Swati Hegde Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Swati Hegde is a young adult and romance fiction novelist who is known as one of the most passionate and versatile storytellers in the genre. She garnered a wide readership that raved about her heartfelt narratives and relatable characters when she published Match Me If You Can, her debut novel in 2024. From her home in Bangalore, India, Swati loves to write during her free time, even though she has a full-time job as a mindset coach and freelance editor. She is a huge lover of coffee shops from which she does her writing as the steaming mug of tea and the bustling energy help with inspiration. When Hegde is not working with authors or writing her novels, she can be found at karaoke nights belting out her favorite songs. She is also passionate about amplifying Indian voices and stories in her work.

Like most novelists, Swati Hegde has been writing ever since she was a kid and got her start as a seven-year-old. However, it was not until 2017 when she was 21 that her journey toward becoming a published author began. She got into young adult and romance fiction since she had always enjoyed reading such novels. As such, all she wanted was to make others feel the hope and joy of reading such fiction through her work. In 2022, she finally got a literary agent after getting more than 400 rejections and querying for more than five years. The book that would be published was her 6th manuscript which she published under Random House USA. Hegde got the idea for Match Me If You Can from Jane Austen’s fiction which she always dreamed of one day retelling. She particularly loved Emma and how it was so desi and Indian, with the vibes of family, matchmaking, and meddling that it seemed so ripe for a retelling. Even though her debut found a lot of inspiration from Emma by Jane Austen, Swati did all she could to make it her own in her final draft.

While writing was never challenging for Swati Hegde, she had a lot of problems once she was done writing it. A few months before the publishing of Match Me If You Can, her debut novel, she found herself in a very bad place mentally. By that time, she had begun sending early copies to book bloggers but the fear of getting one-star reviews was too much. Moreover, she was scared to hell of how publishing professionals would view her work. Moreover, as an editor, she just could not enjoy any of her writing as she used to instinctively start looking for fixes or issues in her storytelling or writing. The good thing was that she was a mindset coach and used to go to therapy in addition to working with a circle of trusted author friends. Being a naturally anxious and impatient person, she would often coach herself out of the negative mood spirals. As such, the main techniques and tools she learned while studying for her coaching certification came in handy.

Aside from her writing Swati Hegde is an experienced fiction writing coach. She works a day job helping authors plot, write, and edit their works with a mindset that will prevent rejection. By doing this, she helps her students and mentees publish with pride and find the right literary agents. Hegde has amassed more than half a dozen years of experience supporting indie publishers and authors to bring out entertaining and excellent nonfiction and fiction. Besides that, she also offers an online course to help fiction novelists work on their own developmental edits.

Swati Hegde published her debut novel Match Me If You Can in 2024. The work tells the story of Jia Deshpande, a confident fashionista. She needs to prove her matchmaking skills and deal with growing feelings for a close family friend. She usually spends her days writing listicles for a top women’s magazine in Mumbai known as Mimosa. Whenever she can, she writes about the messy truth of real love on her personal blog. Jia also goes to weekly game nights held by her family and tries to keep the feelings she has for her childhood friend under wraps. But then she is informed by her superiors that she has to set up a coworker with the perfect match if she is to be allowed to start a new matchmaking column. The good thing is that she has always been the best at organizing meetups. As for Jaiman Patil, he is a cocktail genius and pub owner who is taken with Jia who has been a family friend for decades. The Deshpandes who he is living with are loud and chaotic but they are more loving than his family ever could be. As such he cannot risk jeopardizing that for anything. But then his feelings grow deeper and his pub starts facing headwinds and he may be forced to do what he had vowed never to do.

Swati Hegde published Can’t Help Faking in Love, her second novel, in 2025. This is the story of Harsha Godbole, a woman who never felt loved by her family, one of the wealthiest and most influential in Bollywood. After studying in the US, she is back in Bangalore hoping to chart her own path. But her dream of making it without family money goes awry when everything she has comes crumbling down. She does not want to attend her cousin’s wedding since she believes she will be seen as a failure who cannot even get a boyfriend. She may just have to make use of her trust fund after all. On the other hand, Veer Kannan decided to become a barista rather than go work in Bollywood, so that he could help out his brother who is in business school. But when one of his funding sources goes bust Veer will need to find a lot of money and very fast. Harsha manages to convince Veer to be her pretend boyfriend at her cousin’s wedding. But then they get more than they bargained for.