Genre: Romance; Queer; Interracial/Multicultural; Body Positivity 

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 big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, 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 is 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.

The easy lay Dani dreamed of is now 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?

Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, anxiety

Of the three Brown sisters, all of whom I absolutely adored, it’s possible I loved Dani the most. Take a Hint, Dani Brown opens up the conversation that women can be workaholics and sexual and want to pursue flings over relationships, while men can be absolutely hopeless romantics who are often on the verge of tears. This book completely swaps the gender roles that society has raised us to expect and I loved it.

I loved Dani oh so much, and loved Zain just as equally if not more. While Chloe and Eve (books 1 & 3 in the series, respectively) have love interests who start out as a bit rude and stand-offish, Zain is absolutely charming from the start. And I’m not quite sure I can ever resist a fake dating trope. There’s just something about them.

I also loved how really deeply you were able to get to know both Dani and Zain fairly equally. Yes, obviously Dani so the main character (the book’s named after her for goodness’s sake), but as a reader there is so much insight to Zain and his reasonings and his perspective of the world around him. It’s just really pleasant. I’m also fairly certain Zain is the only love interest of color in the three books. And Dani is queer. The other two Brown Sisters books also have main characters and love interests that fall into generally underrepresented populations, so there is a lot of diversity in this series which makes it one of my absolute favorites. I think I also loved this one so much because Dani and Zain both work at a college, so I loved the academic setting, and felt more immersed in the world since it’s a setting I’m familiar with. Dani’s spirituality and Zain’s personal background also make the characters incredibly appealing to me.

I love books with flawed characters because it makes them more “real,” but even more so I love romance books that have actual representation. So I cannot get enough of the Brown Sisters. Keep an eye out for the Act Your Age, Eve Brown review - coming soon.