The Trouble With Flirting Review

The Trouble With Flirting
by Claire LaZebnik
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Format: ARC from Around the World ARC Tours, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Midnight Minute: A modern take on Jane Austen's Mansfield Park with a few tweaks and a much better end.  I loved it!
From Goodreads:

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . . Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady. When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected.

Midnight Thoughts:

~I figured this would be a cute book, but it was even better than I thought.  It was fun, flirty and a perfect YA Contemporary Romance. I don't know if I can do justice to this book, but I really, really loved it!
~ Based on Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which I'm not that familiar with- I read the book once long ago and vaguely remember the movie version with Johnny Lee Miller (Angelina Jolie's ex), but partly because Franny didn't really impress me as an Austen heroine.  I actually (shock, horror!) like LaZebnik's Franny! Do not expect this plot to follow Austen's completely faithfully.
~ I loved the mix of Shakespeare's plays in the novel, especially Twelfth Night, which I thought was pretty fitting considering the plot.
~ Franny is an average girl from an average background in the midst of privileged teens, but she's not envious or overly intimidated by them, which I liked. 
~ I loved the setting!  A bunch of teenagers together for six weeks, all drama students, with minimal adult supervision?  How can that not be fun?
~Franny and Alex have a cute, friendly, easy friendship.  I wish I'd been that cool around guys in high school... of course, I wish there'd been guys like Alex and Harry when I was a teen, but that was pre-Dawson's Creek days, so teens didn't speak all witty and cute.  The boys in my school only had the Frog Brothers from The Lost Boys as role models...
~ Franny knows Julia and her brother Alex from 8th grade, back when Franny still acted- before her mom decided that acting wasn't going to get her daughter anywhere in life. I'm all for getting your kids into a good school, but I'm pretty sure drama club isn't an activity that's frowned upon by colleges.  By all means, stop your kids from building meth labs in the shed, or starting a Sunday School Fight Club, but acting is actually a suitable pursuit to put on the college apps. 
~ So Franny likes Alex, but she's rendered invisible whenever Isabella is in the room.  It's like Alex can only see Franny if Isabella is somewhere else.  It's possible he thinks Isabella is Superwoman, and Franny is her alter/Clark Kent persona. 
~ Isabella and Harry are veryclose.  There is instant animosity between Alex and Harry- a case of too many cocks in the hen house syndrome. 
~ Harry is possibly a man whore, but it's not off putting.  I was Team Alex, but it didn't take long before I was Team Harry.  Mostly because Alex was all Ashely Wilkes- he loved Mellie, but he also liked Scarlet panting after him.  Although, Isabella is more Scarlet, and Franny is more Mellie, so this is probably a bad comparison.
~ Austen's Franny was pretty timid and quiet, but our Franny here, while quiet, is not timid.  She's not weak, although she does make mistakes, she's also funny- love that she compares Harry to a dog rubbing up against anyone to get petted- and isn't quite the doormat that I remember her being from Mansfield Park. 
~ Did I mention that I loved Harry?
~ My feelings for Isabella were all over the place, I wanted to dislike her simply because she "came between" Alex and Franny, but in all honesty, she had nothing to do with it. 
~ Franny suffers from  Kovtapyroergasoiphobia.
~ That's a phobia of fireworks.  I Googled the phobia name so you didn't have to.  I love when people have weirder phobias than I do, because then I can feel all superior... until a bee flies by and I lose my shiz. 
~ Franny's Aunt Amelia is very repressed.  Plus she's in a book club that only reads books that "expands their horizon".  I suspect the ladies are really reading Fifty Shades of Grey!
~ The dialog between the characters, especially Harry and Franny, was wonderful, even if it was more Gilmore Girls clever than I can be in my life. 
~ After reading this book, I texted four of my book blogging friends to let them know that I would be buying this book when it comes out and that I will share it with them like an STD in a sailor's port of call.  Which led to a future feature you'll be seeing on here called Book STD, when a book is so good, you need to pass it around!  I am worried that might offend people, but then I figured that if you read my blog on a regular basis then you're probably not easily offended.  Besides, Book STD is good, and the treatment is better than penicillin! 

Timeless Characters:

Franny- our heroine, forced to work her fingers to the bone to sew costumes for a summer drama program. 
Alex- Boy #1, sexy and sweet.
Harry- Boy #2, sexy and not-so-sweet.
Isabella- beautiful, talented and into Alex.
Julia- Alex's sister, initially crushes on Harry, like every other girl.
Marie- spoiled, beautiful (seriously, ugly people need not apply to YA books), and after Harry despite dating:
James- Marie's lap dog boyfriend. 
Vanessa- Franny's friend, would have liked to see a bit more of her.
There's also several other teens at the camp, but I failed to write all the names down. 
Aunt Amelia- Franny's aunt, a bit uptight.  

Midnight Moment:

Probably for me, the best moment was the shopping trip all the kids take, and Franny and Harry's grocery store hook up.  Kind of sexy, Harry.  ;)

Stop The Clock:

                                         So freaking cute!!  I can't wait until I can own this!!!



  Claire LaZebnik— Website |

The Trouble With Flirting gets a Midnight Book Rating of: