Early Book Review: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Take a Hint, Dani Brown
 by Talia Hibbert is currently scheduled for release on June 23 2020. 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. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom. When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, 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 is 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. 

Take a Hint, Dani Brown is a great contemporary romance with wonderfully flawed characters. I love the way even the secondary characters are fleshed out and given significant issues and lives of their own- making them feel real. Dani is a combination of strength, intelligence, and fearful insecurity that she keeps locked down hard. Zaf is my favorite kind of romance character- a sweetheart often more concerned with others than himself but still anxious and thought of as much tougher and hard than he really is. I loved watching the two discover more about each other and take this path together. They discover even more about themselves than each other, and the ride was full of feels. I really adored both characters and how real all of them felt, since none were perfect or unbearably flawed. I was left thinking about this group long after I finished the book, and was left very happy with the conclusion but still wanting more. I will be checking out the backlist and any future books from this author and fully expect to enjoy them just as much.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown is a friends to lovers romance with all the feels, and plenty of character development. I look forward to any future books with these characters.

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