My Thoughts:

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert brought old fashioned romance and swooning to a modern day love story. Danika Brown is an independent, intelligent, strong, fierce, scholar and professor. She is an intellectual who thrives on her career, and this is her top priority. Dani doesn't think she is cut out for romance, as it doesn't come natural to her, and her past relationships have ended in disaster. She wishes for a partner where she can have a purely physical relationship without any romantic or emotional entanglements.

Zafir works as a security guard at the same university where Dani teaches. They are friends that bring each other breakfast, have fun exchanging pleasantries, and think highly of one another. Underneath their friendship is a sizzling chemistry that they both have never addressed. When Zafir rescues Dani during a practice fire drill, and carries her out of the building, their image with the romantic and adoring way they are looking at each other, goes viral with the #DrRugbae.

This is when Dani learns that Zafir use to be a professional rugby player, and has started his own sports charity where he teaches rugby as well as positive mental health strategies to adolescents. He asks Dani if she will participate in a fake relationship with him, as the publicity of them going viral has already started helping his charity exponentially. She agrees, because what would be the harm in helping her good friend with a great cause; and she can might be able to convince Zaf to indulge in a fun friends with benefits arrangement while they're at it...

I loved the characters in this story! Dani was unconventional, brilliant, fun, quirky, and endearing. She had challenges with tapping into her emotions, but in no way did this take away from my love of her character. She was kind hearted, and thoughtful. I enjoyed her interactions with her sisters Chloe and Eve, as well as her best friend Sorcha. They were such a tight-knit group, and I felt like they were my friends too. The characters felt real, because they were so wonderfully flawed and human.

Zaf stole my heart! I adored him. He was so sweet, kind, and romantic. The way he treated Dani took my breath away. He was a modern day "prince charming." I was shipping #DrRugbae from the very beginning of this story. It was clear that Dani and Zaf were meant to be, and I enjoyed every moment of their love story!

If you are looking for a story that will entertain, delight, and make you feel like you are falling in love right beside the characters, check out, Take a Hint, Dani Brown!

I love the way Talia Hibbert writes relationships. They are fun, lovable and diverse. The biggest thing I want from my romances is to believe that the happily ever after will last. And I can honestly say that I believe that Dani and Zafir's relationship will last. You have two very different people in the outside but inside where it matters, they buy want the same thing... to love and be loved.

The author is quoted as saying that she writes diverse romances because she believes that people of marginalized identities need to see themselves in books. Well speaking as a middle aged white hetero woman, we need to read diverse romances as well. We need to see that romance is just not for young, beautiful, white people (as so many romances seem to be about,,). Talia Hibbert does romance very well.

I enjoyed Dani's free spirit and her determination to succeed. I loved her relationship with her sisters. I didn't quite feel the attraction for Zaf, but I definitely felt his for her! In some ways, Dani seemed to have very similar personality traits to her sister Chloe and I would've liked there to be more of a difference between them. Zaf was very sweet and I liked his relationship with the kids he mentored. Overall, a fun romcom that will get your heart rate up a bit.
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Thank you to Avon for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

Hello fellow readers,

I just finished Talia Hibbert’s second book in her Brown Sisters Series called Take A Hint, Dani Brown. It centers around the middle sister Danika and her intention to find the perfect no strings attached sex buddy. After speaking her intention to Oshun, in a ritual with her best witchy friend, Sorcha, it seems like her sudden viral video with Zafir is a sign pointing her in the right direction. When they start trending with #DrRugBae Zafir’s newfound exposure ends up gaining him more donations and support for his program Tackle It. Dani and Zafir decide to fake a relationship to keep gaining publicity. But are all their feelings and actions purely platonic?

Dani is an intellectual workaholic who doesn’t do relationships and Zahir is a romantic at heart with who loves his privacy as much as he values commitment. For all their differences, they soon learn that they compliment each other well. But both Dani and Zafir get more than they expected from their arrangement. Like Dani and Zafir characters, Hibbert’s novels tend to give me more than I expect from a romance novel. Hibbert handles topics like loss and anxiety delicately. This makes the reading experience authentic. As someone who deals with panic disorders this means a lot to me. Some of my favorite moments involved Zaf dealing with anxiety and Dani being right there for him. No judgments or misguided assumptions. It was a breath of fresh air. I don’t usually read about anxiety in romance.

I absolutely loved that Dani was a witch. Its another thing that I don’t see represented in books unless in the fantasy genre seldom in romance. This adds to the character of Dani. She’s plus sized and bisexual. She’s her own person, confident, yet flawed, intelligent, unconventional, and comfortable with her sexuality. Zafir is also different from so many love interest in books. He keeps to himself, he’s friendly, direct, and honest about his feelings. He’s self aware and works against toxic masculinity. When Dani needs understanding and support, he’s there ready to help anyway he can. Its an achingly sweet story and I caught myself tearing at certain points. I couldn’t help it!

If you’re interested in a love story that shows an affirming and playful budding romance and don’t mind vivid scenes this is the book for you.

Steam: 4/5

My rating: 4.25

Keywords: depicts anxiety, tender, and scorching hot.

Listen up, publishers — more thick heroines that love themselves please! Dani Brown is the fierce protagonist we’ve been waiting for in the romance genre, for real. All usual scripts are flipped in this book, and the CHEMISTRY — whew! Zaf and Dani’s sexually charged connection is just so fun to follow. Never got sick of their banter and was honestly rooting for both of them to just live happily ever after, dammit. You’ll fall in love with these two, and appreciate the depth of their stories — Zaf’s battle with anxiety and loss will be relatable to many, and Dani’s fear of commitment will too. This is the perfect summer read with topics that frankly aren’t explored enough in this genre.

This was such a cute little rom com moment. I couldn’t help but saying “just one more chapter” until I finished this in just one sitting. The characters were so fleshed out and you couldn’t help but root for them.

An absolute delight of a book! Dani Brown isn't interested in relationships--she just wants sex. She's got her ambitions, her studies, and her sisters, and she certainly doesn't need romance on top of that. But her friend Zafir is a romantic at heart, listening to romance audiobooks during his gig as a campus security guard. An incident during an emergency drill ends with Zaf carrying Dani out of the building and a hashtag that labels them as the perfect couple. Only one problem: they aren't. Except faking it could be exactly the thing Zaf's struggling sports charity needs to reach more people. A fake relationship is fine by Dani--but when real emotions start to come into play, she'll have to come to terms with just how real their relationship might be becoming.

I adored this book from start to finish. Hibbert's writing was so witty and hilarious I often found myself laughing at the dialogue between Dani and Zafir. The relationship was so sweet and well developed, and I loved that the drama wasn't overly drawn out or overdone. And Zafir's anxiety was handled so wonderfully and genuinely. We don't see that nearly enough in fiction, and I love to see author's including it and including it well. I just can't say enough good things about this book. If you like romance, you need to pick it up now. It's just that good.

I loved Get a Life, Chloe Brown so hard that I absolutely could not wait to read Take a Hint, Dani Brown! I had high expectations going into this book not only from loving the first one in the series so much, but I became even more hyped for it every time I saw a teaser or heard someone praise it. I had no doubts that it was going to be good and Ms. Hibbert so did not let me down. I just adored Take a Hint, Dani Brown, it was positively marvelous!

I loved Dani’s story even more than I did Chloe’s, though I have to say that it mostly all due to Zafir. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dani too, she’s funny and we both think emotions are gross, so we totally clicked, but there’s just something about Zaf. I have been so excited to meet him because I love me a grumpy hero, like a lot and oh, Zafir was just perfect! He’s all gruff and scowly, but he’s just the swooniest, sweeetest, most lovely man ever — I loved and couldn’t get enough of him! Zaf is wonderful and brave and he completely and utterly stole my heart — I’m a total goner for him and I could gush about him forever!

Get a Life, Chloe Brown made me fall in love with it while I was reading it and that happened with Take a Hint, Dani Brown too. It made me feel all giddy and warm and it made me melt. I laughed, I cried, there was no part of me that was disengaged with Zafir and Dani. They were just the most adorable couple ever and I wanted nothing more for them to get their happily-ever-after. Not only is Take a Hint, Dani Brown one of my favorite reads of the year, but I think Zafir is my favorite hero of the year — so read this book because it is AMAZING!

Disclosure - I received. a copy to review via NetGalley.

Talia Hibbert is extraordinarily talented at writing the steamiest scenes and thoughtful books with multicultural depth alike, and I am here for it. I've personally found it challenging to read about the South Asian experience from non-South Asian authors, but the way Hibbert writes Zaf and his story is spot on and incredibly thoughtful and authentic. Hibbert tackles real issues - like anxiety and bisexuality and imposter syndrome - with incredible empathy and respect. Like with Chloe Brown, the sexy scenes literally melt the words off the page and you can't help but fall in love with both Dani and Zaf - and them together - as you continue reading.
I'm so glad we have another Brown sister to read about. I'm here for it.

With all the craziness in our culture right now, I appreciated my time absorbed in this diverse and representative world Hibbert creates. And she's an artist with words who brings three-dimensional characters to life in ways that allows readers to understand how issues like anxiety and fear of not belonging can shape one's ability to be a good partner to another. I'm also quite fond of the career-driven heroine who falls for a laid-back guy. It's a nice flip of the common trope where the grumpy, driven hero needs the lighthearted woman to help him balance his life.

Dani Brown is a part-time university teacher working her way through a Ph.D. program in English with all sorts of goals and expectations of a successful academic life. She has her life meticulously planned out for the next two decades. Her role model, academic superstar Inez Holly, factors in big in this book as Dani's raison d'etre, allowing Dani though little time for anything else in life. On top of Dani's life goals is a fairly high degree of fear and anxiety that she's not fit to be a romantic partner. She genuinely believes based on past experiences that she lacks social skills and is doomed to be a failure to others who want more from her. Enter Zaf, one of the sweetest heroes I've read. He has so many stellar and beautiful character traits, but maybe most of all, he loves Dani unconditionally. She sees this but internalizing it takes quite a while, allowing in the meantime the two to engage in a friends with benefits relationship. I was less keen on the fake dating plot - which oddly features in a whole bunch of romances I've read of late. Zaf pretends to want only a friends with benefits relationship, even though he's secretly hoping Dani will change her mind and fall in love with him. He's also sensitive to not wanting to coerce Dani into something for which she is genuinely opposed. I have to admit that I was holding my breath at times, really hoping that Dani would not hurt this lovely man, and mostly she does not, and their relationship remains a giving and respectful one throughout.

One misgiving I did have with this book though is that Dani remains a bit inscrutable to me right up to the end due to a number of issues that keep her determined to elevate her professional life over her personal one. Her belief at times that she's unworthy and doomed to failure in her personal life felt more conceptual and I didn't <i>feel</i> this idea the way I wanted. Also, she's traumatized by mistreatment from previous romantic partners and that too didn't feel as realistic to me as it could have. Some of the information about her trauma comes in late in the book to keep explaining why Dani wants Zaf at arms length, but I thought it would have been more helpful if explained earlier in the novel. I think the book suffers a little from too obvious an attempt to create obstacles between a couple. My overall sense though is that Hibbert is disrupting the conventional trope of the man as the commitment phobe in a relationship by constructing an alternative feminist narrative. That works for me in lots of ways, though on the whole, the obstacles to Dani and Zaf's happiness still existed for me too much on the surface of the story.

Nevertheless, a vibrant bisexual plus-sized feminist heroine paired with a feminist Muslim man who reads romances to stay connected with the kinder aspects of life is a breath of fresh air right now. The books also seamlessly incorporates lots of representative secondary characters that make me feel hopeful about our future. I am looking forward to the third book in this series.

Alright, so I listened to Get a Life, Chloe Brown earlier this year, which was a solid four star read for me. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers story love and Chloe and Red’s banter. That being said, Talia with Take a Hint, Dani Brown, Talia Hibbert knocked it out of the park (Note: this book can be read as a standalone!).

27 year old Danika ‘Dani’ Brown is a highly ambitious academic whose sole focus is her career. Both a Black and bisexual female, Dani doesn’t have time for romantic entanglements. She appreciates the orgasms, but everything else takes a backseat to her career goals.

Zafir ‘Zaf’ Ansari is a former professional rugby player who is now a security guard at the University that Dani teaches at. Zaf is your typical standoffish and brooding male who has clipped interactions with Dani…or so we think. Little does Dani know that Zaf is actual a huge romantic who is addicted to romance novels and dreams of happily ever after.

After a social media misunderstanding, Dani and Zaf find themselves at the center of attention. They realize this would be the perfect opportunity to get free publicity for Zaf’s charity, but the caveat is that they actually need to be a couple. That’s cool. They can fake it. But what happens when the sexual tension finally boils over? Can these two just be friends with benefits or will they inevitability catch feelings?

Before I get into straight gushing, I want to comment on both Dani’s and Zaf’s characters. I love that Dani is upfront and honest about her sexuality. She makes no excuses and could care less what anything thinks. Dani also knows the struggles of academia and refuses to let academia beat her down, which happens to females (especially Black females) too often. Zaf. Oh my heart didn’t realize how much I needed a male character like him. He has this rough exterior but he’s anything but. He is a true romantic at heart. He battles with both anxiety and depression, and Hibbert does a phenomenal job of addressing both of those with grace.

In terms of plot, the reason why I connected with this one so much more than Chloe was because there is a level of trust and respect between Dani and Zaf even if it’s not acknowledged at first. Of course there are still jabs and banter, but you can tell how much these two meant to each other just from their work interactions before the whole fake dating even started. I mean come one, Dani brings Zaf coffee every day and Zaf always has a protein bar for her to make sure she eats (if that’s not love I don’t know what is).

Now, y’all already know that there was going to be steam in this book. Hibbert has already proved that to us in Chloe. While I felt like most of the time, Chloe and Red had anger sex due to their initial hatred of one another, Dani and Zaf just felt natural. The sex wasn’t gratuitous. Honestly, I just can’t get enough of those two.

Overall, if you didn’t read any of the above, just pick up this book. It’s incredible, and I promise you it’s worth it.

Thank you to Avon Books for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own

What a wonderful gem of a book! I loved Get a Life, Chloe Brown so I had high hopes for this book and I have to say, it did not disappoint. I would even say I liked it a bit more than it’s predecessor.

Dani is a hardworking, success driven, doesn’t believe in relationship kind of woman. Zafir is a broody ex-rugby player who loves romance novels and believes in happily ever after. A picture of the two ends up going viral on Instagram, with their very own hashtag I might add, so they decide to fake date to help Zafir’s non-profit organization. Fake dating leads to feelings but is Dani ready to give relationships another try?

Thank you @netgally and Avon for the ARC!

Take a Hint, Dani Brown is the second book in the Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert. This book focuses on the middle sister, Danika Brown, and her desire to find a partner that just wants a no strings attached arrangement. To Danika, this type of relationship works for her since she does not want any unnecessary emotional attachments in her life, especially while she purses her Ph.D. Zafir Ansari is a security guard in the university Danika attends and teaches classes, who she verbally sparrs with every morning, while maintaining a professional relationship. Their worlds collide when a video featuring Zafir rescuing Danika from a fire drill gone horribly wrong goes viral. To maximize on their newfound celebrity, they decide to “fake” a relationship to help Zafir’s nonprofit organization with free publicity, while also giving in to their long denied attraction to each other. Talia Hibbert is quickly becoming a go to author for me for hilarious characters, witty dialogue, and romances featuring people with physical and mental ailments. Representation is important now more than ever in publishing and Talia Hibberts definitely is an author that features POC characters and those with disabilities. I will also add that Zafir is a non practizing Muslim in a traditional family. I liked learning more about his culture in a low key way that was not forced. Her characters are very human, real, dealing with life day to day. If you are looking for a “fake” relationship romance that focuses on the emotional development of both protagonists, check out Take a Hint, Dani Brown. This book was provided by the publisher from Netgalley in June 2020 for an honest review.

Danika Brown: goth, grad student, academic; unapologetically voluptuous, Black, & feminist; a little witchy, a lot skeptical of relationships.
Zafir Ansari: big & burly former rugger; scowling security guard on the outside, soft-hearted romance-believer managing an anxiety disorder on the inside.

Dani and Zafir enjoy trading barbs and snacks in the entry way of her building on campus, but their friendship is limited to this routine of harmless flirtation—until events during a fire drill make them a viral hashtag, and they decide a fake relationship could be mutually beneficial.
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What worked for me: I loved how much Danika’s scholarship meant to her, and that her personal growth throughout the book in no way minimizes the role her explicitly stated career goals have in her life (which is the women&work template of every Hallmark movie ever 🙄). The writing made me laugh out loud several times (“She’d been considering murder quite a lot, lately. Perhaps she should see someone about that, or perhaps it was simply a natural consequence of living on planet Earth.”). Even when I know I’m being served and it kinda pushes the bounds of realism, I can’t overstate how DEEPLY satisfying it is to read characters grappling with their mental health in positive ways. Zafir working to subvert the forces of toxic masculinity in young male athletes was a double-plus-bonus.
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What didn’t: There was a lot of character bleed in the writing, with both MCs speaking/thinking with a lot of overwrought hyperbole. This is largely a matter of personal taste, but I was thrown out of the story by how similar their internal voices were. The secondary characters (especially Zaf’s family and friends) had so much potential, and I wanted more from them! An advantage of the text not fleshing them out more, though, is that not having read the preceding book (GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN) won’t impede your appreciation of this one at all.
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In sum: a lighthearted, funny romance with diverse representation among its cast of characters. Would love to watch this romcom on screen. Does Hibbert have a movie deal yet? Thanks to @avonbooks for the eARC!

Dani Brown is a badass PhD candidate who doesn't have the time or patience for love. Zaf is a security guard at the university who spends his time reading romance novels and coping with his anxiety and depression after the death of his father and brother. When a fire drill goes awry, Zaf rescues Dani from a broken elevator shaft and the saga is caught on camera. The pair go viral, and Zaf can't help but see it as an opportunity to get donations for the charity organization he runs. The two begin a fake relationship, but then they slowly start to catch feelings for eachother.

This book is HOT. I had to take a break in the middle of it because the chemistry was too much for me. Zaf and Dani are so attracted to eachother, it's ridiculous. Their banter is off the charts, and it's a really enjoyable read. Both Dani and Zaf are awesome, badass characters. Dani is bisexual, a witch, and all around super smart and super cool. Zaf is an ex-rugby player who started his own charity to help athletes process their emotions in a healthy way. You can't find cooler characters! I also really appreciate Hibbert's depiction of anxiety and depression. Zaf is clearly going through some emotional trauma, and Hibbert writes that in a way that is comforting and relatable for people who have gone through the same situation.

I liked this book a lot better than her first book, however there wasn't much of a plot. Hibbert definitely makes up for it with the characters' banter and chemistry though, so I still think this is a great read!

Talia Hibbert has somehow done the impossible — made a sequel that’s even better than the first book! I so enjoyed reading about Chloe Brown, so I started this book with a little trepidation. I just didn’t see how Hibbert could outdo herself, but I was so wrong! It’s like she took everything that worked in the first book, and increased it with this one. More sarcasm and witty banter, more emotional, tear-jerking moments, and more steam!

And in true Hibbert fashion, she made me fall in love with all her characters (can Fatima be my new BFF?), but here are my reasons for loving the two main characters:

🌟 Dani: What. A. Badass. We don’t see a lot of characters like Dani. She’s a bisexual, Black PhD student, who works hard to be on track for her career goals. She forms her own opinions and doesn’t let anyone get in her way. However, Dani is also proof that someone with an abundance of self confidence can still have insecurities. Her insecurities of her own worth and sharing vulnerable emotions was so relatable, and watching her growth through the book was one of my favorite parts of the book!

🌟 Zaf: What. A. Hunky. Teddy Bear. Zaf is a Muslim, former professional rugby player with a tragic past. He deals with his anxiety daily, but won’t let that stop him from helping others. While he works as a security guard in the building where Dani teaches, his true passion is growing his charity, Tackle It, that aims to teach young men how to talk about their emotions openly, while being coached in rugby. Though he has a rough exterior, Zaf’s patience, sweetness, and willingness to be open with Dani will make you swoon! Did I mention he reads romance novels for fun?

Talia Hibbert is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors! I 100% recommend this book as a fun romance to get lost into!

This book comes out TODAY, so you don’t even have to wait to pick it up! Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Avon, and the author for a review copy of this book.

Opposites attract in the next installment of the Brown sisters trilogy, and yes you do get to check in on Chloe and Red for those of you who were fans of the first book. (If you haven’t read it yet I loved that one too) Dani and Zaf don’t have much in common at first glance, but deep down they’re actually quite similar and I adored both of them. Dani is quirky, confident, super smart and supremely sexy and Zaf is basically the same but add in sweetness where Dani is snarky, sharp tongued and very guarded.

Fake relationships are one of my favorite romance tropes, I think it’s the way the characters usually try and fight the chemistry between them and while Dani and Zaf didn’t put up too much of a fight, it was still super entertaining to see them try and deny that they were made for each other. Their chemistry was so undeniable that I wouldn’t have been surprised if my Kindle caught on fire during some of their encounters. Yes, this was spicy and super sexy, but their banter and flirting was also 🔥 and the build up before they hooked up was fantastic. Zaf is definitely swim worthy and in the end Dani herself opened up and had some pretty romantic gestures herself. This is a romance for everyone, definitely recommended by me.

ARC received from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was anxious to read this after thoroughly enjoying Chloe Brown, and it didn't disappoint. This was just as good and stands on it's own - you don't need to read the first in the series to know what's happening. Dani and Zaf were adorable together. I appreciated that the author gave us an elevated version of the typical fake-dating-turns-real plot. Both characters were well flushed out with plenty of context, depth and insight. Always refreshing to read a contemporary romance with real, relatable characters and life situations.

I really enjoyed this book, but full disclosure it was a little hard to get into this trope. The fake relationship is normally a trope I really like, but I was having trouble getting into it in this book because it was so obvious Zaf liked Dani! Zaf was amazing. I adored his character (so sweet and sensitive!), the real talk about anxiety, and the charity work he does in his community. Dani is so driven and exactly the kind of heroine I like to read about. Also the #Dr. Rugbae social media thing was really cute. I will definitely be recommending this book to patrons who are looking for a fun contemporary romance to read. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for a chance to read and review an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 Stars - Top Pick

#DrRugbae is hot AF

Hibbert is quickly climbing my list of authors and on the way to an auto buy. From characters that jump off the page to low angsty romance that still provides a lot of depth the second book in the Brown Sisters series only continues with this trend. I found this one easy to get sucked into and one chapter without any effort turned into six.

Let’s get into what I loved and it starts with characters.

Dani is in graduate school, a teacher on her way to doctor status, who’s an expert in women’s studies and not just general studies, from the mouth of our illustrious hero and Dani’s shocked response:

“Race and gender in the West after slavery,” Zaf said.

At which point, Dani released a garbled sound of astonishment, one that sounds like a cross between a cough, a burp, and a squawked. “What?”, into the ears of the entire city.

Zaf shot her a look of concern, as if he suspected she’d accidentally swallowed a passing pigeon…

Also, I love how Dani is a witch and wears black all the time. This woman could have her fashion show of black attire and if she did I’d be there for it. Add in Dani’s fierce self-confidence and I dream about being friends with Dani Brown.

On the flip side, there is Zafir Ansari, grumpy ex-rugby player who works security on Dani’s college campus. He starts out as just an average, every day, flirt. He brings Dani a granola bar, she brings him coffee. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that spirals out of control after Zafir carries Dani out of a building during a fire/safety drill. Especially when their moment becomes fodder for social media. Hello #DrRugbae and cue the fantastical fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope.

Then it’s all about the way this relationship unfolds and how adult situations are handled. Romance is an escape and part of that whisking away for me comes in the form of reading stories with active communication and people learning how to be honest about their feelings. Zafir and Dani both have some baggage from their pasts, and it does interfere with things, as it should in every good romance, but it’s figured out and discussed so damn well.

The romance is swoon-worthy, and side note, our hero reads/listens to romance. So when Dani tells him she’s not ‘good girlfriend’ material and that she doesn’t pay enough attention to partners or put their needs before her career and family Zafir’s response is perfect.

“That’s not how relationships should be,” he finished, thrown a little off-balance. She’d said those words with such flat, empty hopelessness, as if this was a lesson she’d learned the hard way. As if it was a simple fact that love would ask too much of her, and so she wouldn’t or couldn’t try. He wasn’t sure if the look in her eyes was weariness or an echo of something sharper, harsher. Either way, he didn’t like it.

“I know,” she told him slowly, as if explaining something to a child. “I don’t do things right, and a I don’t think I want to. It all seems awfully dull and inconvenient. That’s why I’ve chose to abstain.”

“No, I meant—priorities that don’t match, punishments for being yourself, that’s not how a relationship should be.”

Another absolute joy is the secondary characters with purpose. Full flesh and blood people that engage with both Dani and Zafir, enriching the story as they go. From Zafir and Dani’s best friends, Jamal and Sorcha, individually they are part of the web that keeps the protagonists from falling apart. Separately there are small stories unfolding for each of them. Also, Dani’s sister Chloe and her fiancé Red show up. If you haven’t read the first book it won’t kill the reading experience, but I highly encourage a purchase of the first story, Get A Life, Chloe Brown.

Finally, real goals that aren’t grandiose. Sometimes in romance, okay a lot of times, especially with contemporary romance, we see big story lines with super high stakes and that’s supposed to be what draws in the readers. This didn’t have those grandiose gotta save my job/house/life and I still got sucked in. Not because I need the high stakes, but because the stakes weren’t that high, and the players still played. In the real world it’s not always about the biggest possibilities but sometimes the little steps (which equal big things) to an individual person. For Zafir it’s about gaining a little traction with his charity and for Dani it’s about nailing her role on a panel with her idol.

This is the perfect read for those who want a romance to get lost into, filled with modern day tech and fun. Hibbert in her dedication of the book mentions bleed for the words and the jokes, but ultimately everything is brilliant. Her writing style is reminiscent to me of other beautifully crafted stories, including one of my favorites Sherry Thomas. I can’t wait for Eve’s story and will continue mining Hibbert’s backlist until then.

For readers who enjoy Sally Thorne.

~ Landra