How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams

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Title: How To Fail at Flirting
Author: Denise Williams
Published by: Berkley
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Format: ebook
Pages: 336
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »physical and mental abuse/domestic violence « Hide Spoiler
Source: Overdrive
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.

When her flailing department lands on the university's chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup. Check…almost.

Jake makes her laugh and challenges Naya to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship—except nothing can be that easy. The complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career.

Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she's finally living again.

My Review:

4 stars — I don’t know why, but I was worried when we first met Jake that he wasn’t going to be the guy…I’m not sure if there was something missing, but once I reassured myself he was the hero, I sort of fell into their story and their romance.

I will admit that I completely forgot about the blurb when I finally got this book, and thus forgot about Naya’s dating background.  It was a harsh reality and my heart hurt for what she had gone through and was still going through.  It can be so hard for someone who has never experienced it to not become frustrated with the way abuse victims will avoid seeking help and confiding in people.  I think in the end the author did a good job of balancing showing how the abuse can “train” a victim into these behaviors based on fear.  It’s still hard for me, but at least I did see that from her perspective.

Naya was an interesting heroine because she’s a mix of things — elements of herself that she had lost along the way and was looking to find again.  I loved seeing her tentatively put herself out there, and then revel in her own strength and power when she found it again.  It wasn’t without regressions, but she got there.

And while we didn’t get Jake’s POV, I still felt like I got to know him enough.  He was sweet, funny, sensitive, and not without his own scars.  His own story took some turns I wasn’t expecting, and he was not without his own flaws, but in the end I think he was the perfect hero for Naya.

They had an interesting relationship, because it had such an unconventional start.  And even though they had easy steamy chemistry, I loved seeing those glimpses of other connection right from the start.

There were a lot of bumps in the road along the way, and I was a bit worried about how things would play out after one of those bumps, but I thought Naya did a pretty good job of owning up to her mistakes eventually.  I felt like the ending was both hopeful and realistic.