Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Unfortunately, I had to DNF this. I was initially intrigued by the premise of a school guidance counselor and teacher, as well as the social media alter ego bit. It seemed cute. However, I struggled with the pacing and the circumstances of the novel. Things seemed to start off really slow for me and I just didn't feel hooked in by the characters or any kind of conflict. I found it hard to believe that the main characters acted the way they did. While it's reasonable that the FMC used her social media page to encourage her personal growth, the difference between that persona and her real-life identity were too stark for me. I was very surprised by her immaturity, especially for a guidance counselor, who needs to be a stable and trustworthy person. The "anonymous friends on social media find each other in real life" trope is definitely not one of my favorites as I find that it's often a huge stretch of the imagination. However, I feel that it can be done well (ie: Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood) when the main characters' personalities align better with the online identity. Overall this was just falling too short for me and couldn't keep my interest. Where others found humor and quirkiness, I was just seeing cringeworthiness and immaturity. I'm sure this would make for a good fluffy rom-com for someone else but it wasn't the right fit for me.

"Flirty Little Secret" is Jessica Lepe's debut novel and was an easy read. Lucy is a school guidance counselor by day, but runs a popular anonymous Instagram advice account by night. After a meet cute with new teacher Fletcher (by accidentally spilling her drink on him), they slowly become friends and even start to develop feelings for each other. Fletcher has been a longtime follower of her Instagram account, and they've been messaging back and forth for a long time without knowing who the other is. But things start to get tricky when Lucy and Fletcher can't untangle themselves from their Instagram personas.

I appreciated the attention this book placed on anxiety and panic disorders, as well as dealing with family complications. However, I felt the plot needed to be refined a bit, and many sections felt way too wordy for me. While I really liked the thought behind the storyline, I had a hard time actually rooting for Lucy and Fletcher. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Chapter 1 (5%) was amusing, albeit slow. The writing is easy to follow. Guessing three to four stars for the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

Lucy is a guidance counselor and also runs a helpful counselor Instagram page. She unknowingly has befriended a new coworker online and in real life named Fletcher. As Lucy and Fletcher get closer in real life, they must figure out how to balance their work relationship, romance, mental health, and familial obligations.

I really enjoyed this debut! A few things in particular stood out to me, such as the neurodivergence representation, Jewish representation, and multicultural FMC (Mexican and Moroccan). I loved the candid discussion and realistic portrayal of these things. I also loved the similarity to one of my favorite comfort movies as a modernized version of You’ve Got Mail. As a teacher, I also appreciated the main characters both being in education and demonstrating some of the difficulties faced by those in the profession. This is a unique and fun debut that I’d recommend to romance lovers!

Thank you to Jessica Lepe, Forever publishing, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

I loved Flirty Little Secrets! I started this book not sure of how I’d feel about the “secret” as I usually don’t love the “misunderstanding trope” but the author really handled it in a way that made it absolutely feel integral to the story. The characters and situations are extremely well written also, so the decisions they make and their behaviors are believable and heart felt. Lucy is a guidance counselor who deals with anxiety and has a secret online presence giving advice and Fletcher is a teacher who unknowingly has connected with Lucy online. The anxiety that Lucy has is written in an extremely sensitive and believable manner. The way that Fletcher interacts with Lucy when she’s anxious is so sweet! Lucy’s Sephardic Jewish family is great and supportive if not a bit overbearing. And it was so nice to see this Jewish representation in a romance! Fletchers family situation is complicated and he leans on Lucy in dealing with them. The background of the school with all the situations that arise there is very well done also. As a teacher, I’ve read books where this isn’t always so. But the author really does write about school situations in an extremely believable way. Lucy and Fletcher’s love story is a slow burn and they have some bumps along the way but absolutely combustible when they do get together! Now I’m hoping for Julieta, Amira and Liv’s stories too!

A sweet romance that had me hooked from the start! I can sense that this will undoubtedly earn another well-deserved 5-star rating for Jessica Lepe.

I have a feeling I’m going to struggle putting my thoughts about Flirty Little Secret into words.

First, let me just get this out of the way: if you’re reading this for the romance, you won’t find much of it here. There’s one intense makeout session and one bedroom scene, but that’s it. 1/5 🌶️ for me.

That being said, I’m still giving this book five stars. Even if it wasn’t what I thought going in to it, I loved it. This book is so much more than a romance. Truly, it’s about Lucy’s journey to self-acceptance, then love, while struggling with anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Her particular cocktail of mental illnesses is my exact diagnosis, and I felt it so much in this book. Perhaps that is why I couldn’t focus as much on the romance, since I was busy relating to ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING Lucy was experiencing. Seriously, from the paralysis that occurs when faced with mundane tasks, to the overwhelming anxiety when faced with parallel parking, I completely understood. The author 100% nailed it with her depiction of the trifecta that is anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Bravo to the author for bringing it to life on the pages of Flirty Little Secret.

Next, as a recovering New Englander, I could also 100% relate to Fletcher. Avoiding conflict and stuffing feelings way down deep where they belong (🤣) is truly accurate. I could feel Fletcher’s emotions every time he had a confrontation with Georgia, or made decisions based on the path of least resistance. Honestly, I’m so impressed with Jessica Lepe for the depth of her characters.

I think Ms. Lepe also has a goldmine to pull from for later books in Lucy’s siblings and possibly Fletcher’s sister, plus Nia and Georgia! I loved the family dynamics of BOTH families, even though Fletcher’s family wouldn’t be considered a big, happy family. I liked his family because they were real, while Lucy’s felt more fictional for the purpose of bolstering Lucy.

Never in my life have I felt the urge to reach out to an author just to tell them how much I felt seen by a book, but I am considering just that. Really, just well, well done. Thank you, Ms. Lepe, for accurately depicting what it is like to be neurodivergent in a world that isn’t quite as understanding as we would like. Yet. If authors wrote more books like this, I think it would go a long way toward neurodivergent acceptance in the future.

I received an advance review copy of Flirty Little Secret for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

DNF. There were a few reasons why I decided not to finish Flirty Little Secret. I didn't really care for the main characters. I also struggled with the circumstances and pacing of the book. It was very unbelievable to me that Fletcher struggled navigating the school on his first day. Did he not attend any trainings/orientations before the school year started? Thank you Forever for the ARC.

I got an E-Arc from the publisher:Forever and Netgalley which made me excited to read. Thank you! It took me a few days to read this because I was alternating between this and another book. So many books, very little time right???

Isn’t the cover super cool??

Let’s get into it! This book shows a range of emotions and real truth. I loved how the author wrote about anxiety, ADHD, coping, effects of medicine, worries of what if I’m not good enough and so much more…all these emotions and thoughts are real. I have never read a book like this before. Some of the topics hit close to home to me which I could identify with in Lucy.

I loved the communication in this story meaning that the characters were taking the time to listen and confirm what others feel. It was great! These topics are not easy to cover.

The families were awesome. I loved how caring and over-worrying Lucy’s family was. It showed you that range again! It showed how her family cares. Her one sister is hilarious!

Fetcher’s family is a bit different story but it was nice to see how a family copes during the drama and hurt. Sometimes it is hard to take that first step. I loved how Fetcher was feeling all the feels. It was good to see a male character trying to cope too.

The texting between the two main characters in the book was fun to see. It was one of my favorite things to see! (I love books that have email or texting or posting back and forth between characters!)

I will say the spicy part was nice in all the ways along with the kindness and the communication during this.

This is a must read!! I definitely would recommend readers to get it. If the topics up above that I mention trigger you then maybe not get it but I liked the realness of this story. The author did fantastic! I’m looking to see what’s next from her.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I always enjoy finding new authors who "speak to me" in new ways. This book is the perfect example of that and I'm so glad I happened upon this book on NetGalley.

I appreciated the care she took in writing this book about a character, Lucy, who has mental health issues. Lucy is all of us at some point in our lives and I loved that I could empathize with her character. That said, her characters humor is OFF THE CHARTS!!! I literally choked on my own spit and had the bed vibrating, I was laughing so hard at times.

And dear, Fletcher. He tries so hard and is so misguided in his attempts to please everyone. I love him so much!!

This book was great and I hope you'll give it a read when it comes out!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this early, I loved it. It had me laughing. Watching them fall in love was sweet, I suffer from anxiety and depression also and I can relate to Lucy’s struggles. It’s always nice to see it represented for other people. I’d definitely recommend!

While I can absolutely appreciate the work and dedication that went into writing this book... I regret to say it just wasn't for me. I found myself skimming through a lot of the dialogue while questioning some of the characters' life decisions. I am all for representation and mental health advocacy, but Lucy's depression and anxiety did not seem to be managed in a healthy way. Her life was disrupted and she suffered physical and emotional symptoms as a result. If I were her therapist, I would be questioning her medication regiment, her coping skills, and her self-care - while heavily encouraging intensive therapy. And for the life of me I couldn't figure out if "Fletcher" was a first name or a last name! Finally, I understand the premise behind Lucy wanting to connect with her students, but she seemed to cross some pretty significant ethical boundaries in doing so...
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Forever for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I grabbed this book when I saw it as a “read now” option. I love the online secret identity trope. I love the tension and watching them eventually figure it out!
I thought this book was really cute and actually pretty funny. I loved watching their relationship grow both as coworkers and online.

I liked Lucy’s character a lot and really related to her. Her struggles with ADHD, depression and anxiety felt realistic and was done really well.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was that it felt a little wordy at times. Some descriptions and things could have definitely been shortened up a bit.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book! The second half fell a bit flat, but I’d still recommend it to romance readers!

This book surprised me in the best possible way- it is much more than it appears to be.The characters are perfectly real with real-life mixes of anxiety, depression, doubts and insecurities. They have been through real world struggles and continue to do so here. And their story is told with sweetness and humor and grace. And they were supported and cheered on by some truly loving (and loveable) supporting characters. I really cared about these people and loved watching them find their way to a happy ending.

Flirty Little Secret is a romance akin to You’ve Got Mail. Lucy and Fletcher have just met as he starts working at her school, but unbeknownst to either of them they met long ago on Instagram and are already close friends. As they get to know each other in real life, feelings develop, but obstacles like mental health and past relationships threaten to get in the way….and how will they react once they learn they’ve known each other all along?

First of all, I hate to refer to mental health as an obstacle, when taking care of oneself is a necessity. But what I love about FLS is that the mental health is openly discussed. Instead of treating Lucy’s ADHD, depression, and anxiety as character flaws or quirks, even when it’s hard for her, Lucy is open about how she is feeling overwhelmed and the effect it has on her emotions.

The rest of the story is cute, but would honestly earn a 3 star or a DNF if the mental health aspect hadn’t been prevalent. There’s a lot of exposition compared to real time action. I do believe in the love story, but I also wish I had seen more of it rather than backstory on the characters and their families.

I would recommend this book to people who love romances, Shop Around the Corner stories, and may have some neurodivergence themselves!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn in by the You've Got Mail comparison and stayed for the loveable characters. I saw a lot of myself in Lucy and enjoyed seeing how she and Fletcher grew as friends and as a couple.

This book had my laughing out loud and I couldn't put it down. While there were plenty of funny bits, the author handled the difficult issues in a believable way and I feel it was done well.

I will certainly be on the lookout for more books by this author in the future!

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the advanced review copy

2024 is probably going to be the year of the dnf…there is just not enough time to read books that I am not enjoying. I made it to about 40% of this one. I THINK it is loosely “Glee” fanfic, with a high school guidance counselor with anxiety and the teacher who had feelings for her. Fortunately, there is no singing in involved but there are borderline inappropriate student interactions and talk about “influencers.” I think I’m just too old for this book.

I think this was a solid debut novel. It includes two characters who are imperfect but together complementary. I am a social worker myself, so I found a lot of the parts in relation to therapy realistic, as well as the doubt that comes within this role as someone who also has my own mental illness I am in treatment for. The friendship between the two main characters was slightly more believable than the romance. However, by the end of the novel I was able into buy into their relationship. I like the addition of complex family dynamics. It definitely added a layer to the storytelling and helped move along the storyline. I found parts of this to be predictable, but I also don’t think that it all together a horrible thing. It was good to have a book that I knew was going to be an almost for sure have a happily ever after.


4/5

This may not be an absolutely perfect book, but it was absolutely the perfect book for me at the moment. I desperately needed to feel seen and understood and this book gave me that. I often struggle with anxiety and depression and just feeling like I am too much for people. It was kind of refreshing to read about a character that felt like me. There were two relatively spicy scenes and they were fun to read. I love these characters. My complaints are actually mostly about the side characters. Brodie and Georgia and Liv and Mom and Dad all had a lot of random information given to us about them, but it felt like a strange mix of too much and not enough. I also wish there was more time for the love between Fletcher and Lucy to develop. It kinda went zero to 60. Otherwise, I loved it.