I loved this book, it was so cute. I loved how it was set in Mumbai and all the characters were very relatable to me.

This was a fun, modern take on Jane Austen's Emma. Jia, much like her inspiration, was hard to like at times, but ultimately reached the right character development eventually. Also, much like the original work, Jaiman was the highlight of the book (as was Mr Knightley in the original). He was open, warm, kind and engaging throughout.

If I'm being totally honest though, I was more invested in the friendships around the couple than the couple themselves. They had chemistry, but I think the will-they-won't-they of it all just burned a little too slowly for me to remain completely interested.

I also struggled a little with the setting and the culture of it all. I can't claim to have any familiarity with Indian culture, so it could just be that I have incorrect expectations, but the story felt very Americanised for being set in India and that was a little jarring to me.

All in all, it was a fun, cozy, easy read, but it didn't grab my attention in the way that I expected it to from the blurb.

Jia Deshpande works as a journalist at women’s magazine, Mimosa, but in her spare moments she is the anonymous author of a romance blog. She is hoping to set up her own dating agency and suggests writing a dating column to her boss who wants proof of her matchmaking skills. This results in Jia trying to persuade her co-worker to let her find love. All this happens on a background of her ignoring her feelings for her childhood friend Jaiman. Colourful and fluffy with strong parallels to Jane Austen’s Emma/Clueless.

The cultural element and differing locations to one I usually jave my have my romances set was an extra layer for me. I enjoyed the reference to how differing countries,families and cultures act both in life, business and relationships. But also the similarities. Mainly though that yes that old age is true...love is love.
It's told from our male and female's leads Pov. And I really liked how they both had their own dreams and then how they eqch had their own fall back and baggage.
Their friendship to lovers was an authentic one. It was a.really nice read and I felt it had so much depth. And I liked the support you genuinely thought these two would give each other. And I was definitely rooting for them.

I really liked this book as it was a familiar premise but set in a different culture to the one with which I am familiar.
Jia and Jaiman live in Mumbai and have been friends all their lives. Jia works as a writer for a romance magazine but secretly writes a blog about love. Her dream is to become a matchmaker and she is spurred on by the successful arranging of matches for an aunt and her sister, but can she achieve thee same result for a colleague?
Jaiman has defied his father's wish that he moves to America to join the family business. Instead he has followed his dream of owning his own pub, but things are not going as well as he would like, especially when his archenemy opens a bar next door.
The story is told from both Jia and Jaiman's point of view and charts the feelings and misunderstandings of both in an amusing way. The characters are well portrayed and draw you into the story.
Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of romance but want to try something a little different.

This is such a great romance, blending friends to lovers and pining against the vibrant backdrop of Mumbai.

The characters were fantastic, I loved Jia's ambition and her resilience in trying to matchmake friends and colleagues whilst also balancing her passion with her blog amidst a hectic career. The dynamic with Jia and Jaiman was great, and how they compliment each other.

The tension builds slowly, and Jaiman's struggle with his feelings for Jia as well as his commitment and passion to maintaining his pub. The food references and the cocktails were fantastic, the south asian touches were so good.

The backdrop of Mumbai, with its rich, diverse culture and tight-knit communities, adds an authentic layer to the story. The family dynamics and friendship circles are heartwarming and shows the importance of belonging and support.

A really fun read.

I thought the premise and setting were both fun but unfortunately, I just didn't gel with the writing style. I didn't feel much romantic tension between the two main characters (also I know it was explained but it bothered me that their names were so similar).

Unfortunately I didn’t get on with this book as I’d hoped.

An interesting premise and it’s always great to see representation but sadly it was a bit disappointing and I had to skim read a lot to get through it.

Charming, funny and completely relatable. This is such a delightful romcom and is a perfect read for me.

I enjoyed this book. It’s such a fun twist to the match making trope and I got a strong ‘Emma’ vibes while reading.
The friendship that grows into love is sweet and I feel like the time spent together over the years makes them already feel together.
Jia is really loveable!!

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a cute friends-to-lovers story that was giving early 2000s rom-com vibes. The Dual POV was great to get to know both main characters and learn about their developing relationship. I loved Jia’s matchmaking attempts even though she could sometimes be a little bit stubborn and Jaiman’s cooking and his cocktail creations sounded delicious. Jia’s experiences with being single were so relatable and it was great to read a romcom with such a strong female character. The side characters were also so loveable (go Manoj) and I loved that there were strong female friendships.
The one thing I didn’t enjoy too much was the miscommunication/lack of communication sometimes (though it fit the early 2000s rom-com vibes) but that is also just a personal preference.
I would definitely recommend this book if you are in the mood for a cute romance with strong (but stubborn) MCs and loveable side characters.

Match Me If You Can

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is an ARC review and this book releases February 27th.

"It's hard to say. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. It's been years, decades, I... I can't remember a time I wasn't in love with you."

This is a contemporary desi romance novel. The story follows Jia, a young magazine writer in Mumbai who works for the city's top women's magazine, Mimosa. Jia is known for her confidence and fashion, but she secretly writes about real love on her anonymous blog. Jia's life gets more complicated when she has to prove her matchmaking skills to get approval for a new column. She decides to set up her coworker with her perfect match, but things don't go as planned. Throughout the process, Jia's feelings for her childhood friend, Jaiman Patil, who is also a pub owner and cocktail genius, start to grow deeper.

This was a delightful and really different romance for me. Set against the bustle and vibrancy of Mumbai, I loved the descriptive nature of the city, the food, the fashion - it was all consuming and a breath of fresh air. It was a heart warming slow burn, friends to lovers story and the found family vibes plus the hilarious mishaps and banter between characters all made for a sweet, feel good read. A highlight for me was also how it was written through dual POV but also blog posts which was unique and fun.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bedford Square Publishers and Swati Hegde for allowing me to ARC read for ‘Match Me If You Can.’

First, the cover for this book is beautiful! I love the rich colours and how they ‘pop’ so much.

I found it interesting that this is marketed as a RomCom, because I didn’t really get comedic vibes from it.

I really enjoyed the story and I got such lovely ‘all you really need in life is love’ vibes from it.
The one thing I didn’t like was Jia, the FMC. She was hugely unlikeable and incredibly selfish. Thankfully, Jaiman more than made up for her terrible character, and I found him largely relatable and likeable.

The ‘found family’ trope was so heartwarming, and I thought that was a lovely addition to this book.

I thought this was paced well, and I WISH I could try all of those drinks out!

I’d recommend adding this one to your TBR.

Sadly I found this book so hard to gel with that I ended up skim reading it, and wouldn’t have even bothered to do that had I not been intrigued how the end would play out with it being a modern retelling of Emma. I found the author’s writing style to be quite juvenile, and it didn’t hold my attention. I normally love retellings of Austen novels, and novels set outside the USA/UK but found this attempt rather lacklustre. Sadly I cannot recommend

First of all what a beautiful cover. It instantly caught my eye. I also loved the fashionista storyline. It reminded me of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. I loved the characters and how our love interest finds solace in Jia especially with the background he comes from. I absolutely loved their chemistry and banter.