When they’re set up by their parents, an engineer and a teacher decide to get fake engaged to help each other out.

✅ fake dating - she wants to take him to her ex BF’s wedding, he needs to be pretend-engaged so his mom gets off his back about getting married
✅ he’s an engineer, she’s a teacher, neither are 100% satisfied in their career
✅ she has bestie drama, he has no friends (Little confused why this is not a major 🚩)
✅ only 1 bed
✅ Indian American representation
🌶️: slow burn

What an absolute gem!

SAY YOU'LL BE MINE has My Best Friend's Wedding vibes as Meghna finds out her ex-boyfriend/current best friend/writing partner is getting married. To add insult to injury, Meghna was asked to be the "best man." Meghna gives in to her parents' matchmaking and meets Karthik, a cool, slightly rude, and handsome bachelor who only goes along with these introductions but doesn't plan to get married.

So Meghna is surprised when it's Karthik who suggests a fake engagement. Karthik had promised his mom he'd go on these dates, but it was getting out of hand, especially considering his views on marriage. So they agree to fake their engagement to get their families off their backs and Meghna gets a date to her ex's wedding. What could go wrong, right?

This is a romcom that's full of heart and swoonworthy moments. It's an unexpected slow-burn romance between two people who are clearly attracted to each other but don't know how to get out of their own way sometimes.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

This was delightful!

I love a good romcom, and I also love the fake dating/engagement trope so this one was right up my alley. I found the characters to be very well written, and I really enjoyed all the cultural aspects of this one - they made the story feel refreshing and new.

I would definitely read from this author again (this was my first book of theirs)

I'm not quite sure how I felt about Say You'll be Mine. There were some elements I liked such as the Indian representation and the plot. On the other hand, there were some things that I struggled with. I found the main characters sort of dull. There was nothing super memorable about them. The miscommunication between the main characters was very frustrating to read. I wish there was more depth to the characters. Although this book wasn't for me, I can see it being a hit with other readers! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

This book was an absolute delight and I tore through it. Thanks #netgalley for the copy. Meghan and Karthik are characters worth cheering for and I was so excited to get my HEA!

Say You'll Be Mine features Meghna and Karthik as a "couple" who decides to fake their engagement. Normally I really enjoy romance novels, but this one was bad.
Right away you could tell that Seth was using Meghna's work and passing it off as his own. Meghna is supposed to be smart, but not realizing your "best friend" is using your skills left me feeling like Meghna wasn't very smart at all.
I don't know much about Indian matchmaking, but it didn't seem odd that one meeting where the couple was alone for 20 minutes would lead to an engagement. I felt that was a long stretch.
I wasn't rooting for this couple, and isn't that what you want in a romance?
Thank you Netgallery for the ARC, these are my own opinions.

This book is super charming! I was hooked from the meet cute! What a fun dynamic between Meghna and Karthik, especially at the beginning, and a clever twist on My Best Friend’s Wedding. I could really relate to Meghna, and I found Karthik’s family tensions compelling. Perfect for people who love fake engagement, grumpy/sunshine, only one bed, and meddling mothers. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

I wanted to love this book a lot more than I did, but I still enjoyed Meghna and Karthik's story! The good stuff: I love the fake dating/engagement trope so the romance stuff really worked for me in this book, from how they met to their parents encouraging/pushing them along to the one bed trope and the surprise engagement at the end. I enjoyed seeing their development throughout the book as a couple and loved the representation of Indian culture in the novel.

However, several things in this book did unfortunately not work for me. I thought Meghna's relationship with Sam was COMPLETELY unnecessary. The wedding near the end of the novel that Karthik needed to attend as her plus one could have been for literally anyone. I thought the Seth character was really underdeveloped and straight up annoying, and the way this was resolved so willy nilly at the end with Julie and then Julie went ahead and married him?! Super unrealistic and eye roll inducing. Additionally, all of the stuff about Karthik and his dad was a little overdone/boring/unnecessary as well. To casually mention all of these horrible allegations against his dad such as harassment and maybe even assault of female students and then just never address it again didn't sit well with me. Karthik's character could have had the same impact with general references to pressure from his family, or smaller examples of his relationship with his dad. It just felt like some big subjects were thrown into this novel a little carelessly which really detracted from the overall point of the story in my opinion.

It's clear that Kumar is a talented writer but could definitely benefit from some additional editing and refining in this story. I'm glad I got to read an ARC though, so thank you for the opportunity to read and review this story!

SAY YOU’LL BE MINE by Naina Kumar @nkumarwrites 🌺

I absolutely adored this fake dating, strangers to friends to lovers, set-at-a-wedding romance! The writing is top notch, the swoon levels are high, and Meghna and Karthik are truly a gorgeous couple 💕 bonus points for the theater teacher representation 🎭! (And just look at that stunning cover!!!!🥵🥵😍😍)

Thanks @netgalley and @nkumarwrites for the early copy of this book! It’s out on January 16, 2024 and you can preorder at the link in @nkumarwrites bio!!

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#sayyoullbemine #readingromance #amreading #amreadingromance #bookstagram

Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar is a heart-string-tugger of the best type. Two good people, Karthik and Meghna, form a three-month pact that will allow their families and friends to believe that they are finally on the road to marriage. A little deception couldn’t possibly cause any problems, could it? This is a most satisfying read.

"Say You'll Be Mine" is Naina Kumar's debut novel, and upon completion, she delivered a grumpy/sunshine, fake dating (well, engagement) romance novel full of banter that was absolutely precious. The copy was well-written, told in dual points of views, with vulnerable characters working through their own issues in addition to finding The One.

Honestly, "Say You'll Be Mine" took a little bit to get into for me, but once the exposition had passed, I was able to enjoy it more as the cute yet realistic romance novel that it is.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

Summary of plot:

Meghna and Karthik mutually agree to enter a fake engagement. Why? For Meghna, she needs a plus one to her best friend's wedding (who she's been in love with for years) and Karthik needs to get his mom off his back about settling down. They agree to be engaged for three months before breaking it off, which would happen after the wedding. Despite their connection, Meghna longs for something real like her parents have while Karthik wants nothing to do with a relationship, much less a marriage, due to his parents' broken marriage.

Pros about the book:
✔️ Protagonists go through some character development
✔️ Has Indian culture woven in (though maybe it could be better)
✔️ If you don't like too steamy romances, the sex scenes aren't too spicy
✔️ The miscommunication trope and break up made sense

Cons about the book:
❌ There's a side couple in this book that probably deserved their own book, but you basically get figure out how they end up together
❌ It's very tropey (which isn't a terrible thing, but everything is just stereotypical and nothing sticks out)
❌ There were some scenes that were more telling than showing

Would I recommend this book? Sure!

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I seem to be reading a ton of books with the fake dating trope but this one sticks out as memorable in the best way.

Meghna and Karthik agree to a mutually-beneficial fake engagement. It has some variation on the trappings of fake dating, including falling for the other person and taking things further than they'd initially agreed to.

All of that was nice but what I really loved was the character development. They each have their hang ups or insecurities to work through. And we get to see that inside the context of their fake relationship and outside of it. They both grow, intentionally or not, because of knowing the other person. They try to be the best versions of themselves despite not being sure what that really looks like.

Yes, fake dating goes hand in hand with the miscommunication trope but I didn't hate it here. You can see how grounded it is in Meghna's lack of confidence or Karthik's fear. It made sense and made me root for them even more.

This story doesn't dive too deeply into Indian culture, though it's certainly present -- Meghna and Karthik meet as part of an arranged marriage meeting between their families. It also flirts with being steamy without being spicy. It's by no means closed door but the language is vague and it doesn't dwell. Think soft focus romantic lighting in films.

I thought this was a lovely debut and I'm excited to see more from Naina Kumar!

This is a cute romance of two people with exceptional family pressure to get married. Both Meghna and Karthik have pressure from their family to get married and start a family. They both want to live life on their own terms but decide to fake an engagement in order to just get through a wedding and some other events. Both know that the other isn't going to be their person. He doesn't want to get married. She super does.

Their romance was so good to watch unfold. Neither intended to fall in love, but their proximity and their attraction to each other ramped up slowly and intensely through the story. I love getting glimpses of culture and different experiences through books. I enjoyed watching both of them growing into themselves and standing on their own feet. I liked the heat that came from their relationship even though the door wasn't all the way open. It was cute and fun and heartwarming and I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this beautiful romance debut from the author. The cover is obviously beautiful, so that is enough to add it to my bookshelf. The fake engagement trope is one of my favorites, and I loved how the main characters completely changed each other. This will be your new favorite cozy romance!

I loved this book, and I loved Megnah and Karthik! What kind of follows a typical path of the old grumpy sunshine trope is a little deeper as it explores the effects of being a first-generation child in the US and how our parents' culture sets our expectations as we grow. And then how can we figure out who we are, being true to ourselves and charting our own path? At the same time we get that fun, grumpy sunshine trope in a swoony romantic comedy.

here's the thing about this book: the premise and synopsis sounds like something i would never like. i love fake dating, but engagement of convenience tends to not resonate with me. men being rude and then trying to get me to like them is so annoying. the constant "28 is old!!!!" messaging in romance books leads to exceedingly strong eye rolls.

AND STILL--i really really liked it! the pacing is perfect, the characters are strong, the mutuality is there in a lot of ways, the characters are complex and kind. i love being wrong like this!

I think Say You'll Be Mine is a cute little rom-com wrapped in a book, with such delightful tropes in it. However, I wasn't fully moved enough by it to give it higher than 3 out of 5 stars.

Overall, Naina Kumar has everything a person could want in a romance novel—a headstrong female character, meddling parents, delicious tension between the two characters, and a fake relationship.

The one thing I do think is that there could have been more. It's clear Kumar has such a love for these characters and she is a strong writer, but I do feel like there were a good chunk of 'telling instead of showing' moments, where the actual writing itself felt clunky. It got the job done and conveyed what she wanted but it didn't feel as smooth as it could have been, in my opinion.

I also felt like I needed a bit more from Meghna and Karthik; the foundation was there, but I just needed a bit more of a push/a little more in depth between then to fully fully be invested.

It started slower for me—it actually took me a while to get into the novel. I picked it up, read and bit, and put it down for a while before coming back to it. I think it picks up in the second half, especially with the subbplots mixing in, but I did struggle throughout that first half to fully get invested.

Overall, it was a fun, cute novel that I would recommend! I just don't know how often I would go to reread it again.

I adored this book and the characters in it. It has a little bit of everything: arranged marriages, fake engagements, long-distance relationships, and a lot of heart-felt sweetness and romance. Meghna and Karthik were delightful and I was rooting for them from the start. Even minor characters like Paul the intern were terrific.

I liked how it took Karthik to open Meghna's eyes to how her friend Seth didn't value her. That storyline did a great job of showing how we can try to fool ourselves into seeing situations a certain way and twisting the facts to suit our narrative.

I also love it when books show both the man and woman's point of view. For me it deepens the stakes and feelings to see how the men feel too and how smitten they become.

I think this was a sparkling debut and a pleasure to devour!