Book Review: Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

📝 What is Say You’ll Be Mine about?:

Meghna Raman, a theater teacher and aspiring playwright, agrees to a fake engagement with grumpy engineer Karthik Murthy. Meghna is trying to avoid her unrequited love’s wedding and Karthik is trying to avoid his mother’s matchmaking attempts. As they navigate their arrangement, they develop unexpected feelings and an undeniable chemistry, challenging their initial expectations.

📚 Genre: romance

🎧 Format: E-Book

💞 Feels: ⭐⭐⭐

I liked the idea of the arranged marriage that created forced proximity and fake engagement hijinks. What really got me interested was the setup of the “My Best Friend’s Wedding” dilemma that Meghna was wrapped up in. I just knew things were going to get messy.

The best friend was going to be an issue for Karthik that Meghna could’ve nipped in the bud from the start. And Karthik could’ve been more honest about his feelings. Meghna not thinking he liked her was a bit unbelievable to me. I found the friend betrayal twist a good change. I didn’t want it to be totally like “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Someone needs to be the villain, please don’t make it either one of the leads…though messy Julia Robert’s was hilarious.

Meghna standing up for herself was great. The fact that she only made herself small for one person (and her mother, I guess) was fascinating.

I think Meghna and Karthik being long distance was an extra hurdle that separated them too much. They should’ve had more scenes together. I was more interested in Ankita and Samir, even though they’re side characters. Not a ringing endorsement for Meghna and Karthik. They weren’t really as interesting as Ankita and Samir.

Getting technical

Meghna and Karthik’s secrets didn’t seem like information to keep from each other. I liked that the obstacle they really need to get over was Meghna coming to terms with her infatuation with her friend and how it was doing her a disservice. Both characters definitely grew, through reflecting on their actions and how they affected each other. I love character development.

You’ll like this book, if…

You’ll like this book if you’re a fan of fake dating tropes and protagonists secretly in love with their best friend. Either the protagonist is going to hook up with their friend or someone else will steal them away. It’s a win, win. Similar books I’ve read recently, Funny Story and The Next Best Fling.

✅ Spinoff novella nomination:

Ankita and Samir’s romance was fun and brought more tension to the story, than I was feeling from Meghna and Karthik. Meghna and Karthik were just misunderstanding each other. Ankita and Samir seem to be a second chance romance, which I like better. There’s a little mystery in second chance romances, ’cause I’ll be trying to figure out what went wrong the first time.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments.

SHOP FOR Say You’ll Be Mine BY Naina Kumar: