Meghna and Karthik don’t have any plans to get married… but when an engagement will benefit them both, they decide to fake one.

Karthik never wants to be married. So when his mom negotiates for arranged marriage match-ups, he finds himself desperate to get out of the set-ups. When Meghna is one of those matches, he decides she’ll be his way out.
On the other hand, Meghna didn’t get a favorable first impression from him but when he proposes the arrangement, she needs a plus-one to her best friend’s wedding where she is best man (and in love with the groom).

There’s a lot of complicated feelings going on, and it certainly seems touch-and-go for our couple at times. At first they are strictly business, and Karthik is very clearly in denial about his feelings from the start. As with all the best romances though, readers know these two are meant for each other.

This story is very cute! Lots of moments that had my heart a-flutter. One funny thing of note is that there are many more engagements and proposals than I expected. And the language puns made me chuckle. Fun, sweet, and a great use of the fake dating trope, this romance is one you’ll want to read!

This was so good! I had a huge smile on my face while reading this and didn't want it to end. One of the best fake engagement/relationship romances I've read in awhile! I found the characters compelling and authentic and the storyline as plausible as it could be given the trope. Definitely add to your TBR!!

Say You'll Be Mine comes out next week on January 16, 2024, and you can purchase HERE!

Meghna blinked, completely stunned. She'd never agreed to anything like this before. In fact, it was rare that her parents ever brought up the topic of arranged marriage. They'd found love on their own and expected that she'd do the same. But after she'd turned twenty-eight earlier this year, they'd begun to dial up the pressure. Making comments about her dating life that they probably thought were subtle, but were just hurtful reminders that even though she wanted to find the right person, she hadn't managed it yet. But those small comments and hints were usually as far as her parents went. They had never seriously brought a rishta, a potential marriage proposal, to her.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine/Dell and Naina Kumar for an ARC of Say You'll Be Mine in exchange for an honest review.

Naina Kumar is not an author I was previously familiar with but this gorgeous, colorful cover art immediately grabbed my attention. And I needed a good romance in the middle of all the thrillers I had read recently.

This story was utterly charming! Meghna & Karthik were polar opposites as far as personality, but each of their situations with their parents wanting them to marry off presented an opportunity for each of them to benefit from a fake engagement. Meghna was open to the possibility of something more with Karthik, but having grown up around a toxic relationship of his father emotionally abusing his mother, Karthik vowed to never get married & was very adamant with Meghna that there would NEVER be anything more between them than a "one night stand" type relationship.

As you can guess, feelings start to get involved for both Meghna (not Meg) and Karthik, but Karthik still refuses to acknowledge the feelings on his end so it definitely makes for some difficulties & broken hearts in this fake relationship. I absolutely loved all of the characters. The characters as well as the entire book were very well written. I also love that the ending, while predictable, didn't follow the exact same formula as other stories with this same trope. We got it in the epilogue, but not immediately in the ending which was nice because it allowed the characters to stay true to themselves & what they wanted.

This was a solid 4-Star read that I will happily recommend!

sweet, cute, and utterly adorable. I LOVED this one, and I so felt for both our main protags. READ THIS my romance-loving friends! thanks for the arc

EEE this book was so delightful!! An excellent debut from Naina Kumar.

Fake dating is definitely my favorite trope, and Say You'll Be Mine delivered. Witty banter, perfect sexual and romantic tension, well developed family and side characters, characters following their dreams, it had it all! Fair warning, there is a good amount of miscommunication, so if that's not your trope, you may not love it as much, but it is still worth a try. I usually despise it, but it worked for me here for the most part.

Also Seth was such a mediocre white man and antagonist and I enjoyed the way that plot line progressed. Meghna is such a wonderful protagonist and I loved how she developed in her confidence, especially with Karthik's support.

This is a must read if you love swoony love stories and fake dating and romance that tackles real life issues!!

4.25/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Also *spoiler-ish* but
***************************************************
Can we please get more men in romance novels who go to therapy?? I was 100% here for this!! We love healing and accountability!

Easily one of the cutest stories I’ve read recently! This had me squealing, kicking my feet, and smiling the whole time. While the story is lighthearted and an easy read, it touches on some tough subjects and just feels so real and honest. Genuinely cannot believe this is a debut novel — Naina’s writing is beautiful!

Thank you for allowing me to read this eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the E-ARC. I want to start of by saying that I stayed up waaay to late to finish this book and I have No Ragrets. I finished this story in a day. This was much more than the story of Meghna and Karthik. It showed us what happens when we stand up for ourselves, when we follow our dreams, and how to break those generational curses and I fell in love with it. for a debut novel it was very good. I cant wait to read more from this author

Thank you Random House Ballantine and PRH Audio for a charming and delightful rom com, a perfect beat the January funk read. Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar is the exact kind of romcom romance I want to read: well developed characters who have identities outside of a relationship, thoughtful secondary themes on family and friends, and a solid slow burn romance with likable characters. I loved Meghna's and Karthik's story, well stories because they each have their own stories that connect to their relationship, their voices, the way they grew as individuals throughout the story, and how their relationship story was used to explore a range of bigger challenges and themes they faced.

Are there tropes? Heck yes but that's the fun.... a fake dating/fake fiancee theme, some one bed only scenes, some miscommunication (not too bad though as I think many of us find that can be off putting!). What added some nice depth was the cultural exploration on arranged marriage as well as a general focus on Indian culture; I also valued the exploration of the different family, work, friend themes associated with Meghna's and Karthik's lives and how this wove into their fake dating arrangement, feelings about marriage, and how their relationship unfolded.

I loved this one so much that I stayed up late reading it and then, when my eyes got tired, I listened to some of the audiobook (nicely narrated by Soneela Nankini who added a resonance to the cultural themes that I appreciated). This was fun, engaging, even sweet and charming without being cloying or tiresome, and I am adding this author to my "look forward to what they write next" list.

SAY YOU'LL BE MINE - NAINA KUMAR

4⭐

PLOT -
Meghana Raman finds out via mail invitation about her BF cum ex's wedding and on top she agrees to be his Best Man. She is determined to move on Nd agrees to meet a potential match her parents find.
Karthik Murthy agrees to her mother's wishes and meets potential match to appease her but has no intention to marry anyone untill he meets Meghna . Though he doesn't want marriage he proposes fake relationship mutually benefitting both .
But spending time they start liking each other but can their expectations and insecurities hamper their HEA.

MY THOUGHTS -
I couldn't put down this book. It was a sweet story with a lot of learnings for both MC. The Indian immigrant facing arrange marriage situation the expectations esp career related with their parents this resulting in fake relationship between MCs.
I was irritated with both MCs inability to communicate but I really liked how it ends.
Looking forward to more work by Naina

Thank you publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you're a fan of the movie The Proposal- this is a book for you! What a cute and cozy story that I couldn't put down after I started! I enjoyed getting to watch Meghna and Karthik's relationship grow and develop while they both navigated their own professional and familiar pressures (we love a man who can admit they need therapy). Both main characters were a little messy at times (which I LOVE) and it makes them seem like friends you know in your own life. This was a very strong debut novel, and I'm looking forward to reading more from Naina in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What it’s about:
Meghna is an English teacher struggling to find love/move on from her college boyfriend. When she gets an invite to his wedding, she decides to open up herself to the idea of an arranged marriage. Karthik is a grumpy New Yorker who agrees to the idea an arranged marriage for his mom but doesn’t plan on ever following through. Yet, as soon as he meets Meghna, he can’t stay away and proposes a fake engagement.

The dialogue is top-notch with Meghna’s characterization in particular, excellent. As she works through figuring out her career goals, uncovering the truth behind the relationship she once felt solid, and strengthening her voice, you can’t help but root for her.

If you like rom-coms, you’ll like this debut from Naina Kumar! A real slow burn between the two main characters in this fake engagement story. The characters are well developed and the writing is great. There’s also a lot of culture weaved into the story which is always fun (to me at least). recommend!

Gah! I really enjoyed this book. I have always liked books with South Asian characters because the family dynamics play such an important role in the story.

This is the story of Meghna and Karthik, who have been introduced to each other by their parents in the hopes of making an arranged marriage. They immediately know it's a no, but realize they can use each other to help get through some awkward social events coming up.

Fake engagement it is!

I'm not going to say more because you're going to want to read this book. I promise you.

Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a great debut novel. Looking forward to reading what she does next.

Characters are from India, Where parents set up dates to find partners for their kids. I loved learning about their cultures. And even their foods. Can't wait to try making and eating some new dishes.
I'm also glad that my kindle has a dictionary, many words I had to look up. Which was fun as well.

Strangers to lover
Fake Engagement

Lots of wonderful experiences happen between the characters that neither of them saw coming.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy to review for you. Hope you will pick up a copy to read when it releases on Jan 16th.

Wow! What a debut novel! I couldn’t get enough of Karthik and Meghna, I truly didn’t want this book to end. It was the perfect mix of culture, moments of comedy and a lovely romance. I will forever purchase anything and everything Naina Kumar writes!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tropes/read if you like:
- Slow burn
- Indian rep
- Strangers to friends to lovers
- Fake engagement/dating

Plot/Review:

When her best friend and "ex" asks Meghna Raman to be his "best men" at her wedding, she decides to that it was time to let her parents introduce her to a potential match. Grumpy and anti-commitment engineer Karthik Murthy has seen enough of his parents’ marriage to know that it isn’t for him. Yet, he found himself agreeing to a year of meeting matches with his mother, in order to make her happy. Meghana and Karthik are total opposites, but when faking an engagement could save them both from their current situations, they team up to make others believe that they have finally found "the one."

That is the premise for this book. Say You'll be Mine is a cute fake dating/engagement story that provides some sweet moments and a beautiful insight into Indian culture. That last part, being the one I appreciated most about the book. It is a good debute book of this author, and I would love to see more from her in the future.

However, when it comes to this book in particular, although there were moments I enjoyed and liked, there were a lot of things I disliked. I enjoy slow burn romances, and books that have some spice, which is why I thought I would love this one. However, the pining and the chemistry that is necessary in books like that, was just not there. The book had wonderful potential, for once the fake engagement/relationship made sense. A lot of books have such horrible and annoying reasons for the main characters to enter into a fake relationship, this one had a great reason. I was fine with everything being in a slower pace and the romance building up little by little. However, this book suffers from leaning heavily on the miscommunication trope, which in my opinion hinders the story. The characters seemed to be unable to talk, and only assumed things about each other. It got tiring. I know some people enjoy and don't mind main characters miss-communicating but I just couldn't. I do feel sad about not enjoying it as much as I wanted too, yet I will look forward to any other book from this author.

Thanks again to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

*4.5

I really enjoyed this. Give me a man who thinks that he can't love and I'm going to eat it up every time. I loved how he kept showing up for her regardless and was always concerned with how he came off. He really did love her and it just warms me heart.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I loved Naina Kumar’s “Say You’ll Be Mine,” a smart, sexy romance with dynamic main characters who grow independently and in their relationships throughout the story. This was the first book I’ve read by Kumar, but the thoughtful characterization and interesting plot will bring me back for more. Thank you to Random House Ballantine and Net Galley for the advance copy.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House for the advanced copy of this!

I first heard about this book when I went to a Nisha Sharma event so when the widget came in, I knew I had to read it! And it such was an utter delight!!

This will be published on January 16th.

"Meghna?"
"Yes?"
"Call me anytime you want."

If you know me, you know I love a fake dating and I love the twist on this as it started with an arrange set up. Karthik was so stubborn and so just turned off at the idea of wanting to be married (don't worry we learn why) but enter Meghna a teacher who aspires to be more in the theater world. They both went through with the arrangement meeting (her first) not expecting much and she somehow won him over without even knowing she won him over. I love learning about the Indian culture and this really made me want to take a trip to a local Indian restaurant to try some of the food that was mentioned in the book!

The reasonings for their fake dating is also interesting more so for Meghna whose ex is such a sneaky villain. I thought that was a unique addition to the book (won't say more, you'll have to read).

I love that this was 3rd person dual POV! As much as I love when we get a single point of view, having the other love interest just adds so much to the story. Especially in Karthik's case, we learn more about his family life and what makes him have these feelings towards relationships specifically marriage. Of course from the reader's perspective you see these two people who clearly have feelings for each other but neither want to ruin anything or be afraid of not being reciprocated. I just thought they worked so well together and how their feelings build towards one another as the book goes on. This does not have much spice if you are expecting any (I was ready for it but its okay that it didn't happen).

This book did have a few storylines woven through but it didn't feel like it was too much. I was very intrigued by the storyline between Meghna's best friend Ankita and her brother Samir. I don't believe this will be a series but I could see a book from their POVs of how it all went down and beyond could be fun to see.

This was such a stellar debut and I'm looking forward to hearing more of Naina stories!

Read this book if you love fake dating (err engagement) with a cast of characters, wedding theme & just love a good time! If you aren't a fan of miscommunication, you may have a slight issue with it.

PS - Netflix. Prime, someone make this rom com a movie! We need more especially with Indian rep!

PSS - Is it ironic that I was reading two books at the same time that had a My Fair Lady storyline?! WILD!

4.7

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐍𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐢
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you #partners @randomhouse @PRHAudio for the #gifted copies of Say You’ll Be Mine! #PRHAudioPartner #PRHAInfluencer

Say You’ll Be Minet, debut novel by Naina Kumar, was such a charming contemporary romance novel, full of humor, chemistry, and lovable characters! I love a good fake dating/fake engagement trope, and this one really exceeded my expectations!

Meghna is a theater teacher and aspiring playwright, much to the disappointment of her parents, who wanted her to be an engineer. With her best friend (shhh! and secret crush) Seth gets engaged, Meghna is asked to be the ‘Best Man’ at the wedding. In an effort to lighten some of the pressure she feels from her parents, Meghna agrees to let her parents introduce her to a potential match. Karthik is an engineer who has no desire to get married. He’s only agreed to his mother’s matchmaking efforts to appease her. When he meets Meghna, he’s smitten. However, since he has no desire in marriage, he agrees to a fake engagement instead. As the two get to know one another, they start to find more and more in common, and the chemistry between them starts to really show. Will their relationship progress into something more?

I found myself so invested in Meghna and Karthik and their relationship. There were so many laugh out loud funny moments and overall, this was just such a cute rom-com!

𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞
💖𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚢 𝚡 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎
💖𝙷𝚎 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝
💖𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎
💖𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚍
💖𝙵𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝
💖𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗

I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, narrated by Soneela Nankani. I found the narration to be so fun and engaging and I feel like Nankani was perfectly cast for this role! I highly recommend either format, and I know you will not be disappointed if you give the audiobook a try!