I love a second chance romance with a side of forced proximity, and Flirting with Disaster understood the assignment! An Indian, Houston-set retelling of Sweet Home Alabama, sign me up, I’m here for it! DC attorney/lobbiest returns to Houston to finally get her first husband to sign the divorce papers so she can remarry, only to land in a hurricane with no way to get back out. Forced to shelter with her husband in the house they used to live in together, they’re forced to confront the attraction and chemistry they used to have as well as all the ways that they were driven apart.

"Flirting With Disaster" by Naina Kumar is a compelling second-chance romance that intertwines emotional depth with the unpredictability of nature. Set against the backdrop of an impending hurricane in Texas, the novel explores themes of love, ambition, and cultural identity.​
The story centers on Meena, a high-powered lawyer on Capitol Hill, who returns to her home state to finalize her divorce from Nikhil, her estranged husband. Their spontaneous Las Vegas wedding years earlier had been a source of true happiness, but their paths diverged as Meena pursued her career ambitions. Unexpectedly, a hurricane forces them to seek shelter together in their former home, reigniting memories and unresolved feelings. As they confront their shared past amidst the storm's chaos, Meena is torn between her current, sensible relationship with Shake and the lingering connection with Nikhil.​
Kumar masterfully portrays the complexities of rekindled love, set against the challenges posed by cultural expectations and personal aspirations. The novel has been praised for its heartwarming and sometimes angsty examination of how love can be rekindled when least expected.
Readers have noted the novel's engaging narrative and the relatable struggles of its characters. One reviewer mentioned, "Flirting with Disaster is a fantastic second-chance romance book set in Houston, Texas." Another highlighted the book's ability to balance humor and heartfelt moments, stating it as "the most amazing rollercoaster of big feels and humor and heart." ​
Overall, "Flirting With Disaster" offers a modern romance that delves into the intricacies of relationships, personal growth, and the enduring power of love amidst life's unforeseen challenges.​ This is something that I would read again, it was a fantastic read and recommendations have been placed highly!

If you loved the movie Sweet Home Alabama, you should definitely check this book out!

In this book, our two main characters are married, but have been estranged for years. Meena thinks she is ready to move on with her life, so she decides to go to Houston to get her husband to sign divorce papers.

While in Houston, she learns a hurricane is on the way and she has no choice but to stay in the home she used to share with her husband Nikhil. There is a lot of tension as they prepare for the hurricane and they experience several disasters while they wait for the storm to pass.

Their time together reminds Meena why she fell for Nikhil in the first place and she starts to question if the divorce is really what she wants.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend you check it out!

Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

I really loved this one! What a sweet take on the Sweet Home Alabama movie storyline. I adored Nikhil all throughout, and came to really like Meena as well. I’ve five starred both of Naina Kumar’s books now so it’s safe to say she’s an author I have to read!

I loved Kumar’s first book so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this follow-up. While this was a solid romance, I just didn’t have the same enjoyment in this one. The way the time periods shifted always seemed to keep me on my back foot with respect to my complete comprehension of the story. This one also didn’t have the laughs I recall from the first one. The characters were likeable enough and the underlying moral about not placing too much emphasis on financial factors was well-received, but this story didn’t have much pizazz for me. Solid - 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review.

I enjoyed this, although it didn't blow me away. I had a nice time reading it and I always love second chance romances, but I also got approved for the ARC almost 5 months ago and then it took me…almost 3 months to finish a book that I definitely could’ve read in a couple of hours at most, so I feel like that says everything lol. I liked the setting/set up of the story and the ending did make me tear up though.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.

Oh, this Sweet Home Alabama-inspired romance hit so good!!!

I love that this book touches on the power of community and family relationships (and commiserates on the nightmare that is Texas wildlife), while also delivering the most swoon-worthy romance. Only one (shelter in place) closet, Gilmore Girls rep, and a MMC who is so down bad. I mean, he makes flashcards for her! He watches C-SPAN for glimpses of her! He's "warm red brick!" He is Team Logan, but w/e, I can excuse that, I suppose. The "reckoning" of this couple is so romantic and I loved their journey.

I also really felt seen in this book when Meena laments that a low ponytail makes her look like a Founding Father. Girl, same.

A great sophomore novel by Naina Kumar! Enjoyed this one so much.

Thank you to Dell and Netgalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. FLIRTING WITH DISASTER is out now!

This book was delightful. The too busy Meena is trying to wrap up her previous life with secret husband Nikhil so she can move on but when a hurricane arrives during her short trip back to get papers signed, she rediscovers the man with whom she once fell in love! The book shows the struggle between lost love and career goals and demonstrates how choices can change your life.

Okay, so we've got your second chance romance, your forced proximity, your... not even REALLY misunderstanding trope because the misunderstanding happened years ago SO! This is the chance, in such forced proximity (second chance perhaps) to work out that years-long misunderstanding! In the middle of a hurricane in Houston, and in the middle of Meena, our main character, on the cusp of maybe wanting something both personally and career-wise until what she's had and lost is maybe a possibility again.

There's more to it-- a family whose love is conditional, the expectations of self and others, how hard it is to ask for help... also snakes and ants and so much rain and dreams that maybe can become reality when we are better versions (hopefully) of ourselves, six years more mature.

I enjoyed it well enough even if it didn't set my brain on fire personally, and the spice scenes were open door and a release of the pent-up chemistry as far back as chapter one, and people who are sort of growing despite the roadblocks they've put in their own way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the eARC in exchange for review!

I really liked Say You’ll Be Mine and was eager to get my hands on Flirting with Disaster and it did not disappoint. This was a second chance/ forced proximity romance channeling the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Weirdly it also gave me Haley and Nathan in One Tree Hill vibes a a little too at parts. I eat up a second chance romance, love of the yearning and the tension. I will say that the miscommunications or inability to communicate between these two did drive me a touch nuts at times and Shake was certainly no Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey in Sweet Home Alabama).

I would absolutely recommend checking this one out for all the second chance romance fans out there! 💘 Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing / Dell for the ARC!

(3.75 star rating)
Flirting With Disaster is the perfect novel for lovers of the forced proximity trope and second chance romance! This book also had elements of small town charm which I loved! Meena and Nikhil's reunion is both messy and perfect. The tension created by the storm forces their chemistry to reignite. I was tuned in! Specifically with Meena, I loved how she took the chance to follow her heart despite the pressures from the outside world. It allowed her to listen to Nikhil's wants and needs, ultimately leading to Nikhil to do the same. As someone who finds it hard to ask for help, I could relate to how Nikhil felt he had to carry the world on his shoulders to support his loved ones. I did feel the conversations between them were going around in circles, leaving room for miscommunication, which I was not a fan of. But self-discovery isn't perfect, so I appreciated their communication's imperfect elements.

OMG, this was such a fantastic book!
I was initially intrigued because I love the movie Sweet home Alabama and this book does a great job with a similar set up but it had its own unique strengths.
In Flirting with disaster we get Meena, a successful attorney that is flying back to Houston to get her husband to sign the divorce papers. However, what she initially thought would only take a couple of hours takes much longer as a hurricane is coming and she needs to hunker down with Nikhil. While being forced to be together they get to unravel and talk it out what happened before and discover that they are not as over as they think.
Loved the tenderness, the forced proximity and the chemistry between the two main characters. Highly recommend doing the audio.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Flirting with Disaster is a second chance, slow burn romance being compared to Sweet Home Alabama and I definitely got those vibes. She needs a divorce from her husband that she’s been separated from for many years, but when she goes back home to Houston, Texas to get him to finalize the divorce. Due o a hurricane, they shelter in place until it passes, reminiscing the past and the good, bad, and ugly memories to pass the time.

I thought, although predictable, it was a cute and easy read/listen. I loved all the references to Gilmore Girls. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and neither character was too likable to begin with, but as their past story was revealed the more you'll be rooting for their second chance. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had a dual POV and not just one side of the story.

I was fortunate to have both an eARC and ALC to read in tandem. I really enjoyed listening to the narrator. She did a great job with pacing, tone, and bringing the story to life.

Meena and Nikhil had a drunken Vegas wedding seven years ago, and have been separated for the last six - her as a lawyer in DC, while he’s in construction back home in Texas. She has decided it’s time to sever their ties completely and comes back to Texas to get him to sign their divorce papers, but she lands just as a hurricane hits - and so they’re stuck together to ride it out.

I really enjoyed this second chance, forced proximity romance in the spirit of Sweet Home Alabama. Meena and Nikhil being forced to confront the issues that tore them apart was done very well, and I found the compromise of the conclusion to be realistic, if not completely what I’d expected.

Flirting with Disaster definitely had the vibes of one of my favorite movies - Sweet Home Alabama!!!
This book was a second chance romance for the two charaters in this book, Meena and Nikhil. They had some unresolved issues with their marriage when Meena took off to Washington DC to pursue a political career while leaving Nikhil back in Houston. Neither one of them ever filed for divorce but when Meena's political career starts taking off, she is left with no choice but to come back home to Nikhil and end the marriage. But little did she know that she was going back to Houston in the middle of a hurricane!!!!

Thank you Net Galley and publisher for an advanced eARC of this book!

thank you for lonely pages book tours for providing me with the ARC!

i devoured almost the entirety of this book in a 24-hr train ride, so i think that should attest to my feelings for it. if not, let me make it clear: i am COMPLETELY enamored of it. naina kumar is an instant auto-buy author for me now.

and i know i am always a little hesitant to pick up indian authors' books bc i never know how they're gonna portray indian culture, but i shouldn't have worried at all.

second-chance romance? check.
tears of angst? check
desi parental trauma? checkkk
excellent reps of people of diverse indian classes? check
showing us how community care looks like? yeppp!

it has been dubbed as a reimagining of Sweet Home Alabama but since i hadn't watched it, that wasn't an incentive for me. what were tho: two Indian american MCs, and second chance romance. and in one word, i would call it a really *mature* romance, even amid the series of contentions and fights, but with all the crushing waves of fluff and FEELINGS of /the one that got away/.

the plot instantly captured my angst-loving core: after their accidental marriage didn't work out, meena comes back to her hometown six years later to get the divorce finalized so she can finally advance in her political career.

naina kumar has crafted these characters so artistically and maturely. i have to come back to this word again, bc everything made sense here. the prose was elegant and moving and the story so wonderfully written i literally could NOT pause my reading. and we got these interspersed flashes of their blissful past thrown in between, tho not in huge chunks at a time, so it doesn't take you out of the story at all. there was a very detailed glimpse of the size and shape of that relationship. and it all made me choke on something hard. i adored nikhil and meena with all my heart.

but before i speak on the superior romance, i want to stress how much i LOVE the way she portrayed the diasporic and diverse experience of south asians: with immigrant parents or from the lower rung of the society, who are NOT academically so gifted they are traumatized of bullying or the jokesters that Western media perpetually label us as. how she represented the underrepresented within us. i loved that she gives us an MC who's a construction worker (nikhil) and another a high-powered lawyer who has failed her bar exams and feels the acute pressure of proving herself to her parents (meena), and writes about all the stress, anxiety, mental health and marraiage crises such failures hurl at you.

and i loove she delienated the VERY indian cultural tradition of parents foisting their toxic judgment on their children's every life choice, be it career or marriage. the piles of expectations laden on the children to fulfil those expectations, parents' affinity for criticizing their child's life partner if they aren't financially or socially prestigious. how it's always such a struggle to separate your parents' expectations and vision of yourself from your.../you/. reconcile them. how conditional parents' love is, contingent on you being a succesful daughter, on making them proud, making you an extended version of themselves and disappointed when you turn out to be your own person. it's been drilled into us that parents are our lives' monarchs, and it's a complex struggle to stop wrestling with yourself and giving in to chasing after that unobtainable parental validation. but naina kumar stitched that web of disparate emotions in meena with quite transparently.

i also just LOVE how she wove together the threads of social justice and climate change and global capitalism cohesively here through the MCs. meena's political career dream was to fight for policies that make the lives of underrepresented, less privileged class of people better, and we see she knew that the whole system was designed against them, and never flinched from trying to help.

and as for the romance: i think naina kumar is giving emily henry a run for her money on second chance stories. bc the tension?? the angst?? the suppressed feelings?? the painful ANGSTT (yes i have to say it twice bc it made me cry)??...all of it were exceedingly, torturously delightful.

it's being stuck together with your estranged husband in a hurricane in the house you both made, it's sleeping in sleeping bags in close quarters and him tending to your (literal) wounds and cuts and fever all night long and unheard confessions on the sickbed (um hi i am UNWELL NIKHIL). it's power outages and walkie talkie communications with your neighbors and rowing in a canoe in the storm to help them, the acute portrayal of community care. it's all the fights and grievances that carve up due to lack of communications, learning to ask for help when you need it and having it delivered unhesitatingly. it's years of devotion without the unwanted imposition of feelings on the other, and intent support of her dreams with or without you.

on top of that, the miscommunication was cleared by the halfway mark, so i am GRATEFUL for that.

and here's the thing: my enjoyment of a second-chance romance hinges on the rationality of the couple's past break-up. so i was OVERJOYED to find that meena and nikhil's was not something blown out of proportion, its painfulness NOT overexaggerated and overinflated that make you go "that's IT? that's why all this drama??" in disappointment. here reason for the breakup was something complicated and harsh and depicts the often painful, gritty struggles in relationships that require work and hard conversations, which don't make it past the fluffy HEAs of our usual ration of romance books.

so in the end, it just leaves me lighter and heavier for finishing it. i highly recommend it if you are a fan of these themes in a book.

It was a quick read and I loved the premise, but the ‘love’ story was a bit dull and confusing. I wanted more love and connection!!

The premise of a Sweet Home Alabama retelling totally sucked me into picking up this book. I enjoyed this small-town, second chance romance but felt that the main characters could have had a little more chemistry. Their chemistry fell a little flat and felt a bit bland. Overall, I loved the Sweet Home Alabama vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-book copy!

Flirting With Disaster follows Meena and Nikhil, a married couple that's been separated for a few years and find themselves stuck together when a hurricane hits Texas. When I saw the tagline for this book is a slight retelling of "Sweet Home Alabama" I was immediately intrigued as that is one of my favorite rom-coms. This book does take some bits and pieces from the former but the author did a good job making it its own story. I connected with the characters and their relationship and was rooting for them to make it work. At times, I found that the conversations were a bit repetitive and would bog down the story. Outside of that, I enjoyed this book a lot and am looking forward to reading more from this author.