Plain and simple, I loved this book.

When I started reading the first few pages, I thought to myself, this feels like Sex and the City but in Mumbai. Then — very quickly — I realized WAIT NO this is *Emma* but set in Mumbai!! It had been a minute since I read the plot summary and when I realized this was a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, I was smiling and giggling like sweet little Miss Bates.

This book is what a good romantic comedy should be: witty, funny, romantic, and of course featuring two very hunky people who are in utter denial about their feelings for each other. I cannot believe with the plot of Emma centering around matchmaking that there hasn’t a Desi or Indian twist on this story until this point (at least that I have read or heard about). The themes are so aligned which makes this such an amazing retelling. The original plot points are not forced in the slightest (which can often be an issue with retellings of older classics), and there is such a freshness to the story. The writing was also lighthearted and well paced. I felt like I was standing in the hot Mumbai evenings with Jia and Jaiman in so many scenes.

This is a closed door romance. So while there is definitely tension and plenty of smooching, there are no explicit scenes. If you are familiar with the story of Emma, you’ll know that this is a classic lifelong friends-to-lovers story. AND JAMAIN SAYS THE MISTER KNIGHTLY QUOTE YOU GUYS I AM ON THE FLOOR.

I will definitely be recommending this to all my friends who want a fun romcom with a diverse cast or are looking for a modern twist on a classic Austen tale. Thank you so much to Dell Romance for sending me a physical ARC and to Dell/NetGalley for a digital ARC as well!

4.5 ⭐️

An Emma retelling set in Mumbai?! Yes please! Swati Hegde’s MATCH ME IF YOU CAN was a total blast. It releases June 4th and is available for preorder wherever books are sold!

Jia Deshpande spends her days writing about love for Mumbai’s top women’s magazine and her nights meddling with—sorry, matchmaking—her loved ones, much to the chagrin of her lifelong family friend, Jaiman. She’s determined to leverage her love expertise into a matchmaking business. When her boss dangles a matchmaking column in front of her, Jia throws herself into the project that will win it for her once and for all: finding her new sweet, slightly awkward colleague the perfect match.

Despite his grumbling and teasing, Jaiman has spent his whole life mesmerized by his childhood best friend, Jia. Even though he’s unwilling to risk his relationship with her whole family, Jaiman can’t move on. Instead, he focuses all his attention on his other love—his pub.

But when Jia’s matchmaking goes sideways, Jaiman’s pub starts to struggle, and their relationship gets infinitely more complicated from a few charged moments, both will have to figure out what they want, and just want they’re willing to risk to get it.

I loved these two! They have epic friends-to-lovers energy, and those charged moments were everything. Swati did an incredible job balancing such a huge cast, with some stunning side plots. It was a fun, fast, romantic read and a great way to kick off the summer!!

I really enjoy reading romances that aren't centered in the US. I love learning about different cultures and reading about all of the different foods. Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines and they have some of the most beautiful clothing I've ever seen. So, I had to request Match Me If You Can by Swati Hegde as soon as I read the blurb.

Jia is our confident, strong FMC. She works for Mimosa India, a lifestyle magazine distributed in India to over 1 million readers. Her dating advice column is good, but her real passion is the anonymous blog she runs, Love Better With J.

Jaiman, the handsome pub owner, has known Jia since they were in diapers. He is hopelessly in love with Jia, who is completely oblivious to that fact.

Jia has a genius idea for the magazine, a matchmaking service for the readers. She decided to set up her coworker, Charu, as her trial run to prove to the editor that she can do this. Her carefully laid plans are thrown out the door when she brings Charu to Jaiman's pub.

This book had me laughing, tearing up, internally screaming. I love the way the author describes Jia's fashion. I did have to Google the names of some of the outfits to be able to visualize it because I hadn't seen them before. But after that, I was able to watch the book in my head as I read along. Match Me If You Can is a beautiful story about friendship, communication, found family, and love. I can't wait to add a physical copy of this to my shelf.

As always, thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advance copy!

Match Me If You Can by Swati Hegde is the perfect romance for the summer.

It's fun, hilarious, emotional slow-burn friends-to-lovers. I really loved the scenery that Swati gave in the book. It sets the scene in Mumbai and it felt like I was watching the romantic comedy-dramas that I grew up watching. I loved getting to read another culture and how similar it can me to mine and how we can all relate on some level. Jia tries to set up her coworker with the perfect match to but things don't always go as planned and as it turns out. her childhood friend, Jaiman has been pining and in love with her so Jia's match making plan doesn't go as planned but I loved the slow burn, will they? won't they? please just kiss type of dynamic. It felt so perfect seeing two people that you just knew were meant to be finally fall in love. This book is absolutely a must read, with desi rep in the romance genre, readers will absolutely love this story. It has hilarious moments, heartwarming, steamy romance and the details and scenery will make you feel like you're just there and make you want to book your flight. It is an absolute must read for the romantics that love friends to lovers and want to feel like theyre watching a romcom film.

thank you netgalley and random house for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!!

I loved it so much! its a closed door family friend romance. From the start i was immediately sucked in and i finished this in TWO days!! I loved that Jia was a relationship columnist who wanted to be a matchmaker. Jaiman was a culinary graduate with a struggling business but nothing compared to the ease he felt being in his found family and being around Jia.

I thought this was the best frilly romance read, it was such a fast read and other than them obviously keeping their feelings a secret and not fully understanding them because they’ve been in this groove their whole lives Jia couldn’t distinguish normalcy over what a relationship actually is- they would’ve ended up together a lot sooner but then what would the concept of this novel be if they did?!

I loved this and can’t wait for everyone else to enjoy it too!!

A really sweet easy read! This book was set in Mumbai which was a nice change compared to a typical rom-com, although I often forgot it wasn't set in the US or something tbh, but I love Bollywood movies so I did enjoy all the Indian references.

Jia is the main character and she works at a magazine but runs a secret blog and dreams of becoming a matchmaker. She's in love with her family friend and he feels the same but neither will admit it until near the end of the book, it's definitely a slow burn but not in a frustrating way like is sometimes the case.

There were a lot of sweet moments and funny banter, I loved the side characters too and would definitely enjoy it if the author decided to write a book for one of them. Either way I'll definitely be looking to see what she does next.

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

Match Me If You Can
Swati Hedge
304 pages
Pub Day: June 4
Genre: Romance
Gifted: Dell Romance
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was such a sweet little romance. 🥰

Synopsis:
Jai is a romance columnist for a Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. But she doesn’t like her job and dreams of being a modern matchmaker. Jaiman is her childhood family friend. They grew up together and shared a kiss a year ago that she can’t stop thinking about.

My Thoughts:
This was such a cute debut desi romance that kept me smiling. I’m a sucker for a childhood friends to lovers with a letter writing element.

What You’ll Find:
📝Letter writing
💕Childhood friends to lovers
🍹Cute cocktails
💞Matchmaking
🔥Slow burn
✊All BIPOC cast
🏠Found family

This was not good. Everything felt trite and overdone and SO predictable. This book has been written before - and better .
Thanks to Net Galley, the author and publisher for the arc

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review*

I was DESPERATE to love this book and unfortunately, much of it fell flat for me. However, I do think this will land with many readers especially if you love:

-slowburns
-he's loved her all his life
-baddie confident FMC
-pining
-food and cocktails
-closed door romances

What I LOVED about this book was the setting in Mumbai and all the Indian culture woven into this! Absolutely immaculate, it made me want to hop on a plane immediately!!!! I also loved the side characters! Charu and Damini are my GIRLS, I am quite literally obsessed with them and I'm really hoping they get their own books! I also loved Anushman and Tanu, their love was so sweet and they are great friends to both Jia and Jaiman.

Now, where the story fell flat was with our main characters. Yes, Jia is a BADDIE but she was also so self-centered and her development didn't come through until close to the very end. She was just not a pleasant character to follow for me. And Jaiman was so in love with her and so sweet but he was so passive, not only with his love for Jia but with his pub and his career. They both kept talking about what they wanted out of life but never went for it until the last 15% of the book. The romance also really didn't pick up until about then as well. I knew these two loved each other, I just could not understand why they loved each other.

Thank you again to Netgalley for this ARC! While I didn't love it as much as I had hoped, if Damini gets her own book you better believe I'll be the first in line to grab it!!!

I really wanted to love this.
The writing was good. It was easy to read.

But I just couldn’t.
I didn’t like the FMC.
Jia was uncompromising and meddlesome.
When things went wrong for her, people around her weren’t calling her out for her behavior.

Her lack of empathy towards Jaiman’s family situation was appalling. She knew they basically abandoned him there and she still made a snide comment about him being at the family dinner. It doesn’t matter that she felt embarrassed to see him. Her comment was just rude and felt uncalled for.

Then we have the MMC who is not a book boyfriend at all. He was so hung up on Jia that he strung along his other dates. Yeah sure he aware of his behavior, but he’s still doing it.
It’s not cute.

Book: Match Me If You Can
Author: Swati Hegde
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Dell, for sending me an ARC. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It was a fun and light read. Now, this does not mean that it didn’t take on some tough topics.

In this one, we follow Jia who is working at a relationship magazine and doesn’t feel fulfilled in her work. She runs a blog about relationships and longs to start her own match making business. Jaiman is her best friend and always attends family game night. He has her own pub and is trying to prove to his wealthy family that he can make a name for himself without them. He enjoys being a part of Jia’s family, who have taken him under their wing since his own family moved to America. However, the pub is struggling and it doesn’t look like its going to make it. All of his dreams are coming to an end and he may have to admit defeat. Both of them find themselves in a dark place as everything they have worked so hard for comes to an end.

I liked Jia and Jaiman a lot. Both of them are trying to make it on their own and are wanting something more. We have Jia who thinks she loves her job, but it always being put down by her boss. She has this idea about a new column in the magazine, but is always being put down. She has had enough and is just bidding her time until she can go out on her own. Jaiman is attempting it on his own. He has his own pub and is trying to avoid using his parents’ money. His family views his dream as a joke and he is attempting to prove them wrong. It’s not working. His pub is failing and he may not have any other choice but to give it up. I liked getting to see our characters struggle. Now, both do come from very wealthy backgrounds, but this doesn’t mean that they do not have to fight for what they have. They don’t get what they want handed to them. I feel like that so many times in books, it feels like our characters get everything handed to them. that is not the case here. It made for a nice change of pace.

Now, since this is a romance, you can probably tell who is going to be our main couple. Jia sets other people, but doesn’t pay attention to her own love life. She wants to see other people happy, but has never been in a serious relationship herself. Jaiman has dated, but nothing felt right. Why? Both of them were looking for something that they could not find in a relationship outside of each other. What they were looking for was already in front of them. They just didn’t see it. It made them both stop and realize that what they wanted was already in their lives. They just had to take the plunge. I also like that the relationship is a slow burn. We get to see the relationship develop in a way that makes sense and feels all so right.

The mixture of Indian culture and the fact that this book is set in India made this stand out. I have read several Indian romance books, but none of them actually took place in India. The author did a great job at bringing the setting to life. I liked how it felt like I was being transported to India while reading. The setting wasn’t just the setting, but a part of the story. Indian elements were woven throughout the story that only added to the reading experience. I loved it.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I am glad I read it.

This book comes out on June 4, 2024.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/67S-WK_cV64

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my voluntary and honest review!

The characters were charming and the cultural aspects of life in Mumbai were really interesting! Although, I wanted faster pacing and some spice…the friends-to-lovers slow burn was a bit *too* slow for me. Still a fun and unique read! 3.5/5 stars.

The emotional connection between Jaiman and Jia was one of a kind. They grew up together, kissed one time and tried to forget about it. everyone is just waiting on Jia to realize that Jaiman is in love with her and she with him. Getting from “just friends” to “I love you” was a journey that took them through the wringer.

This gave me major Emma and modern You've Got Mail vibes - two things I adore!

This was the slowest of slow burns, but a really sweet story over all! Were there times I wanted to shake the FMC and scream "LEARN TO COMMUNICATE, JIA" - sure. But I was still rooting for her the whole way. The MMC is completely swoon-worthy, the descriptions of Mumbai made me want to jump on a plane tomorrow, and the supporting characters were all so lovable! (Can I get a Damini book next?!) I'm also just a sucker for matchmaking stories, gimme all the (occasionally unsolicited) love advice and set-ups!

Overall a fun friends-to-lovers read (with some closed door romance), despite my least favorite of all tropes - miscommunication.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

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

Thank you, NetGalley and Dell Romance for the ARC! Match Me If You Can brings you right into Mumbai, I loved the descriptions of the festivals, parties, fashion, and the culture. Family relationships, the matchmaking, the hard work, I felt like I was there!
Now while I loved Jaiman and hurt for him with his "unrequited feelings" for Jia and his unsuccessful pub, the miscommunication was killing me! And Jia was so wrapped up in herself,  she couldn't see what was right in front of her. I wish Jia had been a little more patient and a lot lesss judgemental in her matchmaking attempt but I think she learned her lesson there. She showed a lot of growth, but it took her a long time to have these realizations - in work and in love. Jia and Jaiman complimented each other perfectly and their chemistry was clear from the start. 
This should be on your radar if you like:- Slow Burn romances- Friends to Lovers- Mutual Pining- Mysterious Pen Pals- Emma retelling- GORGEOUS covers!

All I want now is a sweet, bartender boyfriend who cooks me dinner and sits through all my shenanigans! It is no wonder that Sarah Adams wrote a blurb for this because fans of Practice Makes Perfect will love this friends-to-lovers romance.

Jia Deshpande is a millennial woman in her prime! By day, she writes the relationship column for Mumbai's biggest magazine and by night, she writes her anonymous blog "Love Better with J" and racks up thousands of followers. Her goal is to build up a readership reader for love so that she can launch her modern-day matchmaking business. And she has credentials - she set up her sister with a doctor and her old-maid of an aunt with a single father. Since her own mother's passing, Jia just wants to bring happiness to everyone's life.

Jaiman would be happy if Jia let him into her life. Raised up together by their fathers who were best friends, Jaiman can't remember a time that he hasn't love Jia. But a misunderstanding has her doubting his intentions, so instead he steps back into the friend zone to protect his found family. If I had Jaiman in my friend zone, I would be a very VERY happy girl. The man is like an on-call chef for his loved ones and I was STARVING.

He doesn't believe in Jia's matchmaking nonsense but he can't stay away. So the two tumble through love stories together as Jia tries to make the ultimate match for her coworker. The pinning in this book gets a gold star! Jia has a very objective perspective on love, not one to be swept away by feelings, and I really related to her voice. It was beautiful to read a story that respects matchmaking and the astrological arts in a way that only an own-voice author can. This is like the Great British Baking Show version of Netflix's "Indian Matchmaking". Heart-warming and hilarious all around.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group for the E-ARC! This was cute! Loved the romance & the vibes. Definitely will read more from this author.

This was an interesting read, not my favorite but good nonetheless. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this arc.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The story follows Jia, who has a knack for matchmaking, and Jaiman, who has had a long-time crush on her. This was a slow romance, but there was just enough build up that it wasn't exasperating or boring - although I could have perhaps had a little more of them. The author does an excellent job with this modern twist on Emma, plus there was pretty solid character development.

I also enjoyed the cultural representation of Indians - it is always a pleasure to read a book set somewhere that is not frequently represented in literature, and I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and cultural references.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dell for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.