I loved this book!

Naina Kumar's debut novel unfolds a charming tale where two characters dive into a fake engagement to escape the relentless pressures of parental matchmaking. As one dreams of love and marriage while the other opposes the notion completely, the story navigates whether they can bridge the gap between their conflicting beliefs.

The narrative, a delightful exploration of changing hearts, resonated deeply with me. The journey from skepticism to vulnerability is a familiar yet heartening trope that Kumar skillfully weaves into the plot, delivering a satisfying emotional punch. Meghna and Karthik, the main characters, were really captivating with their endearing flaws and relatable quirks.

Cultural representation is a standout feature, seamlessly woven into the narrative, enriching the story and characters. The authenticity adds layers to the characters' identities, creating a more immersive reading experience.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this to friends and others who enjoy an easy and heartwarming read!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Congrats to Naina Kumar on her debut romance! Say You'll Be Mine had every trope I enjoy in a romantic comedy including fake dating, grumpy and sunshine and a slow burn romance that is completely worth the wait. I loved Meghna and Karthik as a couple. It was fun to watch them grow individually throughout the book as well as watch the chemistry build between the two. I loved this book, and I am excited to see what this author publishes in the future.

Say You'll Be Mine is out now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an adorable romance with a fun and new (to me) cultural flair, including what pressures those cultures can add to a relationship. The character development was perfect. This was a perfect light-hearted take on the fake engagement trope with excellent elements of forced proximity. Cannot wait to see more from this author!

This was a wonderful fake dating/fake engagement rom com. I loved the way the Indian cultures added some different elements to the story that I hadn’t experienced in a book before. This is a great debut! I can’t wait to read more from Naina Ku mar!

When Meghna learns her best friend/writing partner/secret crush is getting married, she is heartbroken. To complicate things even more, he wants her to be his best man. Soon after, she is set up with Karthik. Karthik does not believe in love, but his mom is determined to find him a match so he agrees to meet as many women as she wants for a year. When he meets Meghna, he’s tired of meeting so many women and continuing to disappoint his mom. A tense moment leads him to blurt out that he plans to propose to Meghna, so he asks her to pretend to be his fiance for three months - the perfect amount of time to get through all of Meghna’s wedding events. But through this fake engagement they get to know each other, and their relationship begins to build.

This book was a perfect example of bookstagram made me do it. After seeing so many amazing reviews from friends, plus that gorgeous pink cover, I knew I NEEDED to read this! I am happy to say it did not disappoint. I adored the progression of Meghna and Kathrik’s relationship. Despite going into the fake engagement expecting nothing to happen, they slowly went from acquaintances, to friends, to each other’s person (even if they were slow to admit how much they each cared for each other). The relationship was so sweet and full of amazing banter. I also enjoyed all of the pieces of Indian culture infused throughout the book. This was a fabulous debut and I look forward to more from Naina Kumar!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I enjoyed this debut romcom and thought the fake engagement trope was done really well in this book! Meghna is hung up on her ex who has just asked her to be his best man at his upcoming wedding, while Karthik has sworn off love and marriage. When their parents set them up, they decide to fake an engagement to appease them as well as to keep up appearances in their professional and personal lives. I liked Meghna and Karthik as the main characters in this book! They both clearly had a lot going on and had pretty complicated pasts. I liked watching them slowly fall for each other. There were some times I felt that their chemistry was forced, but otherwise I really believed in them as a couple and was rooting for them. Both characters started to be there for each other well before they each realized they feelings for one another.

My one big gripe in this book was the miscommunication! There were so many minor conflicts that could have been resolved with a simple conversation. Miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes in romcoms and this trope was used a lot in this book. Additionally, because of the complicated pasts of both Meghna and Karthik, there was definitely a lot side stories. Some of them distracted from the main plot, but I did feel like they added to the character development of Meghna and Karthik and overall helped them realize their feelings for each other. Overall, I really enjoyed this debut! I absolutely loved the desi representation and I'm looking forward to reading more from Kumar. I would definitely recommend this quick and fun romcom!

Thank you so much for the arc.

This book was fine. Had some cute parts and I liked the songwriting storyline with Seth. But the dialogue and writing felt very stilted and plain. At times I skimmed and flipped through. I think this will have readers who enjoy it but I just didn’t vibe with the writing style.

Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Ebook
Length: 352 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars but rounded to 5.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Naina Kumar for an e-arc of this book.

Read this if you enjoy:
Only One Bed
Opposites attract
Fake engagement / arranged marriage
Open Door Romance

Summary:
Meghna just discovered that the love of her life is engaged and it’s not to her. So when her mother offers to set up a meeting for a potential marriage, she jumps at the chance. Karthik has been trying to please his mother by going on several meetings with potential brides, there’s only one problem. He has no intentions of getting married….ever. But when Meghna and Karthik meet they discover that they might be able to help each other. They will pretend to be engaged so Karthik can stop going on these pointless meetings and Meghna will have a date to the upcoming wedding. But there’s always a fine line between what is fake and what is reality.

I read this book in less than 24 hours! I fell in love with the characters (except for you Seth, you’re the absolute worst). I loved the slow burn and the chemistry between Meghna and Karthik. I just felt like these two really fit together and I loved the open communication (for the most part). These two were really good about discussing certain aspects of their lives. Their relationship and feelings towards each other? Not so much.

But this book is about so much more than romance, it’s about following your dreams, family pressure, and family dynamics in general. I cannot wait to see what Naina Kumar writes next.

Book Name: Say You’ll Be Mine
Author: Naina Kumar

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

Stars: 4
Spice: 2

Standalone
Fast-Paced
Dual POV

- Thoughts.
- Fake Engagement
- Grumpy Sunshine
- Abrupt Time Jumps
- Cheating (secondary character)
- One Bed
- He Falls First
- Slow Burn
- Indian Rep
- Banter
- Pinning
- Miscommunication

Overall Super Fun & Quick Read. The time jumps between scenes were a bit jarring but it is a debut novel so overall not bad. It had all the banter, tension, chemistry and longing you need for a fantastic modern rom-com. it reminded me a lot of the Wedding Season on Netflix. So check that out after reading this!

Fairly predictable rom com but it was still a good read that I enjoyed. On the recommend list. though it's not something I would normally read for myself.

Meghna defied her parents by becoming a theatre teacher. She didn’t fall in line with the traditional Indian career path. She is still not married and has no kids. She thinks she has time until the guy she has been pining for has announced that he is getting married to someone else and asked her to be his “best man”.

Meghna is humiliated and heart broken. She agrees to allow her mother to match her with Karthik just to keep face. Karthik is everything that Meghna is not. He is grumpy, an Engineer and appears to be a good Indian boy. He is not enthusiastic to go along with the matchmaking either but Meghna’s personality draws him in.

I love books that showcase other cultures. The vibrant, rich Indian culture is on full display here. I love the family vibe and the aunties always trying to set someone up. It speaks to the matchmaker in me.

Meghna and Karthik’s romance has a slow and steady pace. It is not a slow burn but a very steady pace. They first stand on their false routine with a complete understanding of what they expect. The friendship develops as they spend time with each other trying to fool their friends and family. There is no judgement with either one of them. Meghna and Karthik’s romance came very smoothly.

While it does tick most of my boxes, the story is predictable. There is no spectacular moments that stand out for me. It is funny, quirky and entertaining. Definitely a quick read on a cold afternoon.

~ Samantha

for a debut novel, i think naina kumar did an amazing job. it was charming and easy to follow and i thought the characters were really strong. a fake engagement is something i always enjoy and i really liked reading it through the lens of someone doing it in regards to culture.

meghna and karthik, like i said, were strong characters to me. both of them knew what they wanted and stood for it, even if they turned out to be a little wrong. (looking at you, karthik.) i will say that the second half of the book just had me wanting to shake both of them for not just communicating!!! but, i mean. it’s a common trope and it makes for drama so i’m overlooking my personal frustrations. oh and, seth. sethhhh. i knew he was gonna be the villain the minute i read the first thing about him. bad vibes galore!

i was happy with the end of this book and the epilogue, as it wrapped everything up nicely and it made me so proud of both main characters and excited to think about their future.

this book was an adorable read and i think you should check it out! i want to thank naina kumar and netgalley and random house publishing for this eARC in exchange for feedback!

3.5 Stars-
In this debut contemporary romance, we follow Meghna, a middle school theater teacher, and Karthik a mechanical engineer. They both agree to enter into a fake engagement for both familial and other outside reasons. This was a classic rom-com movie-esque set up, and it was quite enjoyable to watch the two character's catch feelings for each other.
I enjoyed Meghna, but Karthik is the character that I love the most. He was a really well-rounded character. I appreciate how Karthik has reservations about being in a committed relationship due to his personal family experiences. He has real and valid fears which cause him to avoid love at all costs, yet is one of the warmest cinnamon-roll heroes I've read in a while. I loved watching him grow and change as a character.
This story does have a pretty prominent miscommunication trope. This is not something that I typically enjoy in romance conflicts. Both Karthik and Meghna get in the way of each other over and over. However, I will forgive Karthik for his mistakes because he's such a gosh darn sweetie and Meghna because she is a character worth rooting for!
Another drawback was the fact that there were 4 conflict points outside the main character's relationship. At first, I thought it was too much drama, and then about 3/4 of the way through, I was pretty invested. That being said, I could see readers getting overwhelmed with all of the sources of drama and possibly wanting fewer conflict sources in the storyline.
Overall, I had a good time reading this book, and I look forward to reading more from Naina Kumar.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

Naina Kumar’s debut, Say You’ll Be Mine is a sweet romance about accidently falling in love. It pulls at your heartstrings as you see Meghna and Karthik fight their love for each other.
Kumar’s writing is lyrical and storytelling navigates the difficulty of not letting your family define who you are.

3.5 stars

A sweet story about finding love where you least expect it, learning how to show up for your partner and yourself, and pursuing the life and dreams that make you most happy, regardless of what your parents or society expect of you.

I was a bit frustrated at first at how difficult it was for Meghna and Karthik to understand one another. It seemed like they were constantly misinterpreting one another’s expressions and words, assuming the worst of one another. Of course, it didn’t help that Karthik’s fear of losing control, like his father, made him constantly on guard, with his shields up to block any possible connection. I don’t blame Meghna for not understanding what Karthik was feeling at any given moment when he seemed to constant be swinging between loving and robotic.

I loved when they finally started sharing true things about their lives with one another, talking every day, and becoming vulnerable with each other. I was so worried and frustrated at the end of the wedding because it was clear how much they both cared, and somehow neither of them could see the truth. Luckily, they were both encouraged to risk rejection by being upfront and honest with one another about their feelings. Guess what: when you’re honest, good things can happen! Also, good job getting into therapy, Karthik!

As for the rest of the characters, I’m so glad Meghna finally realized how much of a jerk Seth had become. Maybe he truly wasn’t like that when they were in college, but he had become a self-centered, egotistical person. I knew he’d been using Meghna for her songwriting talent but I was totally surprised to find out he’d been using Julie, as well! Luckily, she seems like an awesome person he absolutely doesn’t deserve, but might give him another chance in the future if he can change his ways. I feel bad for Julie that she felt she had to go through with the wedding, but maybe something will work out for them. At the very least, Meghna and Julie will be getting the songwriting credit and residuals, and I loved Meghna telling Seth that they are no longer friends.

I wish we’d been able to get to know Ankita and Samir better - what little time we spent with them didn’t make me root for their relationship, to be honest. I was mad for Meghna’s sake that they never told her about their past relationship, and we never really got an explanation for why that was or why their relationship didn’t work out in their youth, other than “kids, right? So dumb.”

I also wish we could have spent more time with Karthik’s mom. He spends so much time protecting her and watching out for her, and I can’t tell if she actually needed that or if he was being overprotective. They are clearly very close, but he seems to always walk on eggshells around her. It’s hard to believe Karthik’s dad was ever not a sexist, abusive ass, but according to his mom, he wasn’t always that way. I don’t know that I believe her, but I do believe Karthik is not destined to be like his dad, just because he looks like him and gets mad sometimes. Also, nothing and no one is ever black and white, and I appreciate that we got to see multiple examples of marriages, both good and bad. Meghna’s parents always seemed to have the perfect love story, so it was refreshingly honest to hear from her dad that it wasn’t actually perfect: they didn’t expect to fall in love, and it wasn’t in their plans, but they chose to make one another their life. (That’s the part that made me cry.)

I had a few issues with the perspective and writing style - maybe it was the formatting in the proof ebook I read, but the perspective switches between Meghna and Karthik weren’t marked in any way, and it was hard to tell from context who’s perspective we were reading in. I love dual perspective stories because there’s something thrilling about having more information than the main characters, but that only works if you know who the person thinking is.

Spice level for this one is 🌶️🌶️🌶️.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy of this book.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This was a great time! It is a fake engagement story with great banter and tension. There was a lot going on with side characters, but I was able to stay in the story the full time. I stayed up late finishing because I wanted to see how it ends.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and the bits of Indian culture that were thrown in throughout.

What kept it from being 5 stars: I wish they both would have had a little more guts and communicated more. Minor pain point in an otherwise stellar debut.

Say You'' Be Mine takes you through a cute fake engagement to romance story. It brings light to family expectations with cultural marriage arrangements pressures and ones ability to find love on their own.

Meghna and Karthik, the main characters, meet through their mothers hoping they will marry. However the idea of marriage for both is completely different due to how they were raised. Both find a reason to agree to a fake engagement. Meghan needs a date to her old college friend's wedding and Karthik wants to free up his weekends from meeting potential wives with his mother.

Its fun to see them get to know each other under the false pretenses that they are engaged and maneuver through events while trying not to fall for each other.

My favorite part of this story is how Karthik sees Meghna for who she is and know what she needs before she does. He just needs a little more aggressive. He makes many grandiose moves, but holds back when speaking his mind. Then they fall back a few steps.

Great debut book from Naina Kumar. Its smart and funny and take you on a short romantic journey. Can't wait to read whatever comes next!

What a fun read. I really enjoyed the character’s relationship and the protectiveness. Great story and a quick read!

Two of my favorite tropes, a fake engagement, and opposites attract, are well represented in this debut novel. Throw in a nice, slow burn romance in which the two MCs actually get to know one another before falling into bed, good chemistry, a little forced proximity, and strong Indian cultural representation, and you've got an excellent and engaging romance.

Both Meghna and Karthik were engaging characters, but Karthik was the one who had the most growing to do in order to overcome his aversion to marriage or to any kind of serious, committed relationship. Meghna had her parents' loving example to follow so she knew that a committed relationship was what she wanted and she wasn't willing to settle for less. Her heart was bruised by her long-time best friend/crush when he got engaged to someone else, but she was determined to move on and find someone who she could give her heart to. It was great to see Meghna figure out how to stand up for herself and to see Karthik open up and start to form deeper relationships with others instead of continuing to shut himself off. The writing and pacing in this debut novel were also very good. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Meghna is a 28 year old teacher whose parents wanted her to become an engineer & since that didn't work out the next best thing is for her to get married ASAP, but she's stilll crushing hard on one of her college friends. Karthik is an engineer who's written off marriage because of his own parents' marriage.
In an attempt to get over her crush, Meghna agrees to be set up with someone. Karthik similarly agrees to be set up as well to placate his mother. Little did they both know they'd end up in a fake engagement! They each have their terms and are determined to get the people in their life off their back about marriage. What they didn't know was the amazing adventure they were about to embark on together!
Meghna is hilarious and I loved the banter between the two love interests. This had me laughing actually out loud and at the same time screaming at the characters for the miscommunication! Those who don't like miscommunication might not enjoy this. I just wanted them to tell each other how they felt already! The sexual tension between them is HIGH and it makes for a perfect slow burn romantic comedy. The character development is immaculate and I was cheering for them the entire time. The Indian representation was top notch and I even learned a little bit along the way. All in all, this is a fantastic debut book and that will have you laughing the whole way through with moments of sexy flirtatious exchanges.