Publication Date: January 14, 2025
The game is on for two nerds who love to outplay each other . . . even when their hearts are on the line, in this charming and geeky romantic comedy perfect for fans of Olivia Dade and Jen DeLuca.
For Rose Marie Jones, risks are a hard no–except for Game Night. For one precious evening a week, Rose can forget about her demanding boss and her lackluster love life and focus on beating the pants off her friends. But none of them brings out her hyper-competitive side quite like William Ashdern.
Her best friend’s half-brother, William is the paragon of a sexy nerd. The tall, dorky, and handsome game designer is Rose’s playing nemesis. But when Rose decides to enter a contest with the board game she’s secretly invented, there’s only one person who can help her win.
Now what has always been a game between Rose and William is getting a lot more serious. And after spending her entire life trying not to lose, Rose might finally be ready to risk it all–and play to win.
Playing Flirty by Shameez Patel is a cute rom-com with a playfulness I didn’t expect.
William and Rose take center stage, but their romance takes a while to evolve. There’s a lot of gaming, board games, best friends, laugh-out-loud moments, and some steam, too. There’s also a lot of goal setting, plans, dreams, and details that add layers to the story and the characters but they don’t always gel.
Rose is best friends with Shaun, a coworker she shares an office with, and Neema, her roommate. Rose introduces them, and the rest is history. William is Shaun’s half-brother, and that has its own issues. William and Rose can often be found sniping at each other, but does it cover up other feelings? Their group of friends meets weekly for game night, a central theme, and they are definitely nerds.
Multiple stories were told, and some were addressed better than others. There are a few surprises along the way and lots of doubts and misunderstandings. Communication is key and was sometimes nonexistent. There is also some workplace harassment. The epilogue gives a lot of closure, but I wish it had been a little longer. There are several happily ever afters that were nicely portrayed.
Playing Flirty is a rom-com with friends who are there for each other, whether playing games or dealing with more serious situations. Sit back with your game controller or a board game and enjoy the fun.
Shameez Patel was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She lives there with her husband, child, and two cats named Turbo and Charger. During the day, she juggles her time between parenting her daughter and working as an engineer, but at night, she escapes to new worlds that always have someone to fall in love with. Shameez became obsessed with fiction, especially fantasy fiction, at a young age. Her parents fondly recall receiving her first handwritten story before the age of ten, titled The Treasures of Zombie Island, which surprisingly featured no zombies at all. She has been writing ever since.
