I’m so glad I read this book! Flirting with Disaster is a death of fresh air! With the background being a hurricane hitting Houston, seeing how Meena and Nikhil realize their love never ended for each other. I am definitely recommending to friends!

I usually do not reach for second chance romances, but I am a sucker for Sweet Home Alabama, so I had to pick this up. There were so many layers to Meena and Nikhil's relationship. I found myself agreeing with each of them at different times. The flashbacks were placed perfectly to answer questions that the present plot brought up about Meena and Nikhil. Having Indian main characters gave such a great diverse spin to this story. The writing and storytelling in this was really good, and I'm excited to pick up more of her works.

Naina Kumar's writing keeps getting better: I really enjoyed her first book, but I think this one shows her ability to develop characters deeply, and to show their growth over time. In this book. Meena returns to Houston to get her husband to sign divorce papers after they have been apart for years. Early on in their whirlwind romance, Nikhil and Meena went to Vegas and woke up married. A cliche, for sure, but they loved each other, and tried for a year to make it work. I loved the way Kumar showed the reality of how difficult it can be when you're young and just starting out to make two lives work seamlessly together. Meena passes her bar exam after one failure, and it's time for her to move to DC to pursue her dreams in law and politics. Nikhil is just getting established in Houston. They are both secretly insecure, and don't tell each other the truth of how they are feeling, so they break up. Only when they are older, and realize how important communication is, and how much they miss each other, are they able to meet again and talk through it all. It's really sweet and also steamy, and all takes place over the course of a few harrowing days in a hurricane. The only issues I have with the book are that once again we have an Indian family who is perceived as hard on their daughter, and who have unrealistic expectations for her, and that Meena is able to fly into an impending hurricane without knowing that it's coming (that seems so unrealistic in this age of information). Still, the book is very readable, and I really rooted for this couple.

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**4.5 stars**

Married by accident, forced together by a hurricane, Meena and Nikhil are forced to confront the issues they never discussed in Flirting with Disaster.

Meena and Nikhil’s build up was fantastic — the hurricane premise made the setting feel impactful and intimate, and ripe for honest conversations. There’s not a lot of side character story, which I don’t always mind, but I would’ve liked more of based on the themes of this story. Kumar took an interesting approach in not doing a full dual timeline, but having mini flashbacks from Meena’s perspective throughout her time with Nikhil. I’m excited to read more.

Loooved this book!!! Between the writing and the strong characters, I was never bored. Every single moment that Meena and Nikhil shared was so beautiful and captivating. I can’t wait to read more by Naina Kumar.

Thank you Random House Ballantine for my copy! Wow...I loved Naina Kumar's debut and this sophomore novel has me falling even more in love with her writing. I think the "marriage in crisis" trope is a tough one to pull off, but she delivered an emotional, tender, humorous, sexy love story. The way the story alternated between time periods really helped me understand and empathize with the characters. The natural disaster elements added to the intensity of emotions felt. As a Houstonian whose been through natural disasters before, I felt especially seen. Thank you Naina for this love letter to our city.

I'm usually not a fan of second-chance romances, BUT THIS ONE??? I might've just changed my mind. If there was a physical manifestation of going through it, it's this book. Because being stuck in the house with your soon to be ex-husband as a hurricane is actively happening outside is crazy (but genius). Just imagine being trapped with your ex, who's legally still your husband, because he won’t sign the divorce papers. You fly to Texas only to find yourself in the house you once shared with him because of a hurricane, and now you're discovering things weren't exactly what they seemed when you broke up. Woah, man, take my money I'm heavily invested.

A sweet second chance romance where our MCs actually do the work to be better versions of themselves. We love to see it!

This book was so adorable. I loved the second chance romance - although the end was SO predictable, it did not stop the fun of reading this story. I loved the small town feel vs the big city. The main character comes across as so strong and put together and I loved getting to know the real her. The main male character was very quiet and reserved, but also loved watching him open up and learning his story. The chemistry was great. I truly enjoyed the story line - being trapped in a house during a hurricane when all she wanted was divorce papers signed, to watch her question everything that she thought she really wanted in life. The individual growth was incredible to watch. Overall a really fun and well written story. 
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy

I love the way this book started for me and then the journey back to each other. I was looking for a book that gave off twister vibes and this book definitely gave me that. If you like second chance romance this book is for you. Give it a read you won’t be disappointed!!!

Truly the only thing that could have made this book better was if it had been written in duel POV. But straight up 5 stars. INCREDIBLE.

The first half of the book was meh ok, but I really enjoyed the second half of the book. It was surprisingly emotional for me.

When Meena travels back to Houston to confront her husband and convince him to sign divorce papers, they get trapped together in his house during a hurricane, and the connection that they used to have, rekindles. But is Meena willing to give up her dream that she had been chasing since she left him six years ago?

I do love second chance romances, but add in the terribly hated miscommunication trope, and it lost me. At first, I really did enjoy it in the first half, before we found out why the marriage fell apart, but when the truth came out, and the history was exposed, I just couldn't actually like it. Just like with every miscommunication trope, our married adult main characters did not know how to be married adults and discuss things, which lead to the breaking down of their marriage. Meena was convinced that Nikhil would not have gone with her, and Nikhil was convinced that she did not want him to go. Neither one of them really fought for each other, but Nikhil did deserve way more than Meena gave him, during and after their marriage.

Even though we didn't really get to see any of the six years that the two spent apart, we are able to see a bit more of their progression of their own character and realizing what they actually want, although I do think this book would have benefited from actual chapters that talked about their marriage and what actually caused it to fall apart. The only times we were really told about what happened, we were literally just told, it wasn't really shown so it was hard to feel connected to our character's past. The pacing was slow at times, while at other times, multiple things were happening at once. There were also multiple flashbacks in the middle of chapters that weren't really spaced out or differentiated in any way from what was happening in the present until after the flashback was over, which caused a lot of confusion while I was reading this.

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballentine, Naina Kumar, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

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.