I’m sorry but this one was not for me. I was so bored through all that I read, I just couldn’t slog through any more of it. There is no reason the two main characters can’t just get together. And yet, they don’t. There isn’t even good tension, or banter to make the wait more bearable.

This was a very fun time! I'm very grateful that I got approved for the ARC because I've seen so little about this book and I don't know if I ever would've heard about it otherwise! Which is such a shame because I had a great time with it.

First of all, shout out to the cover artist. What a BEAUTIFUL cover.

This book was a bit slow going and took me awhile to really get into. But once I did get into it, I really did enjoy it. That being said, most of that enjoyment was for Jaiman. I really enjoyed him as a character and wanted to see him thrive and be happy. I did not feel quite as strongly about Jia, mostly cause her trying to push this relationship between her coworker and this jerk of a guy who didn't care about her was so frustrating (no clue how she didn't see it, but ok?) But Jaiman deserved the world and I kept reading for him.

This book may not go down as one of my favorite reads of the year, but I am going to keep an eye out for Swati Hegde and what we get from her in the future. She feels like one to watch out for.

This was a great Emma retelling romance debut set in Mumbai that stars a Desi magazine writer and secret matchmaker who tries to set up her friends and is completely oblivious to the childhood friend who is secretly pining for her. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Sonali Dev. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I can't wait to read more from Swati Hegde!!

Steam level: closed door/kissing only

DNF’d this book!

Unfortunately this book was not for me! I think the concept was a cool one but I simply did not connect with the story nor the characters!

I hate the miscommunication trope more than words can say. If there's one trope I wish would cease to exist, it would be the miscommunication trope. This book wasn't bad because of the MMC and learning more about the Indian culture, but I didn't like this book too much either. All the platonic friendships, side character romantic relationships, and fatherly relationships were more entertaining than the main romance, and I didn't want to read a book about friendship. I wanted a real romance, and I did not get that.

This book was adorable! I loved the characters and the story. It is definitely a slow burn which I know doesn't work for everyone. But I really enjoyed it. I look to more from this author!

This was a super quick and fun read. I loved the first half but didn’t totally feel the chemistry between Jia and Jaiman. However, I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author!!

Match Me If You Can has a lot of potential. Friends to lovers. Desi Romance,

But it fell a bit short. The FMC is unfortunately not very likeable. She treats a very sweet colleague like too much of a pet project to boost the FMC's ego and ambition. The FMC treats the MMC poorly throughout most of the book. The MMC is trying to support the FMC, be patient with her, even amidst his own struggles and dreams.

The book is filled with the miscommunication trope (not a favorite of mine) and there's virtually no romance and when it happens, you're not sure if you want it for the MMC after all.

I think this book will land with a good amount of readers, however, I don't feel like I was the target audience. I look forward to seeing how the author continues to develop stories in the future.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was perfectly fine and was enjoyable but forgettable. I didn't realize it going in but this is basically a Emma/Clueless retelling. I've read other retellings before but for some reason in this book I spent most of it just waiting for the next plot point that I remember to come up. It's not that I wasn't enjoying what I was reading it, I just wanted to get there faster.

3.5 stars rounded down

I love any book that has inspiration from Jane Austen's work. this book gave me slight Emma vibes. Im not a big fan of the friends to lovers trope but this book was good and I didn't mind it. I love the slow burn and overall the romance was great! will definitely check our more of this authors work.

Prepare yourself to be transported to Mumbai to meet Jia and Jaiman. Match Me If You can is a slow burn that is cute and will have you engaged. Hedge’s writing style is addictive that has you reading rapidly to know what happens next.

Match Me If You Can is the story of Jia, a magazine writer in Mumbai who desires to be a modern matchmaker. Her family friend Jaiman runs a local bar, and they are both attracted to one another. When reading a romance I'm actually reading for the characters, for the background, etc. Match Me If You Can is a solid read all the way around.

I enjoyed the background of the bar and the magazine and the lead characters were easy to root for. The side characters were also appealing so that added a layer of enjoyment. All in all a very fun read by a new author.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This book is available now.

MATCH ME IF YOU CAN - SWATI HEGDE

3.5⭐

PLOT
Set in Mumbai, Jia works for a women's magazine while secretly writing and anonymous blog talking about messy truth of true love. She always dreamt of starting her own matchmaking column and tries to set up her co-worker.
Jaiman is Jias childhood BF a local pub owner whose an expert at making cocktails. He considers Jia's family as his own and so he tries to hide his true feelings for Jia to avoid risking his entire world untill his pub is struggling to stay afloat.
Jias matchmaking at work backfires and her relationship with jaiman under stress Jia must evaluate her own thoughts on love and it's not as complicated as it seems.

MY THOUGHTS
Match me if You can is set in my hometown and appreciate authors portrayal of the city and its characters there are quite real and true.
This is a slow burn friends to lovers romance where Jaiman has deep feelings for Jia but Jia is clueless as one can be.
I didn't like Jia's character as inspite of writing about love and wanting to match people couldn't have an honest conversation with Jaiman inspite of being together so often and see what's in front of her.
I actually liked Jaimans character more..he was honest and passionate esp in making cocktails and pursues it earnestly.
Overall a cute one time read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, authors are still so in love with the miscommunication trope and it truly ruined this book for me. I also could not stand Jai’s personality. She had no personality growth or development and this isn’t a relationship I can see lasting.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this upcoming book! This was a decent enough palette cleanser in between darker reads and grittier reads.

Pretty cute and very sweet story about childhood friends to lovers. Jia is an aspiring matchmaker and jaiman owns a local pub. They do take a frustratingly long time to have just one productive conversation. Is it perfect? No. Is it a cute, fluffy romance? For sure.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I was going into this with high hopes and I was disappointed. It was very slow for me and not blown away. I do understand where the author was going with it but I was not blown away.

I am a huge Emma/Clueless fan and this was Clueless for the 21st Century and set in India. Jia is literality Cher Horowitz reincarnated. She is sassy, rich, way ditzy and full of herself but also kind, caring and just over the top fun. I love a book that has a match maker scheme in them and this was interesting because Clueless Jia wants to be a matchmaker.. Jia wants to set up friend, thinks she know who is perfect and is a little blinded by red flags and prestigious instead of really seeing what is there. Hilarity ensues and while growing up a little and realizing she may have more things to learn, she realizes she is in love with her childhood best friend. I swear there were so many scenes where all I could hear was Alicia Silverstone's voice as she said her iconic lines.
So was this story new and different, no. I didn't find the setting all that amazing. I know it takes place in Mumubi there was nothing that made me really feel a connection to the setting. Were the characters amazing or different, not really. JIa was super fun but I didn't feel a lot of feeling for Jaiman. The dual POV didn't work all that great for me. and I almost think it would have been better if we didn't know what he was thinking. I
I am saying 4 stars because half stars aren't option, but this is a solid 3 to 3 1/2 and I will be keeping my eye on this I am going to keep my eye this author. She has a young and easy writing style that make for great books. This was a really fun and easy book and made me want to watch Clueless for the millionth time.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I had a hard time finishing this book. I understand that the main character is supposed to be selfish, spoiled, and clueless about love (even though she deems herself an expert) since it is based off of Emma, but she was just hard to root for.

I did enjoy the setting and would pick up another book from Swati Hegde in the future.

4 ⭐️
This was such a cute story! At first I thought this was a miscommunication story, but turns out it was more repressed feelings and not really communicating.
I loved the culture aspects of the story, and definitely want to read more desi romances!
The FMC was referred to clueless a lot, and I thought that was very accurate description. I don’t think I would classify this as a rom-com, but it was a sweet story. I did think one thing was very predictable, but it’s a romance novel so why wouldn’t it be?

I definitely recommend if you like any of the below features:
🥀Friends to lovers
🥀Dual, 3rd person POV
🥀Writer/Bar Owner
🥀Slow burn
🥀Indian culture
🥀Mumbai
🥀Repressed feelings