The Shaadi Set-Up

Starred review from May 10, 2021
YA author Vale (Small Town Hearts) makes a splash with her laugh-out-loud adult debut. Furniture restorer Rita Chitniss is dating Neil Deiwan, but they’re keeping their relationship a secret due to the bad blood between their families. When Neil, who finds it hard to say no to his pushy, matchmaking mother, insists they come clean, Rita devises a plan. She signs them both up for MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking website famous for seeing couples down the aisle. When she and Neil are matched by the site’s foolproof algorithm, she reasons, their parents will have no choice but to accept them as a couple. Except the site doesn’t match Rita with Neil; it matches her with realtor Milan Rao, the man who broke her heart six years ago. Maternal meddling further pushes these exes back together when Rita’s mother offers Rita’s services as an interior designer on a property Milan is having trouble flipping. Rita agrees to the project, but only to prove to Milan how over him she is. This plan also backfires, as one house turns to two and their relationship evolves from business to pleasure. Vale evenly balances heart and heat, while imbuing her rom-com with cultural specificity and delicately exploring familial obligation and heartbreak. Hilarious and heartfelt, this second chance romance proves it’s never too late to start again. Agent: Jessica Waterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

July 1, 2021
A woman is given a second chance at first love. On the surface, Rita Chitniss is thriving. She runs Dharma Designs, a furniture upcycling business that has become so popular in her North Carolina community that her internet-famous neighbors clamor for her pieces. Her boyfriend, Neil Dewan, is handsome, successful, and ready to settle down. And she's got two dogs, Freddie and Harrie, whom she adores. But Rita has a big problem: Neil is the son of Amar Dewan, the man Rita's mother once hoped to marry--before Amar left her for Neil's mother. Because of the bad blood between their families, Rita is determined to keep her relationship a secret. But when she shows up at her parents' for lunch to find her mother has also invited her ex-boyfriend Milan Rao, now a real estate agent who needs help flipping an unsellable house, Rita agrees to the project only to prove that she's over him. To cement the idea, she signs herself and Neil up for famed Desi dating site MyShaadi, hoping that when they're matched their families will bless the relationship. Instead, she matches with Milan. And when one house-flip turns to two, their proximity brings old feelings to the surface. The writing has some standout moments, from the author's celebration of Indian American culture to her lush and mouthwatering descriptions of food. But too much space is taken up rehashing Rita's feelings about the past, resulting in minimal romantic chemistry and characters who feel one-note--including Rita's best friend, Rajvee, who's described as genderfluid but gets no on-page exploration of their identity beyond that. This rom-com could have used a better setup.

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August 1, 2021

High school sweethearts are thrown back together as adults by their matchmaking mothers in this sweet second-chance romance (Vale's first novel for adults, after her YA romance Small Town Hearts). Interior designer Rita Chitniss has never understood why her high school boyfriend Milan Rao broke up with her by voicemail six years ago, while she waited for the plane that was supposed to take them on a romantic trip to Europe. Now Rita's mother has volunteered her to help real estate broker Milan sell a stagnant listing. Rita hopes she can dodge this latest matchmaking attempt by proving that she's already dating her perfect match, in boyfriend Neil. All she needs is to be paired with Neil on the Desi matchmaking site MyShaadi.com to show that they're meant to be. But MyShaadi matches Rita with Milan instead, forcing her to reevaluate her past with Milan, her present relationship with Neil, and her mother's motivations. VERDICT Vale's bittersweet, slow-burn story of lost love and difficult choices is lightened by plenty of humor and charming characters. It will please fans of Jasmine Guillory, Sonali Dev, or Tessa Bailey's "Hot & Hammered" series of renovation-themed romances.--Meagan Day, High Plains Lib. Dist., CO

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Starred review from August 1, 2021
Indian American Rita Chitness is busy building her furniture restoration business while trying to keep her boyfriend, Neil, a secret from her family. After all, Neil's father rejected Rita's mother years ago. Now Neil wants them to go public, and Rita comes up with the idea of having them both register with MyShaadi.com, a respected Indian matchmaking site. She thinks no one will question their match if it's presented as a pairing there. What could go wrong? Her first love and first boyfriend, Milan Rao, now running a realty agency, has a house-staging job for her; she then discovers that she's been matched with him instead of Neil! Even so, she agrees to take on a beach house restoration project for Milan, too, and finds herself spending weekends with him in that lovely home, discovering furniture at thrift stores and enjoying time together. She doesn't want Milan to break her heart again, but she can't stop thinking about him, either. Vale's sweet, slow-building, funny, second-chance love story, her debut romance novel, offers lush settings, a clever and amusing predicament, and a memorable match.

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