Super cute retelling of Sweet Home, Alabama! I enjoyed the characters and plot. (Note to self - stay out of Houston during hurricane and tornado season.) Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love Naina Kumar’s writing, I loved “Say You’ll be Mine”, and I REALLY, TRULY loved Meena and the setup of this book. Unfortunately for me PERSONALLY, her past relationship with Nikhil and the way they interact with each other brings up extremely uncomfortable c-PTSD for me, so I’m DNF-ing this at the 21% mark.

HOWEVER I still am giving this a full 5 stars on Netgalley because I truly feel like Naina Kumar is one of my top romance authors, and I have full faith this story ends beautifully.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I found the book very hard to get into -- I just didn't get the characters and found the story boring. Thank you for the opportunity.

4 🌟

Such a cute retelling of Sweet Home Alabama!

I was hooked from the moment I picked up this book. Were there times I wanted to grab Meena and shake her? Yes. She got in her own way sooo much. But overall this was such a cute book. And I loved the ending - it was perfect because it wasn't perfect.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I absolutely loved this! I had all the feels and now need to read Naina’s first book!

Thank you Random House - Dell for granting me an ARC!

I was so excited for this book because I love the movie, Sweet Home Alabama, and this kinda has the same feel. However, my excitement died pretty fast as I was struggling to get thru this book. I just didn’t feel the connection between the main characters and why this needed to be a 2nd chance romance to start with. Something was just lacking and I didn’t get all the “feel good” vibes from reading this romcom.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House- Dell publishing for my advance readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

The second chance romance element may take center stage in this marriage in trouble story, but, in my opinion, the heart of this book lies in the FMC’s transformation from someone bound by parental and cultural expectations into a woman who prioritizes her own desires.

Meena and Nikhil marry in secret during a trip to Las Vegas. Six years later, the book opens with Meena traveling to Houston to ask Nikhil to sign divorce papers. Meena arrives just as a hurricane is bearing down on the city and the estranged couple are trapped together during the storm.

Through a series of flashbacks and present day narratives, we get a sense of what originally brought the couple together and their current goals. Discovering what drove them apart is a slow process. The story is told entirely from Meena’s perspective and may have been strengthened by including Nikhil’s point of view. It was sometimes hard to root for them as a couple because we didn’t get an in depth look at their relationship during their time together.

Though some gaps in the story left me wanting more, I enjoyed watching these characters evolve. Nikhil is easy to like and is patient and understanding to a fault. I found myself frustrated with Meena initially and came to understand her actions more as the story progressed.

Overall, this is a solid follow up to Ms. Kumar’s dazzling debut. I found the cultural components of the book to be most fascinating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

A fun read for anyone living in the southeast who has experienced hurricanes. It was very relatable for this Florida reader. The tension between the characters was great & I loved that they were dealing with very contemporary issues. Some of the senerios seemed a bit outlandish but fun. It's a great Rom-Com read! Would be a great movie!

Naina Kumar’s gorgeous book gives us a second chance/marriage-in-trouble love story. The story starts with Meena and Nikhil’s realization that they are waking up married… in Vegas. Despite their haphazard entry into marriage, they are loving, patient young people who are clearly devoted to one another. Flash forward to seven years later. Meena has returned to Houston to get divorce papers signed so that she can pursue her political dreams. Due to a broken phone and other obstacles, she is surprised to find herself stuck with Nikhil while a major hurricane passes through their neighborhood.
The use of the natural disaster provides intense forced proximity for them, leading to heartfelt and emotional conversations. I appreciated how carefully and empathetically the characters handled each other. At various times in the book, the hero and heroine quite literally save one another. Kumar also beautifully builds chemistry, and we see the magnetism that these two feel. Their pull is so strong that this book nearly feels like the fated mates trope.
Some second chance romances often rely on big misunderstandings, and while this book avoids this mostly, it is clear that Nikhil and Meena struggled in the past to fully reveal their insecurities. However, their new relationship serves as a contrast, and I found their longing and regrets to be believable. This book also contains a love triangle, which is a trope I tend to avoid, but it works in this case to showcase Meena’s growth and identity.
So many readers will adore this book. It feels relevant and fresh but also enduring. From the sweet caretaking to the unique external conflict to the mature, engaging dialogue, there is plenty to appreciate about this gorgeous contemporary.
Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All of the previous opinions belong to me and to no one else!

One of my friends from Bookstagram first introduced me to Naina Kumar with Say You'll Be Mine. If you know me, it's hard for me to find a really good South Asian romance, but this one was a winner just like Kumar's first book. I loved the MC Meena because I found many parts of myself within her. Being a daughter of immigrants and living with this idea of what feels like "conditional love" based on achievements and success hit a deep cord within me. Even though the book was a bit chaotic and all over the place, I enjoyed all the parts, well minus the rushed ending, but I won't get into that. I don't want to spoil it for the readers. What really drew me to this book was of course the romance. I loved the love interest Nikhil because so many of his qualities reminded me of my partner. I just appreciated that despite their differences and internal challenges the couple was facing, they were still able to come together and realize how their connection was true and real. I definitely cried during some parts because there were certain words and scenes that I have lived through and of course who doesn't love a happily ever after in the end. This book will be one of my go-to romance read recommendations when it comes out, I highly recommend it.

Second chance romances are always hit or miss. I wanted to read this because of how much I loved the author's debut novel. In comparison, I think Flirting with Disaster was a little of a miss for me. Meena and Nikhil were cute but sometimes hard to root for which is usually the case with second chance romances. The whole point is for there to be some sort of miscommunication trope. There were a lot of conversations about their relationship happening throughout the novel, but we do not get to actually see them in flashbacks as a couple, it is only told as Meena recounts these memories in her head. I prefer second chance romances that go back and forth between chapters to feel like I am there in the past with the characters. I also kind of wish we got some chapters from Nikhil's POV because I still feel like I do not know his character well enough. I do like how things ended for the characters, but I wish that there were more romantic moments between them in the middle of the book. I even wanted for Nikhil to be the one who gave Meena a grand gesture since I was frustrated with him for not looking for Meena for so many years they were apart in the book. It may not have been a hit for me, but I think someone out there could find this book to their liking.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc!

I loved say you’ll be mine so I was super excited to see this book from the same author! Second chance, especially when it’s about a marriage/divorce, always makes my heart hurt but I truly loved this story. Both characters struggled to find a path forward in the past but after literally being forced together they learn that the past isn’t what they always believed. I loved seeing them understand each other’s motivations more and truly apologize for the way they acted previously. Such a good book.

After being surprised and positively loving Say you'll be mine, I was definitely looking forward to this author's next book.

Marketed as a Sweet Home Alabama esque romance added to the excitement in picking this one up. When Meena arrives back in Texas to ask Nikhil to [finally] sign their divorce papers, 6 years after she left Houston for DC to never look back, she gets stuck at his (their) house due to a hurricane. Over the next few days as they are house bound, they start to reconnect, learning about past accomplishment and future hopes, with or without each other.

One of the things that I love about a second chance romance is the lean in to what caused past hurt and how it breaks you and puts you back together and it just hits you in the feels the whole way through. While this story had so much potential, it jumped right into the divorce papers, and with very limited flashbacks, we don't really see what brought them together or broke them up, and the reader isn't able to get a good look at what about the couple we're supposed to be rooting for.

While there were some great parts to this story (the neighborhood radio wave, and the fact that they have a Jess vs Logan debate when it surfaces that he's watched gilmore girls multiple times is the best - I, for the record, agree with Nikhil and am 100% team Logan). There were gaps with her life and the relationship she left in DC and gaps in what we saw with Meena and Nikhil which made it hard to ultimately be fully immersed in their love story. I definitely wanted more to this story but that won't stop me from running to pick up the next book from this author!


Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Okay see, I binged this book so fast, it was unputdownable 😭 the writing and the banter were so so wholesome, and the book balanced the fine line of angst and comfort so well 🥲

If you've seen Sweet Home Alabama (which I've not.. yet), this is a reimagining of the movie!
If not - this is an estranged married couple getting a second chance + forced proximity romance -- the FMC seeks out the MMC after years of no contact to get a divorce (so that she can move on with someone else to support her political career), and they get stuck together in their old house due to a hurricane. The banter, the flashbacks to their past and the hurt/comfort scenes were just so >>>>> the third act grand gestures and the ending were so perfect, I just can't -- 😭

Also, I loved the focus on her lawyer/political career and his construction/design career! They were both so involved with each other's passions, it was so wholesome <3

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

the setup of this story creates such a perfect way to develop tension between these two characters who have so much left unsaid between them. i loved how grounded the conflict felt and how it all was rooted in a love for the culture in Houston. i wished for slightly more sweeping romantic moments between the two, but i do recognize that is hard to do within the confines of a house during a hurricane. i did appreciate the subtle ways they showed love to each other in an effort to find their way back!

*thank you dell & netgalley for the eARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wish I liked this one more. The hurricane aspect was a fun setting and I enjoyed the scenes where things got crazy and they had to manage but the core relationship in this book was not it for me. I didn't feel like these characters had to get together again by the end which is not the goal in romance books. Unfortunate, since I did enjoy her first book. May just not be for me.

I never knew I needed a Sweet Home Alabama retelling until I cracked open Flirting With Disaster by Naina Kumar. I was giddy with joy and butterflies while reading this book.

Meena is a lobbyist working in Washington D.C. when her ex boyfriend and political partner asks her to finalize her estranged marriage. Meena heads back home to Houston when a hurricane blows in stranding her with her husband Nikhil.

I loved Naina’s debut novel and was so excited to pick up Flirting With Disaster. The banter is out of this world and the tension between Meena and Nikhil is palpable. I can’t wait to read what Naina writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Dell for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been eagerly waiting to read this book ever since finishing Say You’ll Be Mine, and it was absolutely worth the wait! This story gave me major Sweet Home Alabama vibes with a South Asian twist. Meena and Nikhil are both wonderfully complex characters, and the tension between them builds beautifully as they’re unexpectedly thrown together during a hurricane seven years after their painful separation. It was so satisfying to see Nikhil and Meena work through their issues and grow both as individuals and as a couple. As a fellow Texan and H-E-B lover, I also especially enjoyed the little touches of local flavor this story definitely made me smile!

Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar is a sweet and endearing second-chance romance and "Sweet Home Alabama" reimaging. Nikhil and Meena fell in love young, and got drunkly married in Vegas, but that has been years since they have seen or spoken to each other. Meena, desperate for a divorce, flies to Houston, TX, to confront Nikhil, but when she doesn't check the weather, she ends up getting stuck in their old home with Hurrican on the way. While stuck inside and even closer in a closet for safety, the walls they built up start to crumble.

Flirting with Disaster definitely has all of the major hallmarks of "Sweet Home Alabama," but I loved the contrast of the setting and angst and being "hurricaned-in" to the same house and then the same closet. My heart hurt at all of the pain these two caused for themselves in each other, and didn't love how much miscommunication happens in this novel. It felt as though the MC's were constantly misunderstanding each other and then immediately jumping to the worst conclusion before walking off. With that being said, Naina Kumar's storytelling abilities still made me want to route for Meena and Nikhil to work together and repair their relationship.

The representation in this book of the Indian American experiences and a strong woman in politics wanting to better her community and make a change at the policy level was amazing. I loved reading this book and routing the MC's to get back together for HEA! I recommend reading this book if you love second-chance romance, forced proximity, and strong women!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the ARC.

I am all about second chances and when I read what this book was about I knew that I needed it. Meena has come back to Texas to get her husband to finally sign the divorce papers. She thought they had given up on their marriage long ago, but maybe that isn't the case. Meena doesn't realize that there is a hurricane coming and she is stuck in her old house with her ex trying to ride out the storm. Nikhil didn't think he'd see Meena agaiin under these circumstances and he knows he hasn't signed the papaers yet, but I don't think he really believes that they are over in his heart.
You can see Meena's struggle with the life she built for herself versus what she really wants deep down in her heart. She wants to make everyone else happy but the person that makes her the happiest is right in front of her.
This story is about growing up and communication. Two things that can make or break a relationship. Meena and Nikhil got married impulsively and Meena doesn't do impulsive. She doesn't know if Nikhil and her have what it takes to make it but it is very clear that neither of them are done with the other.
I really loved the pining that we could see, especially from Nikhil, even if we didn't have his POV. It was obvious that he was just waiting for a time when he could be what she needed and he still was in love with her. It was so sweet.
Thanks to Random House, Netgalley and Naina Kumar for an early copy.