A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I have never read anything by this author, but I will be looking out for other books they write in the future. I really enjoyed the story as well as the pacing of the story.

DNF'ed at 30%

This book has gotten lots of rave reviews, but I'm choosing to stop reading because this is somewhat triggering for me. If you enjoy grumpy/sunshine MCs, game nights with friends, the rivals to lovers trope, and new adult romance, you should ignore this and give it a go!

The following might spoil this for you, so don't read further as I explain why I decided to DNF.

It appears that our heroine is being targeted for sexual assault in her workplace. There is awareness, but little-to-no support or thought about what could/should happen here.

Our MC's friend is pressuring her to take pole dancing classes, which I find completely inappropriate. If she wants to take a pole dancing class, that's fine, but the pressure being placed on our heroine to do this when she's really uncomfortable with the idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I'd like to thank Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is the cutest romance story to read. I literally giggle from the first page. I absolutely adored the character relationship. They were meant to be together.

An entertaining opposite attracts romance with cosplay humor and forbidden love that the two make sexy and playful. While both are adults, it reads almost YA/NA, although work issues are clearly adult. Loved all the costumes and the realistic game result and the promise of a fun long-term adventure.

Often, I have a difficult time with books that have so many pop culture references in them, but this book THRIVED with the references. I am not a gamer in the least, but I liked that I could still enjoy it.

I loved how much plot was put into this book — Rose and her game, Rose and her job, and Rose and the love interest. It felt seamless throughout but I would have loved a little more at the end with Rose and William — it felt like it went so fast! I loved how funny this book was and how I just couldn’t put it down once it started.

This is truly a romace for us gaming nerds. I enjoyed the characters, the banter, and how this involved board games and video games. I found myself not connecting to this one as deeply as other novels I've read in this genre. I still enjoyed this one though!

Rose finds herself in a loveless relationship, a miserable job with a creepy and inappropriately behaved boss, but one thing she does live is gaming and she's loved it since she was a kid. Finding herself at crossroad on choosing herself, I must admit was one of her greatest challenges, taking a risk or playing it safe (pun intended).
Throw in some amazing friends, the most endearing parents and the devilishly charming and handsome MMC and you're in for a game of playing Flirty.


This book had me squealing, gasping, giggling and jumping up and down! Shameez has an undeniable ability to write the most amazing stories and I am here for it all. Playing Flirty with it's playful gaming innuendos made it such a fun and easy read, the characters were diverse which made it so much more relatable too. Well done Shameez on writing such a marvelous Rom.

In this fun and spicy modern romance novel, readers follow risk-averse Rose Marie Jones, who loves game night and the distractions from her work and love lives it provides, but William Ashdern brings out her competitive nature like nobody else. As playing nemeses, William and Rose can’t get along, but when Rose decides to enter her original game into a contest, no one is more in her corner and able to help her win than William. Even though the competition keeps getting serious and losing is not an option, Rose might be willing to risk everything for William -- but will she? Fantastically written with a great mix of spice and character development, the story arcs for both William and Rose are easily the most immersive and engaging part of the story. Rose is deeply relatable, and her chemistry with William is fantastic, pulling readers into the story. The characters are the emotional heart of the novel, and the tropes at play really add to the overall tone and atmosphere of this brilliant new release. Engaging, entertaining, charming, and heartwarming, this is a brilliant new modern romance novel fans of the genre will absolutely love because the characters’ relationship and growth is just that good.

I was privileged to get to read a copy on @netgalley and I absolutely loved every bit of it!!
Shameez is definitely one of my auto-buy South African authors, so please do check out this book and her previous masterpiece- The Selene Trilogy!
In celebration of the launch of this book, please check out my review below!

Playing Flirty
By Shameez Patel

Where do I start with this one??
How about 3 words?
I....
.....LOVED.....
....IT!!
I was blessed to get my hands on an ebook arc from NetGalley for this book, and I honestly could not find any faults at all!
You all know that I loved "The Selene Trilogy" by this author, and even though this is a purely romance book, she killed it!
Get ready to fall in love with Rose and William! ❤️

For fans of:
-board games/ gamers
-romance
-best friend's brother
-rivals to lovers
-LOTR refrences
-cosy reads

Thank you for this review copy... I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy and to do a reread soon!
5 stars all around from me!
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

#BookReview #ShameezWrites #PlayingFlirty #RomanceBooks #SouthAfricanAuthor #books #Bookstagram #booklover #bookworm #sabookstagrammers #southafricanbookstagrammer #booksta #readreadread #booksbooksbooks #BookmarkMyWorld

This one was unfortunaltely a DNF which is why I got around to reviewing it so late. I felt that there was no feeling to the book. It is a romance and I am supposed to be invested in this but I couldn't have cared about the main characters. The romance and attraction just felt very low and the game aspect felt a tad corny, and that is coming from a person who plays card games.

Shameez has outdone herself with her debut Romance novel that will tickle all the geeky bones in your body!
Thank you so much for sending a copy for me to read, I also now have the ebook (Thank you @readforeverpub!) that I will cherish forever.
 
Rose is quirky, delightful, hilarious, fiesty and oh so adorable. William is moody, quiet, a little mysterious (did I mention a dark-haired MMC?) and boy, is the banter top-notch! 
Not only has Shameez masterfully weaved all the characters together, the story is so good, I was hanging off every word. This is definitely one for the boardgame fanatics, Stardew Valley babes, the gaming girlies, the LOTR lovers and everyone else in between. 
 
Will Rose be able to put aside her disdain for her archnemesis, William Ashdern, and be able to finally achieve her dream of releasing her very own boardgame? You’ll have to read to find out. 
Prepare yourself for swoony moments, laughing out loud, and a desperate needs for a board game night with your closest friends!
 
Thank you Shameez, I’ve definitely found a new favourite romcom.

This was such a sweet, cute romance between two nerdy characters: our mc (Rose) who loves board games and has been designing one for years and her love interest (William) who tests and designs video games! Their cute teasing of each other made it clear early on that they were meant to be together. Plus, I love the best friend's sibling trope, and this had the added twist of male best friend marrying her female best friend! I loved the entire friend group and would love to play games with them (no role-playing, though 🫣). Even the secret our love interest had was cute. Having the best friend and Rose work together allowed us to see more into Rose's life. Their boss 🤬 he gave me major creep vibes and the way he treats Rose was just wrong.

🎧 Nirvi Shah did a great job at narrating and I could easily tell which character she was voicing. She made the story fun and extra cute bringing Rose to life.

It's definitely a cute one to pick up, especially if you love nerdy love stories and friends playing board games. You'll definitely want to pick this up if you like
♟️geeky references
🎮 cosplay
♟️ board games and video games
🎮 close friend group (game nights!)
♟️ best friend's sibling (half-brother)
🎮 Competitive flirting ("the nice game")
♟️ he falls first
🎮 some wedding planning

I plan on picking up more by Shameez Patel and more narrated by Nirvi Shah in the future!

I was hoping this one would be very cute and fun, but it unfortunately missed the mark for me. Sadly, i didn't enjoy this book and found it to be fairly predictable. I didn't connect with the characters and found them to be very surface level.

I was immediately drawn to this story because of its nerdy promises, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love the enemies to lovers dynamic and how it unfolds in the story. If you are a nerd and get all the references (like me lol), you will eat this up.

This was such a good debut in my opinion! I loved everything about it!

I was entertained and drawn into the characters and the storyline that Shameez wrote from start to finish. A page turner no doubt!

When opposites attract and the tables are turned, a new way of existing prevails! A one time meeting years ago to rival enemies, Rose and William's story will pull you in!

The banter, chemistry, friendships and storyline came together organically to give a lighthearted rom com to remember.

Happy reading!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. The opinions written are completely honest and my own.

A fun romance with great characters you are rooting for. Although I think someone would figure out what's happening on the balcony earlier.

Elements of this were sooooo good - the flirty banter, the tension, the he falls first. I loved the premise of this and even though there were quite a few side characters, it felt well developed and thought out. There were elements though that just weren't super tight - the third act 'separation' (not quite break-up) didn't work as well as it could have and the relationship development between Rose and William felt like it was missing something (the initial spark was there but it didn't feel like it carried through all of the way). I can see the potential and really want to read the next book by the author.

This was such a cute book! Exactly what I needed and I binged it in a day! I loved all the game and LOTR references. I love that their friend group made time every week for game night even with their busy life schedules. Rose and William are a great couple. The enemies to hey maybe our hate is love friendship to love evolvement was so nice to read. I definitely would have liked more conversations between them to fully solidify the relationship aspect though. For reference: there’s lots of kissing in this book but nothing spicy, alluding to sex but not full actual scenes. I also liked that we got talks about sexual harassment in the work place. How Rose doubted herself, how other males made her doubt herself and so many thoughts on maybe it wasn’t actually harassment but finally having the courage to speak up. Really realistic and appreciated.

Would definitely read more of this author!!

Playing Flirty is a fun rom com that you can read in one sitting. It’s predictable but has great characters. Rose and William had a believable connection and I loved their friend group dynamics!