I loved this debut! It’s about Meghna & Karthink, who get wrapped up in a fake engagement plot when their parents arrange a meeting between the two of them. Karthik wants his mother to stop setting him up with potential spouses, & Meghna needs a date for her best friend’s wedding. Meghna is lovely—artistic, spunky, caring. A FMC that you love to root for :) Karthik is that locked up hero that you watch melt over the course of the story. It was utterly charming & I highly recommend.

"Say You'll Be Mine" by Naina Kumar is a captivating journey through the intricacies of love and self-discovery. The characters are expertly crafted, each with a distinct personality that adds depth to the narrative. The protagonist's exploration of her own identity and desires resonates with readers, making her journey a relatable and compelling one. Kumar's writing style is both lyrical and evocative, creating a vivid tapestry of emotions that draws readers in from the very beginning. The well-paced plot, with its balance of romance, drama, and unexpected turns, ensures that the story remains engaging and unpredictable.

What sets this novel apart is Kumar's ability to infuse a fresh perspective into the romance genre. While the story follows some familiar tropes, the author brings nuance and authenticity to the narrative. The rich descriptions and attention to detail create a palpable setting that enhances the overall reading experience. "Say You'll Be Mine" is a four-star book that seamlessly combines the magic of romance with a thoughtful exploration of personal growth, making it a highly enjoyable and memorable read for those who appreciate love stories with depth and authenticity.

What a delightful debut. I love a good fake dating/engagement of convenience story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

Meghna is surprised when she receives a wedding invitation for her ex who she still has feelings for, and because they’re still close she makes things worse for herself agreeing to be his ‘best man’ in the wedding. Karthik has an agreement with his mother to meet any women she sees as a potential arrangement for marriage, though he has no intention of ever actually getting married. When Meghna is one of the meetings, they decide to fake an engagement in a mutually beneficial arrangement to put an end to Karthik’s meetings and give Meghna a plus one to the wedding. Their terms include no accidentally falling in love with each other, which proves to be more difficult than either of them could have anticipated.

Meghna and Karthik could not be more opposite. Their clashing personalities lead to some great banter and some very tender moments as they learn about each other. Both had individual growth that they needed to achieve. The way they ultimately contributed to the other’s growth gave such authenticity to their evolving feelings and relationship. Meghna had to find her own voice in standing up for herself, but Karthik helped her see the big picture and also had her back in times she wasn’t quite ready. Karthik needed to face his feelings and fears, and Meghna showed him that someone could see the heart of who he was and make it worth challenging his comfort zone.

The only struggle I had with this book is a common one for me in this trope that I love. The persistent miscommunication, not talking about feelings, assuming the other doesn’t feel the same can go on far longer than I want it to. My logical brain knows this is actually incredibly realistic, but my escapist brain wants conversations sooner. The dual POV in this book really saved it for me, particularly in Karthik’s case, because I otherwise would have wanted to shake him for a vast majority. Instead, I empathized with his struggles to express himself. I did still want them to talk to each other sooner though.

Overall, this was an incredibly impressive debut. I look forward to reading what Naina Kumar comes up with next. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Dell for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Karthik had my heart from the beginning, and I totally love his character building. It's so satisfying to see his layers unwrap with him going from a grump to a caring cutie <3 For some reason, his choices and feelings made so much sense to me, from his family dynamic to his introvertedness. His concern and support for Meghna was adorable, making me feel abundantly happy.

Meghna is amazing too, with so many feelings she takes time to understand. I loved seeing her understanding of Karthik evolve with time, as did her relationship with her ex-Seth. This might be one of the first times I felt more closely with the MMC than the FMC, and I was genuinely shocked to find that this book is a debut!

The confrontation towards the end was BRILLIANT. This entire novel made me so happy and is one of those that makes you forget you are reading. I'll be sure to grab anything this author writes and till then, I think everyone should feast on this book!

Thank you #Netgalley!

A cute romance novel, though you can predict what will happen in this classic rom com style read, I enjoyed following the two lead characters, Karthik and Meghna. Learning about their parents arranged marriages and how that translates to the modern world for them. Learning about the culture and expectations and how to navigate them. I liked seeing how each character eventually lives up to their potential/dreams will realizing they need each other.

kathrik and meghna each have their own reasons for getting into a fake arranged marriage. kathrik, to avoid his mom’s constant arranged marriage meet ups, and meghna, to have a date to her ex’s surprise wedding. through the fake engagement, they find the other one showing up for them in ways no one else ever has. what a perfect slow burn romance! the opposites attract sometimes misses the mark, but this one had all the right elements to make it work!

I adored this book. Say You’ll Be Mine is a story about a girl whose parents had a love marriage and a boy whose parents had an arranged marriage. This juxtaposition gives a look into how two people formed their ideas on relationships and the way they navigate from these spaces in their adult life. This worked surprisingly well for me and I wanted to learn everything I could about Meghna and Karthik and watch how these two play off one another and learn to let their guard down.

This story was so utterly adorable and cute. It’s heavy on the pining and self-discovery and the tension kept me turning the page. A great debut and I’m hoping we get some more rom-com goodness from Kumar in the future.

Mostly I liked this fake dating romance. I loved the culture and I really liked Meghna. But the male main character was unnecessary mean to her and it made me dislike him. It was hard to start liking him eventually.

Read if you like;
🌤️ Grumpy x sunshine
💍 Fake engagement
🛏️ One bed
💞 he Falls first
🔥 slow burn romance

The romance is a gradual build which I loved! They took time to get to know each other and it felt authentic not rushed or insta love. They supported each other with their careers and gave each other advice. I loved how we could see Karthik opening himself up and falling in love throughout the fake engagement 🥹 There were moments when he was getting jealous and I was so here for it 🤭

My only dislike was there was a LOT of miscommunication where both of them weren’t discussing how they truly felt and both were hiding their feelings.

Thanks to publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Omg I never wanted this book to end 🥰❤️
The chemistry between the characters is absolutely fire 🔥. The plot was delightful I really resonated with this one. It's the kind of book that makes you laugh, swoon, and maybe even shed a tear or two – in the best way possible. If you're in the mood for a heartwarming and entertaining romance, this one's a winner!

What a strong debut novel for this author! This story focuses on family, love, tradition, changes, and the conflict caused by changes to tradition.

Meghna Raman and Karthik Murthy both have parents who immigrated to the United States from India. Their parents still embrace the culture from their homeland. Karthik convinces Meghna to engage in a fake engagement relationship. Karthik is hoping this fake engagement will please his mother. Meghna agrees to this to have a date to bring to her best friend/ex boyfriend’s wedding. Along the way their feelings change and the engagement doesn’t seem so fake.

This is a sweet story. Karthik is a good son to his mother and truly cares about her well being. Both realize how important it is to go after what you want in your career and in love.

“I don’t care where I am. As long as you’re with me.”

Thank you NetGalley and Dell for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Holy moly what is it with the debuts that are coming out this month! This is the second one that I’ve read this month that has just blown me out of the water! This was such a unique storyline and I absolutely adored the characters. I was immediately hooked and was honestly reading every chance that I got. The only reason I wasn’t able to finish this book in one sitting was because I started it when we had a winter weather advisory with lots of snow and sub zero temperatures and we were stuck inside the house with a toddler who needed lots of my attention! LOL

But in all seriousness, I loved the character development that they went through in this novel and they were so relatable and had a lot of endearing qualities. Overall this was such a delightful read that combines romance, humor, and introspection that I would HIGHLY recommend!!

In this book, Naina Kumar evokes classic romantic stories filled with fake engagements, complex and nuanced characters who explore their flaws, a South Asian female with a nonconventional job and passions she explores, and romance you can’t help but be pulled into. Bonus points for South Indian characters, however more references to South Indian culture would have made this book even better since we so rarely see these characters represented. Overall a very fun read! Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Say You'll Be Mine is a debut novel by Naina Kumar. I definitely enjoyed Meghna and Karthik's story. Their families are trying to help them arrange a marriage and they agree to pretend to be engaged for a period of time. Of course, you know where the story is going but their story and challenges were entertaining and I appreciated how they each grew as people beyond their love story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Say You'll Be Mine in exchange for an honest opinion. It is available now.

Short synopsis: When Meghan’s best friend (and ex) asks her to be his best man, she decides to be fake engaged to Karthik (who is trying to get his mom off his back about getting married).

My thoughts: This was such a fun debut novel, while it was a bit of a slow burn there were laugh out loud moments scattered throughout that kept me flipping pages.

I really loved the deeper look into Indian culture, and the conversation around arranged marriages. And the meddling families had me giggling! Their mothers were the best!

I also really love the growth each character went through as they came to realize their true feelings for each other, and how they wanted to live their lives!

Also, I have an aversion to the name of the ex boyfriend, and spoiler…. He was a slime ball! Could have guessed it from the start!

Read if you love:
- fake dating/fake engagement
- Only one bed
- Slimy exes
- Indian culture/arranged marriages
- Weddings and engagement

Thanks Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my opinion.
This was a cute and fun fake engagement story about where they're set up by their parents. You get to watch them start from strangers to love. I appreciated the discussion around people saying Meghna's name.
I'm excited to see what this author does next!

Not getting to know Karthik before the fake engagement was a miss. I wanted to know more about how he was in general and in relationships before he met Meghna.

Say You’ll Be Mine follows our main character, Meghna, a teacher by day and playwright on the side. One day, Meghna’s parents offer to set her up with a nice man, and Meghna agrees. During this setup, Meghna is introduced Karthik who had been on several arranged set ups to appease his prying mother. Except Karthik has no plans on getting married, and he lets Meghna know right away.

But just because a real marriage might not be in the cards for these two, a fake engagement may be just what they need.

Whenever I think of fake engagement as a trope, I think of the will they won’t they, the pining, the longing, the slow realization that they are falling for each other. Naina Kumar gives exactly what we want out of this trope and does so perfectly.

Our two characters have an immediate attraction to each other, but it isn’t until they get to know each other, meet each other’s friends and families, learn about their hopes and dreams, that all of a sudden they’re calling each other in a random Tuesday afternoon just to tell them about their day.
It’s a slow burn that just makes your heart all giddy and your insides fuzzy.

I also love a good side plot that enhances the romance and doesn’t necessarily detract from it. In this one, Meghna has an ex-boyfriend turned best friend who is s famous song writer, who might not actually be writing his own songs. And through this side plot, we really get to see how much Karthik cares for Meghna and wants her to succeed.

I think this romance was beautifully done, and I can’t wait to read more from Naina Kumar in the future.

4.5 stars!

Once I picked up and started "Say You'll Be Mine" by Naina Kumar, it was over for all the other books in my TBR. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! Fresh, adorable, and charming, I was entranced by this book until the very last page. Author Naina Kumar takes her time developing her main characters, Meghna and Karthik, both individually and as a potential couple. We learn about their friends, their family, their jobs, their wants, their desires, and who makes them tick as people. What a pair they are! Gosh, they were some of the best, most well-developed characters I have read in a long while. I appreciate that we learned about how Meghna got burned by her ex-boyfriend, Seth, and how she might still harbor feelings for him, even though he's getting married to someone else. I cried knowing how Karthik was berated and neglected over and over by his father, while his mother stood by and attempted to diffuse. I thought it was interesting how both Meghna and Karthik defy their parents' wishes more than once, but still let them rule other parts of their lives. I loved the banter and the dialogue between them. There is seriously some top-notch banter here. I loved the settings and the jet-setting, how Karthik must travel all over the country to please his mom in her attempt to get him married. I love their fake engagement and the moments of hilarity Meghna and Karthik experience along the way. I loved the methodical realization that Meghna and Karthik were in love with each other despite the odds. I love the conversations about traditionally arranged relationships versus modern dating for two Indian characters who face loads of pressure from their families to marry. I loved the bits of spice we get between Meghna and Karthik, and though there may not be many, they certainly feel earned. I seriously loved this book and hope you give it a chance!

Thank you to NetGalley, Naina Kumar, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Dell for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

For a debut novel, this was a sweet and fun romance. The writing was done really well, and I loved the fun banter between Meghna and Karthik. I thought the characters were really relatable, and having the Indian culture a part of the story was so beautiful. Even though this was a small part, I loved the relationship between Meghna and her parents. What a sweet story!

I enjoyed this immensely! Meghna and Karthik seem like they would be completely incompatible considering he’s a stoic engineer who doesn’t ever want to get married, and Meghna is a middle school theater teacher who does dream of meeting her soulmate and getting married. When their parents arrange for them to meet, both agree that they wouldn’t work, but when a job opportunity arises for Karthik and Meghna’s ex from college (who’s she still kinda holding a torch for) announces his engagement, the pair end up making a plan to pretend to get engaged to not only get their parents off their backs, but to also make her ex jealous and convince his boss he can be committed.

Despite their no feelings attached arrangement, it is obvious from the very start there’s an attraction to each other from both sides. Of course it gets a bit messy when they slowly start becoming friends and the attraction rears its head, and despite Karthik adamantly not wanting to ever get married due to the issues he has with his emotionally unavailable father, he and Meghna, they can’t help falling for each other.

I am a huge fan of angst and a slow burn and waiting for these two to kiss was absolutely torture in the best way! It was a relief when they finally gave into their attraction and I just wanted them to ride off into the sunset together and be happy! Of course there had to be some drama and their fake engagement coming to an end but it was worth it in the end when they both admitted their feelings and decided to be together for real.

This felt like a romcom of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks proportions and I have to applaud the author for writing a great debut novel! I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine/Dell and Netgalley for the advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.