A cute short story of a woman who sacrificed a lot of her dreams to help her family's restaurant after the death of her brother. It's seven years later and the love of her life is back in town. He wants to know why she pushed him away and she wants to leave him in the past and just make her mother happy by pursuing someone else. In the end, they are able to communicate about their past and move forward.

I really enjoyed this short story. A daughter is devoted to making her mother happy after they suffer a tragic family loss. But in buying who she is, is she making her mother happy? There was a lot of depth in this story, and I enjoyed how it unfolded. The love between the characters and the grief they share was well written and heartbreaking. At her best friend's wedding, set up with a "lady parts" doctor, it's time to return to herself or settle down in a half life. What will she pick?

This book was good. I like how the truth all came out at the end. The plot was timed just right. As usual, parents and kids are at a lost as to how to bridge generational gaps. I never get tired of this plot.

I liked how the story flowed fairly quickly and smoothly, even considering if was a short story. I will say however that Ayesha isn't one of my favorite literary main characters. I understand how grief can really change a person, but I wish that maybe she would've 'saved herself' with others support rather than needing some else to lead.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I really loved this! Short and to the point but I really got a feel for the characters, their lives, personalities, feelings, heartbreak, struggle, and love. I do not read many novellas, especially not when they are not an accompaniment to a series of books so this a bit of a new and different experience for me but this one really hit it out of the park.
I think I have been converted to novellas! This is great for someone in a reading slump.

Ayesha has been suppressing all her emotions and desires for seven years, slowly losing herself to be the dutiful daughter to her mother and make her happy. But, all that act and the wall she put up crumbling down the moment she met Emmitt on her best friend's wedding day. A man she ordered leave her seven years ago when a tragedy strikes her family.

This is my first book by Sonali Dev and I fell in love with her writing style right away.
The grief and love were beautifully written and can be felt in such short amount of pages.

There are a lot of strong emotions shown in this book. I can feel the longing Emmitt feels for Ayesha, the fierce love between a mother and daughter, and the strong friendship between Ayesha and Bella as well as Emmitt and Ajay.
I can feel the sadness, rage and the heavy burden that Ayesha felt makes her slowly losing herself, trying to become another version of herself.

Overall, it was an intense heartfelt short story I've read so far this year. The ending was wrapped up nicely and left me with a satisfied feeling for Ayesha, Emmitt and Ayesha's mother.
I'm looking forward to read more books from this author!
If you're looking for a second chance romance short story then I highly recommend reading this book!

<i>A massive thank you to Netgalley, Sonali Dev and Amazon Original Stories for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!</i>

Note: Review will be posted on Instagram on March 3rd.

The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev is a short story but full of everything that makes a great full length novel. Compelling short story that extended beyond romance and managed to have more complex character than some full length novels. While Sonali Dev is a go to writer for me, she could re-write a phone book and make it sound amazing!

I would have loved for this story to be longer and fill an entire novel! The characters drew me in right away, and I wanted to see more interactions with Amma and all of the aunties. They amuse me so much, with the things they say and their mannerisms. Cute short story.

It can be difficult to write a short romance, especially one in which you become heavily invested and root for the character you know for only a moment. Sonali Dev successfully created a lovely group of characters that had depth and charm to them that I fell in love with almost instantly. The romance was both heart wrenching and sweet, I really rooted for these two characters to get together as their backstory was perfectly explained in a way that got to me. Overall a really successful short story that I'd definitely say is worth reading for the laughs and beautiful characters.

This was a super cute short story. by an author I really enjoy. However, I would have really liked that it be tied to her Austen-adapted world with characters from that story (if it is, it's not entirely clear).

The Wedding Setup is a delicious will-they won’t-they that manages good character development in a bite sized story. I enjoyed the Indian American wedding opulence combined with the zany cast of characters. Fun, escapist read that’s not too frothy.

I absolutely loved this book. From the pacing to the characters. It was a charming quick delightful read. Thank you to the author for my complementary E book. I highly recommend every book by this author, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next !.

Loved this and listened to the audio version as well. I just love Sonali’s characters. By the time you get through her books, it’s like they’ve become old friends. This was a short and sweet love story. Love wins in this book.

💫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝗪𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐩 💫 ⁣
My Sonali Dev⁣
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories (short story)⁣
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𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭. ⁣
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That’s how I would describe it. You have two South Asian people who were broken apart by her brothers death. And through some sneakiness on behalf of her mother and best friend brought back together at a wedding. ⁣
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𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 @𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘷 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 (𝟼𝟽 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴) 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. ⁣
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Emmitt & Ayesha: a new fav couple. I could totally see this family (and Ayesha’s backstory) made into a longer novel. ⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸! 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦. ⁣
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Ps. “A Distant Heart” is my favourite of the authors

This was the perfect short story. A girl so lost in grief agrees to be set up by her mom and Aunties only to find that someone from her past has resurfaced. The heroine's grief practically swims off the page in this one, but it's good, because it allows you to see how stuck she is. She's trying to do right by her mom, but the sense of duty has altered her entire personality. The alteration taking her from fun and bubbly to demure. It takes a surprise visit appearance from her ex to pull her from the grief and realize that it's ok to be herself again. It's a beautiful short story, and I especially loved the little teeny tiny twist at the end. :)

I was surprised on how many things the author could cover in such a short read. I appreciated the fact that the action did not seem rushed or artificial. The line of this contemporary romance was easy to follow and to discover throughout the pages.
I loved the author’s writing style and I will definitely try another book written by her.

Loved this. Great story and beautifully written. Made me want to read more from the author. This is short story and well paced.

This short story accomplished a lot in a few number of pages. After Ayesha's father died and then her brother died, she told herself she would be the dutiful daughter her mother needed. She committed to a life at the family restaurant as it had fallen to the two of them to run and give up on love, for now. Her mother makes a run at setting up her quickly aging daughter with a doctor at a big wedding. When her brother's best friend (and former forbidden love) shows up, all bets are off. Emmitt's return helps bridge the gap between mother and daughter in a quick story about family and duty.

I do so love written by Sonali Dev so of course I had to read this short second chance romance. Ayesha has spent the last 7 years closing in on herself after her brother’s death. She’s given up everything she loves including the man she loves. Ridiculous amounts of needless guilt keeps her stuck continuing to shrink herself and focus on the family restaurant in an effort to keep her mother happy. When the love of her life shows up at her best friend’s wedding and is way too perceptive about what she’s become everything is rather shattered. Her mother has found her a nice doctor that could be a potential husband for her. Naturally she’s very conflicted.

It’s pretty easy to guess how this is going to go and it’s more about Ayesha finding herself again after grief and loss and the expectations of her mother. Not a bad story I just didn’t like Ayesha much something about her irritated me. I understand why she did what she did but it annoyed me. Probably because people who feel unnecessary unearned guilt in general annoy me so maybe it’s just me. It’s a romance so you know happily ever after and all that.

This was such a cute short read. I was able to read it in about an hour and really enjoyed the rom com being centered around a wedding. I recommend to anyone who wants a short fun read!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.