This quick, easy read was giving Sweet Home Alabama vibes and I’m here for it! I was surprised to find that I liked both male love interests - usually in a storyline like this one, one of them is awful! This was easy to read in one sitting.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my review.

Short Synopsis:
Meena is a successful lawyer in DC and ready to run for office as a power couple with her friend/kinda boyfriend Shake (who she’s currently not with and cares for but doesn’t live). But the hold up? She’s still married to a guy she hasn’t spoken to in six years. But when she goes back home to Texas to get him to sign divorce papers, she gets trapped there in a hurricane with him.

My Thoughts:
Okay, hear me out. I need more marriage in crisis books. Pronto. (But also don’t tell my husband they’re my favorite. 😆)

Meena and Nikhail were EVERYTHING. Their chemistry was just SO DANG GOOD. 👏 Nikhail was so far gone for Meena. And I just wanted to protect him at all cost.

Being from Texas too, the book just felt really special. (The weather, the fire ants, NASA). I loved how Meena was driven to doing the most good in Texas politics.

I also didn’t see it was a Sweet Home Alabama reimagining until after I read it, but yes, that tracks. And I love that movie. And was really upset with myself that I didn’t place that until after. 🤣

The narrator for the audiobook is Soneela Nankani and she did a beautiful job bringing the emotion to Meena.

BRB, I need to go back and read @naina debut - SAY YOU’LL BE MINE.

What You’ll Find:
Marriage in crisis
Second chance
Texas-sized weather (and fire ants)
Forced proximity
Whoops! Got drunk and married in Vegas.

Flirting with Disaster was good! Meena and Nikhil meet again after years of being apart, so that can get the divorce she needs to move on with her life. Her life, her ambition and her new partner! However, Meena is so consumed with her needs that she books a flight home and doesn't know a hurricane is coming.

The natural disaster keeps Meena in the house with her soon to be ex! Only things don't turn out the way she thinks it will. Is her new life really better than her old life? Can she still fulfill her dreams in her old life? Do they still love each other or is that some chidhood fantasy that she needs to move on from?

This is the 2nd book I have read by Naina Kumar and she kept me guessing and reading. Enjoy!

I enjoyed this book so much! It was a quick read and I loved the writing style and the story was so well written. We follow Meena, who travels back to her home town of Houston with the goal of getting divorce papers finally signed by her estranged husband, Nikhil, so she can run for office. However, disaster strikes when a hurricane hits the city, trapping them together in their first home.. I really enjoyed all of the banter between the characters but also the deeper meaning behind all of the storyline. The yearning was very on point and I was rooting for them throughout the book.

Tropes:
- s𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
- Fo𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲
- 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬

With lovable characters, witty banter, and heartfelt moments, this romcom is a charming and funny delight!

Thank you Ballantine for for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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This might have been a case of right book but wrong time unfortunately. I think Naina is a beautiful writer and there is something so comforting about her prose but the story itself wasn’t for me sadly. I wish that it was a dual POV so I could get a glimpse of Meena through Nikhil’s eyes. There was a lot of miscommunication…or honestly, full blown lack of communication that made me a bit frustrated throughout the book (especially considering the age of the characters).
Conversely, the storm part of the book was definitely my favorite because of how real it felt. I also found it interesting to read about a woman working in politics.
I’d be happy to give another book of Naina’s a try because I did genuinely enjoy her writing style.

Did you love the movie Sweet Home Alabama? Or just a second chance romance lover? This book is for you! A retake on the film, our main character is going back to her hometown to ask her husband (who she has not seen in years) for a divorce.

The character development is interesting and I really enjoyed how believable the relationship struggles were. The problems they are working through are far better than your typical 'second chance romance' all about a simple misunderstanding. Well thought out characters with ambition and some fun side characters, as well.

4/5 ⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell Romance for an advance copy of this book.

I loved Naina Kumar's debut and I LOVED this one as well. This was the swooniest second chance romance and I ate it up. 5 stars!!

A second chance romance about a still legally married couple who havent seen each other or spoken in years. Meena returns to Houston to visit her "ex" to get him to sign the divorce papers so she can finally move on and gets stranded there due to a hurricane. As they are stuck in his house together they get to know each other again and get a second stab at their happily ever after. While I liked this authors book more I think that was more a reflection on preferring the fake dating trope to a second chance. She does character development so well and I will read anything else from her down the line!

I was drawn to this ARC because as a second chance romance lover, born and raised in Houston and having lived through many hurricanes, this seemed right up my alley! And while I did have fun for parts of it I just really don't think this one was for me. I have so many thoughts that I could write pages but I'll try to keep it short.

Pros: I loved Nikhil, enjoyed the Houston references, and the hurricane all felt very familiar. Surprisingly, I kind of liked the messiness between Nikhil and Meena. The angst, tension, yearning, and longing between these two had some great moments. I had some moments of being annoyed at Meena, but I ended up liking them both.

Cons: less is more!! there were a lot of things that were irrelevant to the plot that went on and on could have been cut, a lot of repetitiveness and pages upon pages of Meena thinking in circles around the same topic and getting nowhere, The dynamic between Meena and her parents made sense for the plot but the whole side story with her sister felt so unnecessary, her sister as a character (in her one scene) felt so much like a plot device and had zero personality, I appreciated the discussions about the political scene in Texas and how public service can make an impact but good god I did not realize how much politics was going to be apart of this story, there were so many details given about Meena's job that was not relevant to the plot at all and the pressure she felt around her career was already communicated without all of that, I also feel like only small things were done to resolve the issues in their relationship that had caused them to break up the first time and their solution was "we'll figure it out because we love each other!"

I do not have high hopes for this marriage.

I was a little nervous going into this because I’m not a huge fan of the marriage in trouble trope but it was definitely more second chance romance. Nikhil and Meena were married for one year and then spent six years apart. Meena goes to visit Houston, her hometown and where Nikhil is, to finalize their divorce before running for office in DC. She gets stuck in Houston with Nikhil during a hurricane and they have the opportunity to air out a lot of their issues. It was a really enjoyable story that dealt with a lot of issues between both of them. I loved Naina Kumar’s first book, thoroughly enjoyed this book, and can’t wait to read her future books!

Second-chance romance + forced proximity + a literal hurricane?? Sign me up. I wanted to love this one but it did not win me over all the way. Meena is a high-powered lawyer who left small-town Texas for a big career on Capitol Hill. She’s back home for one reason: to finalize her divorce. Nikhil is her soon to be ex-husband, the guy she impulsively married in Vegas years ago. He’s sweet, thoughtful, and still very much in love with her. They end up trapped together in their old house during a hurricane, forcing them to actually talk about their past instead of running from it. Meanwhile, there’s Shake, Meena’s new, put-together, career-focused boyfriend, aka the “logical” choice. I do love a good stuck together in a storm trope, forcing them to confront their feelings. I also appreciated Meena’s struggle between love and ambition/her career. She isn’t always likable, but she’s real. The push-pull dynamic was painfully accurate.

While I appreciated the hurricane setup, the pacing dragged a little too much in places. The love triangle felt half-baked – Shake never felt like a real contender. It was obvious who she’d end up with, so the tension felt kinda meh.

If you love second-chance romance, cultural identity struggles, and messy-but-realistic relationship dynamics, this one might be for you! I liked it, but I didn’t love it.

Tropes
-forced proximity
-second chance romance
-opposites attract
-love triangle
-Indian-American rep

Meena, a successful lawyer on Capitol Hill, returns to Houston to finally divorce her husband, Nikhil, but a hurricane forces them to take shelter together in the home they once shared. As the storm rages outside, Meena reconnects with the love and passion she once felt for Nikhil, even as she contemplates a future with her seemingly perfect boyfriend, Shake. Torn between her past with Nikhil and her present with Shake, Meena must decide whether to follow her heart or stick to her carefully planned future.

Take Sweet Home Alabama, give it an Indian cast, and throw in a hurricane for good measure, and you end up with this story. Meena was not my favorite character, so I wasn’t invested in her getting back with Shake, especially after learning that she still had feelings for Nikhil the whole time they were in a relationship. Nikhil was a bit sappy, but his non-traditional journey to finding his true passion in life kept me reading. It wouldn’t be a romance without a big gesture at the end, which this definitely had, and I did enjoy the epilogue showing where Meena and NIkhil ended up in the future.

If you liked Sweet Home Alabama, you’ll love this book! I enjoyed the characters and the flash backs building their story. The perspective of an Indian family was unique, and the family / cultural pressure that influenced them. Overall, it was a good story and I’d rate it 3.75 stars.

There were a two things that bugged me. The first was the focus on their physical attraction. Early on I wondered if there was going to be any real substance to their relationship. Second, the timing. I’m guessing Meena is early 30’s at this point and yet she keeps looking back at her much “younger” self and the person she was 6 years ago. 30’s are still pretty young and I’d expect this kind of lament from someone looking back 20+ years.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

I really enjoyed the premise, the little political portions, plus the Huston TX setting . The storm and all the plot points surrounding that was so entertaining!

But the second half felt like mainly inner monologue from Meena, less story movement. I loved how the author wrote and the second chance romance was sweet. I definitely see why it’s likened to Sweet Home Alabama.

✨ Second Chance Romance
✨ Forced Proximity
✨ Vegas Marriage
✨ Love Triangle (ish, not messy)
✨ Politician / Construction worker

I am SO happy I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell to read, and it just happened to align with my 2025 Between the Spines book club, so as I closed the book this morning, I knew I had only one thing left to do.

SCREAM ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT'S MAGICAL! This book gives Sweet Home Alabama vibes, but make it modern, Indian, and for liberals. Meena is an attorney who wants to continue her career as a politician, and Nikhil is a Houston native who works as a construction worker and all around community handyman. They eloped in Vegas one night 7 years ago, and after a year of bliss and then an abrupt end to it all, she goes back to Houston to get the divorce papers signed in order to move forward with her plans.

I just freaking love this book. The tension, the banter, the heat, the passion, the love behind them both. The "I think I'm doing the right thing" but lack of communication was endearing, but gosh I wish they just said the things they wanted to say without any hidden meanings. I love Meena, I love Nikhil, and I am so happy I read this one.

Also, Alan is 10/10, good character, would like to see him "pestering" others for the rest of his days.

This book was so so so good. I loved everything about it- the characters, the story, just everything. It starts off similar to sweet home Alabama but becomes so much more. I read it in a day!

I’m basically sobbing as I write this review because of how beautiful this story is. If you don’t have it go buy it, digitally and physically just to cover all your bases.

Nothing gets to the emotional angst quite like a marriage in crisis but in this story, it was like a divorce in crisis and for good reason. Two people obviously meant to be together apart for understandable reasons, for being complex humans.

The tension had me in a trance, I couldn’t put this book down (I literally fell asleep with it on my chest, and woke up to go back to reading it)

The emotions were enough to light the house down in the middle of a hurricane. This book you won’t regret buying. (Me eyeing when special edition covers might come out because I NEED)

Second chance romances typically are one of my favs but this one sadly didn‘t work for me.
I enjoyed the story, the storm and the little adventures they had to face during that were definitely a different approach to the forced proximity trope and I liked some of the things the characters said that showed how much they still care about each other.
I liked the political aspects of the story, the necklace thing, gilmore girls!! and the fmc talking to her sister after everything in the end was great but overall I just didn‘t feel the connection between the mcs.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Flirting With Disaster starts out when Meena, a DC lawyer with political ambitions, returns home to Houston to finalize her divorce from Nikhil, a man she eloped with in Vegas years ago. There she is trapped with Nikhil in their old Houston home as a massive hurricane sweeps through town flooding the streets and closing down the airport. As they function in a small space together, they’re forced to deal with their past, their many MANY miscommunication issues, and the feelings they still have for each other.

I love how some of the issues seem to evolve from being children of immigrants, the importance of success to these families, and the insecurity/shame that forms when young people fail to meet expectations. There are some emotional conversations about this (especially in chapter 12) that really hit me in the feels. I also loved the conversation between Meena and her sister.

The miscommunication trope is one of my least favorite but this book really uses it well. It started out so incredibly frustrating but midway through, learning where it was all coming from, I realized that this is probably one of the best uses of this trope that I’ve read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It has a bit of everything: career, family, found community, and romance. It was moving and honest. I loved the realistically flawed characters who struggle to realize their own value and finally have to choose between security and following their hearts.