Book Review — Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

Genre: Romance
Published by: Berkley Books
Publish date: April 08, 2025
Number of pages: 416 pages
Author’s website: https://www.jasmineguillory.com/flirting-lessons
Support local! Buy the book on BookShop!

The exciting new contemporary romance—and her first to feature a queer romance—by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory

Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially other women), flirt with everyone she sees, all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One Avery doesn’t know how to do any of that. She doesn’t have a lot of dating experience, with men or women, and despite being self-assured at work, she doesn’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance.

Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley’s biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can’t make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It will keep her busy, stop her from texting people she shouldn’t. And it might distract her from how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem much more settled and adult than Taylor.

At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon, Avery looks forward to their weekly lessons. She tells herself it’s because the lessons are fun, not because she kind of might have a little bit of a crush on Taylor. Taylor doesn’t even try to deny that she’s intrigued by Avery, but she’s still got a bet to win. With Taylor’s help, Avery is finally doing what she wants to flirting with lots of women, making friends, having fun! But after a while, it becomes impossible for Avery and Taylor to ignore their attraction to one another, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn’t serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn’t know what to do, how to deal with it, and most importantly, if she’s already ruined the best thing she’s ever had.

Rating: 3.5/5

Listen, I will and have read all of Jasmine Guillory’s books. I’m a fan for life. This one wasn’t my favorite but it was still a lot of fun and sexy!

The premise wasn’t novel to me and it’s not really my favorite trope to read– inexperienced main character learns from the very experienced love interest who will never settle down. Unlike Guillory’s other novels, this one features a same-sex couple. It read like a woman’s how-to-guide to dating women at points that felt a little reductive. The “flirting lessons” sometimes felt stiff and awkward but the dates were still fun as we got to know both main characters. Similar to Guillory’s last novel, “Drunk on Love” the dates all take place in Napa–from salsa dancing, axe throwing, trivia night to pottery painting– there were a mix of ideas. The sex scenes were medium spicy, and I do think they lacked a little when describing a woman’s body from a woman’s perspective. Something about them didn’t feel all the way there like the author was a little removed from them?

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to know!