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A review by juliamikhno
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
3.0
3.5 ⭐️ it is only fair to start the review with the star of the book - zaf. zafir is up there in the top five of my favorite book boyfriends of all time. he’s hot, he’s a feminist king, he’s passionate about his career, he’s in tune with his emotions and comfortable in his masculinity And he is absolutely smitten with our heroine danika. from the very beginning of the book he cares about her so much: he pays attention to her hair color changes, he gives her protein bars, he listens when he talks about work and he even reads her articles that he only understands 60% of. what a perfect perfect man!! <3 his family is wonderful too!!
i really liked the tropes too: casual work friends to fake daters to lovers pipeline remains unmatched.
my feelings about danika are a little more complicated. first of all, she’s Objectively cool. she’s bossy and ambitious, she’s getting a phd, she dyes her hair funky colors, she’s a witch and she’s bisexual. an icon and an absolute delight to read about. she doesn’t want a relationship and she’s only in the market for a fuck buddy. this book was the first time i’ve ever read about casual “no strings attached” sex and, quite frankly, i hated it as a plot point where one character wants to get laid and the other wants to find Love.
it is hinted at that she is afraid of serious relationships and commitment because of a bad experience with an ex boyfriend, but it’s not explored in detail or revealed to zaf until 70% into the book. it’s good that we get both of their povs and understand that, no matter how much she’s trying to resist it, dani is falling for zaf too. otherwise it would’ve been outrageous to read about her throwing him out of her apartment after sex and teasing him about “developing delusions of romance”. even now, it still rubbed me the wrong way and took me out of the mindset i expect to be in while reading a romance novel.
zafir is so perfect and treats dani so well, but he wants a romantic relationship and he knows that she does Not and he knows that he can’t and shouldn’t try to change her so it is a bit painful to watch him going through mental turmoil and settling for casual sex. as far as he’s concerned, there could be many different reasons for dani’s lack of interest in romance: maybe she’s aromantic, maybe she’s just a career-oriented person etc.
of course, she realizes that she can trust him and confesses her love with a grand romantic gesture at the end, but i’m not sure that the payoff was worth the mildly infuriating journey.
i loved their witty banter and the way they respect and admire each other. their displays of affection were adorable. the sexy scenes were hot.
the writing was good for the most part, but some phrases like “she almost melted into a puddle pussy-first” or “his voice shot to her clit” or descriptions of him jerking off made me cringe. would’ve loved a fade to black on that one.
overall, i loved the first book in the series way more, but this was good (just not quite up my alley) and i’m excited to read the third book about eve.
i really liked the tropes too: casual work friends to fake daters to lovers pipeline remains unmatched.
my feelings about danika are a little more complicated. first of all, she’s Objectively cool. she’s bossy and ambitious, she’s getting a phd, she dyes her hair funky colors, she’s a witch and she’s bisexual. an icon and an absolute delight to read about. she doesn’t want a relationship and she’s only in the market for a fuck buddy. this book was the first time i’ve ever read about casual “no strings attached” sex and, quite frankly, i hated it as a plot point where one character wants to get laid and the other wants to find Love.
it is hinted at that she is afraid of serious relationships and commitment because of a bad experience with an ex boyfriend, but it’s not explored in detail or revealed to zaf until 70% into the book. it’s good that we get both of their povs and understand that, no matter how much she’s trying to resist it, dani is falling for zaf too. otherwise it would’ve been outrageous to read about her throwing him out of her apartment after sex and teasing him about “developing delusions of romance”. even now, it still rubbed me the wrong way and took me out of the mindset i expect to be in while reading a romance novel.
zafir is so perfect and treats dani so well, but he wants a romantic relationship and he knows that she does Not and he knows that he can’t and shouldn’t try to change her so it is a bit painful to watch him going through mental turmoil and settling for casual sex. as far as he’s concerned, there could be many different reasons for dani’s lack of interest in romance: maybe she’s aromantic, maybe she’s just a career-oriented person etc.
of course, she realizes that she can trust him and confesses her love with a grand romantic gesture at the end, but i’m not sure that the payoff was worth the mildly infuriating journey.
i loved their witty banter and the way they respect and admire each other. their displays of affection were adorable. the sexy scenes were hot.
the writing was good for the most part, but some phrases like “she almost melted into a puddle pussy-first” or “his voice shot to her clit” or descriptions of him jerking off made me cringe. would’ve loved a fade to black on that one.
overall, i loved the first book in the series way more, but this was good (just not quite up my alley) and i’m excited to read the third book about eve.