About the Book
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
Page Count: 343
Published: 2020
Publisher: Berkley – Penguin Books
One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.
When her flailing department lands on the university’s chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup. Check…almost.
Jake makes her laugh and challenges Naya to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship—except nothing can be that easy. The complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career.
Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she’s finally living again.
Tropes
meet-cute, “one night stand,” long distance, life list, scary ex, HEA
My Rating
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Spice: 🌶🌶🌶
My Review / Thoughts
“You won’t know until you get out of your own way, give up on this idea of perfect.” -How To Fail at Flirting
The main story in this book started out with a meet-cute that I was so adorable. Both of the main characters matched each other’s awkwardness. After that the overall progress was very quick, with no slow burn at all. They immediately got together, but the appeal was that they slowly got to know each other’s real lives and secrets since they originally met as strangers.
There was a subplot of the fmc’s, Naya’s, ex being a stalker/abusive and very scary and I felt like the author incorporated this into the story very well. This subplot was also used to showcase Naya’s character growth, which there was a lot of, which is very satisfying to see.
As per usual this book has a third act break up, but this time it is the fmc’s turn to grovel and she does, so in a manner that is befitting her new self which once again displays her character growth.
Overall, I would recommend this book if you want to read a cute meet-cute story about a girl who is trying new things, but I would give trigger warnings for abuse that is mentioned in the story.
– TheReyaView
