A review by taketwolu
Flirty Little Secret by Jessica Lepe

4.5

Offline, Lucy is shy, anxious, guidance counsellor struggling to hold off disaster -- online, she’s bold, confident, and anonymously runs an account under the persona of @ TheMissGuidedCounselor. Fletcher finds himself teaching at the same school as Lucy while dealing with his ex, family drama, and a growing crush, all while getting advice from his online friend.

Ok, imagine it’s your first day teaching at a new school and you get tea spilt on your CROTCH and you have to strip down to your boxers to blow dry your pants in the boys change room as a 6ft tall Scottish gym teacher tells you about his slightly traumatic backstory. 

OR imagine being the one who spilt tea on the new teacher’s crotch and trying to dab it out but then running away to decompress (cry) in embarrassment / anxiety (oh and also you’re the school guidance counsellor)

^^ this is just the first 2 chapters btw!!

Honestly, this book had me hooked from the start and with good reason. I loved how hopelessly lost these two were -- yet their ability to find comfort and chemistry (despite the multiple scenes of second hand embarrassment) was undeniably cute. ALSO, the level of chaotic messiness, hilariousness, and genuine moments of vulnerability / insecurity was on par 👌🏼

⚠️ - tw: mental health, panic attacks, anxiety disorder, infidelity, etc + potential spoilers

highlights:

- the intro note + content warnings 🥺

- the whole tea-crotch situation LMAO

- Lucy - a strong anxious, d3pressed fmc -- loved her bold, confident moments, but also her more raw and vulnerable side + she loves Fredrik Backman (yay!!)

- Fletcher - a genuinely solid guy, he’s awkward, understanding, sometimes a little lost and super cute with Lucy hehe

- careful discussions of anxiety, d3pression, ADHD, mental health, and more

- the Konfident Kids Klub… (an after school club Lucy runs -- she had a full on crying session during their first meeting 🙈 btw, they can’t change the name because of the school budget 😂🥴)

- Lucy’s family - they’re cute, messy, and understanding!! loved the mix of cultures/backgrounds (Mexican, Moroccan, and Jewish rep) and the food descriptions!! they ALSO will all sit in lawn chairs waiting for you to come back from your date to interrogate 😂🫣)

- the double identities -- loved the chat msg banter (and awkwardly cute flirting attempts)

- the messy personal drama!? mainly from Fletcher LOL 👀 (Fletcher’s dad is soo MESSY ☠️😬 -- like ‘divorcing your wife because you got your secretary pregnant’ kind of messy AND his ex gf WHO cheated on him with his own brother is also his coworker… YIKES)

- the realness - both characters were vulnerable, raw, patient, and genuinely cared for each other (even despite all the tears and personal drama) 🥺

- Lucy’s sisters (Amira, Julieta) + best friend (Nia) -- amazing female side characters and love the dynamic they all have with Lucy!

- Brodie, the Scottish gym teacher (this guy is so unbothered -- in a good way, overshares, gives golden retriever vibes, makes awkward situations worse, and is a bit of a self-care king 😂 great side character tbh!)

- the ending - cute, funny, and like a warm hug 🤧🥰

- the author’s note 😭 Jessica shares a lot about her personal journey with her identity and mental health 👏🏼

I will note that there were some tropes I wasn’t a fan of (miscommunication, etc) and some scenes were a bit much. Though this might not be for everyone, I really enjoyed this and it’s easily a new fav 🥰 Overall this was such a fun debut and I can’t wait to read more!

 Thanks NetGalley and Read Forever Pub for my arc!