The Emma Project is the fourth installment in Sonali Dev’s popular Jane Austen-inspired series, The Rajes. The Rajes are a prominent Indian American family, and each book in the series focuses on one of the adult children in the family. This time, it’s Vansh’s turn and Dev tells Vansh’s story in the form of a wonderful gender-bent retelling of the Austen classic, Emma.

Vansh is the baby of the family. He’s handsome, engaging, his family completely dotes on him and so do most other people who meet him. Vansh spends his time working on various charitable projects and has lived a charmed life thus far. The only person who ever challenges him is his long-time friend, Naina.

Naina is a career-driven young woman who up until recently, was fake dating Vansh’s older brother, Yash. This arrangement allowed Naina to focus on her work without her family pressuring her to find a man. When Yash breaks off their relationship because he has met someone he wants to marry, things become strained between Naina and the Raje family, including with Vansh.

The situation between Vansh and Naina becomes even more awkward and tense when one of Naina’s financial backers proposes diverting some of the funding from Naina’s foundation to one of Vansh’s pet projects. After some initial arguing, Vansh and Naina soon realize the only way to move both of their projects forward is for them to team up. Both of these characters were quite likeable and I liked the way they interacted with one another as friends. There’s plenty of fun banter between them, and it’s pretty clear that they have more than friendly feelings toward each other.

As with the previous books in the series, Dev has crafted wonderful characters with so much depth. Naina, in particular, has a complicated and strained relationship with her mother and father, and Dev does a marvelous job delving into that and fleshing out Naina’s character. It became very easy to understand why she seems so aloof and closed off most of the time.

My only issue is with the romance trope used, mainly because it doesn’t quite match up with the original Emma. In that one, Emma and Knightly are friends who are completely oblivious that they have feelings for one another until nearly the end of the book. If you’ve seen the movie Clueless, another Emma retelling, think Cher and Josh. This modern retelling doesn’t really have that same level of obliviousness, or at least I didn’t sense it. It didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the read since I do enjoy a good rivals-to-lovers story, but if you’re an Austen enthusiast, just don’t expect the read to exactly mirror the original.

With its rivals-to-lovers vibe as well as several scenes that are much steamier than in the earlier Raje novels, The Emma Project concludes the series on a very sexy and satisfying note.

Thank you to publisher for the advanced reading copy of The Emma Project. This review contains my own thoughts and opinions.

In the final book of the Rajes series, we have Vansh Raje, the youngest, aka “Baby Prince,” who is typically underestimated, as he did not pursue higher education like his older siblings and has dyslexia.

His heroine may surprise readers of the earlier books in the series, Naina Kohli, Vansh’s older brother’s past fake fiancé - who has been “part” of the Raje family for years and did not grow up with a similarly loving family.

Unwittingly pitted against each other by a social climbing billionaire to work on their causes and ensure they maintain funding - San Francisco’s homelessness and women’s clinics in Nepal - they must work together to ensure both projects achieve success.

This Austen-inspired book is for you if you like:
💕Friends? Enemies? It depends on the page! to lovers
💕Age gap (she’s 38 to his 26)
💕Reverse grumpy sunshine
💕Workplace romance

It’s a lovely romance with a little spice - I absolutely loved it! I l enjoyed learning about their family and culture, too. And there is a bonus side story featuring their older cousin, Esha, that was just beautiful. ❤️

This is the fourth book in the Raje series. I enjoyed the book overall but one major compliant is it took a while to differentiate the names since they all start with the letter "N" and are spelled similarly. This book does deal with domestic violence by discussing events that occurred in the past. I enjoyed the surprise side romance that was unexpected. Overall goof book red in within a few hours. I hope the author plans to write Hari's book.

Of all the books in the series, this one was DEFINITELY my favorite! It gave me a great balance of drama, comedy and spiciness. The first books felt really tame in relation to this one so it surprised me in the most pleasant way. I also loved that it there was more than one story line but didn't confuse them. It was a great way to end the series! I really did love it!

Let it be known that Emma is one of my all time favorites amongst the classics and I had such high standards for this book! They were wonderfully exceeded.

This was my first time reading this author's work and I have to say the marriage between the lighter and darker topics was so beautifully pulled together in a way that wove throughout the story consistently. The grumpy/sunshine trope in this (but reversed) was really well done and I enjoyed each of their interactions. The characters are definitely flawed, which I think makes them even more genuine and touches the reader even deeper.

Seeing this kind of representation in literature is precisely what we all need and it is so thrilling to see it becoming more and more common across the board! Such a good read that I would definitely recommend.

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh god this book was so good! I just love this series. It’s hard to explain his talented this author is. She really makes you feel everything for, and with, her characters.

In this book, Naina and Vansh get their own story. And Esha gets a story too! I didn’t know Esha was getting a story too and I was so happy for her!

If you’ve read the rest of this series, you will have already met Naina. In the previous book, Naina was engaged to Vansh’d brother Yash but their relationship was fake. Naina always loved Yash’s family but she’s had to distance from them a bit since the fake relationship has come to an end.

Naina was certainly never picturing that she’d connect with Vansh. She’s known him for over a decade. He’s also twelve years younger than her. He was always just Yash’s younger brother. Vansh left home when he was 16 and had been bouncing around the globe since. So Naina doesn’t really know him now. It turns out that Vansh is the most handsome Raje and the most philanthropic.

When Naina’s own charity project is threatened indirectly because of Vansh, she’s furious at him at first. She feels like life has always been easy for him. Her boss is threatening to take away her funding to give to Vansh, and Vansh suggests they work together so they can both get what they want for their charitable projects.

Soon there’s no denying the attraction between them. Naina makes it abundantly clear to Vansh that she does not ever want a relationship and does not believe in love. It’s really heartbreaking how badly Naina’s father’s treatment of her had affected her belief in herself and in love.

I just really love these characters. The author has written such well rounded characters. Nothing is easy for them but everything feels so real.
You will be rooting so hard for these wonderful characters to find happiness.

I was previously approved for an early ebook edition from NetGalley. I wound up waiting until my physical copy of the book came in to read it though.

This book is so fun and a wonderful addition to our romance section! Beautiful cover art has drawn our customers in and we love to hand-sell this title to customers. Thanks for the chance to preview this title!

This is the last book in the Raje series. As we follow the baby prince Vansh and Naina. Though if you haven't read the other books this might ruin them since they build off eachother.

I love how these books are set in the Bay area. I lived in SF in a little apartment for 10 years so I can totally picture Naina's place. Her family life was so hard to listen to as she was never good enough for her father and he kept her mother afraid.

But the Rajes were the ideal family. Even though things didn't work out with her prior relationship they are still there. Vansh and her are both working on a project for funding and after something didn't go her way a very interesting steamy thing happened that I'm so curious about but need to drink a bottle of champagne to try to recreate the scene. They are so different but also have so many of the same interests.  They enter into a friend's with benefits deal that turns into something more but when the families find out it's just too much for her.

✨I loved that Vansh was focusing on homelessness in SF by helping to get their paperwork, IDs and help them get work and back into a home.

I actually work with a client who does this type of work I used to do facility visits it's amazing work. Not everyone on the street is there cause of drugs or alcohol or severe mental health.

The bonus love story for Esha was perfect. Her story has been so tragic and getting to see from her pov was also interesting.

Read if you like
✨ Age gap
✨ Friends to lovers
,✨ Funny banter

Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I’m a big fan of the Raje family! This enemies to lovers story is about Vansh, the youngest Raje son, and Naina, who used to be engaged to his brother Yash. Yash is the newly elected governor of CA.
Vansh hasn’t settled down, and goes from working at one charitable organization to the next. Naina has been Yash’s friend for many years and she’s has been working on a plan to provide micro financing for women in Nepal.

She has funding from an eccentric billionaire who decides to share her funding with Vansh because of his brother and their shared last name. Naina is furious with him for taking her funding, especially after he names his project to help homeless people in SF after her favorite book, Emma. Eventually Naina realizes that working with Vansh is the only way they both can succeed, and the two start spending a lot of time together.

I loved all the characters and I learned a lot about the Raje family’s Indian culture. The writing flows until suddenly you’re at the end of the book!
I’m so sad that this is the last book of the series, but I’m looking forward to finding out what Sonali Dev has in store for us next.

Blurb:
Emma gets a fresh Indian-American twist from award-winning author Sonali Dev in her heartwarmingly irresistible Jane Austen inspired rom com series.

No one can call Vansh Raje’s life anything but charmed. Handsome—Vogue has declared him California’s hottest single—and rich enough to spend all his time on missions to make the world a better place. Add to that a doting family and a contagiously sunny disposition and Vansh has made it halfway through his twenties without ever facing anything to throw him off his admittedly spectacular game.

A couple years from turning forty, Knightlina (Naina) Kohli has just gotten out of a ten-year-long fake relationship with Vansh’s brother and wants only one thing from her life…fine, two things. One, to have nothing to do with the unfairly blessed Raje family ever again. Two, to bring economic independence to millions of women in South Asia through her microfinance foundation and prove her father wrong about, well, everything.

Just when Naina’s dream is about to come to fruition, Vansh Raje shows up with his misguided Emma Project... And suddenly she’s fighting him for funding and wondering if a friends-with-benefits arrangement that’s as toe-curlingly hot as it is fun is worth risking her life’s work for.

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

I was sad to learn that this is the end of the Rajes series, I love all these characters so much I wanted it to continue for longer! I had hoped Esha was going to get her own book and was assuming it would be Northhanger abbey themed. I am happy we got a conclusion for her though, since she had appeared in all the books. This was another great installment in the series, wrapping up a lot of the issues that had popped up throughout. I loved Vansh and Naina and that they both had issues to work out and discuss before they could get together. This was an amazing end to the series that made me so happy.

This is a fantastic book. It's not a beat for beat retelling of Austen's Emma, but it captures all the main themes, the inner conflicts of the characters, and the fabulous dynamic between Naina and Vansh. After reading Incense and Sensibility I had doubts about how Sonali Dev was going to redeem Naina and make me root for her, but I shouldn't have worried. I understood and felt for and with Naina the whole way. Loved the little cameos from all the other Raje family couples who we've loved along the way in this series and the entire world Dev has built around this family is just spectacular.

This is my favorite of the Raje series - and I don’t say that lightly. It is heart felt, romantic, heart wrenching, spicy, and it is a story for the ones who normally don’t get their side heard. The way the MCs are written is in line with their characters from the previous Raje novels, but with so much more depth and richness. I cried, I laughed, and I sighed.

Stand-alone - yes, but will be more satisfying if read with the others in the series
Sexy - yep
Well written - yes
Satisfying - 10/10

My only critique is that it is the end of the series and I. Want. More!

Also - can we talk about Esha? One of my favorites that I did not think would get an HEA? My heart is happy right now with this book!

I received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. The opinions are my own.

The Emma Project by Sonali Dev, book four in the Rajes series is a deeply layered enemies to lovers, age-gap story with a gender reversal, retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma. I enjoyed this very much. Vansh is so charming and relaxed, a total opposite to Naina’s uptight and closed-off personality. Naina has so many deep emotional wounds, and it was gratifying to see how her relationship with Vansh opened her up and allowed her to heal. Entering this story I was unsure of my feelings toward Naina after reading the previous story. However, this book really put things in perspective, especially how she had been treated by Rajes siblings. This story was able to put her into a more positive light, making the reader fall in love with her. Vansh also surprised me, appearing more mature and responsible than the carefree youngest presented in prior stories. His passion about solving the housing crisis in San Francisco and his wisdom and advice made him appear older than 26-years old. This is supposed to be an age-gap romance yet Vansh and Naina treated each other as equals in all ways possible. The side story featuring the Raje cousin, Esha, and her relationship with Sid made up for them not getting an entire story featuring only them. Their relationship was so sweet and you have to love how interconnected this family is.

Sonali Dev wove magic into her fourth Jane Austen-inspired novel, allowing her readers to connect with her characters, while adding an irresistible Indian-American flavor to her storyline. I love how Ms. Dev’s is able to blend light and dark into her stories. She allows her characters to be flawed and dealing with everyday, real-life things: pesky emotions, familial expectations, love, insecurities, and friendship. I highly recommend The Emma Project to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

For some reason I thought that this book would be a closed door romance, and for that reason I could not enjoy it. Being a reader/ reviewer of closed door/ clean or sweet romance I can not properly judge this book.

I have to be perfectly honest-- I love Emma, I love Emma retellings, and I love the Rajes family. Sonali Dev does this thing where she dances between the genre of romance, and like, family drama fiction, and it's been a bit of a mixed bag for me so far. I was really looking forward to this final Rajes book, especially because of the Emma of it all.

However, I guess I was little bit underwhelmed. I loved the idea of gender-swapping their personalities, and I do feel like the Emma and Knightley essences are there. And yet... I struggled with Naina and Vansh's chemistry. It felt like the book lost steam about 3/4 of the way through, and I pushed to the end purely for Esha's small storyline.

All in all, I would recommend this read to anyone that enjoyed any of the other Rajes family books, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to any Emma fans. A solid conclusion to this series, but not something that I believe stands alone.

I don't know where to start! The Emma Project had so much heart throughout the story. I loved the passion the main characters had not just for their work, but that their work was making the world better.

Esha's story could be it's own novella. I enjoyed her part in this story, but there is so much more that could be told.

There are parts of the story that didn't give the right closure. That storyline ended without quietly such as ending their relationship with Jiggy.

I smiled, laughed and teared up reading this story. This is one of my favorite books of 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital copy to read and review.

Naina deserves so much better. Every single person in this book other than her was absolutely awful. Naina needs to leave behind her family and this community and never look back. Vansh is a vain man-baby who at 26 should have some semblance of maturity but no, the "baby prince' (yes that's his nickname) just created problems and then wanted credit when he found a solution to the problem he started. The problem with Emma retellings is that Emma is the villain in her story. In this book Vansh was the Emma character and I found him absolutely obnoxious. Part of the charm of Emma is the cast of eccentric characters and this book traded delightful eccentricity is for mean and abusive family members. It's a no from me. I will not be going back to read the rest in the series and likely will never read this author again.

By far the steamiest of the Raje books, and I loved every second of it.

I have really enjoyed this series over the past several years, with flawed but human characters, poignant and important themes, and moments that made me laugh and others that made me cry. It's bittersweet to see it come to an end, but leaving Naina and Vansh's (and Esha and Sid's!) story til last was great because it was truly a culmination of everything that happened in the series. It was wonderful seeing them get their happy endings and having the chance to say goodbye to the entire cast of characters. Unless we can convince Sonali Dev to write Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park retellings as well...

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Just like all of Sonali Dev's other works, this one is not a let down!

The modern retellings of classic stories are always so well told and I love how all of the stories in the series were intertwined.

There are lots of emotions and heavy items mixed in this story, but it's definitely one that I loved!

I have always been a fan of Sonali Dev books, especially when she writes Jane Austen-inspired retellings. I love all Jane Austen books so I know I am going to enjoy reading Sonali Dev books as well.

I don’t know why, but I really got annoyed with Vansh Raje’s side of the family. I don’t understand why they are being cruel with Naina when it’s not even her fault. Yes, I understand they may have felt duped when they discovered Naina and Yash faked their relationship for years. But that’s on them. They both had their reasons, and there is no need to take it up with Naina. There were two people involved, Naina, and Yash. No one else. And then throwing Yash's brother, Vansh, into the mix is just messy.

I think the Raje family needs to take a really good look at themselves before judging anyone. She never did anything wrong. Besides that, I enjoyed their story. It could have been better if the Vansh Raje family had behaved better.