How to Fail at Flirting
“Williams blends rom-com fun with more weighty topics in her winsome debut.”
—The Washington Post
“SPECTACULAR! Grabbed me on page one and held me enthralled until the end, when I promptly started re-reading to enjoy the deliciousness again.”
—Priscilla Oliveras, USA Today bestselling author
—∞—
One look at the cover of How To Fail at Flirting (Berkley) by Denise Williams and readers may think they’re getting a cutesy romantic comedy with an awkward meet-cute and clumsy dating. But just two chapters in, you realize you’re in for a lot more. Thirty-somethings Naya and Jake live real lives and have had real-life complications to match.
The biggest “complication” is Naya’s ongoing battle to deal with the scars left behind from her last relationship, one in which her ex-boyfriend abused her. While there was some physical abuse, readers see that his verbal abuse was much more damaging. Naya still wears frumpy loose-fitting clothes so as not to attract attention, something to prevent others from echoing her ex-boyfriend’s accusations. She wonders constantly what those around her think of her, and when she dates Jake, she internally questions what he really means when he says or does anything. It can be complicated to deal with the aftermath of an abusive relationship, and Naya’s got a way to go.
What I love about these main characters is that they are crafted with a knowledge of how they would be seen in the real world. Naya is Mexican and Black, and while that isn’t a huge part of the story (and it doesn’t need to be, it’s just who she is), Williams includes moments of discourse on how people approach Naya, what ignorant or outright racist things they might say, and shows how little those things matter to everyday life. Representation is important, and true representation is done realistically, knowing that no one is a stereotype but lives in a place where stereotypes can be normal criteria for assessing who a person is.
