Take a Hint, Dani Brown

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

Ugh, this book was so good - I wish there had been more Fluffy and Gigi, because both of those characters are absolute delights, but that's a minor nitpick in a book that had me grinning all the way through and yelling in my head at Dani “you love him, you goofball, just admit it!” I loved grumpy-on-the-outside romance-novel-reading Zaf (and the cameo by [b:Tempest 35068495 Tempest (Old West, #3) Beverly Jenkins https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501935222l/35068495.SY75.jpg 56363953] and Beverly Jenkins!) and Dani was such an excellent character, all bravado on the outside and just a little bit of insecurity inside. I think the treatment of anxiety was really good, as someone who deals with that myself, I loved the reference to Dani having cramps (seriously, normalize periods in romance novels), and Dani's bisexuality just being a thing about her, not an issue. I want to live in the world of this book.(2020 summer romance bingo: happily ever after. Would also work for a loose “set on an island,” but I think that's all?)