The Shaadi Set-Up

Rita Chitniss works as a furniture restorer in her small hometown while running a side business writing dating app bios. Her mother and aunties push her toward arranged marriage matches, but Rita resists their efforts. When her ex-boyfriend Milan returns to town as a successful restaurateur, Rita hatches a plan to prove she's moved on. She creates a dating profile for herself and enlists Milan as a consultant, claiming she needs help finding the perfect match. As Rita navigates family expectations and her complex feelings about Milan, she must confront truths about their past relationship and her own patterns in love. Her professional life becomes intertwined with her personal drama when a career opportunity forces her to make difficult choices. The novel explores themes of cultural identity, family traditions, and how the past shapes current relationships. It questions whether people can truly change and what it means to find authentic connection in an age of curated online personas.

Readers found this contemporary romance to be a light, predictable second-chance story. Multiple reviews note the slow pacing in the first half and appreciate the Indian cultural elements woven throughout. Liked: - Authentic portrayal of Indian-American family dynamics - Food descriptions and cooking scenes - Chemistry between main characters - Representation of arranged marriage customs Disliked: - Repetitive internal monologues - Takes too long to develop the central relationship - Main character described as frustrating and immature by many readers - Several plot points feel contrived Ratings: Goodreads: 3.5/5 (6,800+ ratings) Amazon: 3.8/5 (580+ ratings) StoryGraph: 3.5/5 "The cultural aspects saved what would otherwise be a formulaic romance," noted one Amazon reviewer. Multiple Goodreads reviews mention struggling with the protagonist's decision-making but staying engaged for the family dynamics and food descriptions.

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🔹 The term "shaadi" in the title means "marriage" in Hindi and is commonly used to refer to South Asian weddings and arranged marriages. 🔹 Author Lillie Vale wrote this book as part of a growing movement of diverse romance novels featuring South Asian American protagonists navigating both modern dating and cultural traditions. 🔹 The matchmaking industry in India is estimated to be worth over $2.3 billion, blending traditional arrangement practices with modern technology like apps and websites. 🔹 The book explores the "second chance romance" trope, which consistently ranks among the top 5 most popular romance novel themes according to reader surveys. 🔹 The fake dating premise in the novel reflects a real phenomenon where some South Asian Americans hire "rental" dates to appease family pressure about relationships, particularly during cultural events and celebrations.