I could feel the spark of chemistry between Ayesha and Emmitt, but that was only it. A spark. No living flame. Maybe the book's structure became a detriment from me to fully enjoy their characters; I think this would've benefitted if it had been a bit more longer, or just a fully fledged novel.

What did your New Years Eve look like? Considering that I haven’t left my home willingly or otherwise on a NYE since the 90’s, mine included binge watching “Cobra Kai” with my husband and kids, doing a few German lessons, and reading The Wedding Setup, which is an absolutely perfect short story.

How such a shorter work could simultaneously break my heart and put it back together is a testament to the talent of Ms. Dev.

I utterly adored this.

TW - off page death in auto accident.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

The wedding setup is a short story about second chance romance, family dynamics, and grief. Ayesha has been in love with her brother's best friend for as long as she can remember. Many years ago, they finally got together, only to be devastated soon after by a horrible loss. In her grief, Ayesha pushed Emmitt away to protect herself and the family she has left.

Now seven years later, Ayesha's best friend is getting married and her mother has set her up with a proper Desi man. But sparks fly when Emmitt turns up out of the blue.

I absolutely adored this story. Even though it was only about 50 pages, I really connected with Ayesha. The characters were fleshed out and nuanced even though we had such a short amount of time to get to know them. Sonali's writing is exquisite and I can't believe I've never read anything by her before! I will immediately be picking up more of her work because I enjoyed this one so much.

"Maybe what you're seeing as an end is a new beginning."

Seven years ago, Ayesha lost her brother and then pushed away everything else, her dreams, her independence, and the love of her life. Not wanting to hurt her mother anymore, she transformed into the dutiful and diligent daughter that her mother wanted and needed and took on the family business.
Now, her best friend is getting married and her huge Indian wedding is her first chance in a long time to step away from her duties for a minute. And then her mother tries to set her up with the perfect future son-in-law.
Then Emmitt shows up. Her brother's best friend. The love of her life. The man who left seven years ago when she asked him to. Suddenly the lines between old Ayesha and new Ayesha get blurry. Can Ayesha find a way to make everyone, including herself, happy?

I looooooooved loved loved this. Sonali Dev's writing is so poignant and heartfelt. I felt so much for every character. Ayesha is such a beautiful, deep character. Ayesha's grief and duty was so authentic and moving. Emmitt was also such an incredible, excellent character. His love for Ayesha was immediately obvious. Their chemistry was genuinely palpable and I was rooting for them from the second that Emmitt showed up.

I really loved that even in such a short story, there was so much more than romance. The friendship between Ayesha and Bela was well-fleshed out and wonderful as was Ayesha's familial relationships and the duty she felt to them.

This was such a beautiful story, my only wish is that we got a full length novel out of this story and these wonderful characters.

"How can you do better than someone who sees you exactly the way you want to be seen?"

Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Sonali Dev for an e-ARC of The Wedding Setup. This ARC in no way influences my review or opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sonali Dev the author, and the publisher Amazon Original Stories for providing this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think I prefer Sonali Dev's novels to her short stories. This one did the job of fleshing out our main character with a back story that added depth to her character, but there were moments when I felt she was hitting us over the head with the New Ayesha/Old Ayesha comparisons.

There were also moments where the wording felt really awkward to me, and I felt they were things that a good read-over would have caught.

Overall it was a decent read, and I did enjoy the side moments with the aunties a lot. I think I generally just seem to like meddling aunties as a character trope.

3★
“You’re twenty-eight years old, Ayesha. At your age, I had two children!”

Okay – you get the premise of the story. For the last several years, Ayesha has been flat out helping her mother, Amma, make a go of their restaurant after they were left with it. It is successful, but she’s had no time for herself.

Then Amma springs the news that there is a special “doctor boy” invited to the wedding of Ayesha’s best friend, Bela.

“When it came to marriage, Indian parents always turned adults into boys and girls. ‘It’s so they can take the sexuality out of it.’ That was Bela’s explanation. Or maybe that made it easier to direct their grown children’s lives.“

At the wedding, she hears another voice.

“She hated his voice. Hated how much she’d missed it.”

Enough. This is fine for those who like their romances predictable, but in spite of the fact that I love short stories, this one falls pretty flat.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the copy of #TheWeddingSetup for review.

Sometimes romance short stories feel rushed to me, but The Wedding Setup was perfect. Ayesha's grief and her relationships with Emmett, Bela, and her mother were all so well done is so few pages. It was a quick, emotional read, and I loved it.

I’ve been wanting to read something from Sonali Dev for quite a while; thank you to NetGalley for approving my request to read this very short story (less than 60 pages).

It was a wonderful way to learn about Indian customs, in particular a wedding celebration.

I did see the ending coming, but loved everything about the story. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sonali Dev the author and the publisher Amazon Original Stories for providing this advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 11 Jan 2022.

A beautiful short story of love and loss. After Ayesha’s brother dies she becomes the dutiful daughter she thinks her mother wants her to be. She lets go of her dreams, her fierce personality, and her life to become someone she believes her mother needs her to be.

This was a quick but emotional read. I grew to love the characters in no time and really felt that I was watching everything unfold. The stubbornness, the fear, the guilt- it’s written in a way that will leave you speechless.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this short and sweet story by Sonali Dev. The Wedding Setup introduces us to Ayesha and her Amma, both of whom have never recovered from the sudden loss of Ayesha's brother Ajay seven years ago. Ayesha has since given up her dreams to help her mother run their restaurant, but everything turns upside down when her long lost love returns for the wedding of Ayesha's best friend.

A well written story about grief, love and family. I enjoyed the dynamic between the MC and her mother and liked how the story unfolded. I would definitely recommend this short story. Thanks NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev was a delicious short story! I love a love story and this one delivers! I read it in one sitting and it got me back into a reading groove what more could I ask for?

Sonali Dev. Short Story. Second Chance Romance. YES PLEASE!!!!!!!

I am such a huge fan of Sonali's storytelling , I have read everything she has written, and I was so excited to see she had a new short story coming out. I was excited to get my grabby hands on an advanced copy!

Ayette Shetty is such a well-developed strong character, she is fierce, loyal and a bit broken after her brother's passing 7 years prior. She has taken on her family's restaurant responsibilities, and she is looking forward to her besties Big Fast Indian Wedding!

Her mom has set her up with an "appropriate" suitor as a date for the wedding and Ayette and her mom definitely have different ideas of what is appropriate. What she wasn't expecting was her ex to show up, the ex who was her brother's best friend, the ex that SHE left to take on the duties at the restaurant.

Second chance romance is my favorite trope and I swear Ms. Dev nails it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

The author is a magician with her pen. I love how well the author writes about grief and family dynamics and how it is addressed in this short story in a way that makes you really think.

This is a short story, but honestly it packs the punch of a full-length novel.

A second chance romance novella with a misleading title. It is about a wedding setup but not the way you would expect.

The 60 pages flew by very quickly, yet I didn't feel that the story was lacking anything. It's full of emotions, the plot is well constructed and the story is complete as it is. I liked the twist in the end, and would be happy to see this book turned into a movie.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an Advance Review Copy.

A beautiful South Asian second chance at love story featuring Ayesha, who has put her own desires on hold to help her mother after the accidental death of her brother. Full of deep emotions for such a short story, Sonali Dev fans are sure to be pleased! I love the gorgeous cover too. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

For all that this is a short story, I didn't feel unsatisfied with it. It didn't feel rushed or like more words were needed to get the point across. Even though there is a history between Emmitt and Ayesha that we're not privy to, I didn't need that information to understand the feelings they were grappling with. Ultimately I would say this is about grief and family, and how losing a loved one can make you lose parts of yourself without even realizing it.

I wasn't expecting the story to unfold the way it did, but the author managed to take the well-used meddling mom trope and give it a nice tweak.

This is fun novella that I absolutely loved, when I saw it on NetGalley I knew I wanted to read it immediately!
Ayesha lost her beloved brother Ajay 7 years ago, and the shock of his death made her give up her dreams as well. She’s been a dutiful Indian daughter ever since, because she doesn’t want to hurt her mother, and she goes to work in the family restaurant, which was Ajay’s dream.

Her best friend is having an elaborate Indian wedding, and Ayesha’s mother has set her up with a dream guy, on paper at least. When she arrives, she comes face to face with Emmitt, Ajay’s best friend and the love of her life.

Emmitt is the guy who really knows and understands the old Ayesha, the one before she muted her personality. Old Ayesha ignored her family responsibilities for Emmitt, but after Ajay’s death she broke up with him and focused on making her mother happy. Ayesha didn’t realize that her mother was happy when Ayesha herself was too.
Can she figure out a way to be happy again and still respect her mother and the family restaurant?

Ayesha is haunted by her brother’s death, and makes assumptions about her mother and the business. I was amazed at the complexity of the story and the depth of emotion Sonali Dev was able to fit into a short story. I recommend this book, 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Wedding Setup is a short story that is a fun, atmospheric, somewhat angsty tale. I found myself unable to connect to the characters, perhaps because there wasn’t fully time to develop them in a story of this length, but I did enjoy this quick read.

What a delightful read! I had never read anything by the author, so it was very nice to have this first contact in a short story. The premise was great, and it was beautifully written, as a love story and much more than that.

I really enjoyed the main couple, the chemistry between them was palpable from the first time they interacted on-page, and their relationship was one of respect and understanding, which was great. The family issues brought up here were nicely done, and as someone from a very family-centered culture, it was good to see how it affected the protagonist's life (for bad but also for good) and the story itself.

At the end, it was a really cute and fun read, ending the year in a very positive note.

No one does second chance romance or longing like Sonali Dev! With sizzling chemistry and loads of baggage, our heroine and hero navigate the intricacies of a family wedding and some misconceptions about what parental expectations really mean for them. Some delightful scheming from our supporting characters - this is a fun, quick, and enjoyable read.