This is truly a romace for us gaming nerds. I enjoyed the characters, the banter, and how this involved board games and video games. I found myself not connecting to this one as deeply as other novels I've read in this genre. I still enjoyed this one though!

Rose finds herself in a loveless relationship, a miserable job with a creepy and inappropriately behaved boss, but one thing she does live is gaming and she's loved it since she was a kid. Finding herself at crossroad on choosing herself, I must admit was one of her greatest challenges, taking a risk or playing it safe (pun intended).
Throw in some amazing friends, the most endearing parents and the devilishly charming and handsome MMC and you're in for a game of playing Flirty.


This book had me squealing, gasping, giggling and jumping up and down! Shameez has an undeniable ability to write the most amazing stories and I am here for it all. Playing Flirty with it's playful gaming innuendos made it such a fun and easy read, the characters were diverse which made it so much more relatable too. Well done Shameez on writing such a marvelous Rom.

In this fun and spicy modern romance novel, readers follow risk-averse Rose Marie Jones, who loves game night and the distractions from her work and love lives it provides, but William Ashdern brings out her competitive nature like nobody else. As playing nemeses, William and Rose can’t get along, but when Rose decides to enter her original game into a contest, no one is more in her corner and able to help her win than William. Even though the competition keeps getting serious and losing is not an option, Rose might be willing to risk everything for William -- but will she? Fantastically written with a great mix of spice and character development, the story arcs for both William and Rose are easily the most immersive and engaging part of the story. Rose is deeply relatable, and her chemistry with William is fantastic, pulling readers into the story. The characters are the emotional heart of the novel, and the tropes at play really add to the overall tone and atmosphere of this brilliant new release. Engaging, entertaining, charming, and heartwarming, this is a brilliant new modern romance novel fans of the genre will absolutely love because the characters’ relationship and growth is just that good.

I was privileged to get to read a copy on @netgalley and I absolutely loved every bit of it!!
Shameez is definitely one of my auto-buy South African authors, so please do check out this book and her previous masterpiece- The Selene Trilogy!
In celebration of the launch of this book, please check out my review below!

Playing Flirty
By Shameez Patel

Where do I start with this one??
How about 3 words?
I....
.....LOVED.....
....IT!!
I was blessed to get my hands on an ebook arc from NetGalley for this book, and I honestly could not find any faults at all!
You all know that I loved "The Selene Trilogy" by this author, and even though this is a purely romance book, she killed it!
Get ready to fall in love with Rose and William! ❤️

For fans of:
-board games/ gamers
-romance
-best friend's brother
-rivals to lovers
-LOTR refrences
-cosy reads

Thank you for this review copy... I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy and to do a reread soon!
5 stars all around from me!
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

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This one was unfortunaltely a DNF which is why I got around to reviewing it so late. I felt that there was no feeling to the book. It is a romance and I am supposed to be invested in this but I couldn't have cared about the main characters. The romance and attraction just felt very low and the game aspect felt a tad corny, and that is coming from a person who plays card games.

Shameez has outdone herself with her debut Romance novel that will tickle all the geeky bones in your body!
Thank you so much for sending a copy for me to read, I also now have the ebook (Thank you @readforeverpub!) that I will cherish forever.
 
Rose is quirky, delightful, hilarious, fiesty and oh so adorable. William is moody, quiet, a little mysterious (did I mention a dark-haired MMC?) and boy, is the banter top-notch! 
Not only has Shameez masterfully weaved all the characters together, the story is so good, I was hanging off every word. This is definitely one for the boardgame fanatics, Stardew Valley babes, the gaming girlies, the LOTR lovers and everyone else in between. 
 
Will Rose be able to put aside her disdain for her archnemesis, William Ashdern, and be able to finally achieve her dream of releasing her very own boardgame? You’ll have to read to find out. 
Prepare yourself for swoony moments, laughing out loud, and a desperate needs for a board game night with your closest friends!
 
Thank you Shameez, I’ve definitely found a new favourite romcom.

This was such a sweet, cute romance between two nerdy characters: our mc (Rose) who loves board games and has been designing one for years and her love interest (William) who tests and designs video games! Their cute teasing of each other made it clear early on that they were meant to be together. Plus, I love the best friend's sibling trope, and this had the added twist of male best friend marrying her female best friend! I loved the entire friend group and would love to play games with them (no role-playing, though 🫣). Even the secret our love interest had was cute. Having the best friend and Rose work together allowed us to see more into Rose's life. Their boss 🤬 he gave me major creep vibes and the way he treats Rose was just wrong.

🎧 Nirvi Shah did a great job at narrating and I could easily tell which character she was voicing. She made the story fun and extra cute bringing Rose to life.

It's definitely a cute one to pick up, especially if you love nerdy love stories and friends playing board games. You'll definitely want to pick this up if you like
♟️geeky references
🎮 cosplay
♟️ board games and video games
🎮 close friend group (game nights!)
♟️ best friend's sibling (half-brother)
🎮 Competitive flirting ("the nice game")
♟️ he falls first
🎮 some wedding planning

I plan on picking up more by Shameez Patel and more narrated by Nirvi Shah in the future!

I was hoping this one would be very cute and fun, but it unfortunately missed the mark for me. Sadly, i didn't enjoy this book and found it to be fairly predictable. I didn't connect with the characters and found them to be very surface level.

I was immediately drawn to this story because of its nerdy promises, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love the enemies to lovers dynamic and how it unfolds in the story. If you are a nerd and get all the references (like me lol), you will eat this up.

This was such a good debut in my opinion! I loved everything about it!

I was entertained and drawn into the characters and the storyline that Shameez wrote from start to finish. A page turner no doubt!

When opposites attract and the tables are turned, a new way of existing prevails! A one time meeting years ago to rival enemies, Rose and William's story will pull you in!

The banter, chemistry, friendships and storyline came together organically to give a lighthearted rom com to remember.

Happy reading!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. The opinions written are completely honest and my own.

A fun romance with great characters you are rooting for. Although I think someone would figure out what's happening on the balcony earlier.

Elements of this were sooooo good - the flirty banter, the tension, the he falls first. I loved the premise of this and even though there were quite a few side characters, it felt well developed and thought out. There were elements though that just weren't super tight - the third act 'separation' (not quite break-up) didn't work as well as it could have and the relationship development between Rose and William felt like it was missing something (the initial spark was there but it didn't feel like it carried through all of the way). I can see the potential and really want to read the next book by the author.

This was such a cute book! Exactly what I needed and I binged it in a day! I loved all the game and LOTR references. I love that their friend group made time every week for game night even with their busy life schedules. Rose and William are a great couple. The enemies to hey maybe our hate is love friendship to love evolvement was so nice to read. I definitely would have liked more conversations between them to fully solidify the relationship aspect though. For reference: there’s lots of kissing in this book but nothing spicy, alluding to sex but not full actual scenes. I also liked that we got talks about sexual harassment in the work place. How Rose doubted herself, how other males made her doubt herself and so many thoughts on maybe it wasn’t actually harassment but finally having the courage to speak up. Really realistic and appreciated.

Would definitely read more of this author!!

Playing Flirty is a fun rom com that you can read in one sitting. It’s predictable but has great characters. Rose and William had a believable connection and I loved their friend group dynamics!

Rose Marie Jones is all about Game Night with her friends. Most of the week is spent with her dividing her time between her demanding job as an investment analyst and her working on her MBA. She has a boyfriend, but he’s busy with his marketing job and sometimes they have a hard time connecting. But Game Night with her roommate Neema, her work friend (and Neema’s boyfriend) Shaun, Shaun’s half-brother William, and her boyfriend Patrick when he can get away from work, is the highlight of Rose’s week.

But when Rose sees a competition for board game creators, her heart skips a beat. As a kid, she dreamed of creating board games and started making one of her own. But she’ll need to finish it if she wants to enter the contest, and the best person to help her with that is William, her gaming nemesis. He’s always teasing her, and they tend to be evenly matched in competitions. But he created and sold a popular video game, so he has the most experience in creating a game that people actually want to play.

Rose and William get stuck spending more time together as they work on Rose’s game, but also because they are the Maid of Honor and Best Man in Neema and Shaun’s wedding. As the game starts to come together, sparks fly between the two, but Rose already has a five-year plan, and William isn’t on it. But then, neither is feeling increasingly uncomfortable in her job or feeling distant from Patrick. Rose finds herself rolling the dice on her future, but will she figure out how to win at life? Or will she find herself back at the start line all alone?

Playing Flirty is a nerdy rom com about game enthusiasts who fall in love. There is a lot of clever banter with these smart characters, and a lot of board game and video game talk for gamers who love rom coms. This is a slow burn with an inevitable conclusion, but the trips around the board to get to the happy ever after is a charming journey.

I really enjoyed Playing Flirty. It’s not perfect, but there is a lot to love about this book. There were a couple of situations where abusive relationships were glossed over, and I think the story would have been stronger had those situations either been left out or resolved more realistically, but I did still have a great time with this book. There are some laugh out loud moments, and Rose’s parents, modern-day hippies, were absolutely charming. I definitely enjoyed the gaming aspects, and I thought the relationship between Rose and William was very sweet. Overall, I enjoyed it and I think other board game nerds will too.

Egalleys for Playing Flirty were provided by Forever through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Playing Flirty by Shameez Patel!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this title to read and review. "Playing Flirty" started off with a really great premise filled with romance and good nerdy fun, but ultimately wasn't for me. I think the plot was ambitious and tried to tackle a lot of different topics -- from the romance to the friends' wedding to the board game nights to professional game development ambitions to breakups to rivaling half-brothers to spreadsheets filled of future growth milestone plans and MBA work to sexual harassment faced at work to... literally it goes on and on -- and then I wanted it to tackle *even more* -- like growing self-confidence out of bad relationships and what it's like to be a young woman in the game creator field. Then ultimately, I didn't think it was able to pull off most of these side quests completely. It felt like a lot was happening and also like nothing was happening at the same time, like this friend group could have had lots of rich inner lives and challenges but they still somehow didn't. I think each character ended up giving me the ick in a very specific way. Our main character Rose felt a bit boring and juvenile, so I wasn't convinced that she was actually this incredible talent and someone I wanted to root for in romance and career.

Rose Marie Jones and William Ashdern couldn't stand each other. Well, really their competitiveness kept them from being able to co-exist peacefully. Rose is in a dead end relationship. Their is no spark, they barely talk, and he's always working. He does nothing to encourage her. When Rose and William start spending more time together to plan wedding festivities for her best friend who is marrying his half-brother, their prickly outer armors begin to fall away. Now William is helping her get her board game ready for a contest and they're sneaking around behind everyone's back.

Such a great romcom with a little bit of melancholy. I didn't like how Rose's boyfriend had NO CLUE how creative and intelligent she was. I was surprised at how, after so many years of be adversaries, Rose and William became partners and fed off each other's creativity and intelligence.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

This was a great romance. It's a rom-com so it follows the typical formula. I liked how competitive the main characters were without getting mean or prodding at one another. Their friend group was fun and supportive as well. This was a super nerdy and cute romance. While our MMC has plenty of brooding to go around, he is also supportive and a great love interest. I definitely would read another book by this author.

I was so happy to read a romance book written by a south asian author that is so nuanced and uncommon!
I loved the whole nerdy, gaming, hippy and broody vibes.
I enjoyed this debut!