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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another great stand alone from Naima Kumar. I enjoyed the second chance aspect, but wish that they had mentioned attending therapy.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 ⭐️ i loved naina kumar’s debut so i was really excited about flirting with disaster. i’m also a sweet home alabama lover so i enjoyed the idea of this fun twist on the classic!
the “before” portion of this story (while obviously brief) was really fun and made me love meena and nikhil. the “after” switched things up. i love love love nikhil through and through. he was such a wonderful character who was kind, sympathetic, and open to growth. he also clearly loved meena SO much.
“I love you,” he says, cradling my face in both of his palms. “I’ve never stopped. Never. I’ve never not been in love with you.”
i was up and down with meena. i loved that she was a woman following her dreams and aspiring to take on DC. she was confident and powerful and ready for success. HOWEVER. her repetitive switch ups and the way she treated nikhil so severely irked me. i know how second chance romance works, but she thought so little of him and constantly hurt his feelings for a large portion of the book. i’m happy this was a HEA of course but i felt like nikhil loved meena far more than meena truly loved him. maybe im wrong, that’s just how it came across. i think this took away some of the value for me and that is 100% a personal issue but i just got very agitated.
overall this was a past faced read, it was fun, and i did enjoy the premise very much. there were just a number of issues that kept me from fully loving this story. still a generally good story!
the “before” portion of this story (while obviously brief) was really fun and made me love meena and nikhil. the “after” switched things up. i love love love nikhil through and through. he was such a wonderful character who was kind, sympathetic, and open to growth. he also clearly loved meena SO much.
“I love you,” he says, cradling my face in both of his palms. “I’ve never stopped. Never. I’ve never not been in love with you.”
i was up and down with meena. i loved that she was a woman following her dreams and aspiring to take on DC. she was confident and powerful and ready for success. HOWEVER. her repetitive switch ups and the way she treated nikhil so severely irked me. i know how second chance romance works, but she thought so little of him and constantly hurt his feelings for a large portion of the book. i’m happy this was a HEA of course but i felt like nikhil loved meena far more than meena truly loved him. maybe im wrong, that’s just how it came across. i think this took away some of the value for me and that is 100% a personal issue but i just got very agitated.
overall this was a past faced read, it was fun, and i did enjoy the premise very much. there were just a number of issues that kept me from fully loving this story. still a generally good story!
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really appreciate the Indian representation Naina Kumar shares in her books. She is a strong writer, which I appreciate, but I do think the plot and resolution could have been fleshed out more or had better reasons. I liked the hurricane premise. I also enjoyed the focus on politics and Meena’s genuine interest in running for office, improving her state, and helping marginalized people.
I really liked the main characters but the miscommunication was pretty rampant and got a little frustrating in how much they each constructed their own narratives about each other without listening to each other or asking if their partner actually felt that way. It was repeated miscommunications to the point that it got annoying. I did think the idea of failure around a job can cause a lot of tension in relationships and I liked how that was explored, as was the idea of high achievement in Indian culture and not feeling good enough.
I think therapy or marriage counseling could have been useful. I also felt we did not get to see enough about Nikhil’s family and why he wasn’t closer to them. They were mentioned but I felt like his issues with them needed more exploration.
I really liked the canoeing part of this book and the ending.
I really liked the main characters but the miscommunication was pretty rampant and got a little frustrating in how much they each constructed their own narratives about each other without listening to each other or asking if their partner actually felt that way. It was repeated miscommunications to the point that it got annoying. I did think the idea of failure around a job can cause a lot of tension in relationships and I liked how that was explored, as was the idea of high achievement in Indian culture and not feeling good enough.
I think therapy or marriage counseling could have been useful. I also felt we did not get to see enough about Nikhil’s family and why he wasn’t closer to them. They were mentioned but I felt like his issues with them needed more exploration.
I really liked the canoeing part of this book and the ending.
Desi Sweet Home Alabama that is as much a second-chance romance between a progressive activist and the red state that raised her as it is a second-chance romance between the estranged leads.
For me, once the main character acknowledges the feelings she’s been suppressing (badly), the book becomes sort of generic, which is disappointing after such a strong premise and a really great start. The first half is as sad and full of yearning as your favorite Emily Henry novel, and it’s refreshing to witness the woman in a straight romance novel taking the slightly more dominant/aggressive sexual role. I didn’t love it, but I did like it.
For me, once the main character acknowledges the feelings she’s been suppressing (badly), the book becomes sort of generic, which is disappointing after such a strong premise and a really great start. The first half is as sad and full of yearning as your favorite Emily Henry novel, and it’s refreshing to witness the woman in a straight romance novel taking the slightly more dominant/aggressive sexual role. I didn’t love it, but I did like it.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Love love love a forced proximity, and love a second chance romance. However, I never really understood why they were together in the first place. Was it instalove? Not my fav, but ok. The MMC, Nikhil, was fine. Meena our FMC kept waffling and it was a little irritating.
I loved a few things about this book: 1. Houston and hurricanes - something i am VERY familiar with and I can tell the author is too. Loved to see some realism there. Not everyone knows about fire ant islands. 2. The neighbors, when they were there, were super cute, love them. 3. The broken picture??!! Tears. Maybe best part of the book.
Overall I really enjoyed the book but think it suffered bc the author tried to do too much. The flashbacks didnt have enough formatting to tell me they were flashbacks so I was always wondering if stuff was happening now or back then. There was almost too much information about their past. And the inn felt tacked on. Maybe we needed another 100 pages. I would DEFINITELY been happy to spend some more time with this story.
I loved a few things about this book: 1. Houston and hurricanes - something i am VERY familiar with and I can tell the author is too. Loved to see some realism there. Not everyone knows about fire ant islands. 2. The neighbors, when they were there, were super cute, love them. 3. The broken picture??!! Tears. Maybe best part of the book.
Overall I really enjoyed the book but think it suffered bc the author tried to do too much. The flashbacks didnt have enough formatting to tell me they were flashbacks so I was always wondering if stuff was happening now or back then. There was almost too much information about their past. And the inn felt tacked on. Maybe we needed another 100 pages. I would DEFINITELY been happy to spend some more time with this story.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes