***I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.***
Emma gets a fresh Indian-American twist from award-winning author Sonali Dev in her heartwarmingly irresistible Jane Austen inspired rom com series.
No one can call Vansh Raje’s life anything but charmed. Handsome—Vogue has declared him California’s hottest single—and rich enough to spend all his time on missions to make the world a better place. Add to that a doting family and a contagiously sunny disposition and Vansh has made it halfway through his twenties without ever facing anything to throw him off his admittedly spectacular game.
A couple years from turning forty, Knightlina (Naina) Kohli has just gotten out of a ten-year-long fake relationship with Vansh’s brother and wants only one thing from her life…fine, two things. One, to have nothing to do with the unfairly blessed Raje family ever again. Two, to bring economic independence to millions of women in South Asia through her microfinance foundation and prove her father wrong about, well, everything.
Just when Naina’s dream is about to come to fruition, Vansh Raje shows up with his misguided Emma Project... And suddenly she’s fighting him for funding and wondering if a friends-with-benefits arrangement that’s as toe-curlingly hot as it is fun is worth risking her life’s work for.
The Emma Project by Sonali Dev is the fourth book in her popular The Rajes Series and can be easily read as a stand-alone book. This Emma retelling is wonderful, and I enjoyed every second of reading.
Vansh Raje is the youngest of the Raje’s siblings and has lived a charmed life. Doted on by his big sisters, and mentored by his big brother, Vansh has everything a young man needs. Dubbed The Little Prince by his sisters, Vansh grew up with a charming personality and a positive attitude. He spends his time working on charitable projects, but his latest project was working on his brother’s campaign for governor of California.
Knightlina (Naina) Kohli is recovering from a dramatic and public breakup from Vansh’s brother, Yash, after a ten-year fake relationship. Although the fake relationship was mutual, the Raje family seems to blame her for breaking up with Yash, and she feels isolated from the family she always admired and grew up with. She grew up under the cruelty of her father, and a mother who wouldn’t intervene, so she had decided never to marry and have her own family. She only wants to continue working at her foundation which brings economic security to women all over the world.
Naina is just about to secure funding for her dream project from a wealthy benefactor when Vansh shows up and diverts some of the funds to a project he wants to pursue in San Fransisco. Angry that Vansh is working to “steal” her funding, she finally realizes that working with Vansh is the only way to secure funding for her own projects.
I enjoyed this enemies to lovers story very much. Vansh is so charming and relaxed, a total opposite to Naina’s uptight and closed-off personality. Naina has so many deep emotional wounds, and it was gratifying to see how her relationship with Vansh opened her up and allowed her to heal.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
About Sonali Dev
USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev writes Bollywood-style love stories that explore universal issues. Her novels have been named Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, NPR, the Washington Post, and Kirkus. She has won numerous accolades, including the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the RT Reviewer Choice Award for best contemporary romance, multiple RT Seals of Excellence, has been a RITA® finalist, and has been listed for the Dublin Literary Award. Shelf Awareness calls her “Not only one of the best but one of the bravest romance novelists working today.”
She lives in Chicagoland with her husband, two visiting adult children, and the world’s most perfect dog.
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed The Emma Project! It sounds like a great read filled with wonderful characters. I like that you can also read this as a standalone even though it’s book #4. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed this one! This series hasn’t worked for me personally for whatever reason, but it’s such a great concept and I’m glad that a lot of people are enjoying these books!
Oh this sounds so good! I like that it’s an homage to Emma without being a strict retelling.
This sounds fantastic and I’m sure i’ll enjoy this series. adding to wish list. Amazing review!
The enemies-to-lovers trope is one of my favorites. I’m glad you liked this one so much. I’ll have to check out the series.
Thank you, Jenni!
Somtimes a good romance is all one needs
Exactly! Thank you!
Enemies to lovers is a fun trope when done right. Glad to hear this was the case!
Thank you, Rachel.
Excellent review, Wendy!!!
Thank you, Jolene!
Enemies to Lovers is one of my favourite tropes so this one sounds like one I need to add to my reading list! Great review. Thanks for sharing Wendy!
Thank you, Jodie!
I love enemies to lovers. All the reviews I have read for this have been stellar.
It’s a lot of fun. Thank you, Kimberly!
So happy to see you enjoyed this one! It’s on my tbr. Great review!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Dedra!
Good review, Wendy!
Thank you, Linda!
Sounds fun! Hope you have a nice weekend.
Thank you, Greg. Hope you have a nice weekend too!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed The Emma Project! It sounds like a great read filled with wonderful characters. I like that you can also read this as a standalone even though it’s book #4. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you!
You have had a lot of great reads lately!
Thank you, Cindy!
Great review 😊 I used to love reading Emma, haven’t read any retelling yet though 💕
Thank you, Jenny.
Glad you enjoyed this one! This series hasn’t worked for me personally for whatever reason, but it’s such a great concept and I’m glad that a lot of people are enjoying these books!
It sure isn’t for everyone and I can see why not everyone enjoys this series. Thanks, Amanda.
Lovely review Wendy. I need to check this series out!🤗📚☕🌞💜
It’s a very good series, A bit steamy, but I love all the Indian culture in these books as well as the stories.
I’m usually wary of Austen retellings but this series does sounds cute and nicely done.
Thank you, Mallika. This one doesn’t track very close to Jane Austen’s Emma book at all, but I still enjoyed it.