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A young magazine writer in Mumbai must prove her matchmaking skills—and contend with growing feelings for her close family friend—in this debut desi romance.
“A delightful friends-to-lovers romance that will curb your sweet tooth and leave you feeling warm and happy!”—New York Times bestselling author Sarah Adams 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.
A young magazine writer in Mumbai must prove her matchmaking skills—and contend with growing feelings for her close family friend—in this debut desi romance.
“A delightful friends-to-lovers romance that will curb your sweet tooth and leave you feeling warm and happy!”—New York Times bestselling author Sarah Adams 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.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the coverChapter 1
Seven Signs He’s the One.
Jia Deshpande frowned at the blinking cursor, trying to ignore the voice in her head screaming, There is no such thing as “The One”!
Jia looked around discreetly at the other writers in the office typing away at their keyboards before switching to an Incognito tab and logging in to her WordPress account.
New blog post for Love Better with J
Title: There Is No Such Thing as “The One”
Save as draft.
“Hey.”
Jia jumped. She quickly switched tabs to the Mimosa India article she was being paid to write and spun around in her revolving chair to smile at her boss. “Hey, Monica,” she said, her voice as steady as she could make it.
Monica Shroff took a sip from her coffee mug and eyed the mostly empty Word document on the screen before returning her gaze to Jia. “I see you’re working on the One article.”
“Yes—yes, I am,” Jia said, chin up and a confident smile on her face, as an idea came to her that would increase the word count and cut her work in half. “I was actually thinking of getting some readers to chime in, too.”
“Hmm?” Monica raised a brow.
“Like this.” Jia turned back to her screen and typed out, #1: He also tries to keep the spark alive, so it’s not just you doing all the work. “And then we get a reader to talk about how her SO does this, and that makes the article all the more relatable to other readers.”
After a beat, her boss nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Get one of the marketing interns to put out an Instagram post asking people to DM their experiences, then. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?” Jia turned her chair around and faced Monica again. “What’s up?” Her heart thudded. Had somebody found out about her anonymous blog? No, that wasn’t possible. None of her posts had gone viral—yet. And besides, she wasn’t technically doing anything wrong, was she? She’d never named the magazine, herself, or any of her co-workers on it.
“I finally had time to go through your proposal for the new matchmaking column.”
“Oh!” She rubbed the side of her neck, hoping Monica couldn’t hear the racing of her pulse. Finally. Finally! Here was her chance to actually do something worthwhile and meaningful at Mimosa, instead of writing clickbait articles that only made lonely single people feel that much lonelier. Mimosa’s Indian edition had over a million readers, identifying as different genders and sexual orientations. Gone were the days when lifestyle magazines only catered to cis, straight women. The one thing that seventy-three percent of their most engaged readers had in common? They were all single. The “Mimosa Match!” column had the potential to set their readers up with their future partners and sustain their relationships. Jia had been dreaming of this moment since she first started working here, two years ago.
“And what did you think of the proposal?”
A small smile stretched across Monica’s burgundy lips. “It’s an interesting concept. I love the idea of roping in our YouTube videography team too. You’re totally right, our YouTube stats suck, and this might get us more subscribers.” Her mouth puckered. Just as Jia was about to do a celebratory dance in her head, Monica added, “But I don’t know if you have enough credibility to pull this off, Jia. And even if...
Reviews-
April 8, 2024 Hegde’s heartwarming Mumbai-set debut introduces Jia and Jaiman, two formerly close family friends who have grown awkward around each other after sharing a quick but passionate moment at Jia’s sister’s wedding. Their fraught dynamic is further complicated when Jaiman begins spending even more time with Jia’s family after his own moves away. Meanwhile, magazine writer Jia pitches a new column on matchmaking to her boss. After pairing off two of her close family members, Jia has discovered that bringing couples together is her passion and a way to feel closer to her late mother, who found love through a matchmaker. To win over her boss, Jia offers to prove her skill by matching up two of her coworkers, not realizing they’re totally incompatible. As Jia works to bring them together, Jaiman is rightly skeptical of the whole endeavor, which Jia resents—especially after he’s proven right. Jia’s matchmaking attempts keep the pages turning as her own love story with Jaiman simmers in the background. The pair’s gentle friends-to-lovers dynamic will delight readers who like their romances to burn slow. Hegde shows promise. Agent: Rachel Beck, Liza Dawson Assoc. (June)Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that Jaiman moves in with Jia’s family and that Jia’s mother was a professional matchmaker.
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