BOOK REVIEW: Take a Hint, Dani Brown

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Publication Date: June 23, 2020 (TUESDAY!!)

TW: Anxiety, Anxiety attack, car crash and death of family members (pre book, but discusses these emotions in depth)

In the “sequel” To Get a Life, Chloe Brown we follow Chloe’s sister Danika “Dani” who is working towards her PHD and Zafir “Zaf” Ansari a security guard in the building Dani teaches in. After an incident with an elevator Zaf ends up carrying Dani out of a building like a hero. Of course the video goes viral and suddenly #DrRugBae is trending and everyone thinks they are dating. Suddenly Zaf’s charity is buzzing and he wants to convince Dani to play along. But, Dani is a commitment phobe who just wants to sleep with Zaf – nothing more. Of course this is a romance novel she agrees and suddenly a girl who does not want commitment and a guy who is a romantic are fake dating. What could go wrong?

Okay I’ll be honest, Get a Life, Chloe Brown was not my favorite. I only gave it three stars, but I fell in love with Talia Hibbert’s writing style. It is fun, natural, and does not feel cheesy, so I was excited for Dani Brown and OH MY GOSH I LOVED IT SO MUCH. One of my favorite reads of the year for sure.

WHAT I LOVED:

• The entire book? LOL
• In all seriousness I could tell I was going to love this book when I was 7% in
• I loved how Dani is in academia and how it feels real (I say as someone who is doing graduate school completely online and truly does not know how PHD programs work. it felt real to me)
  • Her leading a discussion was one of my favorite scenes even though it was super short
  • I don’t think I’ve read a romance where a character’s research played such a big part. Usually I feel they just kind of skip over it.
  • She is also SO SMART and people respect her for it
• Zaf is literally the ideal man and sets a HIGH BAR for love interests everywhere
  • (pretend this is in all caps bc otherwise it will be excessive): He reads romance novels, is a romantic, is so supportive, is a former rugby player, runs a charity that focuses on mental health of (male) athletes, and honestly I could go on and on lol
• I loved both of the families
  • Zaf’s family is great and I loved how all of them give him a hard time
    • They are healing and it was nice to see that they are still a strong family unit
  • The Brown sisters and their grandma are obviously great too
• I liked how some typical romance tropes were subverted
  • Dani has commitment issues
  • The guy proposes the “fake dating” scheme
• Both main characters are BIPOC
• Dani has colorful hair that she dyes multiple times in the book
• The relationship!!
  • Zaf and Dani are both so supportive of each other (they were friends before the fake dating and you can tell)
  • I loved the banter between them
    • I LOL’d a few times
  • Also, great chemistry
• There is a blink and you’ll miss it Fleabag reference which does nothing for the plot, but I love Fleabag so it made me very happy.

WHAT I DID NOT LOVE: 

• I wish we saw a few more interactions between Fatima and Dani
• Literally nothing else

I will say that this book has a lot of steamy content so keep than in mind depending on your preferences

I have included a quote by my fave, Meg Cabot in case you need any more convincing

“Talia Hibbert is a rockstar! Her writing is smart, funny, and sexy…”
— Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Little Bridge Island and Princess Diaries series

*Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

5/5 stars (obviously)

xoxo, Tree

Goodreads Link: Take a Hint, Dani Brown