Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC and PRH Audio for the free audiobook.

Did Not Finish.

I was excited for this one. Sapphic, BIPOC leads, friends to lovers.

But I got bored. I felt like it leaned upon some stereotypes and it just wasn’t working for me. Avery is the super buttoned-up, socially anxious bisexual who has never flirted with a woman. And Taylor is the laissez-faire, has sex with every woman in Napa Valley, who is gonna teach Avery to flirt.

It just felt kind of contrived and both characters felt flat. I didn’t feel interested enough in continuing.

Thanks but sadly, no thanks.

I’ve been a fan of Jasmine Guillory’s other romances so when I was able to read an ARC, I applied for it … not realizing it was a queer romance. As a heterosexual, this was not my typical genre yet I found it fun especially reading about the activities Taylor took Avery to meet people. The ending was a bit predictable but the complexities of marriage and friendship rang true to me. Overall it was worth the read. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARcC.

*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to PRH Audio for the gifted ALC*

Queer flirting lessons? Great, I'm sold. I actually got a lot of date ideas from this book for my husband. I identified a lot with Avery, very type A, plans for everything, and socially anxious. And Taylor is her perfect opposite: spontaneous, goes with the flow, and oozes charisma. I did find myself getting confused in the narration, as we often got both of their PoVs in the same chapter and there was no real narration style switch between the two characters. But that being said, I really liked listening to their story.

The downside of course is that we spend so much of the story teaching Avery how to flirt, that we don't get to spend much time with Avery and Taylor *together*. It also felt like every conflict was resolved within a few pages and didn't get much time to steep. But yay queer romances, especially with BIPOC main characters! More please.

3.5⭐️

I really enjoyed the story with this one! Taylor and Avery were both fun characters who added different elements to the story. Taylor with her “immature, charming, flirts-with-the-whole-town” persona and Avery with her “organized, colour-coded, never flirted with a girl” personality was the epitome of opposites attract.

The whole flirting lessons dynamic to turning into something real had me entertained! I just couldn’t keep up with the perspectives being switched within the chapters. It made the writing feel a little choppy at times. It may be worse on audio, but even with the narrator being so good the POV switching still had me lost! Still enjoyed the story & it was a fun listen! thank you PRH Audio and Berkley for the ARC and ALC!! Releases April 8th!

As a lesbian I wanted to LOVE this book. But I unfortunately had to DNF it. The writing was lackluster, the characters/story lacked depth. Parts of the book felt repetitive and there were moments where I felt like there were parts that added nothing to the story.

I hated how Taylor was written as someone who slept with every woman in Napa Valley. As if her fear or unwillingness to commit was based off of need to connect physically and break hearts. I would have loved if why Taylor had trouble committing was explored.

The fact that there isn’t a lot of Black queer romances featured in traditional publishing, I feel like Jasmine had a chance to do something amazing and THIS WASN’T IT

DNF

Thank you to Berkley Romance for my ARC!

I adored Jasmine Guillory when I first started reading romance books. They’re so cozy and all of the characters are such nice people. But I struggled to engage with this one because it felt too nice. Each character came up with something they wanted to change about themselves, based on offhand remarks instead of some soul-deep yearning, which made the stakes feel too low.

I would recommend this to someone who is looking for a book that is cozy and light and feels like a trip through the Bay Area.

Avery recently broke up with her boyfriend when she tuns into Taylor. Taylor is the woman everyone wants to date, she would never go for Avery. When she offers to teach Avery how to flirt however, Avery jumps at the chance to learn from the best. When Taylor starts to fall for Avery however, her fear jumps in.

Love me a queer romance from our girl Jasmine Guillory! I did the audio for this one and the narration was so good! I think so many people fall into their relationship and lose their hobbies and interests, and I so enjoyed seeing Avery find herself through her flirting lessons. She became so much more confident throughout the book and you just loved to see it!

Thank you to @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for my gifted copy of this book!

Fresh off a break-up, shy and uptight Avery, is ready to put herself out there and date around, with women in particular. Unfortunately, she has no clue where to start. Insert, Taylor, Napa Valley’s biggest flirt and heartbreaker who offers to give sweet ole Avery “flirting lessons.” The premise intrigued me as a horrible flirter myself, though at times the stakes didn’t feel high enough. (Like who cares if you’re not good at flirting? The world will not end, Avery!) But as the story progressed Avery grew on me, and I realized that it wasn’t a matter of flirting so much as self-discovery, confidence, and learning to take a risk. More character-driven than plot-driven but super fun and steamy.

A flirty and witty romance novel about opposites attract in Jasmine Guillory's first queer romance. A cute story of two people finding their way and falling in love in the process. A story about love and friendship and being true to yourself and trusting your gut.

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy.
This was a great addition to Jasmine Guillory's works and I really enjoyed the whole dynamic of this book.

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory had a fun premise, but it didn’t quite deliver for me. Despite the title, there wasn’t enough actual flirting, and the chemistry between the characters felt lacking. I struggled to connect with the protagonists, which made it hard to get invested in their romance. While Guillory’s writing is always engaging, this one just didn’t have the charm and spark I was hoping for. A decent read, but not a standout.

Read this if you like:
•friends to lovers
•betting with friends
•queer love

This book is cute. I love the friendships that blossomed. The act of “flirting lessons” was cute. I think some of the betting with friends was immature but overall this book was a quick cute read. Thank you Berkley for eARC!

This book had everything I love about a romance novel—fun banter, swoon-worthy moments, and characters who feel real and relatable.

I enjoyed Avery’s journey in this story. Her decision to start the flirting lessons was a great way to show her stepping out of her comfort zone and pushing herself to try something new. Watching her intentionally choose to be more open and vulnerable, especially when it came to expressing herself, made her character growth satisfying.

I believe Taylor and Avery were mirrors of each other. They were opposites in many ways, yet that contrast allowed them to build a strong rapport and made their connection seem more genuine.

If I had one small complaint, it would be that the ending felt a bit abrupt. I wanted to see more of where Taylor and Avery stood by the end of the book—it feels like there’s still more story to tell.

As a fan of ‘Drunk on Love’ I also loved the callbacks to that book. Jasmine Guillory’s writing flowed beautifully, and the character development across the board was strong. Overall, this was an enjoyable, feel-good queer romance.

I found this one really hard to get into. I normally love all of Jasmine's books, but this one wasn't it. I tried reading it and couldn't get engaged, and then I tried listening to it and also couldn't get into it. I think it's hard to believe a 30-something girl who has been in relationships, needs someone to show her how to flirt? I know this is fiction, but it felt a little too immature. I may try and pick it up sometime soon, but this just wasn't for me.

Avery is bisexual but has never dated a woman. Taylor has dated most of the women in Napa Valley. She has a reputation. Taylor has just broken up with her current girlfriend and her best friend bets her that she couldn’t go until Labor Day without sleeping with a woman. Enter Avery. They meet at an event at a winery and Avery shares her story with Taylor about how she has never dated a woman. She explains how she doesn’t know how to even approach a woman. Taylor offers to give Avery flirting lessons. Taylor thinks that giving Avery the lessons will keep her busy so that she is able to stick to the bet. The problem is they are attracted to one another.

This was a fun read. Taylor takes Avery on really fun outings. And i enjoyed reading about it. Avery suffers a lot of anxiety and insecurities and I could relate to her. I also related to Taylor’s feelings regarding her friendships. She feels like her relationship with her best friend is slipping away because she is relating more to her more “adult” friends that have families. She is also jealous of her best friend’s new friendship with her neighbor. I felt so bad when her friends were taking about her behind her back. It’s one thing to tease her about her inability to stay in a relationship but another thing ti discuss these things behind her back and even bet on her relationships.

I enjoyed how cute the book was and how much I could relate to both characters but I wish that they were more open about their feelings towards each other. There was a lot of miscommunication. I think this is a great first queer book for Jasmine Guillory. I will continue to read anything she writes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my 8th Jasmine Guillory book and I am historically such a fan of her writing. And when I heard she had a new book it was a no-brainer that I’d be reading it. Knowing it was her first queer romance?! Super love that idea; sign me up!

I appreciated the sapphic love story and I am absolutely going to read more of them. Women — mind, body, spirit — are such a work of art. 🫶🏼 I so appreciated the bisexual representation and it was validating many times throughout the book that no one batted an eye about Avery’s last partner having been a man as she pursued a female.

I was happy to see some things in this book that have become staples in Jasmine’s writing. I feel like she must love champagne (same!) because it’s in so many of her books and it made me happy!!! Also love how there’s a prominent food in each book and I feel like pizza was one of them here. I adored the flirting lessons midterm and felt that part of the book captured my attention so well.

However, so much of this book just felt… phoned in. It didn’t have the fervor that Jasmine’s books normally do. For a huge portion of the book there was little to no chemistry between the two main characters. And then they all of a sudden liked each other and there wasn’t a whole lot of build up or tension.

These characters felt incredibly one dimensional. (Especially compared to her previous characters.) I felt like this book was extremely repetitive throughout portions of the book — for example, Avery said boring SO MANY TIMES. Oh. My. Word. And then when Taylor was harping on Erica to eat her salad!!? So. Repetitive. There. Too. (Just two examples.)

Around 38% through the book we are recounting events that we’ve already read about — so we are reading them twice and it feels so dang stagnant. Nothing is really happening. This happened several times throughout the book where an event would take place and then that exact event would be detailed to another character who wasn’t present (Taylor to Erica; Avery to Luke or Beth) and it wasn’t fun to read. I felt stuck listening to someone repeat a story I didn’t care much for the first time. I also felt like the sex scenes were a little bit rushed — again, when comparing them to JG’s previous writing it felt like they weren’t as descriptive or vivid and I was a little bit disappointed there, too.

The story absolutely picked up towards the very end of the book and I enjoyed where it ended and how it ended. The epilogue evoked the most emotion out of me — so happy for Greta and Beth and simultaneously Avery and Taylor — and this portion of the book truly reminded me of what I love most about Jasmine’s writing.

I would absolutely recommend giving this book a try but I have to be honest that it was a very slow read for me and wasn’t as gratifying as my favorite Jasmine Guillory books.

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the ARC copy of this book from such a beloved author!

3.5⭐️

We are back to Napa Valley and I had such a fun time reading!! We follow Avery and Taylor in this queer romance that was filled with fun and sweet moments!! The chemistry between Avery and Taylor was there from the beginning. Avery wants to step back out into the dating world after a recent breakup and in comes Taylor. Taylor was everything to me!! From the flirting lessons that she gives Avery, we see her care for Avery in a way I think we all want in our lives. I loved the glimpses we got from the couples in the previous books. I didn’t love the miscommunication in this (I rarely do) but it does help progress the story which I can understand! Overall a fast cute romance read with a decent amount of spice!!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARc in exchange for my review🩷

I love that Jasmine wrote a queer romance and that we are back in Napa Valley for Flirting Lessons. Avery and Taylor had great chemistry, I felt like I just needed a little more depth built in to their characters to make me truly understand them outside of their flirting lessons.

Waiting for a new Jasmine Guillory read is like waiting for Christmas. I couldn't wait to get back into the world of California wine country, and all the love stories lurking within. Flirting Lessons did not disappoint. The set up of weekly flirting lessons was charming and this story was very well paced. Taylor and Avery were both well developed characters that leaned into their own flaws while doing their best to work to improve them. I felt connected to them and cheered for their growth and love. Guillory writes female friendships so well and that translated perfectly to the relationships in this book both romantic and platonic. As a bisexual woman myself, I felt Avery was written very well, her fears and anxieties, her desires and motivations, all very relatable.

Any Guillory fans will love this read, it fits her universe and voice so well. Any romance fans in general should dive right in.

3.5 stars⭐️

As a longtime Jasmine Guillory fan, I have been eagerly awaiting this book! And let me tell you…
Flirting Lessons is iconic Jasmine Guillory but with a glorious sapphic twist - absolute fun, STEAMY, sweet, and full of the most endearing characters.

I related so much to Avery (helloooo type A event planner who color coordinates her closet), and absolutely adored her relationship with Taylor! The way Taylor cared for, listened, and saw Avery and vice versa was relationship GOALS.

I have always loved Guillory’s interconnected standalone books so much, so it was so fun to be back at Noble Winery and see more glimpses of Margot and Luke (Drunk on Love)!