blogging – I Have To Say

Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters, #2) by Talia Hibbert

Synopsis

Dani Brown, sister of Chloe Brown, is serious about her career in higher education and doesn’t have time for a serious relationship. Every morning on her way to teach she passes hopeless romantic Zafir, Zaf for short, who is a security guard for the university. A video of the two of them go viral when he walks out with her in his arms after saving her from an elevator that shut down during a gas drill. He realizes with the help of his family that he could use the publicity to gain traction for his organization that is centered around boys and men focusing on their mental health. So they decide to fake a relationship to help him soak in as much publicity as he can. What could possibly happen?

My Summary & Review (with spoilers)

Talia Hibbert is consistent with her writing style. It is written with two perspectives- Zafir’s and Dani’s. I have seen people say that this is the best book out of the series. Being in the middle of the third one currently, I think all the books are relatable in different ways because each main character has a different insecurity based on their lives. This one has the most interesting storyline to me, but they all honestly have a special place in my heart.

This storyline follows a friends to lover, fake relationship to real relationship trope. Zafir kind of always knew he had a crush on her whereas Dani always knew she was attracted to him. They both realized overtime there was more to their dynamic than that.

Dani avoids serious relationships, only opting for a friends with benefits situation, while Zaf is a hopeless romantic, so much so that he reads romance novels. During the course of their “fake” relationship, after really having sex, Zafir helps her realize that the issues in her past relationships, especially when it came to her work, were simply because they weren’t compatible. He tells her that the right person will get it, will understand and encourage her career goals. She, in turn, will also learn to balance it all. And she does eventually.

This book, as with Chloe’s does contain sexual content. I finished it a couple weeks ago, so from what I can remember there’s only one or two detailed sex scenes more so towards the end. It does go into detail about their attraction towards each other.

Talia’s books have been hitting too close to home, but they’re all enjoyable and easy reads. The pacing of this one was medium, but i wanted to get through it quickly just to see what would happen. The ending was very cute and it didn’t feel abrupt. Zaf tells her he loves her after they agree to taking baby steps towards a relationship. She obviously freaks out. He’s pissed at himself for doing the opposite of taking baby steps. She realizes she loves him too with the help of her siblings and her friend. Then she gets the help of Zaf’s friend to do one big romantic gesture. It was cute. This happens over a couple of pages.

I highly recommend this book. I can’t rate it lower than Chloe’s so I also give this one a five out of five star review. I love Zaf and Dani and enjoyed seeing their love story play out. Now on to Eve’s.

Why is it hard to rest? Why is it hard for me to just sit still? I’ve been sick with covid for the past week and still feel some of its effects. Covid has exacerbated my auto immune disease by increasing the amount of inflammation in my body. Still, while feeling pain and weak and coughing up my lungs, I felt like I was doing something wrong by lying in bed. I didn’t allow myself to fully rest. I tricked myself into thinking I recovered, only to be drained by going into work prematurely. This led me to take today off to recover once again.

Is it the mom guilt? Is it my resistance to ask for help? I was quarantined to my room and I had to lean on my support system to take care of my daughter and me. I still do because I haven’t fully recovered from either sickness. Is it the need to feel productive? Society is quick to call people lazy before hearing their story. Plus, I’m in bed thinking of all the things I could be doing if I felt differently. Stuck worrying and anxious instead of embracing the time I get to myself which is rarity now that I am a mom.

It makes me think of what my life coach asked me in a different context. What would you tell your friend if they were in your situation? I would obviously tell them to rest. To give themselves some grace and allow their body to recover. So, why have I been treating myself, someone I love, differently? Why are we harder on ourselves? Why are our expectations higher? Why do we force ourselves to prove how strong and capable we are, when we could just not?

I could push through the fatigue and the pain and do the chores I’ve been putting off or do some work. However, in doing that I’m not allowing myself to rest and that prolongs the recovery process. On top of that, when we spend the time we could be resting worried about this, that, and the third, we aren’t truly resting because our mind is going. That takes energy. That is draining, especially if you’re running on caffeine and vibes. If you are in survival mode.

I, we, are deserving of rest without guilt. We are deserving of grace. Especially in this time amongst inflation, the rapid spread of diseases, and social and political unrest. Please note, that you don’t have to be feeling unwell or exhausted to be deserving of rest. By then, the rest is probably overdue.

I need to make a conscious effort to set aside time for myself to truly rest without worries and distractions. Do you?