Romance Review: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert // Lifts and Lovers

Hi friends!

If you haven’t already check out my review for the first book in The Brown Sisters series: Get a Life, Chloe Brown!

Major or minor, if something keeps you human when pressure makes you feel like a volcano, hold on to that thing by whatever means necessary.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

CW // panic attacks, death of loved one, grief, depression, cheating

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Series: The Brown Sisters #2

Genre/Rep: Adult Romance | Black MC | Muslim MC | Mental Health Rep (panic/anxiety disorder) | Queer Rep (Bisexual MC) | Plus-Size Rep

Published by Avon in 2020

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. When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign they are destined to sleep together. But a video of the heroic rescue goes viral with half the internet shipping them—and Zaf’s sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. 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.

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Reasons to Read

Dani and Zaf // This seems like a duh since it’s their romance but their characters are just 🥺 First, you have Dani who is this badass academic who I wish I had as a professor and I would love to listen to her talk about her work. Second, is Zaf who is the ultimate cinnamon roll wrapped up in a gruff exterior. I mean he is the ultimate hopeless romantic and the embarrassment I felt when his romance audiobook started playing in front of Dani 😅 Third, the way they play off each other and their banter and their chemistry is some of the best I’ve read and I already can’t wait to read this book again.

Time suspended, like he’d cupped the sands of an hourglass safely in his palms, and the sensation was so breathtakingly strange that she might do something awful, like crack into a thousand tiny pieces, or ask him for more.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Bisexual Rep // This is so important to point out because I think it’s something that at first glance people might miss since Dani and Zaf are on the cover and the description doesn’t make it clear, but Dani is 100% open and unabashedly bisexual. She not only owns her sexuality but also her love of sex period and it’s never an issue between her and Zaf (the convo where he’s trying to see if she’s interested in men and then trying to ask if she’s ace was so cute and you could tell he was trying) and I just want more of that in romance books.

Of course, she couldn’t let him know she was melting, since he was a handsome man, and handsome men must never be allowed to know the full extent of their sexual appeal. They couldn’t be trusted with the knowledge.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Mental Health Rep // Just like in Chloe’s book, mental health is a big factor in this story and one of the top reasons to read. The book mostly focuses on Zaf’s anxiety and depression which worsened after his father and brother died and how he worked to manage it and now runs a sports program for kids to tackle toxic masculinity. BUT something that goes a bit unspoken is also Dani’s struggle with love stems from past relationships gone wrong and feeling like she’s not built for relationships.

Really, what were sisters even for? Making you feel human when you’re teetering on the brink of abandoning your mortal name and moving into a box in the woods.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

The Family Dynamics // As I mentioned above I love the Brown sisters and their grandma is an absolute icon and this book went a step further by giving Zaf the cutest family ever with his mom, sister-in-law, niece, and best friend (who’s clearly into his sister-in-law) and seeing how they’ve stayed strong and been there for each other after the death of his father and brother was just 🥺 It really solidifies Zaf as a giant cinnamon roll despite the grumpy energy he radiates.

Hurting a loved one was like running over someone’s foot; you rarely meant to do it, but the bones still broke.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

✨This book solidified Talia Hibbert as a must-read for me (I just got her new christmas novella AND one of her past holiday romances 👀) and I have to reiterate what I said in my review of Chloe’s romance which is that I would definitely recommend these books to anyone looking to test out the romance genre and I would ✨HIGHLY✨ recommend contemporary romance readers pick this up as their next read! I can’t wait for the next book and tbh I’ll probably end up rereading these two prior to the new release because they’re so good (I had to stop myself from immediately rereading Dani Brown mostly because I had to return it to the library 😅)

💫Have you read this book yet? Is Talia Hibbert on your TBR? What do you look for in romance books?