Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Match Me If You Can is a short and sweet romance about Jai and Jaimen, two young entrepreneurs and childhood friends looking to make it big in their individual fields, their romantic love for one another unknown (and for Jia, even to herself). Both MCs find themselves searching for opportunity and love along the way in this story, and though it might take them a while to get there, these two eventually find what they are looking for in one another and through the friends and life they end up sharing.

While I loved the idea of this story and throughly enjoyed many parts of it (most especially the wonderful side characters), most of my issues fall to Jia. In this dual POV story, I found myself desperate to get back to Jaimen whenever Jia was the narrator. While I appreciate a strong, confident FMC that knows what she wants and will fight tooth and nail to get there in a romance novel, it often came off as overconfidence and an overly inflated ego from Jia in times of mistakes or wrongdoing. While she eventually overcomes these aspects of the sake of the story’s ending, I struggled through her internal (and sometimes even verbal) dialogue at times. Truly, my favorite part of the book while we are in Jia’s POV is this line:

“Her ego would take a serious hit when she uttered the next words, but fuck her ego. Charu’s happiness mattered more.”

Like thank you, girl, we have been waiting!!

But all in all, this is book is a nice and quick, very cute read with a really solid cast of characters. Jaimen is just a doll of a MMC and I think I will be thinking about him for a while. Under 300 pages, no spice for those looking for it, and in my opinion, a more well done friends to lovers story [Even though Jia really irritated me at times about it (Haha)]. I looking forward to seeing more from Swati Hegde!

2.5/5 stars, rounded up.

It took me a while to get into Match Me If You Can, but I thought it was a cute book.

There is a very frustrating lack of communication (which for an aspiring matchmaker is very concerning…) and a lot of back and forth which got old by the end, but overall the characters were cute and lovable. I especially loved Charu.

There were also some points where I felt like the book lost the plot and was going all around for a bit too long, but it came back towards the end.

Thank you to Random House, Swati Hegde, and NetGalley for the eARC!

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was funny, sweet and a lot of fun to read. Gia and Jaiman were so good together and I loved that everyone could see but those two. The supporting cast was a blast as well! I was rooting so hard for Charu and Manoj. I can’t wait to read more books by Swati Hedge in the future!

Thank-you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC of this novel for an honest review.

This is a modern, Indian version of Emma with elements of You’ve Got Mail. Jia wants to be a matchmaker but struggles to see love right in front of her. Jaiman has been in Jia’s life since they were children. He is sweet, kind and always willing to help those around him and all Jia can do is complain about him being around too much. Jia really annoyed me for most of the book and took Jaiman for granted for all he did for her family and her. Towards the end she all of a sudden seemed like a different person. There are some cute moments but overall it’s an okay romance that probably won’t stay with me. It’s a closed door romance. It takes place in India so it was great to see another culture but there were times I was confused about things I was unfamiliar with.

Tropes:
- diverse characters
- found family
- slow burn
- Indian culture
- Friends-to-lovers

Review 👇
Match Me If You Can is a debut novel from Swati Hedge that gives Emma meets You’ve Got Mail vibes, and is set in contemporary Mumbai. Jia and Jaiman are best friends who have long-harbored love for each other that neither can confess. After a kiss gone wrong and epic miscommunication, the two stay friends and struggle to find their right partner. Jia runs an anonymous blog and is an amateur matchmaker. Jaiman is a mixologist who is running a struggling bar. Will they ever get together, or will the two continue to ignore their feelings for one another?

I enjoyed the setting and reading a contemporary romance set in India by an Indian author - I hadn’t read one yet and really liked seeing and reading about matched arrangements and organic ones. Mumbai was a star of the book as well, and it makes me want to travel there.

I also enjoyed the found family vibes of the book and the references to Indian cuisine, drinks, clothing, and holiday celebrations. Everything sounded lovely! Jia’s family also was super kind, and I love a hypochondriac single father (Mr. Woodhouse-esque for sure). Charu is a sweet gem, and I will protect her at all costs.

I didn’t really care for Jia, but truthfully I also didn’t care much for Emma Woodhouse. There’s something about a matchmaker and professional communicator not being able to communicate that doesn’t track. I liked Jaiman, but the same miscommunication issues were there too. The pacing of the book and their relationship was very slow and then abruptly sped up in the last 10% or so of the book.

MMIYC was a fun read that I did, in fact, read on the beach. Thank you to Dell for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

Jaimun and Jia stole my heart! The way their relationship was written and watching him melt for her was such a beautiful experience, it had me giggling and kicking my feet. The desi representation made me feel so seen whilst still being nuanced and natural. Such a refreshing and fun read!

A modern day Emma retelling about a romance advice blogger and her childhood friend, a local pub owner? I loved this! This was such a cute and fun fresh take on the classic story of Jane Austen's Emma! Jia Deshpande spends her day writing listicles for Mimosa, Mumbai's top women's magazine and her free time writing about the messy truth of real love on her blog... and trying to ignore her feelings for her childhood friend. Jaiman Patil is a local pub owner and a cocktail genius who has been in love with his childhood best friend, Gia for the last 15 years. Ever since they kissed each other during a wedding he's known that she's the one for him... except she ran away and then told him to pretend it never happened and he's willing to do anything to just spend time with her. Jaiman is struggling to keep his pub open and to make it... and his feelings for Jia are only getting harder to control... and since she only wants him as a friend he's begun to secretly write to her under a different name. Jia begins trying to matchmake at her office and things take a turn. Her friendship with Jaiman is also changing... and she's beginning to realize that love is more complicated than she could have ever imagined and that maybe her happily ever after is right next to her, if only she would talk to him and finally talk about what happened on the night they kissed. This was a really sweet and fun read and as a huge fan of Emma, this was such a delight. I loved how it had elements of the classic but also was a fresh take on it as well. Jaiman was such a swoony and amazing love interest for Jia. I loved their dynamic, how they were both so in love with each other but just couldn't take the leap just yet. I would absolutely recommend this for fans of Emma, the friends to lovers trope, and just a good romance book!

Release Date: June 4,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dell for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

It didn’t click until I started reading this that it was an Emma retelling, and this was sadly a miss in that department. Emma was always one of my least favorite Austen’s anyway, and this one did not particularly endear me to the lead. I also got around 17% through and had a sense it was going to be the kind slow burn I didn’t care for, as the romance had barely been present thus far.

Very cute. Friends-to-lovers, misunderstandings and missed connections, anonymous pen-pals, “what is this feeling? do I love you?”. I know almost nothing about any cultures in India, so this was a nice slice of education for me. Like, I know arranged marriages and matchmakers were/are a thing, but astrology? Like, signs and charts and palms is an bc actual field of study? Who knew? Obviously, not me. Some of the story seemed over the top, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to more from the author.

Match Me If You Can by Swati Hegde

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

4/5 stars

This was such a fun read and gave me a side of modern India that I haven’t not read before. I have read a lot of books about historical Indian books stories so this was refreshing.

I have heard about Indian matchmaking and I really loved that this novel centers on Jia, whose dream it is to become a matchmaker. She also harbors feelings for Jaiman, a lifelong friend. Jaiman is attempting to live his dream of running a successful pub in Mumbai.

There are a lot of layers to this story. It is wonderfully written and I am looking forward to seeing what else comes from the author!

Did not finish at 33%. This one was so rough. I encouraged myself to get a third of the way through, and if I still wasn’t feeling it until then, I’d quit. Jia is one of the most deeply unlikable characters I’ve read in a while. She’s incredibly selfish and just outright cruel to her supposed childhood best friend, Jaiman. I understand that this is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, but Emma had more depth that made her decision making more understandable, at least to me. At no point did I understand why Jia was so casually cruel to Jaiman to the point where she’s saying he’s stealing her life and family and has no life outside of them. It was just weird? I should’ve stopped reading when we got to the scene at her sister’s where Jia and Jaiman kiss, but Jia thinks it’s all a bet based on an earlier conversation she heard between Jia and Jaiman. The conversation mentioned no bet regarding Jia and Jaiman very clearly shut down any talk of “landing” Jia. It was so completely frustrating reading this woman’s absurd thoughts. Jaiman was fine, but I don’t understand why he was cooking for his found family instead of working at his failing pub? Unfortunately, this book was just not for me at all.

I absolutely adored this. I love a career centered rom com and this certainly delivered. Lots of swoons and lots of laughs

Jia dreams of becoming a matchmaker, so when an opportunity comes to prove her mettle as a matchmaker, she jumps at it. But how can she be a matchmaker when her own love life is lack luster? As she ventures to find love for others, she may find her own love has been in front of her this entire time!

If you enjoyed Emma by Jane Austen you should check out this book! Set in India, Jia is a 20-something Mumbai woman with dreams for her professional career. I really enjoyed Jia and her relationships with other women especially - how they are portrayed as lifting each other up even when they have differences. The first half of the book was somewhat slow for me, and you definitely have to be able to handle quite a few bouts of the miscommunication trope - but that's typical in a friends-to-lover romance. I really enjoyed the second half of the book and loved the Desi-Emma vibes! I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys rom-com type books.

*3.5 stars*

Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publishing date: June 4 2024

I love a good romance. This one has a ton of potential, the characters are a great fit for each other and the side characters are great but I didn’t love it. I did not fall in love with Jaiman nor did I want to be Jia, I barely even related to them.

Both of the main characters lacked additional interests, flaws, and other things to make me feel connected to them. Jia, a romance columnist, was interested in matchmaking and fashion, using shopping as her solace. Jaiman, a pub owner, really only showed interest in his career and Jia.

I did finish the book and would read another book by this author. I think this one showed the potential but I would love to see more character flaws and varied interests because I was not rooting hard for these characters.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for the eARC!

The friends to lovers matchmaking vibes here were SO good! I completely felt immersed into this book, and I couldn't put it down. A really great read!

I was hooked from chapter one!! We get enough background to get insight into the characters and the problems they face without it being too much.

I really struggled with this book. I didn’t find Jia or Jaiman likable at all and didn’t see any chemistry between them. This is presented as a friends-to-lovers, but Jia doesn’t like him. I feel like she feels obligated to like him because her dad does, but in that instance this would have worked better as an enemies to lovers.

I had to force myself to finish the book to see if it got better. It did a little bit, but truthfully it just felt like a ton of repetitive internal dialogue with no real plot. I didn’t care about either character’s career struggles and felt both characters to be whiny. I’d be interested in reading a different book by this author, but this one was a miss for me.

I started off really enjoying this, but ended up with some mixed feelings. It was a quick, super engaging read, and I found myself looking forward to continuing every day. But the longer the story went on, the more I started to miss the chemistry and the connection from Jia's side, and I wish we'd seen more of an emotional build-up towards the relationship from her point of view. I loved Jaiman, and he's painfully pining all throughout the book, but Jia is very focused on other things in the mean time, and for me, her switch towards wanting to be in a relationship with him came on rather suddenly. I do think this is a promising debut romance, and I would be interested in reading more from this author.

This book is utterly delightful. Just like I didn’t know I needed Netflix’s “Indian Matchmaking” until I watched it, I didn't know I needed this romcom set in Mumbai. I wish all of the characters were actual people in my life and all my best friends.

Jia and Jaiman
Childhood friends to lovers
SLOOOW BURN - closed door

Based in Mumbai
Jia - writer for a magazine and her blog. Caretaker but very driven. Can she start her own matchmaking business? Is her advice good enough?
Jaiman - pub owner. All his drinks sound good but…
Miscommunication
Lots of side characters, interesting but a bit difficult to keep up with all of them at times.
Fun, easy summertime read