Scan barcode
taroroot's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i love books where the more you read the more the cover makes sense. Zaf and Dani were an adorable study in romance and i loved them so much. they're so funny and all of the side characters felt so real. i especially loved Jamal and Kiran and seeing Chloe, Eve, and Red was wonderful as well. the way both Zaf and Dani experienced anxiety and discussed it felt incredibly well done and i saw myself in these characters. can't wait for Eve's story <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Sexism and Racism
hellowildflower's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness and Car accident
Minor: Racism
coacklebee's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
My favorite part of this was the fact that the hero struggles with anxiety. I really enjoyed the lack of toxic masculinity :)
Her writing style isn't always my favorite, but I really enjoy the characters that Talia Hibbert creates and the relationship dynamics she explores. I will definitely be reading more!
Her writing style isn't always my favorite, but I really enjoy the characters that Talia Hibbert creates and the relationship dynamics she explores. I will definitely be reading more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism
cleo_wylde's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Just a really delightful diverse romance read. Raunchy sex!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Car accident, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism
emfass's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Re-read for Bad Ass Babes Book Club.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual harassment, Racism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Misogyny
amivireads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Favorite out of the series so far. The anxiety rep was done so well that I cried many times reading. Talia writes romance in a way that makes me believe that love is real. Relationships are healthy with boundaries and open communications. I can’t wait to finish the last book in this wonderful series.
Favorite out of the series so far. The anxiety rep was done so well that I cried many times reading. Talia writes romance in a way that makes me believe that love is real. Relationships are healthy with boundaries and open communications. I can’t wait to finish the last book in this wonderful series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
anna_wa's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've been making my way through the Brown Sisters books in reverse order. I started with Act Your Age Eve Brown and loved it so much that I had to read the others - and when I found out this book starred a bisexual woman who ends up with a man, I couldn't wait to read it. I feel like there are truly not enough books where bisexual women end up with men and they aren't written as "changing sides" or "betraying the LGBT+ community" and I'm glad to find any books that treat bisexual women who end up with men with respect.
It's really hard to define the pacing of this book, because as you can probably guess by the description of the book, they kiss rather soon (for the purposes of their fake relationship) and they alsohave sex rather soon. But as for actually admitting their romantic feelings to themselves and to each other? That takes a very, very long time. So, I guess, it varies reader-by-reader on if you would find this too fast or too slow or just right.
Anyway, I love how this author manages to make her characters into real individuals, with their own problems and their own strengths. They aren't books that are ONLY focused on the eventual romance, but are also books focused on improving the individuals and their views of themselves, which is amazing. Dani has had one too many romantic relationships end in disaster and so she believes the best thing to do is just not have any more of them, and instead focus on finding the perfect "friend with benefits". Zaf is a hopeless romantic who has seen unhappy endings in his own life and wants to avoid that at all costs.Zaf's father and brother died in a car crash and because of that, because of the pain he watched his sister-in-law go through after losing her true love, he doesn't want that for himself. So basically they both have lots of baggage to unpack, and they do, and it is treated with respect by the author and the lovers (sorry, fake-lovers-turned-real-lovers).
It's a beautiful novel in so many different ways. Highly recommend. Can't wait to read the Chloe Brown book next; she was my favorite side character in both Eve Brown and Dani Brown's books.
Warnings for anxiety, depression, a panic attack, and grieving over the death of a loved one.
It's really hard to define the pacing of this book, because as you can probably guess by the description of the book, they kiss rather soon (for the purposes of their fake relationship) and they also
Anyway, I love how this author manages to make her characters into real individuals, with their own problems and their own strengths. They aren't books that are ONLY focused on the eventual romance, but are also books focused on improving the individuals and their views of themselves, which is amazing. Dani has had one too many romantic relationships end in disaster and so she believes the best thing to do is just not have any more of them, and instead focus on finding the perfect "friend with benefits". Zaf is a hopeless romantic who has seen unhappy endings in his own life and wants to avoid that at all costs.
It's a beautiful novel in so many different ways. Highly recommend. Can't wait to read the Chloe Brown book next; she was my favorite side character in both Eve Brown and Dani Brown's books.
Warnings for anxiety, depression, a panic attack, and grieving over the death of a loved one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Grief
Minor: Fatphobia and Racism
hanz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident
beccaand's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wonderful. Talia Hibbert's writing is so compulsively readable.
I loved Dani a lot and related to a lot of her thoughts about being a post-grad student and the dedication to her work, and Zaf was just a genuine sweetheart, and the passion and dedication he had towards Tackle It was so heartwarming as well.
I loved Dani a lot and related to a lot of her thoughts about being a post-grad student and the dedication to her work, and Zaf was just a genuine sweetheart, and the passion and dedication he had towards Tackle It was so heartwarming as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Confinement, Racism, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Infidelity, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
maisierosereads's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
⭐ Full review of this book (and of the other books in the Brown Sisters series) also available on my blog! ⭐
Just like in the other books in this series, I need to take a moment to talk about how much I love Talia Hibbert’s writing before getting into this specific book. It’s no wonder that she’s a bestselling author – her writing style is polished, emotive (I’m talking laughing out loud right through to crying as I read these books), and beautifully descriptive. And although the plot and setting of these books are realistic in a relatively down-to-earth way, I still felt as though I was escaping into a better version of life when I read it. Much like with the other two books in this series, I found it really difficult to put Take a Hint, Dani Brown down; I read almost all of it on Sunday, then finished it off over my weetabix before work on Monday.
If you follow a similar set of readers to me, you’ll have seen this book recommended because it’s full of Black joy and a diverse cast of characters. The main couple are Danika (a Black bisexual woman working on her PhD) and Zafir (a Pakistani man with an anxiety disorder who reads romance novels and started a charity to get boys talking about mental health through sport). Dani is a witch with an altar to the goddess Oshun, and Zaf comes from a Muslim family (though he is not actively religious). As with all of the other marginalised identities celebrated in Hibbert’s books, the representation of both of these characters’ intersecting identities is respectful, realistic, and relatable.
I loved how well-rounded these characters are from the beginning, but their development throughout the book is truly wonderful. Dani is far from being a perfect love interest at the start of the book, given that she is so opposed to forming romantic attachments that she has lost friendships – not (as she makes clear) because she is aromantic, but because she doesn’t want to make room for anything more than casual sex in her life. She prays to Oshun for “a regular source of orgasms […] someone who won’t expect more from me than I can give” expecting a friend-with benefits, but as the book progresses (and Oshun showers her in hints), it becomes clear that what she actually needed was to learn what a healthy relationship looks like. Dani begins to properly evaluate these feelings and the reasons for them, allowing her to start making amends towards the people she has hurt in the past and to stop self-sabotaging in the present.
Meanwhile, Zafir also undergoes an emotional journey of self-improvement: he thinks that he is “over” the grief from the deaths of his dad and brother (as well as the awful way he found out about the accident and the way he was treated afterwards), but comes to realise that the lasting effects of his grief are having a definite impact on his ability to successfully run his charity and move on with his life, since he felt unable to share his motivations and was understandably scared of being recognised by the people who knew him in his previous career as a professional rugby player.
In terms of the romance? This book features several much-loved romance tropes – think fake dating meets friends with benefits – and Hibbert pulls them off excellently. You also have a side of “opposites attract” in that at the start of the book Dani is very unapolagetic about wanting lots of sex but no romance, whereas Zaf is a big romantic and considers sex to be a pretty big deal. The pacing of how this begins to change as the characters (and their relationship) develop felt spot-on.
Mixed in with all of this are plenty of hilarious moments, heartwarming scenes with family members and friends, a symposium, and (of course) a good dose of smut. Most importantly, this book shows what it means to work on developing healthy relationships, and that despite the risk of pain it is entirely possible for everyone, no matter their trauma, to have a happy and fulfilling life.
Overall, I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I highly recommend Take a Hint, Dani Brown, or that I will definitely be rereading it. It was well worth the 99p it cost me to get the eBook from Hive!
Get a copy with my affiliate links:
Bookshop
Hive
Libro.fm
Just like in the other books in this series, I need to take a moment to talk about how much I love Talia Hibbert’s writing before getting into this specific book. It’s no wonder that she’s a bestselling author – her writing style is polished, emotive (I’m talking laughing out loud right through to crying as I read these books), and beautifully descriptive. And although the plot and setting of these books are realistic in a relatively down-to-earth way, I still felt as though I was escaping into a better version of life when I read it. Much like with the other two books in this series, I found it really difficult to put Take a Hint, Dani Brown down; I read almost all of it on Sunday, then finished it off over my weetabix before work on Monday.
If you follow a similar set of readers to me, you’ll have seen this book recommended because it’s full of Black joy and a diverse cast of characters. The main couple are Danika (a Black bisexual woman working on her PhD) and Zafir (a Pakistani man with an anxiety disorder who reads romance novels and started a charity to get boys talking about mental health through sport). Dani is a witch with an altar to the goddess Oshun, and Zaf comes from a Muslim family (though he is not actively religious). As with all of the other marginalised identities celebrated in Hibbert’s books, the representation of both of these characters’ intersecting identities is respectful, realistic, and relatable.
I loved how well-rounded these characters are from the beginning, but their development throughout the book is truly wonderful. Dani is far from being a perfect love interest at the start of the book, given that she is so opposed to forming romantic attachments that she has lost friendships – not (as she makes clear) because she is aromantic, but because she doesn’t want to make room for anything more than casual sex in her life. She prays to Oshun for “a regular source of orgasms […] someone who won’t expect more from me than I can give” expecting a friend-with benefits, but as the book progresses (and Oshun showers her in hints), it becomes clear that what she actually needed was to learn what a healthy relationship looks like. Dani begins to properly evaluate these feelings and the reasons for them, allowing her to start making amends towards the people she has hurt in the past and to stop self-sabotaging in the present.
Meanwhile, Zafir also undergoes an emotional journey of self-improvement: he thinks that he is “over” the grief from the deaths of his dad and brother (as well as the awful way he found out about the accident and the way he was treated afterwards), but comes to realise that the lasting effects of his grief are having a definite impact on his ability to successfully run his charity and move on with his life, since he felt unable to share his motivations and was understandably scared of being recognised by the people who knew him in his previous career as a professional rugby player.
In terms of the romance? This book features several much-loved romance tropes – think fake dating meets friends with benefits – and Hibbert pulls them off excellently. You also have a side of “opposites attract” in that at the start of the book Dani is very unapolagetic about wanting lots of sex but no romance, whereas Zaf is a big romantic and considers sex to be a pretty big deal. The pacing of how this begins to change as the characters (and their relationship) develop felt spot-on.
Mixed in with all of this are plenty of hilarious moments, heartwarming scenes with family members and friends, a symposium, and (of course) a good dose of smut. Most importantly, this book shows what it means to work on developing healthy relationships, and that despite the risk of pain it is entirely possible for everyone, no matter their trauma, to have a happy and fulfilling life.
Overall, I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I highly recommend Take a Hint, Dani Brown, or that I will definitely be rereading it. It was well worth the 99p it cost me to get the eBook from Hive!
Get a copy with my affiliate links:
Bookshop
Hive
Libro.fm
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic relationship