be a lot more complicated than she thought. Luckily, happily-ever-afters are never in short supply in Mumbai.

Review:

I was attracted to this book because of its South Asian characters and setting in Mumbai. I felt like the book really brought the city to life and really highlighted the more current version of India - a lot of people think India is very traditional, and sure some areas are but it's nice to see a different side in a book. I found the characters, and their family dynamics very relatable and the romance between Jia & Jaimin very sweet. I loved Jia as a strong FMC who was very independent and stood up for herself and appreciated that Jaimin was trying to make it on its own despite being from a very wealthy family.

Thank you to Dell Romance for my digital ARC!

I love a slow burn, but this was almost toooooo slow for my personal taste. I also didn't love the FMC - do I see too much of myself in stubborn, hyper-independent fmc's? Yea probably. But other than that, I had a pretty good time reading this book! I love contemporary romances with lots of culture, which was why I was drawn to this cover & story to begin with. Not a lot of spice, so if that's what you're looking for, you won't find it here. But you will find a sweet ending with a HEA!
Thank you to Swati Hegde, Dell/Penguin Random House & NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review.

This was a wonderful, sweet debut. Our slightly pessimistic FMC performing a matchmaking task even though she doesn’t believe in “the one.” Our MMC was so charming and swoony!

I loved it, the childhood friends to lovers theme I’m here for it. It was very much so reading a Bollywood movie!! I was almost getting a jannai Thu ya jannai na movie movies if you’ve seen that movie. I highly recommend this to my fellow desi !! It’s really cute !

Such a fun and engaging story like this is why I love to read. The couple at the heart of the book is fantastic but the secondary characters and even the setting becomes part of the story. I highly recommend this book.

Slow Burn Romance, Indian MC’s, Matchmaking

Jaiman is hopelessly in love with Jia, his childhood friend. Jia who secretly have a blog where she gives advice on love. Her boss gives her an opportunity to prove her matchmaking skills by helping her coworker find love.

There’re a lot of things to love about this book and the writing was wonderful for a debut author.

This had some feelings of Emma and You've Got Mail, which I love both of those stories.
Jia is a matchmaker and has a blog along with her magazine job. She really doesn't need a job since her family is well off but she is trying to get experience. On the other hand her family friend Jaiman has a bar that is this dream job but is not profitable. So his long unrequited love for Jia and multiple setbacks at work cause him to want to leave.
There was some miscommunication but they were really close family friends who had feelings for eachother without realizing it was mutual.

A delightful romance that combines matchmaking, friendship, and love. It is a heartwarming and slow burning read.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am sorry to say but while this book has a cute premise I found the writing to be lackluster and predictable. There wasn’t anything that pulled me in and made me want to keep reading. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy.

“Match Me If You Can” by Swati Hegde is the perfect Friends to Lovers, Will they won’t they clean romance you’re looking for!

I was absolutely obsessed with this book the second I picked it up and I couldn’t put it down. Friends to lovers is my favorite trope currently, and Hedge portrays it perfectly!

The slow burn is immaculate and so worth it. If you don’t like slow burn then this book probably isn’t for you.

Jia and Jai have amazing chemistry and I’m obsessed with the “you’ve got mail” vibes with her blog. (If you know you know)

The supporting characters of this book really shine as well. I really loved how Jia’s friendship with her new coworker and match making subject Charu blooms throughout the book.

Overall I think this is a perfectly wonderful debut by Swati Hegde and I CANNOT WAIT to read more!! Thankyou to NetGalley for the ARC 💕

I am coming to find that I adore books with matchmaking premises. Add in childhood frenemies to lovers⁣, but he's loved her the whole time? Yeah this book was bound to be a beloved debut of mine.

This was a fun read for me. I enjoyed the main characters and absolutely loved the side characters. This was a great debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dell. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

Synopsis 📚
If there’s one thing that Jia Despande may love more than her custom rose cocktail, it’s matchmaking. Jia’s dream is for her anonymous love blog, Love Better with J, to make it big and to bring meant-to-be couples together. But for now, she’s resigned herself to writing bland and inapplicable romance advice articles at Mimosa, a top Mumbai women’s magazine. So it’s no surprise that Jia’s excited when her boss agrees to add a matchmaking column to Mimosa if she finds a match for her coworker: quiet astrology writer Charu. This should be easy for Jia. After all, she’s successfully set up a lot of couples, including her sister and her husband. As she looks for Charu’s perfect other half, Jia begins to realize that love is complicated and never straightforward. And somewhere along the way, Jia suddenly finds herself falling for the guy who makes her custom cocktails: her childhood friend Jaiwan Patil.

Cocktail concoter extraordinair Jaiwan Patil is hopelessly in love with Jia and has been for years. He’s scared to tell Jia though… especially after the Unfortunate Incident. Everything should be fine thought because Jaiwan’s put aside his feelings and Jia’s ignoring hers, but will their chemistry be too hard for them to ignore?

Personal Thoughts 💭
Okay, let me start off by saying this: Jia is an absolute icon. Her fashion sense and her confidence is everything. She’s such a sweetheart and has good intentions at heart, although things sometimes go topsy turvy. She says what she thinks and tries to get her point across, but understands that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, including herself. Jia’s stubborn and won’t back down. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t own up to her mistakes. She learns from them and I love myself a FMC who learns from her mistake If you couldn’t already tell, I loved this book (mainly because of Jia, althought Jaiwan is adorkable). Romance lovers, go check this book out! Definitely recommend!

Match Me If You Can is a delightful debut that delivers a charming and heartwarming friends-to-lovers romance set against the vibrant backdrop of Mumbai. If you're looking for a feel-good story with a touch of desi flavor, this book is definitely one to pick up!
Jia Deshpande, a confident fashionista and magazine writer, spends her days crafting listicles for Mimosa and her nights secretly blogging about the messy truths of love. Her life is a whirlwind of family game nights, meddling in others' love lives, and ignoring her growing feelings for her childhood friend, Jaiman Patil. The chaos kicks up a notch when she must prove her matchmaking skills by setting up a coworker to land her dream column.
Jaiman, the local pub owner with a flair for cocktails, has always been part of Jia’s family chaos, finding solace in their loving and loud dynamic since his own family moved to America. His feelings for Jia, however, complicate things, especially as his pub starts to struggle and Jia's matchmaking attempts go hilariously awry.
The chemistry between Jia and Jaiman is undeniable, and watching them navigate their feelings is both sweet and amusing. The author's writing is vibrant and engaging, capturing the essence of Mumbai's bustling life and the warmth of close-knit relationships. Jia’s journey from a confident matchmaker to someone who reevaluates her own notions of love is relatable and endearing.
The subplot involving Jaiman’s pub adds an extra layer of depth to the story, showing his struggles and his resilience. The Deshpande family’s weekly game nights are a highlight, bringing in lots of humor and heart to the narrative.
While some plot points might feel predictable, the overall execution is so charming that you won’t mind a bit. Match Me If You Can is a delightful read that leaves you with a smile, proving that love can indeed be found in the most unexpected places. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys a good friends-to-lovers romance with a generous sprinkle of cultural charm.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the author's writing style: it was clear, descriptive and engaging. I liked that the novel was based in India and dispelling a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes, which I think is a major win for this book. The FMC was not the most likeable, and the MMC was a bit easier to support.

Jia is a journalist giving readers dating advice in a top women's magazine. Her real passion though is her anonymous blog where she talks all things love and her aspiration of being a matchmaker. She is challenged to find a match for her coworker in order for her bos to give her a matchmaking column. Let's not forget that while she is all about love for those around her, she ignores her obvious feeling for her childhood friend Jaiman.

Jaiman is a chef who owns a struggling pub. He has always felt like Jia's family is his own. His own family live in America and run successful businesses and are always push Jaiman to move to work with them. He has lived his whole like in Mumbai, and is still holding out that Jia will realize he is the one for her.

Circumstances begin to push them both closer to the edge and they will both have to start making some hard choices in life and in love.

This was a very slow burn friends to lovers with a boat load of desi culture. My biggest gripe is Jia did not win me over. She annoyed me for pretty much the whole book, her refusal to she what was in front of her eyes, her ongoing denial, and she was so pushy. It made it harder to root for her love story when I could not connect to her. I did love the fun cocktails in the book.

This is a sweet story set in India! I was surprised how much the story resembled Emma/Clueless, and I think I would have liked it more if I knew that was the case as I found it distracting to compare.

Overall, it’s a bright, fun story perfect for anyone who likes friends to lovers, mutual pining, closed door romances!

There are a lot of different plot points in this one. They are easy to follow, despite being tough to describe. I also get frustrated by the miscommunication trope. The two main characters are just not voicing their feelings to each other, so they keep missing the point of the other, and it drives me a little buts. BUT this story is unlike any other romance I've ever read, despite being full of common tropes. It somehow all fits together so nicely and you root for the two main characters as they're filled with life's challenges, and making many repeated mistakes as you read! You root for them and can't stop reading until they get together at the end!

This rom-com based in Mumbai had all the makings for a book I hoped to love. Unfortunately, I found the book to be just okay and at times I was struggling to get through the chapters. The main character, Jia, writes a relationship column for a magazine while secretly writing a blog on the same topic. Jia's ultimate goal is to use the skills and access gained from the magazine and blog to create her own matchmaking company. When Jia sets out to help her coworker find her perfect match, and use it as the basis for her magazine column, she pays no attention to what actually makes her coworker happy or what she is looking for in a relationship. That pretty much sums up Jia in nutshell - she is generally only focused on herself and doesn't seem to pay any attention to what others want or need. And that explains why she has misunderstood her best friend Jainam's feelings about her for years. She jumped to conclusions in every instance and it took a long time for her to do some self reflection and get to a happier place. I do like that Jia finally set about to make things better for her friends and family but I found the resolution to be too swift and the story to be wrapped up too quickly and neatly in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.