Take a Hint, Dani Brown: A Novel (The Brown Sisters, 2) Paperback – June 23, 2020

5 STARSI received a review copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest reviewHave you ever started a book, and just known from the beginning that this was going to be a new favorite? Because that’s what happened with me and this book. I read Get a Life, Chloe Brown in the beginning of the year, and immediately added Take a Hint, Dani Brown to my TBR without even reading the synopsis. I loved Chloe Brown enough that just by seeing the cover of Dani Brown I was sure I was going to love it. And I was right!Before I give some more details about what this book is about, let me just say that this book is perfect for all the trope lovers out there. Because essentially this book has friends to lovers and fake dating all wrapped with some steamy times. It follows Dani Brown who asks the universe for a sign to point her in the direction of her next friend-with-benefits. When a video goes viral of her super hot security friend, Zafir, rescuing her from a building, they decide to pretend to date to help Zafir get more publicity for the organization he runs that uses rugby to get boys to tap into their emotions in order to help dismantle toxic masculinity. Of course, things don’t stay platonic for long!Now one of the first things that I noticed about this book was that it’s laugh out loud funny! I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss, and 10% in I was enjoying myself so much that I pre-ordered a physical copy for myself right then and there! I think I knew even then that this book would be a favorite.One of the things I loved most about this book was definitely the characters. Let me start by talking about the love interest, Zafir. My heart! I love this man. He reads romance novels, and as I mentioned in the synopsis part, he runs a rugby program dedicated to teaching young boys how to get in touch with their emotions in order to fight back against toxic masculinity. Zafir has been through a lot, but he’s such a sweetie and a hopeless romantic. He is the textbook definition of someone who looks all big, scary, and grumpy, but is actually a smol cinnamon roll that would do anything for those he loves.Zafir also struggles with grief and anxiety throughout the book, and it was handled excellently! There was one paragraph in particular that just struck a chord with me as someone who has suffered from mental health issues for many years. It was so nice to see Zafir talk about his progress and his coping mechanisms, and to see him surrounded by such a wonderful support system.As for Dani, well, she’s fantastic! She’s motivated and determined, she’s blunt and she’s confident, but she also protects her heart at all costs. She values her success in her academic field, and it was so wonderful getting to read about someone who so obviously loved what they did, and was not ashamed to put their focus on their work rather than other places.The relationship between the two characters was just perfection! Dani’s bluntness, and Zafir’s emotional intelligence ensure that there’s frequent communication between these two. Even when there is inevitably some drama towards the end, it made sense, and was resolved pretty quickly, because these characters talked through things instead of just acting like idiots. Not only that, but each one took responsibility for their portion of the drama, as opposed to what you usually see, which is one person groveling for forgiveness even if the other party had some hand in their altercation.There’s also this wonderful conversation about the difference between changing yourself for someone else and someone encouraging you to grow and become a better version of yourself. This is such an important distinction and I was so glad to see it discussed in a romance book, where many times the characters feel the need to change themselves to be with their love interest, which should not be the case!I think my love for this book knows no bounds because every aspect of this book was exactly what I wanted and what I needed from a romance! As an overview, this book has great friendship, romance, mental health, discussions about emotions, discussions about grief and anxiety, minimal but realistic drama and more.I have so much more that I love about this book but I’m struggling to be coherent about all the little details that made this book so wonderful! I think the best advice I can give is for you to read this book!In case you couldn’t already tell, this was a five star read for me! Everything about it is perfection, it immediately was added to my favorites shelf on Goodreads, and I would like anyone reading this review to go and pick up a copy for yourself this very moment!

Yes, hello, I’d like Talia Hibbert to write all fictional men from now on, that is all. Thank you. Honestly that could be my entire review for “Take a Hint, Dani Brown”, but I promise to go into more depth. The Brown Sisters books do not have to be read in order, each a delicious little standalone, and Dani’s book was no different. I did start with “Get a Life, Chloe Brown” as my first introduction into this author and the Brown sisters, and I fell HARD for these fierce women, and the author’s fun writing style that still packs a punch when it comes to mental health and recovering from past trauma. We focus on Danika Brown in this book, a dedicated PhD student who has sworn off all romance in favor of friends with benefits and focusing solely on her research. Then, after an emergency drill gone wrong, decides to enter into a fake relationship with the big, sensitive, ex-rugby player turned security guard, Zafir, in order to use the publicity from that failed drill to help his charity, in which he teaches young boys healthy ways to deal with their emotions (I’m already swooning for Zafir at this point). Of course, Dani doesn’t want anything from Zafir other than sexual release, but romance novel addict Zafir struggles the whole time with not falling head over heels for Dani. This book was lovely in all ways, but after reading Chloe’s story, my expectations were set very high for Danika…While I fell in love with Zafir early on, it took me a little while longer to really love and connect to Dani. I love a sensitive strong man who recognizes his anxiety and actively addresses it, so there was no chance I wasn’t going to adore Zafir and how dedicated he was to his family. He’s supposedly grumpy, but most of the time he’s just a little ray of sarcasm and delicious cinnamon roll-ness. Whereas Dani, early on, was so singularly focused on just finding a good “f”-buddy that it got a little tiresome to constantly hear about. Dani loves good sex, and she’s confident and sexy as hell, she knows she’s a catch and wicked smart and I LOVED that about her, but just the constant focus on her wanting sexual gratification rubbed me (heh) a little wrong. I do understand it’s a coping mechanism of Dani’s, but I think if it had been a little less overt, it wouldn’t have felt so repetitive, and then I wouldn’t have minded or even noticed it as much. Also, this was my first fake-dating-to-lovers trope book, but I don’t think this will be one of those tropes I end up liking much. Granted, it may just be this book because nothing ever seemed “fake” about their relationship (you’ll understand when you read it), but it kept a lot of the tension of “when will they fall?!” out of the story.Hibbert writes beautiful books with diverse characters so effortlessly that she is in a class all her own. Not only is there a diverse cast with different backgrounds, orientations, religions and beliefs, but also characters with varying different mental health struggles that showcase healthy ways to address trauma or even invisible illnesses. Her writing style is smart and sarcastic and it makes all her books a pleasure to read. I do think Chloe’s book set the bar very high for me, and the repetitiveness of some of the things Dani does meant that this book couldn’t quite live up to the first book in the series, hence the 4 stars. But I truly did love and enjoy this story, and Zafir can princess carry me around any time he pleases!

Talia Hibbert is ripping my soul apart and sewing it together with strands of Gold. This series makes me laugh, cry, and get heated. Thank you, Talia, for changing my world with words.

Quero ler tudo que a Talia publicar! Eu amei esse livro, talvez ainda mais do que o primeiro. É muito divertido e coração quentinho.

I really liked the first book and excited to finish the other 2.Great for a light cute read if you want to take a break from crime novels like me lol

Une bonne histoire à lire à la plage

Me encantó el libro, es gracioso, romántico e interesante.