Meghna Raman is a middle school teacher and aspiring playwright who has pushed back on her parents strict expectations of her for her entire life. When Meghna finds out that her ex is engaged and reluctantly agrees to be his best man, she agrees to a meeting with a potential match her parents have set up. Karthik Murthy has agreed to a year of meeting matches to appease his mother but has no intention of actually getting married, ever. Meghna and Karthik soon realize the ways a fake engagement could benefit them both. As they grow closer, the lines become blurred and neither can tell what’s real from what’s fake.

This debut completely charmed me from start to finish! I loved Meghna and her determination to stay true to herself in a deeply pressure filled culture. Karthik was the perfect match for her and my heart broke for him when he finally revealed exactly why he was so dead set against marriage. Both Meghna and Karthik were set on breaking generational patterns that didn’t serve them, and I loved watching their bond grow as they supported and encouraged each other to do just that.

Recommended if you enjoy: 💐arranged marriage💍 fake engagement ✈️ catching flights and catching feelings 🪷 aunty culture 🥹 accidentally in love 🥰 each other’s biggest cheerleaders

Out on January 16! Thank you Netgalley and Random House-Ballentine for the advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC of Say You'll Be Mine!

After discovering (via his wedding invitation) that Meghna's one that got away was getting married, when Meghna's mother suggests the possibility of an arranged marriage, Meghna agrees to meet the men her mother suggests. Karthik, on the other hand, has completely sworn off marriage after witnessing how his vile father has treated his mother for his entire life. But since he love his mother so much, he agrees to go on setups for a year even though he knows he will never get married. Karthik tells Meghna he has no intention of ever getting married but a couple days after they meet he calls to ask her to marry him...

I loved Say You'll Be Mine! The grumpy sunshine trope was excellent because Meghna wasn't ridiculously sunny but instead felt like a real person, just one who improves people's lives by being around her. Karthik was also a great character, showing lots of attentiveness to everyone around him: his mother, the intern, and of course Meghna. The story had a lot more depth than many romance novels do. I highly recommend this one.

Meghna is feeling out of sorts after receiving a wedding invitation to a former college boyfriend's wedding. She believes she still has feelings for Seth and knows now that she needs to move on. That's why she agrees to an arranged meeting with Karthik that her mother has set up. Karthik is no stranger to the arranged meetings though it's Meghna's first. This story explored many different relationships and I enjoyed the book. There was never any discussion regarding what happened with Seth at the wedding and I would have like to have seen how Karthik would have responded to what all went down with Seth, Julie and Meghna.

This book is perfect for fans of When Dimple Met Rishi x The Bride Test

What can I say except I ate this book up? I finished it essentially one day. Since I started it late at night I stayed up until 3 am to finish.

Could I probably have put it down? Yes, probably. But did I want to? No.

This was a charming and compelling contemporary romance with a little bit of everything: fake dating/fake engagement, one bed/close proximity, slow-burn romance, and dual POV. I loved the inclusion of Indian culture and foods. I love how our couple grew together and made each other better.

What am I docking one star for then you might ask? The miscommunication! Good god, I was shouting at my phone telling them to JUST BE HONEST. Both of them were so afraid, each for their reasons, afraid to put themselves out there, afraid of what might happen down the line etc. It was almost down to the end before they finally got themselves together. Thank goodness for their supportive friends and families who helped them get their shit together.

But as someone who dislikes the miscommunication trope, still thoroughly liked this book. And I think that says a great deal in favor of it.

First off, this was a fun and quick read. The romance was cute too, and I loved the cultural representation.

However, the constant misunderstandings got too much for me and took from my enjoyment. They just dragged too much for most of the story.

I would have also appreciated more showing and less telling because I felt like the romance happened in the background. More of their phone conversations, banter in texts, content of letters and song lyrics which played a pretty big part.

Still, a commendable debut. And I would like to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for a chance to read an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book but it went by so quick! The pacing was fast and made the story feel rushed, when it could have benefited from more time to breathe. It was a fun and enjoyable read and one I would recommend.

Thank you @prhaudio & @berkleyromance for my review copies!
Say You’ll Be Mine was my first read of 2024 and it was an amazing start to my reading year! Author Naina Kumar utilized my current favorite trope - fake dating/engagement - to tell a sizzling and swoony story full of rom com hijinks. I absolutely adored the two main characters, as well as their surrounding cast of friends, and hope we get more of their stories!

One trope that you quickly find out about is one that rarely works for me, but did in this circumstance. When the main character has a friend or romantic partner who is clearly using them or somehow just being toxic, I have such a hard time reading about it. In this case, you get to know about Meghna’s relationship with Seth, and you can see how she missed the signs that things had gone awry. This plot line was SO satisfying!

The romance was fantastic! You have a little grumpy/sunshine, a little opposites attract, and a lot of fake dating (but he is definitely falling fast).

🎧 Narrator Soneela Nankani was an excellent choice for this book. Her narration brought life to all of the characters.

What I read, I enjoyed, but I don't know if it's my sickness that's been going on for too damn long or if it's the way the book is written that's making me take so long to read it. I feel like, respectfully, I have to DNF for now and return at some other point to see if it's just a timing issue or my issue. I am excited to see Meghna and Karthik get together, though, as they do seem like fun characters. Will update the review when finished!

If you’re looking for a quick, fun read that captures the same feelings as My Best Friend’s Wedding, When Harry Met Sally, and other classic romantic comedies - with an Indian twist - this one is for you!

When I say that I binged this book, I mean that I picked this up and finished the book in one sitting. I couldn’t get enough of the sexual tension and swoony interactions that were happening between Karthik and Meghna from their very first introductions on the page. I absolutely adored not only the romance, but the subplot about putting yourself first and chasing your dreams with courage.

I also loved how Kumar made Indian culture a huge centerpiece of this novel. She showed the side of “arranged marriages” that we often aren’t exposed to in our dominant white, Christian culture which I think is so important. And, she did it all without fetishizing or making a caricature of the culture as well which I really appreciated.

Naina Kumar hit it out of the park with this sweet and witty novel. Definitely a must read for anyone looking for a sweet romance with quirky family dynamics and boatload of culture!

I was pleasantly surprised that the dual perspective worked for me even though the dialogue went back and forth in each chapter. The storyline was very entertaining with Maghna and Karthiks opposing personalities. I love the therapy positivity and complex family problems that were addressed and not excused.

The miscommunication and third act breakup was a bit of a let down but I enjoyed the book overall. I look forward to Naina Kumars future novels.

Thank you to Netgaley and Radom house Publishing group for and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightful story! I was drawn in right away because the characters are so likable. . Meghna and Karthik meet through their parents with the hope of an arranged marriage. They don’t exactly hit it off but they agree to have a false engagement in order to get their parents off their backs. The false engagement will benefit them because Meghna will have a date for the wedding of her ex boyfriend and Karthik can appear to be committed in order to further his work opportunities.
What follows next is a wonderful love story of two people who learn from each other what it really means to love someone.
This book would make an excellent romantic comedy movie. The supporting characters are interesting also.

This was a great debut! It had the movie Made of honor vibes . I loved the characters! I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Naina Kumar is a debut author to keep an eye on.

Meghna is in a sticky situation as she receives her best friend, Seth's, wedding invite and ask to be "best man". Karthik is in need of escape after going on his eighth arranged date. While Meghna and Karthik's "date" ended with low expectations, Karthik immediately let's others know he's engaged to her. She agrees to be engaged IF he is her plus one to Seth's wedding. No feelings; just outings. But soon enough, one of them will be wishing it could be real.

I tandem listened and followed along with my kindle arc of Say You'll Be Mine. The audio, narrated by Soneela Nankani, brought another flavor to this cultural tale. I love that PRH audio picked an Indian narrator and didn't just randomly select someone to narrate! Say You'll Be Mine had good pacing and I wanted to keep listening to discover how the story would end up. I got some Maid of Honor movie vibes (the Patrick Dempsy one) and had to finish it on the kindle when I couldn't listen anymore. There were characters I was rooting for and a situation I hoped, fingers crossed, came true. I appreciated that Kumar didn't just drop these main characters onto the page but rather gave them depth. I wish we could have seen more at the end with both but was pleased with the epilgoue. Can't wait to see what's next for Kumar...maybe a story in this same world (best friends brother??)

Thank you PRH audio and Random House Ballentine for my alc and earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This rom com was delightful. Meghna and Karthik decide to get fake engaged to avoid an Ex’s wedding and their parent’s meddling. Despite, Karthik not believing in love or marriage, his walls slowly come down and soon enough both sides realize their feelings are no longer fake.

The tension between Meghna and Karthik was written very well. The story is slow burn but I didn’t mind. The Indian culture representation was refreshing. It reminded me of Sara Desai’s books (in the best way)

My one critique is that Karthik felt and read neurodivergent but it was never discussed on page. I’d love to see some neurodivergent representation.

Read if you like:
🇮🇳Indian culture representation
🧑🏽‍💻Engineering
🎶Songwriting
💒Arranged marriages
😍Fake dating
😛Revenge dating
💕Mutual pining
🛏️One bed
❤️‍🔥Slow burn

What a fabulous debut by Naina Kumar! I thoroughly enjoyed Say You’ll Be Mine and read it in 2 days. The characters were well developed, and the cultural aspects were very interesting as I don’t happen to know a great deal about Indian traditions. The families were very involved and far from perfect, but they seemed invested in a good life for Meghna and Karthik. Meghna was lovely and very easy to root for. I appreciated her theatre love. Karthik was harder to like at first, but he really became so endearing.

Both characters are uninterested in arranged marriage and agree to a “pretend” engagement in order to satisfy some needs and commitments in their respective lives. But one of them really does like the overall concept of falling in love and marrying while the other is reticent and cynical. The growing chemistry was fabulous and I bought that they were genuinely falling for each other. The “villains” in their lives were effectively polarizing while not being cartoonishly over the top. The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the constant misunderstandings. Meghna and Karthik were very insecure and jumped to emotional conclusions quickly! But I did appreciate the epilogue as it was satisfying and pretty realistic while still being incredibly charming.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Such an incredibly cute debut romance novel! It totally sucked me in from the first page and I devoured it in less than a day.

Meghna and Karthik agree to a fake engagement after being introduced through their parents’ matchmaking. Meghna needs help to get through an ex’s wedding, and Karthik is trying avoid an onslaught of arranged meetups and constant pressure from his mom to find a partner, despite his vehement stance he will never get married. Not surprisingly, these two hotties catch feelings but self doubt and miscommunication ensues.

I loved this slow build relationship (no insta love here!), it made their love and personal growth feel so genuine and authentic. Some of the miscommunication drove me a little crazy, but overall this was such a fun, bingeworthy read.

Tropes & Themes:
*grumpy x sunshine
*fake engagement
*slow burn / friends to lovers
*one bed
*Indian representation
*HEA!

Thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Say You’ll Be Mine made me swoon a couple times which is absolutely the sign of a fun romance! Meghna has recently learned that her best friend (who she has secretly been in love with) is getting married and he’s asked her to be the best man. Of course she said yes but she’s not looking forward to it.

Then her parents introduce her to Karthik and they realize a fake engagement might help them both out. He could stop spending every weekend visiting prospective wives with his mother and she could have a date to the wedding.

There was a lot going on in this stories and a couple times it was frustrating and felt too over the top or frustrating miscommunication - but ultimately the good really outweighed those moments for me and I’m looking forward to reading whatever Naina Kumar writes next! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

What a fun debut! I enjoyed this game engagement, grumpy vs. sunshine, slow-burn romance. Thank you Random house and Netgalley for my copy.

I genuinely liked this book. I would say the worst part is how hungry I was reading about the delicious Indian food the characters were having. I do love books that immerse me in other cultures and Meghna and Karthik were both likable main characters that were easy to root for. There was a little frustration over Meghna’s blind infatuation of Seth and the end result seemed a touch too easily remedied but it wasn’t drug out or entirely unbelievable. I loved the mamas and of course, Meghna’s dad. The differences and similarities in their families and how it affected each of them in their romantic life was portrayed well and made the book all the more interesting.

I am surprised this was a debut novel. It was very well written and easy to immerse yourself in the story. Overall, it’s lighthearted, fun, and charming. Definitely recommend for readers who enjoy that type of read and who love…. love. I will definitely keep my eye out for future novels from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for the ARC!

Read This Book If…you enjoyed Dating Dr. Dil!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

Genre: romance
Spice Level: 3/5🌶, 1-2 open door scenes
Setting: NYC & Dallas
POV: dual, 3rd person, past tense
Tropes: fake engagement, one bed, slow burn

My Thoughts: This was such a fun, steamy read! I felt the MMC had a strong arc and further to go, but I also really enjoyed the FMC. The addition of Desi culture and parental expectations made this a very poignant read. Meanwhile, the fake dating hijinks and mutual lust made for a fabulous rom com!

Memorable Quote: “Not every marriage has love.” “I know that, but mine will.”