Say You'll Be Mine

A Novel

By: Naina Kumar

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Naina Kumar turns the arranged marriage plot on its head. . . . A sparkling new voice in the romance stratosphere.”—Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A-)

“I couldn’t put down this page-turner. . . . The new When Harry Met Sally . . . a warm, smart, sexy, and absolutely charming debut.”—Colleen Hoover

A teacher with big dreams joins forces with a no-nonsense engineer to survive an ex’s wedding and escape matchmaking pressure from their Indian families. Their plan? Faking an engagement, of course.

AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Meghna Raman defied her parents’ wishes and followed her life’s passion, becoming a theater teacher and aspiring playwright. When she discovers that her beloved writing partner, best friend, and secret crush, Seth, is engaged—and not to her—she realizes he’s about to become the one-that-got-away. Even worse, he’s asked her to be his best man. And worse than that, she’s agreed. Determined to try and move on, Meghna agrees to let her parents introduce her to a potential match. Maybe she could marry the engineer that her parents still wish she’d become.

Grumpy engineer Karthik Murthy has seen enough of his parents’ marriage to know it’s not for him. He agreed to his mother’s matchmaking attempts to make her happy, never dreaming he would meet someone as vibrant as Meghna. Though he can’t offer her something real, a fake engagement could help Meghna soothe the sting of planning Seth’s wedding festivities and Karthik avoid the absurd number of set-ups his mother has planned for him.

As the two find common ground, grow protective of each other’s hearts, and start to fall for the traits they originally thought they hated, an undeniable chemistry emerges. But soon, their expectations and insecurities threaten something that’s become a lot more real than they’d planned.

Say You’ll Be Mine is a delightful trip back to the heyday of swoony romantic comedies from the nineties, but with a deep and poignant look at the effects of culture and family in our most intimate relationships.

©2024 Naina Kumar (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“I couldn’t put down this page-turner. A warm, smart, sexy, and absolutely charming debut with the most important lesson at its center: real love is built on courage. Meghna and Karthik's happily ever after is the new When Harry Met Sally. Naina Kumar’s Say You’ll Be Mine has it all.”—Colleen Hoover

“Fake engagement—one of the romance genre’s most stalwart, dependable tropes—reigns supreme in Naina Kumar’s Say You’ll Be Mine . . . an insightful look at how cultural and familial expectations can shift even the best-known love stories.”—ELLE “One of 2024’s Best Romances”

“A fresh and charming story about finding love without losing yourself . . . I rooted for these wonderfully headstrong, big-hearted characters all the way.”—Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over

Lovely novel

Amazing debut novel from Naina Kumar. Very much the vibes of My Best Friends Wedding but with characters you want more from and enjoy learning about. The two main characters get on my nerves. Which sucks cause I wanna love this book so much. Everything else besides the constant miscommunication is so good and enveloping with character building that makes me wanna stay engaged. But that’s just because I hate miscommunication as a trope and or plot device. Would not mind a sequel to return back to this world, especially if it’s focused on Meghnas brother and his relationship.

Well written but…

This is a well written story but I did not find it particularly interesting. There was so much more that could have mined here. I was a bit disappointed.

sweet but drawn out

It is a sweet story without too much graphic sex. A lot of cliche comments and I felt like it took too long, but I was grateful for the happy ending. The narrator was pretty good. She did the accents really well, but sometimes I felt like she lacked depth in the way she vocalized feelings and conversations.

It was cute.. but

I think it was cute, but the characters frustrated me! There was so much that didn’t have to happen if they would have just spoken up!

Narration

The narration of this story is very good. There are a lot of side stories that at times was a bit distracting. The story itself drags a bit (due to lack of communication between the male and female leads), but it was a pleasant one time listen. 3 1/2 stars