Ok, loved the representation here (Lucy is half Mexican, half Morrocan and Jewish, and is neurodivergent - anxiety and depression), and the You've Got Mail aspect, but unfortunately the style/voice didn't work for me as well as I would have liked. Not a bad book by any means, just something missing for me to make it really stand out. This is a debut, so I'd be willing to read Jessica's second book.

I DNFd this book. There were too many things that irked me in the first 20% of the book. The kids club that was called the KKK was the last straw for me. That’s just not funny.

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the premise of this book I thought it was a really cute idea so I was excited to start reading it. Overall I thought this book was cute, with good mental health representation. However, I did not like the third act break up!!!!! I already dislike third act break ups but when you put in miscommunication too????? It really ruins the whole experience for me :(

Flirty Little Secret: ★★★☆☆ (3)

Pub date: March 19, 2024!!! - preorder now!

Lucy is a high school guidance counselor with an anonymous social media account TheMissGuidedCounselor where she can present her ideal self to the world. In real life, she struggles with low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Fletcher is a history teacher and has just begun teaching at a new school and falls for Lucy, only to discover that she's the person behind TheMissGuidedCounselor, who he happens to be online friends with.
This is a debut RomCom, and the author shows promise but it wasn't a slam dunk. Some of the humor was funny, but a lot of it didn't land and the scenarios often felt contrived. However, I do give the author enthusiastic props for including both Sephardic representation and authentic mental health representation in the novel. I look forward to seeing how Lepe will grow as an author.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

This is a brilliant debut novel by Jessica Lepe! If you’re looking for something fresh and engaging and really focused on a real (lived - it’s an #ownvoices book) mental health journey, then this is the perfect one to pick up! It’s multicultural, with our main character Lucy having a mixed background of Moroccan Jewish, and Mexican, falling for a guy from a posh and snooty background, Aldrich Fletcher … even the name is so snooty it’s no wonder he goes by his surname!

It’s emotional, with online friends leaning on each other for support while also having developed feelings for each other, but both also beginning to develop feelings for the new coworker… funny thing is, in the “You’ve Got Mail”-ness of it all (Lucy, while a school guidance counselor, plays a put-together counselor online with great advice and a huge following - and Fletcher has become a devoted follower, commenter and DM chatter), they don’t want to hurt anyone along the way. Throw in some really crazy and interfering families, an ex-girlfriend who is everywhere, a couple of overwhelming days on the mental health journey, and you have what should definitely be a best seller on your hands here.

A definite recommendation from me - I foresee this one being big, especially with the mental health aspect being true to the author’s own journey. Very well done!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley @netgalley , Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Jessica Lepe @authorjessicalepe for a free copy of this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so cute and so relatable! The main mental health rep in this book was neurodivergency, clinical depression and anxiety. All 3 of these were written so well and I related so much to the main character Lucy and her struggles with her mental health. I especially connected to her struggles with feeling unlovable due to her mental health issues.

Fletcher was such an amazing book boyfriend! He was so kind and so supportive of Lucy and seeing his own struggles with his family and feeling adequate were so nice to read about.

The spice in this book was so surprising. I would only rate it 🌶️ but I wasn’t expecting any spice so I was moderately surprised.

I also really loved the inclusion of Lucy’s Instagram posts as the @missguidedcounselor and her DM’s with Mr Braves Guy93. It was cool seeing a bit of Instagram sprinkled throughout the book!

This book takes place in the Boston area so it was super cool to read about my home area!

All in all I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own

I found the book a little slow for my liking and was not a fan of the characters.
Just not the book for me

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

This is a perfect ode to You've Got Mail fans and perfectly executed. The book is set in a high school setup of sorts and follows Lucy. Lucy by day is a sweet and trustworthy counsellor and by night she is a popular personality who gives great advice. On the flipside is the new history teacher Aldrich who is relieving everyone's high school nightmare of being new while dealing with drama. He also confides in Lucy thinking she is a stranger. Funny, fast-paced and heartwarming read making it the perfect lazy day read.

Adorable!!! A mashup of you’ve got mail and Abbott elementary with wonderful, authentic mental health rep. And the Sephardic Jewish representation was fantastic. I wanted to be part of Lucy’s family. Such a wonderful debut!

I feel very seen by how Lily interacts with the world.

Lily is a guidance counselor who utilizes online anonymity to give herself an outlet from her day to day struggles. She can present the perfect person who she can not be in real life and because she thinks she knows what it means to be perfect she is very judgmental of those around her. Finding it easier to dismiss people as other then allow herself to get hurt. She is fascinating and I enjoyed reading her story of growth and finding love.

I feel like so much care was taken to tell her story that Fletchers lacked some nuance. He is mad and avoidant, he stays mad and avoidant, then he changes right at the end.

Overall it is a good story but its one where I wish equal attention was paid to both characters or one character was made more dominant in the story.

I will be back if Georgia gets a book.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This book sounded like something I would enjoy reading...the premise was promising; however, the execution was not.

We have school counselor, Lucy, who suffers from anxiety and depression. She also has a secret identity as an advice columnist. Our male lead, Aldrich Fletcher is the new history teacher at Lucy's school. The same school his cheating, ex-girlfriend who left him for his brother teaches at. He has struck up a friendship online with Lucy in her secret identity persona. They have what would have been a perfect meet cute in real-life when Lucy inadvertently spills hot tea on Fletch in the teacher lounge. Due to her anxiety, she makes it into a big deal, filled with embarrassment and self-loathing. I know Lucy has mental issues, but everything she feels is exaggerated and so emotional I'm not judging, just stating facts. There were some cute interactions especially with the online correspondence between the two and there was so much potential, but...ugh. What really finished me off was the scene where Lucy's sister makes a comment about how she can afford an expensive face mask because she lied to men about condoms breaking so they will pay for the morning after pill, and she has a savings from this extorted money! In what world is this funny or an appropriate topic of conversation...beyond cringeworthy and just plain sick.

I was done at that point.

2 stars

Yes it's reminiscent of You've Got Mail but Lucy and Aldrich are teachers at the same school and she's challenged with mental health issues. Lucy, a counselor, projects positivity into the world with her instagram account when she's really not all together. Aldrich left his father's business to be a teacher and he's relied on private messaging with Lucy's alter-ego for support. They meet ugly in the teacher's lounge and now they're off in a journey that will seem familiar but which is populated with good side characters. There are some flaws here such as the club Lucy runs and the insta-love from Aldrich, but Lucy's family and the lessons from them outweigh those (and the food!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Shy school counselor Lucy hides her confident side behind an online persona, seeking refuge from anxiety and depression. New history teacher Aldrich unknowingly confides in Lucy’s alter ego while being drawn to her in real life. What happens when their virtual and real worlds collide?

I loved the characters and the author voice in this book. The romance is tender and charming, with a well-paced plot. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Super cute romance. I agree on the you’ve got mail feels that people have been commenting. I loved the school setting and all the characters. I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I selected this arc as I like stories similar to You’ve Got Mail. I struggled with Lucy and Fletcher’s relationship - they went from a meet disaster to madly in love in what seemed like a very short time frame. It was very obvious that Fletcher knowing Lucy’s hidden online identity was going to cause relationship problems when the truth is revealed. I didn’t feel very invested in their relationship, I also do not like when an ex-girlfriend is introduced simply to make more obstacles for a couple to have to overcome.
I enjoyed the mental health representation and Lucy’s family dynamics. Overall, I would rate this a 3.5/5 stars.

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley & @readforeverpub for sending me this book for review. Opinions are my own.
Flirty Little Secret was a great debut novel from Jessica Lepe. I would describe it as You’ve Got Mail meets Hello Stranger meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding. How can you go wrong?
Lucy is a high school guidance counselor with a secret identity online as @TheMisGuidedCounselor. As her alter-ego, Lucy is bold and confident. In real life, Lucy lives with depression and anxiety and is the opposite of confident. When Fletcher starts teaching at the same school, they cross paths in more ways than one and it turns out that Fletcher is hiding his own secret.
I loved the Jewish representation and the Shabbat dinner scenes were beautiful with Lucy’s family around the Shabbat table, saying the blessings together and the descriptions of the food.
I love that this was set in a high school. I think the teachers behaved like cliquey high school students, and I loved the character development. The best side character was definitely Brodie, the Scottish Phys Ed teacher. I think a whole novel could be written about him or about either of Lucy’s sisters.
Finally, of course, as a main plot point, Lucy’s mental health issues are so realistic. I think this novel demonstrates that although something might seem small, it can be huge to someone with anxiety, and there are many different ways this can manifest. The overall message that I took from this novel is that people with mental health issues are capable of both loving and being loved. I appreciated the author’s note about her own mental health struggles and how she was able to channel that into this novel.
I thought the best scenes were at Fletcher’s father’s house when Lucy found her confidence at the moments she needed it most. It was fun to read.
I look forward to seeing what Jessica Lepe writes next!

We start with the most awkward meeting ever when guidance counselor Lucy spills a cup of hot tea all over the front of the new history teacher Fletcher’s pants (and then tries to soak it up with her scarf). Both are completely embarrassed and mortified, especially since the other person is so attractive. We learn more about each of their backstories in pretty short order: Fletcher has moved back home with his mom after finding out his father had an affair and his mistress is pregnant; Lucy has the trifecta of depression, anxiety, and ADHD and just trying to keep it together. Lucy channels her wisdom into an anonymous online persona who does not have any insecurities or anxieties and is able to dispense oh-so-worldly advice. It turns out her number one Instagram fan and friend is Fletcher, and neither of them know who the other person is in real life. Outside of the screen, Lucy and Fletcher get to know each other more as co-workers, and then friends, and then maybe more. Lucy’s got a boisterous and hilarious family and Fletcher is pretty much just happy to be a part of it all. This book was both sweet and funny and also featured an understanding and reassuring guy.

Lucy Galindo is the most heartwarming, compelling messy main character to grace the pages of a book! In person, she’s a sweet but awkward guidance counseling, hiding her anxiety and depression. Online and anonymous as @TheMissGuidedCounselor, she’s confident, funny and wise. New teacher, Fletcher is dealing with a lot in his personal life, and is grateful for his special friendship, albeit its only online.
As their two worlds collide in more ways than one, will they be able to overcome their insecurities enough to trust in each other and themselves.
I loved the compassion shown to Lucy in regards to her anxiety, the banter between characters, and the vulnerability willing to be shared by several characters. Despite an issue I had regarding a kid’s club which I question, I enjoyed this one very much!
This book begins with several trigger warnings from the author, and at first I was hmmm….it’s classified as a rom-com? But I was seriously laughing out loud only a few pages in! How can anxiety and depression be funny? As the author is upfront to reveal, there is a lot of her in this character. And so, she is able to present these aspects of mental health in such a pure and unique way. And despite the laughs, the seriousness is also heartbreakingly felt and handled with compassion.
Bravo Jessica Lepe on a stellar debut! I can’t wait to read whatever comes next!!

What a cute and very sweet romance!

I always love stories that center the messy, real shit - and that was quite true here. Mental health was very present, but handled in an excellent way.

Stories that center social media are not always my favorite, but I enjoyed this one!

Flirty Little Secret is an enjoyable romance between a high school teacher and a guidance counselor, with a touch of You’ve Got Mail thrown in. Jessica Lepe’s debut is filled with charming characters and their families, and lots of refreshing depression, anxiety, ADHD and Jewish representation.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lucy is a high school guidance counselor who also has a secret online alter ego, @ TheMissGuidedCounselor, where she dispenses the advice she wishes she was bold enough to share IRL. When she meets Fletcher, the new history teacher, she has no idea he’s also her anonymous online friend. Fletcher moved home due to family issues, and isn’t prepared for meeting Lucy, or running into his ex when he starts his new job. But as the two grow closer, and Lucy shares the reality of her mental health, what happens when Fletcher figures out Lucy’s secret?

The mental health representation here is great. Lucy’s experiences show not only how depression and anxiety affect her daily like, but how they make it more difficult to connect with new people. And, Lucy’s family is tons of fun to spend time with. While they sometimes feel overbearing to her, the way they love and support her is obvious. I adore the descriptions of their Shabbat dinners, for both the family dynamics and the amazing food.

This book was tough for me to rate. I enjoyed many aspects of this story, but I was least invested in the romance. Lucy and Fletcher are both very nice people, but their romantic connection wasn’t obvious. It takes a while for them to spend one on one time together, and once they do, their relationship reads more like friendship than attraction.

I truly enjoyed Flirty Little Secret. The mental health and Jewish representation are fantastic, and bring a unique, personal perspective to the story. I’m excited to see what Jessica Lepe writes next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.