The mental health rep in this book is so well done! Getting a dual POV was important so we could see both Lucy and Fletcher's thoughts and feelings. I also liked the DMs on page.
The Sephardic Jewish rep was so great!! I wish there was more food talk/food descriptions because the ones we got were so delicious and I wanted more.

I didn't totally feel the connection between Lucy and Fletcher at first but they grew on me. Lucy's family was also amazing but I couldn't get myself to feel the same for Fletcher's.
3.5 stars

DNF. Nothing really happens in this book. I felt the relationships between the teachers was written very poorly. The plot was coincidental in a bad way. The odds are slim that the FMC and the MMC are in the same area, never mind the same school. And their relationship felt very insta-lovey. This is supposed to be an adult romance, but it felt very YA to me. Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Book Group, and Forever publishing for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my review.

“Flirty Little Secret,” by Jessica Lepe was a book I went into really wanting to love and came away from only liking it overall – with a few exceptions. To start with, I did enjoy the characters. Lucy is a character that I strongly relate to regarding my own mental health battles, and I absolutely love seeing characters who can accurately illustrate what it’s like living day-to-day with mental health struggles and neurodivergent thinking patterns. I loved that her character wasn’t distilled down into her mental health struggles, and that we got to see her successfully navigate her career while dealing with her own personal issues, and how that affected her on an emotional level. I loved seeing her confidence grow over the course of the book, but I also liked that, by the end, she wasn’t a supremely confident character whose mental health struggles were somehow cured by being in a relationship. I liked that there was a more realistic approach – yes, she gains confidence, yes, she gets the guy, but she ALSO still has ADHD and battles depression. She can be all these things, and do all these things, and is still a valued member of her family, a beloved friend, a well-liked colleague, the object of another’s desire, a whole, real, beautifully honest person, and I appreciated that aspect of this book.

As for Fletcher – he seemed to be pretty much all green flags, which was nice in the context of this book. He starts off with some issues with confrontation, which he works on over the course of the book and, by the end, is finally able to stand up for himself a bit more. I appreciated that he never wavered in his attraction to Lucy or his desire to pursue a relationship with her, and that when she confided in him about her mental health struggles, he was so supportive and wanted to learn more about how he could help her instead of trying to change her or making her feel like she needed to be anything other than what she was. All in all, the actual romance portion of this book was cute and enjoyable, and I appreciated the neurodivergent representation.

Now, there were some things that I found off-putting about this book as well. Mainly, the inclusion in the story of a school group with triple K initials. The group itself is not a hate group and is actually supposed to be a group that encourages confidence in teens, but I thought the name of the group having triple K initials was unnecessary and, for me, detracted from the story every time it was mentioned – which was honestly way more than it needed to be. Thematically, it seems like the author intended for the name of this group to be a sore point, which it was, especially for Lucy, who has wanted to get it changed to something else for what seems like quite some time. The reason it hasn’t been changed is given as being due to there not being enough in the school budget for a new curriculum for the group, and the group is named after the curriculum. I’m not sure why the name of the club couldn’t have been changed, regardless of the name of the curriculum. Lucy does eventually gain the confidence to bring up the name to the school principal and get it changed, and this is a big moment for her character, as it illustrates some major growth on her part in her ability to confidently stand up for herself and others and feel competent in her job. However, I think it would have been entirely possible for the author to find a different way for Lucy to go through this same growth arc without the club having the same initials as a hate group, and it would have made those parts of the book more bearable to read. If the point was to make the reader as uncomfortable with the name as Lucy and her students must have felt, it worked.

Overall, this was a cute story, and I hope that Lucy’s sisters get their own books as well, because I felt like there was definitely potential for more out of these characters and this author. Thank you to Netgalley for the eArc. My review has been my honest and unbiased opinion.

as a teacher, teacher romances can be iffy, but this one was very sweet!!! I loved all of the text exchanges, and felt like it added a fun element to the story

4 stars!

I so very much enjoyed "Flirty Little Secret" by Jessica Lepe, which is a fresh, modern take on a "You've Got Mail"-type of story. This one is SO funny! I feel like I laughed constantly throughout the entire book. I loved the connection between Lucy and Fletcher. I was instantly drawn to them and their love story. Their relationship starts out rocky, but the more they lean on each other, get to know one another, and open up to one another, a tender bond between them forms. The mental health representation is the star of the show here. This book has some of the best mental health discussions I have seen as of late. The conversations around mental illness felt totally realistic, wholly purposeful, and remarkably compassionate. It wasn't just thrown in without any rhyme or reason. Lepe really took her time crafting Lucy and Fletcher's mental health struggles and issues so that they felt lived-in and relatable. Lucy's struggles with imposter syndrome, depression, and anxiety felt extremely pertinent to me. There *is* a ton of miscommunication in this story, but it didn't seem to bother me as much as it has in the past in other novels. I think it's because Lucy and Fletcher are so dang likable and lifelike. Also, A+ representation as Lucy is Moroccan Jewish and Mexican. There are a half-dozen things I could pick apart about this book, but at the end of the day, it made me feel seen and made me feel really good about what I just read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Lepe, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

If you want a heartwarming romantic comedy with characters who actually feel like real people, you’re going to want to grab “Flirty Little Secret.” This sweet and sexy story blends the charm of "You've Got Mail" with the quirky setting of "Abbott Elementary."

At the center of this tale is Lucy Galindo, a shy school counselor battling anxiety and chronic depression who leads a bold, confident life online as the anonymous @TheMissGuidedCounselor. When her secret identity collides with her real-life crush on the new history teacher Aldrich Fletcher, it sets the stage for an utterly charming romantic entanglement.

Author Jessica Lepe has penned an electric will-they-won't-they that reminds us it's okay to be imperfect. A must-read for anyone seeking laughter, heart, and the courage to be vulnerable.

An incredible debut!

I found Flirty Little Secret to be incredibly relatable as we are in a world where posting our highs and best self on social media is the norm, and how that plays a role in how we view ourselves and others, effects our mental health and even how we value ourselves.

Lucy is a public school guidance counsellor that has an anonymous Instagram page where she shares wisdom, tips, and confidence in way she doesn’t see herself in her everyday life.

@TheMisGuidedCounselor is confident, in control and bold. The Lucy in real life lives with anxiety, depression and ADHD. Her online persona has given her an incredibly friendship with @BravesGuy93 despite not knowing each other’s real names or even meeting in real life.

Fletcher has returned home to help his mother, and focus on his career of choice- teaching. His path crosses with Lucy, and there is a certain connection between the two. As things start to become more serious between them Fletcher realizes their paths have crossed previously… Fletcher has to find a way to tell Lucy before she finds out he’s known the truth and didn’t say anything…

There were so many things I loved about Flirty Little Secret including:

A neurodivergent MC
Mental health rep
Great supporting characters (I’d love a story about Lucy’s sisters, Brodie the PE Teacher and even Georgia!)
A multi cultural family that doesn’t fit any one particular mold and embraces it

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Flirty Little Secret is available now!

Putting the book down at 10%, you lost me at the KKK jokes. It’s not necessary or funny and is such an outlandish choice, I don’t understand it.

Yeah teenagers say absolutely wild stuff, but no school would allow a club to have those initials in 2024. We don’t need to laugh things like this off when there are other jokes to tell and other ways to show the reader that the main character doesn’t like being in charge of this particular club.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for this read. I think the book was good. But the group name stopped me so hard in my tracks....I was almost done. I kept reading thinking maybe they will fix it or show that they were thinking and chance the name but nope. I was upset by that and was not able to appreciate what I was reading. I give it 3 stars because I do not like to give low ratings for the fact no one put up their hand and said anything about crazy ideas.

4.5/5 (rounded down to 4)

CW: depression, anxiety, panic attack, suicidal ideation (mentioned), ableism, anti-Semitism, racism, attempted sexual assault, infidelity, divorce

Closed Door Mod: Chapter 24 (some parts)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Forever, Grand Central Publishing, for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At work, Lucy Galindo is a guidance counselor trying her best to make an impact on her students while managing her anxiety and depression. Online, she’s @TheMissGuidedCounselor and always knows the right thing to say. Yet, when the new history teacher, Aldrich Fletcher, discovers that Lucy is behind the account he has been messaging for over a year, Lucy and Fletcher have to learn how to trust in order to let each other in.

Flirty Little Secret is such a delightful rom-com that also handles serious topics regarding mental health and emotional baggage with grace. While at one point you are hysterically laughing at the wit Lepe creates in these characters, the next you may find yourself emotional as you relate to Lucy’s and Fletcher’s struggles throughout the book.

At its heart, Flirty Little Secret is about two people opening themselves up again despite their past. With Lucy living in a world not designed for neurodivergent folk and Fletcher as he deals with his family falling apart, Lepe beautifully captures their story onto the page as they learn to trust each other as they begin to heal.

Now, I want to remind folks that Lepe’s Flirty Little Secret contains topics of a sensitive manner, so I would encourage you to review content warnings before deciding to read this book.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a workplace romance with positive neurodivergent rep and a dash of the pen pals trope, you come to the right place with Lepe’s Flirty Little Secret.

Spill the tea has a quite literal meaning in the opener for Flirty Little Secret, that starts with an accident on the first day of school for new teacher Aldrich Fletcher. It’s a classic meet-cute/disaster? that combines nervous energy and humor and gives a taste of what is to come from Lucy’s personality and Fletcher’s reaction to her. I love it when he falls first and although it’s clear Lucy and Fletcher find one another attractive, Fletcher just can’t seem to keep his new coworker out of his head.

At the same time, Lucy has established herself as @TheMissGuidedCounselor, a handle that allows her to give advice, be bold and confident with the anonymity of her followers not knowing her personal struggles. Unbeknownst to both Fletcher and Lucy, they have been DMing for months, establishing an online relationship that consists of humorous memes, caring advice, friendship, and flirty banter. It will only be so long before one of them realizes who the other is in real life and it’s to be expected with any hidden identity, that there’s going to be a miscommunication trope. This didn’t bother me as I feel like Lucy and Fletcher were their true selves both in person AND online. It’s just that timing isn’t exactly on their side.

What I really appreciated was the fresh take on how social media can be used to help with verbalizing fears, making friends, and easing depression (not to be used as a substitute for counseling). Lucy lives with severe depression, self-doubt, and anxiety and her online platform was a way for her to cope with some of her negative thoughts. Likewise, Fletcher had a sounding board in TheMissGuidedCounselor to bounce his reactions and frustrations at his father’s infidelities.
In real life, it takes a bit longer, but eventually Fletcher and Lucy realize they can confide in one another with their struggles. I loved the openness of Lucy voicing her fears during sex of what it’s like to be on an antidepressant and struggle with finishing. Lepe explores fears through both Fletcher and Lucy with their nervous insecurities and writes them as characters that aren’t any less than because of them, but that are human and capable of being loved even though they have them. Not only is a voice given to those with debilitating depression, but I loved the Jewish rep and Lucy’s over the top family that knows no boundaries when it comes to her life (the lawn chair is chef’s kiss!). I am so glad to read a book that normalizes struggles with mental health. Romance really is for everyone and Lepe is a fresh voice that uses the unlimited access of social media to do it. I received an early copy from Forever. All opinions are my own.

Stars:🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
Heat: 🪭🪭
Plot as told through emojis:
🫖🫗🤪👖👨‍🏫🛜💬🫦🙅‍♂️👩🏻‍🏫⭕️🪑💧🚪🏃‍♀️🛟😰🤦🏻‍♀️📋😚🚫👀😡🧮👕👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨📆🌀🥹🛒👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🥡👨🏼📞🙊👅💥‼️🥗✡️🇲🇽😒🤥💔📵👯‍♀️📦🫖📱💌📝🥹💗📻👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨👨‍👨‍👦‍👦🍽️🥰

I ENJOYEDDDDD this one! This book is about Lucy and Fletcher, (who don't know that they have been internet best friends) who end up working together at the same school and fall in love! The premise of a social media influencer who has it all together on the internet vs. the real life version of that person instantly sold me on this book! Lucy and Fletcher are sooooo likeable and fun. I received this book early as an eARC from NetGalley and I am so glad I got it!

As someone who experiences both depression and anxiety (at the same damn time), I identify heavily with Lucy and her experience of the world. I know intimately what it’s like to feel so unlovable AND be charming and charismatic on the internet as an influencer. I also thought that Fletcher's "baggage" with his family was so real and intricate that made the story that much better. Even when you can see the train wreck coming, sometimes you just can’t look away… and that's how I felt once we discovered Fletcher's and Lucy's secrets!

There's only one spicy scene, but it is done so well! I feel like this was a solid, enjoyable read for me. 3.75 stars and going to round up to 4 stars! The plot made sense to me, and although in some parts predictable, there were other parts that caught me completely by surprise! There's beautiful diversity of characters both in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, life stage, and more.

⭐⭐⭐

TROPES
📱 Instalove
📱 Cinnamon Roll MMC
📱 Dual POV

I always love it when social media is inevitably tied to a story in an important way, which is why I picked up Flirty Little Secret to begin with. And while I was met with a fun inclusion of social media, I also read a story that had an important representation of depression and anxiety.

This book does not shy away from its depictions of depression and anxiety in the main character, Lucy. She herself is open about them on-page, and with other people when necessary, and I think it’s important to see that on-page. While this is important characterization, it becomes the only characterization for Lucy, which I think is to a detriment. There is more to her than that, which the story tries to get at, but it never quite gets there, making her a bit one-note.

This is also seen in Fletcher, the MMC. I remember reading a scene towards the end of the book and being completely surprised about what was happening because it was implying all this character development had happened. And maybe it did, but it was off-page. As much as I love a dual POV story, I don’t think it worked as intended here because key scenes weren’t included from the other character’s perspective, so we missed out on important character development.

That said, this is a fun read. Do I wish we had seen the character development instead of it happening off-page? Yes, because I’m a sucker for good character development. But, it was an enjoyable story that had me hoping everything would work out for the better for Lucy and Fletcher, especially considering how they met IRL.

I do feel bad giving this book less than 3 stars. Overall I thought it was a good book and I like the romance and the vulnerability of this book.

I just don't feel comfortable giving a book that uses a hate group as a kind of joke or like a gag. Having a group in high school called the 'Konfident Kids Klub' and shorted to KKK is weird to me. Especially when this book is trad published and it passed multiple hands and no one thought "Maybe this shouldn't be in the book".

It's not a joke, I don't think it's funny.

I thought this book was cute! From an online anonymous friendship to real life coworkers, Lucy & Fletcher have chemistry. They just don't happen to know that they are already in each other's DM's when the meet at school with a very unfortunate/scalding hot meet cute.

I liked this book and it was an easy/quick read however I don't think it's going to be one that sticks with me forever.

I thought the author did a good job of blending both diverse cultures with a Mexican/Moroccan Jewish FMC who was battling depression, anxiety and ADHD to name a few. Fletcher was a really understanding love interest for Lucy and was patient, kind & didn't let her mental health dissuade him from loving her for who she was.

For all the anxious people like me, this is just the book for you. With a "You've Got Mail" theme, this book felt comforting & relatable.

The first scene was knocked out of the park. I mean, it was hilarious, and when the first chapter opens with such banger, you know the rest of the book is going to be great. Lucy & Fletcher's banger was perfect. Amidst all the chaos & draka giuhg in between them, they were each other's anchors.

Again, the mental health rep was perfect. I adored how Lucy's family, especially her sisters, were so fiercely supportive of her. And to forget the side characters at school - all of them had their own distinct personalities.

As much as I wanted to be wrong, I could smell the conflict miles away, and it made me sad. But the grand gesture? Excuse me? It was literally made of my dreams. Someone who loves personalized annotations, it was everything.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really love stories with mental health representation and am someone who spends a lot of time on instagram so this seemed right up my alley! Unfortunately, I didn't like this one as much as I expected to.

Lucy's anxiety and depression are pretty severe in terms of the amount of distress they cause her but we don't see a lot of actual impairment. She does occasionally cry at work and have trouble speaking up, but we don't see her miss a day of work and she is even able to work in her parent's restaurant in her spare time. It really read like someone who was newly experiencing symptoms to me, not like someone who had grown up with these disorders.

I loved that Fletcher was willing to support Lucy, but I felt like we didn't really get to see that. Yes, he didn't mind her being emotional, but there is a lot more to being the partner of someone with a chronic illness than that. I would have liked to to see them together a bit longer to see that this really was going to work.

There was a lot of miscommunication in this story as well. I don't entirely think it's this book's fault that I am tired of the we are secretly penpal/online friends and you didn't tell me trope but I will say there are books that used it and I didn't mind.

Ultimately the thing that bothered me most about this book was actually a throw away line where Lucy says she goes to the psychiatrist each month and needs to show she is still depressed enough to need meds but not too depressed to be institutionalized. I think both parts of that statement are misleading and harmful. No doctor will take away your meds because they are working well. Many people take mental health meds for years. At the same time doctor's don't want to institutionalize patients. Only patients who are actively at risk of hurting themselves are institutionalized. Telling a doctor you occasionally have suicidal thoughts without a plan or intent won't get you in a psych ward and lying to your doctor is never a good idea.

🌶️🌶️ - There is one not-super-detailed spicy scene and another makeout scene. There is also mention of Lucy's concerns about sex because of her antidepressants.

4.5⭐️
This gave “You’ve Got Mail” mixed with “A Cinderella Story” (Hilary Duff version) vibes. So good! This story was so cute and hilarious while also dealing with deeper topics. I appreciated how well rounded these characters were and I think the author did a good job authentically showing the ups and downs of living with anxiety and depression. I also enjoyed the subtle Jewish representation throughout and seeing the main characters relationships with their families evolve.

DNF’d at 35%

I really liked the idea of this hidden identities romance but it just isn’t sitting well with me. There isn’t enough interaction between Fletcher and Lucy in real life in the first 35% to make me believe that they actually like each other compared to how much they think about each other. Not to mention that I just don’t feel the chemistry between the two online personalities.

I think this would be good for someone looking for more contemporary fiction or someone who enjoys a slow buildup of connection.

I genuinely enjoyed Flirty Little Secret. I thought the author infused humor well, especially in the fmc interactions with her family and friend. The author pulled from her own experiences regarding mental health and it read authentic. I appreciate her vulnerability in constructing a fmc with similar struggles. The premise was cute and a quick read. The conflicts between the mmc and his family and ex big but then so easily resolved. But that’s why we read romance, right? For the HEA? Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. These are my honest opinions.