by Lillie Vale
From Goodreads:
In this witty and heartfelt rom-com debut for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Emily Henry, and Tessa Bailey, an Indian-American woman signs herself and her boyfriend up for a matchmaking site to prove they’re a perfect match, only to be paired with her ex instead.
High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency.
While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
"A home has a soul of its own and it tends to the people who live there."
I have a weakness for both second chance romance and rom-coms so, of course, I was immediately drawn to The Shaadi Set-Up.
If you're looking for Desi rom-com that's fun, charming and sweet with a huge dose of cuteness from a grumpy French bulldog and an excitable Yorkie-Jack Russell terrier mix, definitely pick this one up! (Yes, I have a soft spot for dogs, who doesn't?!)
I really love the MC, Rita- from her wit, her drive, her independence and her love for Freddie and Harrie, to her passion for furniture restoration. She was such a fun and lovable character!
I actually thought Neil would turn out to be a total jerk. He wasn't. At least not really. But no doubt he's got issues with a capital I. I really liked Rajvee! (Please tell me she's getting her own book!) The Chitnisses I have a love/hate relationship with. But they were definitely a source of some LOLs. All the mention of food (yum!) had me starving. Freddie and Harrie were my favorite. Effin' ADORABLE!
This book was, for the most part, a really enjoyable read. But. I'm not a huge fan of the resolution. I don't buy Milan's explanation about what happened. Honestly? I think he got off too easy. I don't know. It just didn't sit right with me for some reason. If I were Rita I would've dumped Milan so hard and never looked back. (Not that I'm not a fan of Milan. I was rooting for him and Rita from the beginning. They're perfect for each other!)
I look forward to reading more books from Lillie Vale!
I received an ARC via Edelweiss+.
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