This debut novel by Texan lawyer Naina Kumar was recommended in Red magazine – and I was kindly granted an advance review copy by Net Galley. Here’s the blurb:

“Meghna has tried everything to find her jaan: blind dates, the dreaded apps, even attempting conversations with strangers. Everything except arranged marriage.
“Think of it like Tinder. Except your parents are the algorithm”
Then Seth, her best friend and the-one-who-got-away, asks her to be his “best man” and suddenly her parent’s taste doesn’t seem so bad. Which is how she meets the cranky but handsome Karthik, who knows marriage is not for him.
They’re the perfect match – if not the one their parents think they are making – and a deal is struck. They’ll announce their engagement: Karthik will be excused from his mother’s set-ups and Meghna will have a date for the wedding from her nightmares.
But how can you fake it and get away with it, when you’re not faking it at all?“

The overall storyline of this is a standard rom com, but with lots of differences and twists and turns to make it really enjoyable and not predictable. I liked Meghna from the start and her relationship with her parents, friends – and then with Karthik himself. The only person who I didn’t like – which I think is really the point – is Seth!

Meghan’s is an English teacher, who loves the theatre and musicals – whilst Karthik is an uptight engineer – and both of them have felt the pressure of parents who had career plans for them that they hadn’t followed. Their respective careers are an integral part of the storyline and how things change over time – along with their marital status.

No spoilers here – but there are lots of plot twists to keep you intrigued. The book also manages to be quite sexy in a few places – but without anything too graphic – very cleverly and respectfully done.

There are a number of word puns in a mixture of English and Hindi – I am looking forward to wowing my Gujarati friend with these when I see her in a few weeks! The title being one / Jaan (Jaan means ‘life’) – although I do notice that the book is called ‘Say You’ll Be Mine’ in America, which is a bit of a shame as the puns are definitely part of the storyline!

A big thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC. ’Say You’ll Be My Jaan’ is out today – so you can buy it right now!