How to Fail at Flirting

By: Denise Williams

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

"A warm romance that bursts with realism and celebrates the symbiotic power of love and healing.” (Entertainment Weekly)

Number one LibraryReads Pick

Indie Next Pick

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.

©2020 Denise Williams (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“How to Fail at Flirting is a charming and compelling debut from Denise Williams that's as moving as it romantic. Williams brings the banter, heat, and swoons, while also giving us a character who learns that standing up for herself is as important - and terrifying - as allowing herself to fall in love. Put 'Read How to Fail at Flirting' at the top of your to-do list!” (Jen DeLuca)

"Naya and Jake's relationship is both sexy and sweet as these two people, who love their work but are not skilled at socializing or romance, find their way forward. Academia is vividly portrayed, and readers will await the next book from Williams, a talented debut author and a PhD herself.” (Booklist)

Super cute story, great narration!

Loved this book! I couldn’t stop listening! Very engaging and a quick, fun book to add to your list!

Loved it

The narrators voice seemed a little old for the character however still a good book

Enjoyable!

This is the second Denise Williams book I’ve listened to, and I find her characters to be just like real people I know. Loved the connection between Naya and Jake, too! I ended up powering through the ending even though it was both concerning and kind of predictable to me, but overall, really enjoyed this one.

Naya finds her strength and real love

This story featured a woman Naya, who was learning to trust herself and feel safe again after being in an abusive relationship. If you’ve ever had a friend or known someone who is shedding that past and rising like a Phoenix, then you will connect with this story. I was cheering, smiling and just feeling so hopeful as I read this one. Denise Williams, whom I’ve never read before, did a great job telling this story. The narrator did a fabulous job conveying the various emotions that Naya and Jake conveyed in this audiobook. I enjoyed listening to this book so much. I definitely recommend this book to all contemporary romance readers who love happily ever after stories!

Lovely Story

"How to Fail at Flirting" is a first time listen by new author Denise Williams. As this is a debut novel, I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Professor Naya Turner has kept to herself, especially after her breakup with her abusive boyfriend Davis. Having been notified that her department is failing at the university, on top of hearing that Davis has returned she is shaken and believes her job is in jeopardy. One night with her friends, they come up with a list of ways she can bring spark to her life outside of the dull cardigan type she was becoming.

One night she meets Jake in a bar and starts her road of flirting this stranger in hopes of broadening her horizons in romance and possible love...not to mention checking off her "to do list". Naya and Jake are a loveable budding couple. He makes her laugh and for the most part challenges her to build self-confidence that she lost in her relationship with abusive Davis. I also enjoyed the sweet romantic banter between the two.

This was such a delightful romance story and enjoyed the audiobook. The narration by January LaVoy was performed very well. Enjoyed this story and look to reading more from this author. Also, would love to see this as a made for television drama.

Great book, but be ready for DV

SPOILERS

I really enjoyed this book and I felt the author did a great job portraying the ways domestic violence can impact a person's life and relationships and I appreciated seeing Naya grow through this terrible experience. HOWEVER I personally didn't realize that this would be a story that included both descriptions of the violence from the character's past and current for the story events (threats, intimidation, "mild" violence, and attempted rape). That said, I will say that the author did give our heroine the chance to finally stand up for herself to her abuser and the scene leading up to that isn't overly drawn out or unnecessarily suspenseful.

So for anyone who's very sensitive to these topics, this may not be the story for you. For others who just don't want gratuitous violence or prolonged angst but can handle some suspense and violence, you should be okay.

Please note that this is not at all the only things in this book, but I felt surprised by it and didn't want others to feel the same.

Definitely 5 stars.

I wanna preface what I'm about to say by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and January's performance of it. (Also, semi-spoilers ahead.) I just wish I'd known ahead of time that there was such a heavy theme of domestic violence. Granted, it wasn't like the book was specifically about the abusive relationship.. but it definitely came to a head at one point and it absolutely triggered me. That being said, this is totally my own emotions that were triggered and I didn't allow any of this to effect my ratings. Triggers exist in the wild sometimes lol can't always avoid them.

This book felt so real to me though. Maybe because I could totally relate to how the MC felt about getting back into the dating scene.. but Denise really had a way of writing that truly elicited emotions from me throughout the story. I laughed, I cried, and I really appreciated the author's note at the end about domestic violence too. I would certainly read more by this author and this narrator as well.

Love it

It started slow, but I smile, laughed and swooned through the whole book .

Fun and well written

The overall story was very well told, but I especially liked how realistic Nia's thoughts were after enduring the previous relationship. Denise Williams is a great, modern storyteller.

Serious and fun flirting

I enjoy love stories that can be romantic and still cover important, timely subject matter. These two broken hearted people find the missing pieces to make them whole again in each other. Loved going along on their journey. Checked all my boxes.✔️