Take a Hint, Dani Brown

this was my favorite of the trilogy but i have to say I'm really tired of the “mc doesn't wanna be in a relationship but it turns out they just haven't met the right person yet” trope.

My FAV book out of the series. It was perfect. I loved the representation. The characters were funny and I loved Zaf's family. Also ofc the smut was top tier.

I'm so glad that the Romcom Swoonathon got me to read this book because I loved it so much. We get the fake dating trope and it's a slow burn with a lot of angst. I loved the character growth for each of the characters and the banter was on point. There's so much representation in this book as well and I feel like the author did it all justice. Also, I can't forget to mention that we get some steamy scenes as well which we all know I love at this point.

made me smile sometimes and their banter was nice. but i honestly just didn't relate to danika at all. this is all shade to me but work is not my life and it actually exhausts me to hear about peoples lifestyles like that. like please take a nap before you start to stress me out vicariously. i thought the smut here was decent but sparse. like why was i 50% the way through waiting for it? i might be biased because i think the 1st book has one of my favorite sex scenes of all time. i enjoyed this while i was reading it but also wondering every chapter why it was going on so long? hibbert has a tendency to add a breakup scene at the end. this one felt more necessary than the one in book 1, but still, i hate seeing characters ruin a good thing over nothing. trust me, i have my own share of flaws: i get super angry and mean, sometimes play the quiet game like a baby, truly so sensitive people have to walk on eggshells around me ((yes i've been accused of this) TO MY FACE). but, i always get so detached when someone's achilles heel is the relationship being...too good? breakups can be traumatic and being cheated on can literally change your brain chemistry but i also feel so much empathy for the person who comes next. no amount of reassurance and honesty can heal someone who can't trust you. it sucks for everyone involved. i guess what i'm saying is, if i was the bf in real life, this would be the most nonsensical and frustrating fight ever, which makes me not like it. but this is also just a reader preference. this is more of 3.5 for me! but definitely more on the lower side. it just doesn't compare to book 1. at all.

p.s. i switched between and ebook and audiobook of this one and i might have been swayed by the sheer britishness of it. AND there were so many times the italics was begging the narrator to change her inflection of voice and she just did not. no shade but the audiobook made the experience worse. everytime she cursed, i felt like she was mad at me for making her say them because her voice was so delicate and soft. but that part is probably just in my head.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was fun, it was quick, and the romance was fairly cute. I always appreciate the romance novels that kinda break out of the established characters that most romance novels have and I think this one does to some extent. Normally, it is the guy who's the cynical, only-one-night type and the girl is the hopeless romantic, so it was nice to see that dynamic switched.

I will say this book was pretty cringe at points. Not to the point of making me want to stop reading, but it was definitely noticeable. There are only so many times you can read a 27-year-old PHD student refer to sex as ‘boinking' before you kinda sigh and roll your eyes at it.

I would've rated this book higher, but some of the choices the author made in the end definitely tanked the rating for me, so I'll put this next bit under spoilers. I don't like third-act breakups. I ESPECIALLY don't like third-act breakups when they literally occur in the last 2-3 chapters, when we had been led to believe that whatever reason the couple had to break up has already been resolved. And I gotta be honest, Dani was kinda annoying me by the end of the book. It's totally understandable for her to have some hangups about relationships after what she's been through, but at a certain point I feel like you need to deal with insecurities you might have in yourself before you open yourself up to a relationship. Not to say that insecure people CAN'T be in relationships, but sometimes you need to realize there are things that you need to work on so you don't unintentionally take them out on the people you care about, and Dani didn't do that.

I WILL say in the book's defense that both the characters and the author made it clear that Danika was in the wrong and they didn't try to play off her hurting Zaf as “well she has trust issues because of her past relationships!!”. I would've rated it even lower if she hadn't taken responsibility, but she did, so I'm happy with that.

Overall, this wasn't the best romance I've ever read, but I had fun.

4.75/5

Oh my God.

This was DELIGHTFUL!! I loved that!!!! Almost perfect!!

The way they know each other and care for each other was so special and adorable. God, I want a love like theirs.

Zaf was so soft and gentle despite his grumpy exterior and Dani was so soft too, inside, when she let herself be. They know each other so well and they always care. They don't want another person to change and I love that.

ZAF IS READING ROMANCE NOVELS. Yesssssssssss. You have no idea how delighted I was when I learned about that! And he wasn't ashamed of it at all. And the gift Dani gave him at the very end??? SHE DID IT BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO, NOT BECAUSE SHE HAD TO OH MY GODDDD. I love her doing that!!

Damn, Dani's abandonment issues were real and I love how Zaf took care of her and repeatedly told her and showed her that he doesn't want her to change. She's perfect the way she is and he loves her because of who she is. He doesn't need grand gestures, not when they make her uncomfortable, but when she does them because she wants them??? Omg, she's so romantic too!!

My favourite scenes were probably how Dani helped him with his anxiety before the radio show, how he came 20 minutes too early because he knew she wouldn't remember - and instead of judging her he fell in love with her even more, the grand gesture at the end and the AUTOGRAPHS. So good. Wow. If anyone did them for me I would be instantly in love with them too.

This book was so well done. I love fake relationships and this was awesome. They both cared and tried and even when they failed they still tried again. I love that.

Everything about this was fun! Dani and Zafir were deserving all the wonderful things! They were richly full of life and real. I really enjoy how Hibbert writes people as if they were just people. There's no describing everything as if we didn't know what a hijab is or what a Black person looks like. It's a story, with people in it and I loved it.

Talia Hibbert is great with characters.

3.5. Very cute, but I definitely didn't connect with this one as much as with the first one. Still cute, still sexy, still good amount of character depth. So far, this series is all about that relationship baggage and learning to trust again. And I'm here for it! I do recommend this book. I listened to it in one day because I couldn't put it down! But ultimately, it didn't blow me away.

4,25 ⭐

4.5/5

Talia Hibbert is 2/2 in the 2/3rds of the Brown sisters trilogy I've devoured. This isn't a full 5 stars for me because Dani's commitment phobia is so similar to Chloe's, but is still relatable and charming, and the dynamic with her love interest is sufficiently unique to the first one to make it enjoyable if not surprising. Plus these books are funny! #DrRugbae forever. I am also always here for a bisexual protagonist of a heterosexual romance novel when it's not treated as a token schtick, and Hibbert is A+++ at including reality (e.g., anxiety disorders! chronic pain!) into her romance novels without weighing them down.

Sadly, it doesn't live up to the first book of the Brown Sisters. It's decent nonetheless and offers great representation.

I'm giving it 5 stars because this definitely hit everything I needed.

I had fun, I cried and I fell in love with both Dani and Zaf, I wanna date them both.

“This love business is absolutely nonsensical,” she told him unsteadily.
“I know,” he replied. “Isn't it great?”

It's bloody hard to rate some of these books because I'm mostly responding to their place within my expectations and their genre but let me tell you, this book is leaps and bounds better than the first one in the series. There's so much grounded and believable characterization and relationship depth. They're both extremely attractive and likable. Is it trying to change the world or make you see the things differently? Absolutely not. But is it trying to be fun? Yeah, and it succeeds. It's a nice, escapist time.

FUE HERMOSO. me hubiera gustado q aparecieran más las hermanas de dani pero me encantó igual

at first, i was sort of skeptical because it's interesting seeing how other people view muslims and how well they do their research, and even though there was a usage of ‘inshallah' in a sentence that didn't make sense, but it was fine. I guess. I did like that the zafir clearly stated he wasnt connected with religion, so his actions were not based on what he believed. In a way, i felt like my religion was being respected in that regard. To me, zafir seemed like a regular pakistani male i come across and i liked him. If only actual british paki people were like him lol

However, i did find a lack of chemsitry between danika and zafir. There was attraction but maybe im used to reading that raw, intense burning chemistry but not every book has to have that. Despite it all, i did enjoy reading this. I did like this more than chloe's book and i found danika more interesting than chloe to be honest. Zafir is wayy better than redford.

With that being said, i will definitely read the next in the series.

PS. i have seen some people review this book and stating how zafir does not resonate with them and they dont feel that he represents muslim accurately then i guess they havent really met enough muslim people? I found zafir's rep fine

Cute second book of the brown sisters series.

Stubborn and fiercely independent Dani, and hopeless romantic Zaf.

Fake dating for publicity for his mental health program.

I love this author and the way she portrays mental health, and how people cope. It is so refreshing and feels so normalized.

Read this one last, even though it's the second in the series. It fell short, especially after Eve Brown. I didn't feel that the romance was as strong in this one.

4.5 stars. I loved it but there were times I wanted to jump inside the book and slap Dani for being so obtuse to her own feelings. But this was a mostly light hearted and very cute read. Loved everything about Zafir as a love interest as well.

Saf and Dani are adorable and I love them. I read a lot of romance, especially the smutty kind. So much so that I've become annoyingly picky about it. Specifically the words used during the smutty situations. I am not a fan of scientific terms, modern names for specific body parts, or bluntness. I literally never want to read the word balls, d¡ck, or labial folds... I need beautiful words and questionable euphemisms. Allusions are sexy, literal terms are not. The romance in this book is 5 stars. The smut is a 3 for me. I'm going to take a break before reading the next one in the series.

3.5

Relationships don't have to be hard and difficult, and romance books do not have to include excessive and unnecessary drama for the characters to grow. This book is a perfect example of that.

Talia does a wonderful job writing characters that feel real. This was a perfect light and fun read.

finishing this in a day because i love myself but most importantly i love dani brown so much more

all of my previous praises remain about talia hibbert's writing; it's fun and quippy and sarcastic and a breeze to get through. i laughed out loud several times, could picture her characters as real life humans, and most importantly just had a generally great time.

and what really stuck out about this compared to chloe's book, besides the much more likable love interest in my humble opinion, was the fact that i saw so much of myself in dani. outside of the superficial (bisexual sagittarius grad student), there were so many qualities of an overachieving academic that i saw in dani that i myself struggle with, and the fact that she could get her HEA means that there's hope yet for me as well!

also idk how but talia hibbert wrote the most perfect LI for an overworked, overachieving grad student like i'm about to hand this book to my partner and tell him to STUDY y'all

4,5❤️ love the series!