Match Me If You Can is perfect for fans of Emma! There’s (mis)match making, friends to maybe lovers, and heroines who need to figure out how to stand up for what they want. Keep reading this book review of Match Me If You Can for my full thoughts.
Summary
Confident fashionista Jia Deshpande spends her days writing cliché-ridden listicles for Mimosa, Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. When she can, Jia dishes about the messy truth of real love on her anonymous blog, attends her family’s weekly game nights, and ignores her true feelings for her childhood friend. If that wasn’t enough, Jia needs to successfully set up a coworker with her perfect match to get the green light for her new matchmaking column. Thankfully, organizing meet-cutes has never been difficult for her.
Local pub owner and cocktail genius Jaiman Patil can’t help but be enamored with Jia and her meddling spirit. He’s always been an honorary part of her family, but even more so since his own moved to America. Life with the Deshpandes is chaotic and loud, but it’s also more loving than anything he experienced growing up, and he wouldn’t risk losing that for the world. It feels manageable—until his pub begins to struggle and his long-hidden feelings for Jia grow deeper.
When Jia’s attempts at office matchmaking go haywire, risking new friendships and her relationship with Jaiman, she must reevaluate her own thoughts on love. For the first time, Jia Deshpande realizes that love may be a lot more complicated than she thought. Luckily, happily-ever-afters are never in short supply in Mumbai.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
So while I’m not a huge Emma fan, and Match Me If You Can has many overlapping elements, I ended up enjoying the themes of this one. I liked seeing Jia and Jaiman’s banter and relationship. Part of what I enjoyed in Match Me If You Can was the way that it’s shown you need someone to support us, but also to stand up to us. To have someone who can throw unconditional support, but also know when to question us, make us take a moment, and know when to speak up.
Seeing both of their perspectives not only delivers the romantic angst, but allows us to better see Jia’s decisions. We are also able to see her fear and misunderstandings. The ways she doesn’t want to be a bet, but also her fear of losing Jaiman. Of having a friendship we love never be the same and potential ruined. At the same time, we can appreciate the ways he sees her family as his family, taking care of them, and showing up.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
We can be so convinced, in our lives and for both Jia and Jaiman, that we know what’s best for us. But we can also be so wrong. We can limit ourselves, not believe in ourselves, and not allow ourselves to be open. There’s layers of pride, meddling, and a bit of stubbornness. And we also love to see the moment when the person ends up changing their mind! Match Me If You Can is a sweet and cute romance about taking on change and knowing it’s scary, but can also be worth it.
Find Match Me If You Can on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.