Flirty Little Secret
Jessica Lepe
March 19, 2024, Forever
384 pages
review by: E Broderick
As a blogger, I’m familiar with the difference between online personas and real life people. Those gorgeous photos your favorite grammer posts? Pan out and you’ll find the wreckage of everyday life. All this reading I do? My TBR is five times the size. Clever post? It’s been edited within an inch of its life. There’s a lot of pressure to constantly create content that is entertaining and flawless, but there’s also the ability to present only the side of yourself that you want seen. That’s a gift for some of us who just want a space to be our best selves and live our best lives online, even if we cannot do so in real life for various reasons.
Lucy Galindo, heroine of Jessica Lepe’s debut romance Flirty Little Secret, understands this. In real life, she’s a high school guidance counselor who also has some serious anxiety and depression, but online she’s @TheMissGuidedCounselor who is always ready with good advice and a listening ear. Which is why I totally related to her complete refusal to meet up with the online friend she’s been chatting (and flirting!) with for over a year. One, because you still never know who is a creepy cat fisher playing the long game. Two, and more importantly for Lucy, she wants to keep these parts of her lives separate. She needs a space where she can be perfect.
There’s just one catch. Since the story is dual POV the reader knows a delicious secret. The hot new history teacher Lucy is crushing on? He’s actually her online friend. Watching these two bumble around without realizing they already know each other is particularly hilarious. In fact, the voice of the entire book is hilarious. Lucy has a large extended family that knows no boundaries and Fletcher, the history teacher, has more drama in his life than a telenovella. Lepe has a unique style and she finds the humor in even everyday situations without relying on cheap stereotypes or bawdy sex jokes. It made the pages fly incredibly quickly. Which is good because like Lucy, I am not perfect, and this library book was overdue by the time I picked it up and started reading.
Identity is tricky for Lucy. Not only is she dealing with her mental health which she hides from her readers, she’s constantly wondering where she belongs in any community. Since her father is a Moroccan Jew the Ashkenaz community she finds herself in often makes her feel like the “wrong” kind of Jew, while some even doubt she’s Jewish at all because her mother is Mexican. Side note – once again this is handled with humor. I will not give it away but the thoughts in Lucy’s head when someone questions her about her background made me snort my beverage through my nose. I was so surprised by her candor and mischievous outlook.
The relationship that results at the end of the book helps Lucy see that what she was viewing as flaws are actually strengths that make her a more empathetic guidance counselor. I’m not quite ready to show you the heap of papers next to that pretty book stack photo but I will tell you this – I’m a thorough reader but a slow one. I get way more books than I can possibly read and review in a timely fashion. (I love you guest reviewers! Seriously). I constantly worry about letting down that author who may even have paid to ship me their book. I know my readers love the round ups most of all, but since I won’t include a book I haven’t read in those pieces, it means I can post less of them than I’d like. Like Lucy, I’m doing my best and always seeking new ways to be better. And I think you are ALL Jewish enough. XOXO.