1. Vansh and Naina have what might be considered an untraditional relationship. Why do you think something like that works so well for them? What in their personalities and histories makes them perfect for each other?
2. In the previous book in this series, Naina was set up as an antagonist figure. Most of the Raje family still sees her in that light. How come Vansh doesn’t?
3. Vansh’s family, while sometimes annoying, is still very important to him. How does his reliance on his family both help and hinder in his quest for independence, respect, and love?
4. Naina and her mother have a very strained relationship. But they also show a great deal of love toward each other. How does each one express her love? What do you imagine their relationship could look like going forward?
5. Do you think it was fair of Naina to call Vansh’s idea an Emma Project? Did your answer change at all over the course of the book?
6. What did you think about Esha and Sid’s budding relationship? How did the more magical elements fit in with the rest of the story?
7. The themes of running away and separation from family run through this novel. Both Vansh and Naina have spent most of their adulthoods living away from their families. What does this homecoming mean for them? What does running away (for the first time) mean to Esha? What about Hari?
8. Vansh’s preoccupation with his looks could be seen as pure egotism. But is there more to it? What do you think lies beneath that?
9. While Naina and Vansh’s relationship in this book is loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma, it also is wholly its own. What do you think Ms. Austen would have thought of Naina and Vansh and the rest of the Raje family?
10. How do you feel about this story as the culmination of the series? What do you imagine comes next for the Rajes?

Behind the Book

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer who starts a series must also end it someday. I always dreaded the day I knew was coming, and saying goodbye to the Rajes is still incredibly hard. It feels like the end of a grand love affair, and I’m struggling to let go. I wrote down the ideas for these books more than eight years ago. I had taken my children to their math tutoring class, and while I sat in the waiting room, I wrote down the premises and themes for the four novels. Pencil to paper, scratching away furiously. Four pages, one for each story. Seeds that would grow into the Raje family and the stories that have filled me up for the past decade. Add to that the fact that, for decades prior, I had been thinking about how to pay homage to Jane Austen and to bring under one story universe the novels that influenced me so significantly.

How do you let that go?