[Review] Take A Hint, Dani Brown, by Talia Hibbert

Title: Take A Hint, Dani Brown
Series: The Brown Sisters #2
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Avon
Number of pages: 320
Publication date: June 23rd 2020

Synopsis:

Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral...

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his... um, thighs.

Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

Review:

I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

I know this is the second book in a series, and I haven’t read the first one (yet! I’ve bought today so, it should be read soon!) but I couldn’t resist the premise.

I finished the book at 1 a.m. today. It made me feel all the feels. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to write a proper review, as I’m still with that “in love” feeling.

This book has a cinnamon roll hero. I mean… I’m totally in love with Zafir Ansari. He’s a Muslim, former rugby player, who reads romance novels. I mean…do I need to say anything else?

I loved how Talia Hibbert was so real. She shows real struggles and real achievements, and she does it in such a caring way.

Danika Brown is a fierce, PhD. student and a university teacher. She is a sexy, confident, and awesome bisexual – except she doesn’t do “feelings”. And Zaf is more in touch with his feelings than most, as he had to deal with mental health issues, and knows how important it is to recognize how we feel, and accept it. So, when these two decide to fake a relationship to help Zaf’s charity, and add benefits to that same relationship, things start to change.

Dani never really had someone (besides her sisters and her best friends) that understood her, and actually cared about her and her work – because that’s a whole package. And the people she knew before, they didn’t get how important that was to her, and at the same she didn’t recognize their feelings (I’m looking at Jo, not at Mateo, to be clear). She did try, when she thought she was in love, and when that went wrong, she decided no long term thing for her, just give her a f*ck buddy, and she’ll be happy. But Zaf is more than that. He’s a friend, and he actually pays attention to her, and when things change between them Dani is scared.

And Zaf gets it. Late, but he does. Zaf is an amazing guy, who has dealt, and continually deals with mental health problems, and he’s created this amazing charity where he teaches young boys to accept and recognize their feelings and their struggles, without toxic masculinity – go Zaf!

I loved the hot, sexy times, but most of all I loved to see their relationship grow, and seeing Dani and Zaf being recognized by their separate works, it’s inspiring. And Dani’s gesture, at the end of the book? If I had already melted for our hero, this made me completely adore our heroine, because she respected his love of romance books, and made a gesture with them for him – not because she had to or he asked her to, but because she wanted to and knew it would make him happy.

Because that’s the goal in a romantic relationship, isn’t it? To be with someone not because you have to, but because you want to, and you are happy to be with them, and do nice things for them, again, not because you have to or feel obliged to do it, but because it gives makes you happy to make them happy.