Say You’ll Be Mine is Naina Kumar’s debut novel. She takes a familiar story, the fake engagement for reasons, and through her characters makes it her own. As a romance reader, I am happy to read the same basic plot over and over again. I do want to read books with fleshed out characters and a strong author voice. Naina Kumar does that beautifully.
Meghna gets a shock when she’s invited to her college boyfriend Seth’s wedding. She hadn’t know he was serious about anyone even though, as good friends and writing partners, they talk frequently. She had hoped that Seth would realize that he was in love with her. Kumar does a fantastic job of making it clear that Seth is the worst and doesn’t deserve Meghna or his fiancee. Tired of being lonely, Meghna agrees to let her parents introduce her to some men who are also interested in marriage as an end goal. Her first introduction is Karthik, who tells her quite clearly that he is not interested in marriage or a relationship. So that’s a bust. Both leave assuming they’ll never see each other again.
After a tense family dinner, Karthik announces to his father that he plans to propose to Meghna. When he calls her, she’s surprised, but realizes having a date to Seth’s wedding, where she will be the Best Woman, would make the whole experience better for her. If anyone suspects she still has feelings for Seth, she can point to her fiancee, who is very handsome, an engineer, and totally real.
Kumar brings Meghna and Karthik together slowly, as is appropriate for two strangers who have agreed to pretend they are in a relationship. They travel to meet each other at various events and slowly become friends. There is an only one bed scene. Each of them have at least one “everything I thought was true is a lie” scene. Woven through the faking of an engagement, Meghna and Karthik are struggling with family relationships, and taking stock of where they are professionally. Naina Kumar makes all the disparate threads of their lives work in concert. The family struggles impact their professional goals and both feed into their willingness to crack themselves open for each other. The miscommunications and things unsaid feel organic.
I briefly met Naina Kumar at a book event with Helena Greer and Angelina M. Lopez in Houston and spurred by that, requested an arc from NetGalley. I’m so glad I did. This was a lovely read, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Naina Kumar’s books.
CW: Family stress, neglectful father, toxic friendship
I received this as an arc from Random House Publishing and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
