I really enjoyed this book!! Naina Kumar does such a great job weaving an intriguing story that readers will fall in love with like I did!! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance books!!

Meena touches down in Houston to handle something she has put off for years - divorcing her husband Nikhil. They wanted different things and she's ready to launch her campaign for political office.

She's so laser focused that she doesn't realize she's traveling straight into a storm. Cue all sorts of mishaps and communication challenges... especially those that trying to navigate through a weather disaster entail. I liked the turns with each of the characters showing their choices and the complexity of life.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for an ARC.

This one had no business being so cute! As a fan of Sweet Home Alabama and Ashley Winstead rom coms, I really enjoyed this one!
I feel like we really understood the characters, Nikhil and Meena, and we understood where they had been and where they could go in their love.
And throw in a hurricane? Yes please! Fun, sweet, and romantic, I definitely understand the hype for this one!

I will say that the first half worked for me moreso than the second half. Feel like things slow down and I wish Meena's career took a different spin and we got her parent's more involved but loved her chat with her sister - such a great moment!

Overall a easy breezy romance that I think many will enjoy! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75! Meena and Nikhil are better than me because things would not end well if I got stuck in a hurricane with one of my exes. This was a cute and heartwarming story!

Flirting with Disaster started a bit slow but then when the hurricane hit it really took off and it was hard to put down. Meena is returning to Houston, completely unaware of an impending hurricane. She is there to finally get her divorce papers signed only the forced proximity (one of my fave tropes) forces them to start to have some conversations and maybe things aren't what they seemed.I loved how Kumar wove in the bits of the past so we could see how they got together in the first place. Meena definitely had some struggles to figure out what she wanted both professionally and personally and I appreciated how they worked all that out in the end. Wonderful second chance romance!

Such a cute, light hearted romance. A twist on Sweet Home Alabama that hits the spot Kumar’s characters and story felt real, relatable, and had me tearing up and rooting for them. I received this as an eARC and it was the perfect little escape!

This was my first Naina Kumar book and I will definitely be picking up more of her books in the future. Sweet Home Alabama has always been one of my favorite movies since I was younger and this was a perfect reimagining of it. I was a little nervous about the second-chance romance, being that it's not usually one of my favorite tropes, but this has helped rehab my feelings towards that particular trope. Their relationship was the perfect example of finding your person at the wrong time, but that doesn't mean they aren't your person. Naina absolutely pulled me in and made me feel the emotional turmoil Meena and Nikhil were experiencing, while also going through a terrifying natural disaster. I especially loved Meena and Nikhail's journey of individual growth on their way back to each other. Their story was heartbreaking, scary (at times), filled with ups and downs, and all about following your heart even when it seems terrifying to put yourself out there again. I definitely recommend reading this if you love a second-chance romance between an estranged husband and wife, individual growth, and a man that will watch C-Span just to catch a glimpse of his wife. Let's also not forget, that he made note cards for her while she was studying for the Bar exam and remembering all of the legal jargon he cares nothing about.

I didn't enjoy this book. I felt like it was too predictable and there wasn't enough chemistry between the characters.

We are two weeks into 2025 and a five star book has already landed on my doorstep. When I tell you that I giggled, I cried, I kicked my feet, I audibly gasped.... this book literally was a work of perfection. Nikhil and Meena (and Shake too) are such well rounded characters with backstories that MAKE SENSE. The characters just completely and totally feel so realistic. The dreams and aspirations of the characters are well thought out and planned. Must of the decisions made sense. I absolutely ate this book up. 24 hours is all it took for this to become one of my favorite romance reads!!!

The tension, the action, the anticipation had me giddy. I cannot believe that this is Kumar's second novel. Naina Kumar, I will simply read anything you write from now on.

Main trope: second chance romance!!!!! (This is usually not my favorite trop but it was done SOOOOOO well)

This book just made me happy. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC!

Thank you Putnam for this new book from Naina Kumar, between this read and her debut last year, she is a new favorite romance writer! I love her style, her slow burn banter and chemistry, and how her stories, though universal in themes, also weave in needed depth of culture and identity, exploration of how culture and family shape relationships, that I really value. I love a story that brings in not just themes on second chance love but also the space for self growth and reflection; Meena's story has this and Naina Kumar is deft at giving her characters space to grow and explore relationships but also space for self reflection. Flirting with Disaster was a big win for me, engaging for the charm and banter, hard to put down because of the ways Kumar drew me to care about and connect with Meena.

I was very excited to read this as Say You'll be Mine was one of my favorite books last year. I love the concept of this (who doesn't love Sweet Home Alabama??) but this one just didn't hit the same marks as the first book. It felt like this one missed some of the emotional character connection of the first and left me wanting more from Meena and Nikhil. More was explained in this book than discovered by the characters which made it harder to root for their reconnection. I would still recommend it, as Kumar is a great writer and the canoe scene was fantastic.

Thank you, Dell, Random House, and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy.

Light, funny, and with the ultimate forced proximity situation 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 was a fun approach to second Chance.

From the opening lines, it is clear that Meena and Nikhil share a deep love. As the story unfolds, the details of their undoing come to light while they are sheltering together during a hurricane.

Told through Meena’s point of view, there is a lot of unresolved tension. I also felt it was clear that Nkihil still had feelings for her from the second they reunited (a must in a second chance for me—the possibility ).

I enjoyed the hurricane scenes and appreciated Nikhil's caregiving moments. These allowed the reader to connect with him despite not having his POV (it wasn’t needed).

However, I really struggled with Nikhil and Meena's lack of growth. I understood that they had left many things unsaid, but it felt like we were having the same turmoil as six years ago. I LOVE second chances, but I needed them to handle things differently than they did in the past. I would have appreciated earlier communication to help entangle the reader in their conflict. I found I lacked any real investment.

In contrast, the comedy elements were well done, and I am glad Meena got to talk things through with her sister. Also, this has a really well-done fade-to-black element.

While this was perfectly likable, I think I enjoyed her debut, 𝘚𝘢𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦 a bit more.

Have you ever been in a hurricane? I technically have, but I was in the hospital with a generator for 60 hours…

Okay so I liked it, the concept was good and I loved Nikhil. Meena on the other hand…

In this story we’re presented with Meena and Nikhil who had a vegas wedding and tried making their marriage work because they indeed did love each other. But the pressure of passing the bar became so much for Meena that she felt like a burden to her husband as he barely showed any signs of being needed. This is one of their biggest issues, Meena wanted to move elsewhere to start her successful career, and Nikhil felt she actually didn’t want him there. They become estranged and years later, Meena returns during hurricane season and gets trapped together with Nikhil. In this confinement, they must work over their issues and try to maybe resolve their marriage… or not?

Nikhil’s character is one that I fell in love with soon into the book and the author really made me FEEL for him, his sadness and happiness, his wants to keep the person he loved in his life. While Meena, somehow she just kept breaking him down? I felt as though she simply wasn’t deserving of him, this is one of those marriage-in-crisis novels where you could really feel why things went wrong in the first place, and wonder how it could be fixed!

Welp another 3am, can’t put the dang thing down, read! 😅 I loved this story so much. She did Sweet Home Alabama vibes well. I haven’t read Say You’ll Be Mine but apparently I now have another book to add to my already daunting TBR so thanks for that 😉

Nikhil is so lovable!

Random thought I had while reading: “There is true power derived from someone believing in you. There is true courage in letting someone know you well enough to give them the chance to believe in you. There is true beauty in learning about the things the people you care about, care about.”

Lastly, Akka is the GOAT! She literally said what I had been screen screaming at Meena for 70% of the book 😂


Thanks for the ARC!

Ms. Kumar really brings all the creativity to this engaging story. I've read plenty of novels with a drunken Vegas wedding, a natural disaster event, or an old house needing to be saved, but this story had all three. There was still plenty of space left for personal conflict and romance. Meena and Nikhil parted ways not long after that Vegas wedding.Years later they are stranded together during a hurricane when Meena comes back to Houston to get Nikhil to sign divorce papers. Being marooned alone together in such dangerous circumstances, they begin the journey of learning to seriously communicate and discover all the hidden bits of each other that caused their breakup years before. There are plenty of "will they, won't they?" moments, since Meena's job is in DC and her goal is to run for office there. This story is a very convincing modern day tale, where being human and having to balance personal and professional goals just isn't as easy as it at first might appear. Though I was fairly certain Meena and Nikhil would achieve their happily ever after, I was completely enthralled reading about their journey.

I was given an ARC and volunteered to write a review.

3.5 stars / 5 (rounded up)

Pick it up if you want:
- second chance romance
- forced proximity
- complicated family relationships
- strong sense of place
- yearning for community
- big feelings
- picking stability or passion

“Sweet Home Alabama” meets "The Notebook" meets "Red, White, and Royal Blue." Main characters Meena and Nikhil navigate weathering a hurricane, while also attempting to finalize a divorce, and balance family drama, political aspirations, and more.

I think my rating would have been higher, but it took me several chapters to get into it - about ~40% of the way though, I started to get more invested in the characters. The MMC takes some time to open up but once he does...boy is he yearning. Both main characters also got in their own way for most of the story, either through inexperience (youth) or straight up miscommunication (leaving things unsaid).

Would recommend for contemporary romance fans, and would read more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, Ballantine Books / Dell for this eARC copy of #FlirtingWithDisaster in exchange for honest review!

Meena followed her dreams of a big law life in DC. She left her hometown of Houston, Texas and with it, her marriage to Nikhil. Now that she is facing the career opportunity of her dreams, she needs to return home and get the divorce she's put off for 7 years.

But when she arrives at the home she built with Nikhil, a hurricane of epic proportions hits Houston. She's now trapped with her ex and flooded not only with pounding rain, but the memories of everything she loved (and didn't love) about this man. Will she return to DC and give up on Nikhil for good? Will they even make it out of this storm alive?

Things I loved:

🌧️ Forced-proximity (only one closet!)
🌧️ Overcoming the burden of immigrant guilt
🌧️ Nikhil 🥵
🌧️ FMC who has to balance career with love but refuses to sacrifice on either
🌧️ Second-chance romance
🌧️ The ANGST
🌧️ Nikhil 😍

I *love* a good second-chance romance. I might be a little biased because my marriage is a second chance romance, but I truly feel like the tension is incomparable because you're being led by not only your imagination, but your memories. I also loved how the forced proximity forced our characters to address the communication challenges they couldn't tackle the first go around.

I really loved these characters, despite getting frustrated with both of them at times. They were both flawed people, but I loved how they tackled those flaws. They were messy, real, and I was rooting for them throughout the story.

This is Kumar's sophomore romance novel. I need to go back and read Say You'll Be My Jaan!

Flirting with Disater was such a delightful read. The pacing of this book was so good! Second chance slow burns are my favorite. Naina did an incredible job of flushing out these characters and making them relatable and how you want to root for them to end up together. Over all 10/10 recommend this book was incredible!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC.

This book is second chance romance done right. Just read it. *Chefs Kiss*

Meena is heading back to her hometown, Houston, during hurricane season. Her purpose is to have her husband sign divorce papers. She’s desperate to have the life she planned for, at all cost.

However, once Meena sees Nikhil, old feelings and memories come back.

I want to point out how accurate the environment felt. As a fellow Houstonian, I understand how hurricanes and weather changes behave. I felt Naina Kumar, described this accurately. The emotional state of both characters felt real and raw. The mindset you have, during the hurricane and how to brace yourself for what’s ahead.

Beautifully written and felt realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read Flirting with Disaster.