Take a Hint, Dani Brown

Written by: Talia Hibbert
Reviewed by: Mary Warren

Take a Hint, Dani Brown is the second book in the Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert.  Featured, is a romance between Dani Brown, a career driven woman and Zafir Ansari, an ex-rugby player with a heart of gold. Thanks to a workplace fire alarm mishap involving smart-phone cameras, they find themselves trending under #couplegoals although they are not a couple. They, of course, start fake dating on the tail of their brief internet fame to help Zaf build publicity for his youth rugby program, and any romance reader knows what will happen when two people start a fake relationship.

Once again, Hibbert is the queen of representation. She aces intersectionality. Dani is a fat, bisexual, witch, a PhD candidate, and a woman of color, but she is more than any one of these and is simply the whole person. Zaf is a big ex-rugby player healing from the trauma of loss and is also a self-actualized person. When Hibbert writes characters, they aren’t coming to terms with who they are; that work is already done. So we see two whole people bringing their best selves to a relationship. Being whole doesn’t mean there won’t be conflict because they are still flawed, and signals get crossed, but no one has to change who they are to be loved. That is what Hibbert gets across in this steamy and heartwarming love story between a workaholic and a man who reads romance novels: two people with differences but who deeply care about each other and find a way to make it work.

I cannot recommend Talia Hibbert enough, and Take a Hint, Dani Brown is no exception. She tells a beautiful, spicy laugh-out-loud story while including diverse characters and some difficult subjects. This book only deepened my love for Talia Hibbert’s writing. If you like romantic comedies, you will love this book.