Into Her Story: Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

This week on FMCx2, your hosts Samantha and Nat are talking all things Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory. From standout characters and sweet moments to the things that didn't quite work for us, we're unpacking this LGBTQ+ contemporary romance in our own honest(and slightly chaotic) way. 

Whether you've read it, are thinking of picking it up, or just love hearing readers compare notes, welcome to our little book club- and happy Pride Month!

 As always, we start spoiler-free with a brief discussion and our personal ratings. We will then give a clear spoiler warning before diving deeper, in case you want to pause and read the book first. 

Follow us on Instagram @fmcx2podcast for updates and behind-the-scenes content. New episodes every two weeks. 

All opinions are our own and we are not affiliated or sponsored by any authors, publishers, or brands.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey, I'm Nat. And I'm Samantha. And this is episode four of FMC Square. We are going to be talking about flirting lessons by Jasmine Gillary. And Samantha's gonna read the back of the book so you guys can kind of get an idea of what the book was about.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Avery Jensen is almost 30, fresh off a breakup and tired of always being so uptight and well behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around, especially women, flirt with everyone she sees, wear something not from the business casual section in her closet, all the fun stuff normal people do in their 20s. One problem, Avery doesn't know where to start. 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 ton 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 to Labor Day without sleeping with someone. So, Taylor offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It should keep her busy and stop her from texting people she shouldn't, and it might take her mind off how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem so much more settled and adult than Taylor. At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon Avery is looking forward to their weekly lessons. With Taylor's help, Avery finally has the life she always wanted. The only issue is now she wants Taylor too. Their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, despite their 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, and most important, if she already ruined the best thing she had ever had. So let's get right to it. Our review of the book. We're both gonna be very honest. So let's just be honest. Two out of five.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

We're both gonna be very honest, so let's just be honest.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

On the count of three. On the count of three, yeah. We definitely came to the conclusion that it was both two out of five. Yeah, it was. And the nicest way possible of the book was just boring.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Yeah, it just, it's not that it wasn't a good writer.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Yeah, it just wasn't it was super slow. It was so slow. I also feel like there's a piece of me that is maybe like a little biased because like I am gay. So it's just like Yeah, no, I would love to hear this perspective, actually. It made you wonder like, is the Arthur even really gay, or is this just like your stereotypical, like just like did it that they use AI to come up with this book, you know?

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Right. No, yeah, I get that. It was very vanilla. Yeah, it was very vanilla. And the gardening. Although I will say I did enjoy Beth's character.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

I did love Beth. I did love all the friends. The friends that were associated with Taylor, like the guy, what was his name? Luke. Yes, Luke, yeah. What's his name, Luke? Luke, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

No, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, that yeah, there were some definitely some good characters in it.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

They had some good friends for sure. Not the friends that were betting on Taylor's love life, but But that being said, read at your own pace.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

You know, if you like contemporary romances, if you want to get into this book, we're gonna give you spoilers ahead.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

So we're gonna, you know, let you guys pause for a second. And if you want to go ahead and get this book, whether or not you want to listen to it like Samantha does, or I like to read a hard copy. Um, I'm sure you can get it on Amazon. Again, it's Jasmine Gillary, and the book is called Flirting Lessons. And we're gonna just take a brief second before we start spilling any tea about the book. Um, and you guys can pause here and come back to us when you're ready.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

All right, guys. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Yeah. So, okay, so let's just give a brief rundown of the book. Yes. Of course, we read the back of the book, but in my own terms, this book is basically about two gay women, one just now coming out the closet. I guess. I don't know. She just got out of a relationship.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

It was confusing because it was hard to tell whether she had just come to the realization that she was gay or if it was just something she never acted on, but everyone knew about her.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yeah, that's I was also really confused about that. I'm not surprised by it. And I would think like after she dated this guy that everyone knew about for so long, that there would be some type of surprise about the fact that she's like doing flirting lessons.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

So if it's a small Napa place where everyone knows everybody, they're not gonna run into him and he's gonna be like, interesting, you're not with a male. Yeah, exactly. Suddenly you're with a there just could have been more drama, I felt like would have made it juicy.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

More drama, so like Yeah, there was definitely drama, but not the drama that we were looking for.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Yeah, another thing is like if she was just beginning to be with a girl, there could have been more like there was so much build-up to them. But then it was just kind of Where is the fucking at? That's what I was thinking. Well I was like It was just also like quick to them being in a serious relationship and then nothing bad ever happened. Yeah, that's true. Now we're talking about Taylor's just like I'm great at relationships, even though I've never done them. The whole book's been about how I'm not good at them.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

And how I'm a piece of shit, but now suddenly Avery, this this overly organized. I don't just I just didn't get it, honestly. You know, Taylor gives fuckboy energy. Yes, Taylor does give fuckboy energy, and then and then Avery gives neurotic a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yes. To be in her mind was not enjoyable. That's I think it was boring listening to it very much because I'm like, I don't want to be in there. She second guesses too much.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

She's definitely has insecurity issues.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Yeah, way too many.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

But but also the fact that she carries a persona as if she's all put together, even though that's not really who she is. I don't know. Maybe I just didn't like the characters either.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

No, when Erica and her first came out with the bet, I'm gonna be honest, I tried to project where I thought the book was gonna go, per usual. And what I thought was gonna happen was the very generic tale as old as time, where it's like, we're gonna place a bet, you and I, that you're not gonna fall for this person. You inevitably fall for them. They find out about the bet once you're in this. Yes, and then it's gonna be like a whole big thing. Now I have to try to get you back and prove that it wasn't just a bet. I was thinking. Okay, good, good.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

That's also what I was thinking. I was not thinking it was gonna go go down. But I mean, the book is literally fucking called Flirtin' Lesson, so I don't know why I didn't anticipate that. Right. But I don't know. Yeah, yeah. I know. Okay, so then after her and Erica placed the bread, her and Taylor, and I don't know, like, are these just like a bunch of like rich ass white people? They must be because none of them seem to work very much. Yeah, like owning wineries and shit like that. Yeah, I just don't get it. And I don't know, maybe a piece of me is like, I'm gay, but like I'm not that gay, you know? So like I don't I wouldn't know about it.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

You don't wear jean overalls covered in paint.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

And tank tops when your muscles showing. Like, I don't know. Yeah, leather belts and combat boots.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

It's almost cringe. I know. It did seem very like AI-ish. I don't know. I just definitely I've never been in like queer groups, like where they go to like a queer trivia night. There was a lot of those.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Maybe that's Napa Valley. Maybe we just don't know.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So like is the whole fucking Napa just queer? And they all just or they make it seem as if Violet let us know, listeners. If you're from Napa Valley, please give us some insight.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Is there this many art classes and dance classes? And pottery and fucking salsa.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Maybe I'm Hayden. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

But yeah, so they're going through these lessons, and Avery is getting more and more comfortable with herself. Yeah. She's starting to show a little bit more skin and shit. But she's like, is it because I'm also trying to not be like sexual with anybody? And that's why I'm like fiending for this girl. Yeah. So we were also wondering that too. Right, exactly. Like, do you actually like her? Exactly. Because, you know, again, the whole storyline is that her friends are like Taylor, she's not someone for long term. Yeah, I agree. And then, surprise, surprise.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Surprise, surprise. Yeah, I guess, I guess maybe that's my frustration with the book was that it was almost too predictable.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Like almost maybe it would have been one of those rare stories where it's like, I would have been maybe happier if they didn't end up together just because it was something different. It was something different.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

It was definitely something different. Wait, can we also talk about I I couldn't get over this, and I really thought it was a good idea. Really small part of the book, but Beth and um her partner planning a surprise wedding. That was so good. I thought that was so cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

I love the idea of the like little storyline.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah, Beth has an amazing storyline. She's I think she was ex exactly what Avery needed. She was.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Um I thought maybe it'd be like a well, at least I got a longtime best friend from this experience. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

And now it's like, fuck Taylor, she's still a piece of shit. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe I was on a Taylor hate wagon.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

May maybe. And you know, because like I didn't hate trauma, but I just kind of like I did want some part of her to like have something happen to be like I guess I was just expecting more. Prove yourself that you're like ready.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, like all she did, all she had to do was like pour her fucking heart out, and then she just got Avery just like that.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Like Avery seemed really smart and put together. Yeah, she did.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

I feel like she should have given uh Taylor some more pushback in regards to them being in a relationship. But I guess that's the whole thing about romance. It's like you're not thinking logically, you're just thinking about the fact that you want to be in love.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah, but did you not want to also like reach through and just slap them in the face at the end when they were going back and forth and basically they were in a relationship together at this point, but then it was like, oh, you know, her friends, you know, Taylor overhead heard her friends at Erica's baby shower saying we don't think that Avery and Taylor are gonna stay together for longer than I have this baby in my belly, basically. Yeah. That's a crazy fucking bet to place, by the way. Crazy bet to place. At a baby shower that that person is throwing shisty. Like, first off, Erica. Yeah, those bitches are messy. You did owe her that apology. You did definitely owe her that apology.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

I'm glad she gave it to her too. Fuck the excuses, though, about the fact that you've been emotional and shit like that. Girl, like, you know. Shut up. Now you're a piece of shit.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

If you're pregnant, listen. We get it, you're going through a lot, but that doesn't mean you can be.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

That does not justify your behavior. No. So as long as that's clarified, and as long as you're placing bet on your friends because they're living their lives. Yeah, exactly. Okay, she had a miscarriage though. No, I mean that storyline was sad. No, that definitely was sad, but still, even still, it did not justify her placing a whole bet at the baby shower with people that she didn't even know. Some of them, I agree. It's me mimicking the exact thing that you're saying. I know, because it's so valid. It was fucked up. And you're her best friend, and everyone knows that you're her best friend. I think uh people literally place oh yeah. On the positive side of this book, I do like the fact that the book was also very realistic. Like, it's definitely something that I could see myself going through, or even someone that I know going through as well. Maybe not verbatim, like the bit and shit like that. Like, that's crazy. But I could definitely see that vibe, like best friends falling apart because they have significant others, or best friends falling apart because someone, you know, is getting a light. Yeah, you're at different phases of your life.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

100%. Yeah, I mean, I have friends that you know have kids now, and it's like it is a totally different hangout. It is, you know, it's like they're still in your life, it's just different, but it's still great and you love it, yeah. But then those phases change because then their life changes all the time. So it's just interesting.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

And it's a shift in your friendship, of course.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Yeah, so it was realistic, but I guess it's kind of like, why do I want to read about it? Because I'm like, Yeah, because I can go deal with that in real life.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah, and that was my issue too. It's just like it was almost too realistic. But if you're looking for stuff like that where you want books that are along the lines of like realism, then I think that would be a great tame story. Yeah, more tame story. I was hoping that she was gonna get like her ass ate from the back on the couch or something, and they were gonna like describe it or some shit, but like and it never got to that point. But there was maybe like three or four spicy scenes, and even the spice level, and that's another thing too. Like, I was I feel like they said the spice level was like a three out of five. This shit was not a three out of five. Well, maybe compared to the spice books that I've read, I've read some sick shit, but no, to full disclosure, I almost like didn't finish this book.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

I told you this. I was like, oh my god, I have five hours left. Um, literally powered through that too.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Yeah, same. I had to also power through the book knowing that we had to record this by a specific date. And that didn't make me feel good to know that I had to like push through the book.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Push through no, I know honestly, if I if it would have been for if we didn't have this episode to record, fully probably would have not finished it.

unknown 13:21

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

And I hate to say that. I'm so sorry, Jasmine.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I'm sorry, we're just we'll definitely try to maybe read something else of her book, like circle.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Yeah. But yeah, we will, we will, we will.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yeah, no, this one just maybe it just Samantha just made a face that screams, she doesn't want to read anything else by her.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Cause I what is the it's probably the same genre and stuff, which I think it's just for me is this where the vibe is not. I think it's she's a good writer. I just think she writes things that maybe for me. I'm not looking for. Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

We're breaking up, Jasmine. Like I don't think we're compatible. I I'm sorry, I need the drama. I do need the drama a little bit. And if it is gonna be around about romance, I feel like it's only right for me to also have some spice.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Especially because, like, yeah, they could have got them together maybe a little bit sooner and then had them date longer in the story.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

I was guess-I was guessing like when I think of romance, I also think of like intimacy. And I don't know, I do feel like they had a lot of very intimate moments, but they were also still along the lines of like something with farting lessons. Yeah, it was a fighting lesson, so I wasn't really think thinking that that to me wasn't given like intimate quite yet.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Yeah, and they had like you know, two or three dates after that, even, but it was still like fast.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah. I will say she did make me want to try a mud bath. Oh my god. Have you ever tried a mud bath? No, I haven't. We should plant.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Unless you mean like in the wild, if there was mud, did I slather myself in it as like a young child? A hundred percent. Of course, I'm not sure. But as an adult with like nice mud that doesn't have sticks and like insects in the streets.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

And you have to go like take a hot shower after. So I was immediately thinking, I was like, damn, we should do a spa day. Like, dude, we should. I will say this book did give me a lot of ideas of fun things to do. I immediately text my best friend and was like, we should do a pottery class or some shit like that. Just thinking like of new things that, but again, this book was just very realistic.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

Yeah, it did give like fun friend vibes with like the best storyline instagram. I was like, oh, this is nice to hear about two girl, like women that found each other and they got this hobby together. Yeah, and now they're gardened and shit. Honestly, you know what it made me kind of think of? How both of them were at the book reading, and then she was just like, you know what, you gotta put yourself out there and just be like, Do you want to hang out? Yeah. And it made me think of how we work on it. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, because when we were at work and then I knew I was gonna be quitting, and I was just like, But do you want to do that?

SPEAKER_01 15:53

If I don't take my chance, yeah, if I don't take my chance now, and I've haven't regretted a second of it since then. It's so funny though, because we've been doing this like consistently now for I don't even think I've realized how long it's been. No, like how long have you been going through? I've it's been like two years almost. That's so crazy. Yeah, and it's been on a consistent basis. Yes. Imagine if we neither one of us would have said anything.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Yeah, we could have just sat next to each other and then I could have left after a month and it could have just been like, see you never. Exactly. Bye. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

So that's that's the thing. So take a chance when you meet friends that you vibe with. There's great lessons that you learn from this book too. I feel like life lessons that you learn from this book, like yeah, instead of life lessons, instead of flirting lessons. Yeah, we learned life lessons. Yes. Avy learned flirting lessons. I did learn by like the end of the book, me being all like, oh, optimistic and shit, like, oh, maybe it's it's nice to always go out on a whim with love. Like, you should always follow your heart, follow your intuition. I did think that it did kind of give me like a floaty feeling by the time I was.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Okay, but do we really think that you have someone that's been a fuckboy, always been a fuckboy.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

That girl's gonna cheat. She's gonna get bored with Avery.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

That's what they should have done. They should have done a second boom. They should have done it to where they were together and she slipped up and accidentally not even cheating on her, but just well, I mean, you would have loved that's her like that. That's what you're looking for. That's right. Yeah, or at least just even just like talk to someone in a way that's like, hey, when you're in a relationship, you don't do that. Avery's kind of like, okay, you're not ready for this, like, you know, whatever. And then that would have been like a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

It goes back to the same spiel where we say we were just looking for more drama. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Like we just needed something to happen.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

I needed her to hate Avery. Just kidding. But like a little bit. Yeah, just like a little bit. Like, it would have added more to the plot, if that makes any sense. But all in all, at the end of the day, we still rate it a two out of five. I definitely say no one give up on the book because Yeah, it just might be that it's your genre and you're looking for like a nice genre. Like, read. Personally, if I'm thinking romance, I'm thinking fucking.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

Yeah. I could see like someone that's just like, oh, I want to just sit on the beach and read something that's like crazy. Yeah, some super light reading. Like that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

It's light, alright. It's like light as a feather. It's it's it's nothing. Yeah, but there's a lot of pages for it to be nothing. I will, I will say that. That and then that's goes back to what hefty. Yeah. Definitely not too far. I wouldn't say Harry Potter thick, but maybe like two-thirds of it.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yeah, like let's. I'm just wanna, I'm just curious to see how many pages there are.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

It is a lot of pages, even with the epilogue. If you include in that, I believe it's like 392. Yeah, it's 400 pages. I think that's ridiculous for like no sex scenes.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Yeah, I mean, they probably could have cut out an easy uh 200.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

I agree. I think the book should have been like 120 pages max. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

But you know what? It's okay. Next week we're gonna pick something that's a different genre.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yeah, different genre mix it up. And hopefully does not have my eyelids literally crossing.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Yes, we're trying to we're trying to bring everything back to life here, okay?

SPEAKER_01 19:13

We're not trying to lose you guys.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

So all right, guys. So if you want to read along with us next week, we are gonna be reviewing Love Mom by Ileana Xander. So now Nat is gonna give a little bit about what that book's about.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Alright, guys. So we're reading the back of the book or Goodreads book description. Um, a best-selling Arthur, a mother, a murderer. Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student, but she is best known for her mother, a best-selling arthor whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fan base. When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking, was that really an accident? The day of the memorial service, Mackenzie gets the first mysterious envelope signed from number one fan, XOXO. Inside are the pages of her mother's diary that start with the lines, want to know a secret? Love mom. What McKenzie reads leaves her in a shock. But then comes the second letter and the third. Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years. Quickly, she realizes that her mother's path to stardom was edged with sinister lies that might have caught up with her. Sometimes fame is worth a murder, or worse. Soon Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder. Feel free to read along. Yes, and we'll come back to you guys and you can spill some tea with us. We'll discuss the book, and hopefully, this is a better go round than the last. That's right. Feeling optimistic. Feeling optimistic. Love mom, love Samantha, love daddy. Yes, love you guys. Love you guys, and thank you for being on FNC Square. Bye, guys.