Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! I absolutely liked this debut! I could see why these two were a good fit, and I found their battles to be honest with one another and their own personal problems to be really relatable. This was made unforgettable by a few significant gesture moments as well!
My only criticism is that there was a lack of the "wow" factor in this. I enjoy things that are extremely swoon-worthy and exaggerated—perhaps even unrealistic. however, technically speaking, this was incredibly good, and I can't wait to read more from this author!

4.25 stars!!
I thought this was a great debut novel! Meghna and Karthik’s journey from fake fiancé to like/love was filled with cute and touching moments! Meghna’s parents and Karthik’s Mom cracked me up! Loved reading a book set in current times, and with an Indian family and their culture tied in (customs, food, schooling/careers, parental approval, etc.). I will definitely read/listen to more books from this author!

I received an e-book from Net Galley, but ended up listening to the audio book and the narration was fantastic!!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I was given permission to read a pre-release copy of this book by netgate. All opinions written here are my own
So you'll be mine by Naina Kumar is a sweet, passionate love story that I believe successfully marries tradition and modern cultures together as well as demonstrating a unique elegant marriage between art and technology.
This book also gave me a unique glimpse into traditional Indian cultures and the way they blend their traditions in with modern Life. I felt like I got to be friends with some of these characters and I hope that she considers continuing the story. I am curious how life turned out for some of the other characters. This book was a light and elegant read that also carried with it. Its own steam. A bit of spicy passion. I like that a lot, just enough spice but not enough that it would ruin the main dish that you're trying to eat. In this way it reminded me a little bit of Indian cuisine as well. I highly recommend this book and I really appreciate the privilege of an early read.. I look forward to the possibility of reading more of her work

Really cute story. I liked the fake engagement trope, I thought it was really well done. I'll be reading more from this author in the future.

Meghna Raman has gone against her parents’ wishes and followed her life’s passion. She is an aspiring playwright and theater teacher. She discovers that her writing partner, best friend, and secret crush, is engaged. Then she agrees to be his best man and decides she has to move.on from him.

Meghna agrees to let her parents introduce her to a potential match. The match? Engineer Karthik Murthy. He agreed to his mother’s matchmaking attempts to make her happy, never dreaming he would meet someone as vibrant as Meghna. Though he isn't looking for a real relationship, a fake engagement could help Meghna soothe the pain of planning Seth’s wedding festivities. Karthik can also avoid the absurd number of set-ups his mother has planned for him.

Over time chemistry emerges and the question whether this could be something real emerges. Can they survive their fake relationship plot and actually fall in love or will their personal issues drive them apart.

Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar is a quirky-fun romantic comedy with a deep and significant look at the effects of culture and family. The characters and their conversation are stellar and beautiful. The storyline is fun and fairly common but with some wonderful twists.

Grumpy/Sunshine and fake dating?! I’m sold. This was such a fun and entertaining read. I loved the characters and the family dynamics.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. Escaping matchmaking attempts of your family while finding your way in the world, this book was a fun book with a desire to keep reading the next chapter.

Thank you Dell/Penguin Random House and NetGalley for gifting an eARC of this book in exchange for review.

SYBM was such a fun romcom! When I started the arc for the book I made it about 50% of the way in before I stopped and waited for release date so I could buy a physical copy to annotate and scribble all my notes in— that’s how good this book is. For a debut, it’s such a strong foray into contemporary romance, and put Kumar on my list of authors whose works I’m head over heels for!

This book felt like all my favorite early aughts romance films— very 27 Dresses, Leap Year-esque. Meghna and Karthik made it so easy to root for them and I’m really glad the book was dual-POV and gave us insights to both character’s motivations. Watching M realize Seth was a pos and she deserved better and more than he gave her was everything. Watching her fight for the life she deserved, making a choice to follow her true passion and not settle was a lesson I needed. And following K on his journey as he realized love was worth fighting for, and that he could be better than what was modeled to him, made his happy ending with M so worth it!! Also watching him follow his career passion and not just settle for something he was good at it, was important to read.

Also, this is my formal petition that Paul be Karthik best man when him and Meghna get married, he keeps him young lol

Also also, that sneak peek at Naina’s next book solidified her as an auto buy author for me, give me all the angsty, estranged spouse goodness!!!

I loved the premise of Say You'll Be Mine because fake engagement is one of my favorite tropes. Meghna and Karthik are flawed but endearing characters, and I liked them both very much. I liked their love story but didn't love it because the plot heavily relies on the lack of communication. I often felt exasperated by their refusal to address the numerous misunderstandings. Because of that, I've rated Say You'll Be Mine three stars.

I love reading books with characters of other ethnicities and cultures than mine and this story is a great example of that. Great debut book by the author and I really liked her writing style.

This is a fake relationship trope and it was fun to read about Meghna and Karthik relationship as they dealt with their families and their growing attraction.

Karthik is adamant that he will never marry, but he also wants to please his mom and thinks the fake engagement with Meghna is the perfect solution. Meghna wants to save face at her male bestfriend's wedding, and being engaged to Karthik is also the perfect solution.

Of course, neither expects to start developing feelings for the other...

Really cute story!

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I was lucky enough to go to a book signing locally for this one. I love reading about different cultures and this one explained arranged marriages in Indian culture which was a plus. I thought both main characters were well written, and their differences helped each other where they were weak. I can't wait to read more by this local author.

This was fine. I don't think it was too believable that the MMC would turn out like his father, so that whole aspect of the plot fell flat for me. Cute ending.

Say You'll Be Mine is the debut book of Naina Kumar and it was a good one.

Meghna and Karthik decide to join forces to survive an ex's wedding and to escape matchmaking pressure from their Indian families. What is their plan? A fake engagement!! However, the more time they spend together they grow protective of one another and an undeniable chemistry takes shape. I found the two of them to fit very well together and their working through their issues was very relatable.

I was worried in the beginning because I didn't care for Karthik very much but I then realized that he has a lot of stuff going on. I do wish there was a little bit more of wow factor but really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballentine for the e-ARC of this book. This review is my own opinion.

The minute she agreed to be Seth's best man after the story already alluded to Seth using her and not having time to reciprocate the favors she did for him, I was done. I don't want to read another romance novel where the sub plot is the woman being a doormat to her ex boyfriend because she still has feelings for him 5 years later. NO NO NO.

This was so well done and made me so excited for work to come from Kumar. This felt swoony, realistic in the best way, full of moments of love. I cannot wait for Kumar to have the romance readers in her pocket and rooting for her success.

This was a decent read. I had a nice time, i wasn’t a connected to the romance an wish it was developed more!

This was such a sweet and fun read! The characters and their families were complex in fun ways, and I love a slow burn romance. I enjoyed the setting and the hilarious banter!

I received an advanced copy of Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar from the publisher Random House Ballantine via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Meghna Raman’s parents have always wanted different things for her than she wanted for herself. They wanted her to be an engineer and she followed her passion, becoming a theater teacher. Her parents have wanted her to have an arranged marriage…but she’s resisted until now. When she finds out her writing partner, best friend, and secret crush, Seth, is suddenly engaged she realizes something has to change and agrees to be matched. When she meets Karthik Murthy, sparks fly but not the good kinds, but they agree to fake a relationship for both of their purposes, but what if it’s not so fake?

What I Loved: Oh, I loved the chemistry in this book. I loved the chemistry between these two. I really wanted these two to get together. I found Karthik unlikable at first but he wormed his way into my heart and by the end of the it, I was a total Karthik stand. The dual perspective really worked too and made me buy into the big miscommunication. I just thoroughly enjoyed this romance book and it did make me swoon, what a joy!

What I Didn’t Like: There were some elements that felt a bit exaggerated, Seth was the worse and it was crazy how bad. Also some of the other elements seemed borderline hard to believe but there’s also a lot trauma here and everyone has trauma responses so it’s not my job to rule.

Who Should Read It: People who love romance books. People who love the fake relationship tropes.

Summary: A fake relationship that started with a match up leads to more?

While it did take me a while to get though for no particular reason, I ended up loving this debut novel by Naina Kumar! While it was very predictable, it was still swoon-worthy and full of charm. I love learning about other cultures - add in the grumpy/sunshine trope and a fake engagement and it was such an entertaining read. While the main characters did get on my nerves a bit and I hate the miscommunication trope - I would definitely read another book from this author!

** thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC and chance to read and review **

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.
We are following Megnha and Karthik who are set up by their mothers. Megnha’s best friend is engaged after going through the same thing so Megnha gives it a shot. Karthik is the first date that she goes on and they decide not to pursue things. Karthik’s father makes a comment about his son not committing to anything and being a disappointment and he accidentally tells his parents that him and Megnha are engaged. Karthik FaceTimes Megnha and she agrees to the engagement and even gets Karthik to be her date to her ex, Seth, wedding in three months. Megnha is the best man and wants to make him jealous. It is later revealed that Seth was using her and his fiancé Julie to write his songs for him. Karthik and Megnha start spending a lot of time together and when Karthik finds out about his father’s lawsuit with a university he surprises Megnha with roses and sees her play that she put on with her students. Megnha and Karthik decide to end their engagement and decide to have a real relationship after all the ups and downs they face. Then two years later they finally end up engaged. It’s such a great book and I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next.