High school guidance counselor Lucy Galindo moonlights online, dispensing advice on a social media account as @TheMissGuidedCounselor. It’s where she can be her best, most confident self. On social media, her best friend is BravesGuy93, who slides into her DMs with his own issues and problems to solve. They take turns bolstering one another through work and family challenges. Little does Alice know that BravesGuy39 is Aldritch Fletcher, the hot new history teacher that she bumped into, spilled hot tea on, and tried to rectify by wiping the tea off his groin in the teachers lounge on day one. It’s no wonder she needs a secret crying closet for those anxiety-inducing moments.

Fletcher cringes over running into his ex, Georgia, at his new teaching job—she dumped him and then started dating his brother and he’s not forgiven her yet. When she insinuates she wants to get back together, he, of wealthy and avoidant New England stock, can’t just tell her no, but attempts to dodge, instead of being honest and direct. It’s been his family’s MO through his dad’s affair, messy divorce, and shacking up with his pregnant secretary/mistress, family estrangement, and his mother’s depression. Kind and positive @TheMisGuidedCounselor is the only one he confides in about this stuff.

Lucy also copes with mood swings, tears when she’s overwhelmed, can’t-get-out-of bed-on-some-days debilitating depression, and ADHD. She’s got a loving family, therapist, and prescriber on her support team, and that, paired with her personaljth and social media account, help her function so she can run a Konfident Kids Klub (yep-KKK) for girls engaging in risk-seeking behaviors. The curriculum is 1990s ABC after school special fodder, and the kids know it and don’t take it too seriously. Nor do they allow Ms. Galindo into their circle of trust.

Fletcher and Lucy’s chemistry is strong, but each has a secret about their identity they’re hiding from the other, which drives the mistaken identity plot. Lucy assumes Fletcher could never be interested in her, and thinks she could never compete with Georgia; the possibility of romance keeps getting thwarted. Meanwhile, Fletcher’s dad keeps reaching out to make amends, and he wants nothing to do with it.

Lucy׳s hot take on the cliquey-ness of her colleagues is relatable and funny, and her voice is bubbly and compassionate on her social media platform and snarky in her head. However, it’s also judgmental, and her realization of it—and attempt to make amends and change it—is refreshing. When she starts being a little more honest, if unboundaried, with her students, she makes real strides in connecting and supporting them, and is the person one student turns to after getting into a sticky situtation. It’s Mr. Fletcher who rides shotgun to assist.

Jewish representation is threaded throughout: a reference to the binding of Isaac, not engaging in gossip, a gift of a hamsa, Shabbat dinners. Her father is Sephardic Moroccan Jewish, and her mother Mexican, and her mother and aunt settled their differences by opening a fusion restaurant where Lucy still waitresses for free meals. The culinary details are mouthwatering, and Lucy’s feelings of not fitting in: at school, within her family, in society–includes straddling two cultures, and it’s handled authentically and beauftifully. I loved learning a little more about Sephardi culture through Lucy’s family.

I received a copy of #FlirtyLittleSecret via #NetGalley courtesy of #Forever.

Um...Flirty Little Secret by Jessica Lepe had me when the synopsis promised it was "You’ve Got Mail meets Abbott Elementary." And, it did not disappoint!

I love a rom-com that can also deftly navigate more serious topics (read: mental health), and I was charmed by the romance between Fletcher and Lucy.

Many thanks to the author, publisher (Forever is the best!), and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

I LOVE unwitting correspondence. It's one of my favorite (sub?)tropes, and I loved reading about this virtual connection. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Lucy and Fletcher to discover each other's identities and get together in real life!

Lucy had such a great character arc throughout the book. Her mental health journey felt relatable and was handled with care.

I didn't enjoy the lack of communication once Fletcher discovered Lucy's identity: I'd prefer characters be upfront and honest with one another. It tends to lead to a predictable and disappointing third act breakup that doesn't feel true to real life. I enjoyed everything about this book except the third act conflict!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Flirty Little Secret by Jessica Lepe!

URGHHHH this BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could unread it so I could read it again for the first time. I'm obsessed with sooo many of the tropes in this book. I adored it.

I was very excited about this book as I'm a big fan of You've Got Mail and appreciated the author's content warning letter in the beginning. But it was just ick after ick after ick from the start. I hate to judge a character heavily based on the author and their mental illnesses, including ones I have as well, but I just found them not well-executed on the page. The characters felt robotic in the story and that their actions were being told to the reader what to do. It didn't feel as authentic or fun as the book blurb made it seem. After setting the book down, I waited for the audiobook, hoping it might make me appreciate it more, but it did not. Ultimately, this is a DNF for me. Excellent idea, but poor execution.

3.5 stars

Flirty Little Secret is a sweet romance with a bit of You've Got Mail vibes.

Lucy and Fletcher have an awkward meet cute, but neither realizes they already actually know one another. She has an online account she uses to dispense advice anonymously and they became friends who message daily. I liked the two of them together, but the relationship development did feel rushed. I understand that they had a connection via the online messages, but neither knew that and it felt like they were all in really quickly. Overall, though, this was a fun and interesting read and the grovel and ending were well done.

I really tried--a few times--but I could not get into this book. I can't identify anything wrong with the book. I think it's just something I couldn't click with.

I love a good friends to lovers romance, this checked all the boxes I love. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

I was tricked to read this essay about the middle-child syndrome against my best judgment because this cover is very cute and well, this sums up the type of person I am.

These two entitled little brats annoyed me from the very first page of what will be the last book I’ll ever read from Jessica Lepe, no matter how appealing the cover might be.
And listen, I even think she has done a good job in portraying these two, so my problem is not with her writing style, but she might have done too much of a good job.

There's Lucy and there's Fletcher. Then there's more of Lucy - so much more, so many pages and pages of absolutely nothing that Lucy for some reason finds worth talking about - and there's more of Fletcher - again, absolutely nothing.
Besides Lucy’s monologues (plural) about her mental health and disorders - which I don't find right to judge since the author wrote them from her experience with depression, anxiety and ADHD -, everything else is about how THEY feel, the reasons why THEY act in that way and why THEY are the only ones to actually do something for their families.

Everything outside their romance is proof they are misunderstood and deserve the sympathy of the other members of their family when they could just react once in a while when shitty people do something shitty to them.
But their romance is also that bad - they fell in love at first sight after an exhilarating meet-cute, but Fletcher was dm-ing with his online crush the whole time he said he couldn't have enough of Lucy (who was the girl behind the account, obviously).

The only aspects I found slightly interesting are the ones connected with their work as professors in a public high school.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was a cute story. The concept of being online pen pals and new co-workers in real life is what drew me to want to read the book.

For me though, it just fell a little short of what I was expecting. I liked Lucy and Fletcher’s characters. They were well written as was their chemistry. The storyline itself is where Flirty Little Secret fall short for me. I still enjoyed it and I can see this being some reads favorite of the year or at least in their top reads of the year.

Flirty Little Secret had all the makings of a delightful, modern You’ve Got Mail-style romance, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While I was excited about the premise of an anonymous online connection blossoming into real-life love, the execution fell flat. The relationship between Lucy and Fletcher felt rushed and unconvincing, with sudden declarations of love that seemed out of place given their limited interactions. Lucy herself was difficult to connect with; her immature and self-centered inner monologue made her a frustrating character, despite the author’s attempt to ground her flaws in her struggles with depression, anxiety, and ADHD. The portrayal of her mental health issues relied too heavily on telling rather than showing, preventing the reader from fully understanding or empathizing with her experiences. The poorly named “Konfident Kids Klub” also struck a sour note, as it seemed an unnecessarily uncomfortable punchline that added nothing to the story. On the positive side, the Jewish representation, particularly the scenes depicting Shabbat dinner, was a highlight, and I appreciated the cultural depth those moments brought. Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC.

As much as I tried, I just really could not get into this book. I think it was a little too cheeky and try hard for me personally? The tone and conversations were off but I loved the concept and was at first very excited for it!

I have to admit this was a DNF...an early DNF.

I couldn't get past the cringe. I felt secondhand embarrassment and it was physically painful. Sorry y'all, I couldn't do it.

Realistic love story with realistic characters facing mental health issues and family drama. I did really like the main characters and the side characters added much need comic relief to a plot that was very heavy at times. This one really pulled at your heart with the issues the main characters faced alone and together.

I wish I enjoyed this book more. Unfortunately, it was as struggle for me from the first chapter. It felt just a tad too immature in a way that didn't work for me as comedic and didn't engage me going forward. I think the author's writing style is for me. I've tried to come back to it with some more time and it's still not working for me the way I wanted it to! However, I liked the concept of the book overall and I still think it'd be a wonderful read for those who really enjoy social media as a plot vehicle!

Thank you so much Forever Publishing for the opportunity to read and review!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This was only ok for me but that's partly my fault - school setting books are not usually my jam. That being said, I liked the epistolary aspect and the versions of the FMC we got to see. The MMC didn't do much for me. I also thought the mental health rep was pretty well done, but I don't have anxiety so I would defer to reviewers who do.

This is a charming debut, romantic comedy featuring friends to lovers with great mental health representation. The You’ve Got mail vibes were fun as I always love epistolary type elements within a romance.

This was cute but also dealt with real life issues people can relate to, hello anxiety.

I really enjoyed getting the perspective of Lucy as her online identity vs Lucy the guidance counselor. She was much more confident hidden online as most people are. The way her online and in person story unfolded with Fletcher was fun to watch. I also loved reading from Fletchers view point.