Author: Talia Hibbert.

Length: 320 pages.

“Feeling is always worth it.”

Goodreads Synopsis.

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom. 

When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse? 

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs. 

Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

My Thoughts.

Talia Hibbert writes romance and love beautifully; it’s breathtaking.

After reading this book, I realized that this author’s novels are very trope heavy. This is not negative at all, in fact I think it’s admirable. She uses so many different ‘cliché’ scenarios and, somehow, makes them her own.

You’d never tell an athlete to just get over a sprain; you’d give them time to recover, physical therapy, whatever they needed. Why are mental health conditions any different?

However, the most admirable thing in this entire book is the amount of representation. Not only with the main character’s races, but also with their situation in life, their pasts, sexual orientations, mental health… I could go on and on. And let’s not forget all of the topics that were also dealt with in Get a Life, Chloe Brown. I am so excited to see what we will get to read and learn about next in her upcoming novel. I know of several authors that could take a page from these books (if you know what I mean).

I do think that the first half was a bit slow, but things definitely picked up on the second half. In fact, I was really considering only giving it 3 stars (even though I’m not very picky when it comes to rating) but the ending definitely won me over.

I think Talia Hibbert is a genius in creating personalities for her characters. I said it before and I have to say it again, I think it can be very hard to create original characters in contemporary and romance books because it can be very easy to stray into known territory. More times than not, I feel as if I’m reading about the same person again and again. However, in this story characters are very well developed and we really get to see them grow.

Romance clearly melted the brains of sensible women.

Also, I wanted to mention that there is amazing vocabulary. You might not care but I highlighted many words. I thought this was worth mentioning because it definitely added a lot to my reading experience and how much I enjoyed the writing. I am not a fan of adorned writing styles, I think they are (not always, but usually) unnecessary. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but it’s not my favorite either. Even though Hibbert definitely used many fancy words, they were never over the top and they contributed to the dialogue – which I thought was very smart and entertaining.

I do have to say that I preferred Get a Life, Chloe Brown but that is just because of my personal preferences. Take a Hint, Dani Brown was beautiful and inspiring, I cannot wait to read Eve’s story.

If you still haven’t picked up these books… What are you waiting for?