I LOVED The Emma Project. I read it hot on the heels of Incense and Sensibility, so that made me enjoy it all the more. Great character development. Strong characters doing interesting philanthropic work (not enough books about people trying to make the world better IMHO). I had empathy for characters because even when they behaved badly, I could see it was because they were broken in some way. Lovely story. Esha's next???

Austen retellings are my kryptonite. Some would say "it is a truth universally acknowledged." And this one sounded promising with its Indian American twist and its gender-swapped Emma and Knightley stand-in protagonists, Naina and Vansh.

However, while I loved the contemporary soul of the story with its humanitarian project focus and its doting yet interfering family dynamics, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They fell flat, failed to draw me in. Naina and Vansh's romance didn't entice overmuch either, unfortunately. Their friends with benefits arrangement felt stilted and strange, not because I dislike that trope, it's one of my favorites, but because I think it was hard for me to imagine Emma and Knightley as two no-feelings-but-horny-for-each-other all the time childhood friends. It didn't work for me. Their banter was fun, though. Believable for a pair of people who have known each other their whole lives. I chuckled a few times during their exchanges.

This was a miss for me. I think a lot of Austen-loving contemporary romance fans will find much to love from this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper and Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Loved this series and this was one of the strongest books. The homage to Austen's Emma is refreshing and contemporary. Well done!

The final chapter(s) with the Rajes did not disappoint! A deeper look into the life of the "Baby Prince", Vansh, Sonali Dev cracks open the not-so-easy life of the youngest Raje. To the outsider, he has had an extremely privileged upbringing but his struggles with a learning disability (of which his father could not accept) created a man who opened his heart to others, sought the best in them, and never allowed them to believe the worst of themselves. He ends up in a professional relationship with his brother's fake-ex, Naina, mere months after their public breakup.

Naina has worked her entire life to be self-sufficient due to watching her mother suffer at the hands of her father. She has thrown herself into her work and holding everyone at arm's length...until an encounter with Vansh after a few too many glasses of champagne. The secretive "friends with benefits" arrangement works...until...it doesn't.

A surprise side story is learning more about the enigmatic Esha and watching her blossom into the loving woman trapped by heartache all of those years.

Sonali Dev's Austen retellings are fantastic and I look forward to more from this lovely author.

“Don’t you see? Happiness is the only truth there is.”

In the fourth installment of the Rajes, we follow Vansh, the “Baby Prince” as he works closely with Naina, his brother Yash’s former fake fiancé. Vansh and Naina are forced to work together to split corporate funding for their charity work, or their “Emma Projects”. As they find ways to collaborate and achieve their work together, they find more than partnership between them. They keep secret their friends with benefits arrangement, trying to avoid their famililes judgements - for Naina being with someone 12 years her junior and for Vansh being with someone who had used Yash for ten years in a fake relationship. Through their struggles, Naina and Vansh find their way to each other as they grow beyond the limits set on them by family.

I enjoyed this last installment of the Rajes series. While it was not my favorite of the series, it was a wonderful closing story of the series. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, and nearing Naina’s side of the story after she was painted in a negative light through Incense and Sensibility.

My favorite part of this one was the side story of Esha and Sid. I loved the way their paths and purposes intertwined as the story took a break from Vansh and Naina.

Check this one out if you are looking for:
📙 Forced proximity trope
📙 Age gap trope
📙 modern retelling of a classic
📙 Feminist themes and characters sharing quotes like, “It’s a gorgeous thing when you smile, but you should smile only when you damn well feel like it.”

To read the Raje series in order:
📕 Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors
📗 Recipe for Persuasion
📘 Incense and Sensibility
📙 The Emma Project

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC! The Emma Project is on shelves May 17!

This was such a cute fun read! I can’t wait to tell all my family and friends to read it! I’m so glad I got chosen to read it

This was another fun book in the series! I enjoyed the witty banter and the plot lines. I do think the plot could’ve been shortened a bit and the characters encountered the same problem again and again.

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

*Received copy for review**
I have enjoyed these Austen reimaginings. I was looking forward to Emma because this story is tough to get right. This is really a friends who fall fir one another but neither realizes it until the last moment. It’s not really a story of pining because they are both oblivious. I don’t mind flipping it to friends with benefits but for me, the fact that Vansh really wants her from the start didn’t hold true.
I had a tough time getting through this story and I’m disappointed.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of The Emma Project. I enjoyed this book a lot!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: May 17, 2022

This whole series is a really fun one, and The Emma Project is no different from the previous three books. I think this book gave the series a wonderful conclusion, and I loved how Sonali Dev's "Emma" stayed true to the spirit of the original.

I thought this book was highly entertaining, and I particularly enjoyed the heroine of the story, Naina. I always enjoy books about people closer to my age who handle love and relationships with a bit more maturity, and Naina is that character. I enjoyed her so much in this book, and I identified with her on many levels.

Overall, this was a really engaging read, and I think fans of the series will be really pleased with it!

After Naina was the "villain" in the previous book, I was really nervous about this one. The author did a good job of getting me on her side very quickly, and I really liked Vansh as a male Emma. However I wasn't fond of their initial sexual encounter, and while I liked both as individuals, they really weren't as enticing of a couple as I had hoped.

What almost made me give this four stars though is Esha. I have wanted Esha's story for so long, and I CHEERED when we got her chapter because I didn't expect it at all and I was so happy. I read this book almost entirely in anticipation for her next chapter. It was amazing to finally hear her story and it was so exciting to watch her come out of her shell. Her relationship with Sid unfolded slowly and with such an unexpected beauty and I wanted SO much more of them. Every star is for the two of them.

Wow did I love this! Previously had not been that much of a fan of the other books in this series, but I wanted to try this one because I love Emma. And it did not disappoint! This one just succeeded where the others lacked for me. Reading about Vansh and Naina, who readers have seen previously and have rooted for her own story, was truly lovely. Great read, and I would absolutely recommend this installment to others!

I liked this book. I thought Vansh was a delight. I loved his character, his backstory everything. I liked him. with Naina. I found their relationship to be intriguing. Naina was a character I wanted to like more than I did, I found her character to be complex, I understood why she reacted the way she did at times but other times it seemed like the character did not know why she was reacting a certain way. I think that is the strength of the authors writing. I wish the secondary characters had gotten their own book. I enjoyed this entire series!! I look forward to more books from this author.

The Raje quad-rilogy is complete! I was so happy to see that Esha got her own plotline as well. While I think #3 was my favorite in the series, I was still happy and felt like things wrapped up nicely for the most part in the lives of the Raje children. I am not up on my Austen classics so I'm not sure throughout the series how similar or influenced the books are compared to the Austen books their titles are based on, so I cannot be sure if I would like the series more or less had I read the Austen companions or not.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!)

Another beautifully written book!. I enjoyed the characters and story. However ,I feel the chapters were longer than needed to be . But that will not keep me from reading this Author's books . I absolutely love every single one I've read of hers so far. Thank you netgalley for the complementary copy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Emma Project is the 4th book in The Rajes series by Sonali Dev. Naina Kohli’s newest philanthropic feat is a dream come true until she finds herself having to work with the brother of her long term ex fake fiance. From friends to rivals to lovers, they have more than just passion in the boardroom.

Sad to see that this is the final installment in the series but it’s ending on such a satisfying note. While The Emma Project has its own unique plot, it ties up some loose ends from the other books and rounds out the series nicely. I do not think this book could be read as a stand-alone so definitely read the other 3 books first.

I really enjoy Sonali Dev’s books and The Emma Project is no exception. I look forward to seeing what she has coming next.

Read it. The end got be crying a bit got me In my feels but so worth it. READ IT! I mean mans is hot, home girl even hotter. It gave me all the feels and who says you can’t find love as a desi after your 20s are over ?

This book is the last in Sonali Dev's much loved series reimagining of Jane Austen's most beloved books. The Raje family is big, wealthy, and has a lot of drama going on! Vansh and Naina are an unexpected pairing - but they really work. And the Emma-like setting of the book works incredibly well. I loved that Dev reversed the sexes to put Vansh in the Emma role.

Vansh, the baby of the family has devoted his life to a variety of different charitable projects across seven different continents. He hasn't met a problem he can't fix or a relationship he can't build. He is not as intellectual as his siblings and has a learning disability (and probably a bit of ADHD - but he is charming, smart, and works insanely hard to meet whatever goal he has. But he has led a very privileged life - and isn't fully aware of just how privileged that life is. He's known Naina his entire life (she's 12 years older than Vansh) and felt close to her that entire time - but never looked at her romantically. Naina really never took note of Vansh either - beyond being a footnote in her fake boyfriend's family. Naina truly has been hyperfocused on her goal of helping women in Nepal for the bulk of her life.

Both Vansh and Naina have a lot of things to work through before they can be emotionally committed to each other. Vansh has a strong drive to "fix" all the things around him - and that doesn't always work out well (despite his best intentions). But one of the best things about him is that he isn't afraid to admit he was wrong - or to work on being better. He is definitely a good dose of anti-toxic masculinity. Naina's drive and personal history has pushed her to be very isolated. She is unwilling to show even the slightest weakness or need for help - and that isn't always to her benefit. Even as she opens up to Vansh in ways she has never opened up to anyone - you can see how her fear of being vulnerable needs to be addressed in a real way before things can go any further.

The age difference between Naina and Vansh is a big topic for their families - but for me and I think for Naina and Vansh it really isn't a thing. Like Naina's mother says towards the end - Naina and Vansh are so similar in their goals and ethics - that they really are the same-same.

I agree with other reviewers that the Esha and Sid storyline maybe deserved some more time - or its own novella. I was very invested in it - almost as much as the main storyline. I will also say that Naina's relationship with both her parents - and the abuse from her father - may be very triggering for some readers. It is a very emotional and painful topic in this story. Vansh's relationship with his parents may also have some elements that are hard to read - being different from your siblings isn't easy. Especially in such a high achieving family.

Overall - this book is a very satisfying end to the series - but also an amazing book on its own merits.

I was very lucky to receive this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

THE EMMA PROJECT (PUB DATE 05.17) Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books and Harper Voyager books for the early copy of the final book in the Raje "series' ( I say series in quotes because this title can be read as a stand-alone, but reading the other books certainly adds depth.)

This gender swapped Emma reimagining is deeply layered. And the couple is so.much.fun. They are multifaceted: heartwarming and endearing yet frustrating and flawed. What I appreciate about Dev's writing is her ability to blend light & dark into a wholly satisfying story. This book is so much more than a romance. It deals with all those everyday, real-life things: pesky emotions, familial expectations, love, insecurities, and friendship.

I absolutely loved the side story featuring the Raje cousin, Esha. I kept looking forward to her chapters. My only complaint is that I wanted more time dedicated to her story. I could have read an entire book, or even a novella, featuring her story.

I've read and adored the three previous titles in this "series". The final installment is a wee bit spicier than previous books but I'm not complaining . . . at all.

As much as I’ll miss the Rajes, this ending felt like a good culmination of everything. We get to see everyone we’ve come to love over the series finally find an end. It was great to finally get to know Vansh after hearing about the urban legend that he is for three whole books and I loved Naina’s side of the story; I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical of her afternoon “Incense and Sensibility.” It was also great to get to explore Esha’s life and character more and see a resolution for her. While I firmly believe that nothing can top ‘Recipe for Persuasion,’ I think The Emma Project was definitely up there. It was also such a fascinating adaptation of Austen’s “Emma” and it took different approaches to the elements of the story than you often see. All around, this was a great read and I can’t wait for it to come out so everyone else can read it!

I'm so sad this is the final book in the series. I've grown to adore the Raje family and can't believe I don't have more time to spend with them. However, Dev made sure to go out on a high note. This book pulls together characters from the entirety of the series in clever ways. There's wonderful chemistry between Vansh and Naina. I loved the gender flip of the Austonian story - Naina is such a boss. The sub-plot is handled really well and doesn't just feel thrown in to finish the series. It works with everything the series has built and fits right in.