Playing Flirty with Shameez Patel: Nerdy Romance, Board Games & Big Risks

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This week on Pagecast, Qarnita Loxton is in conversation with Shameez Patel about her latest book, a geeky romantic comedy called Playing Flirty.

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:
For Rose Marie Jones, risks are a hard no–except for Game Night. For one precious evening a week, Rose can forget about her demanding boss and her lackluster love life and focus on beating the pants off her friends. But none of them brings out her hyper-competitive side quite like William Ashdern.

Her best friend’s half-brother, William is the paragon of a sexy nerd. The tall, dorky, and handsome game designer is Rose’s playing nemesis. But when Rose decides to enter a contest with the board game she’s secretly invented, there’s only one person who can help her win.

Now what has always been a game between Rose and William is getting a lot more serious. And after spending her entire life trying not to lose, Rose might finally be ready to risk it all–and play to win.

MORE ABOUT SHAMEEZ AND QARNITA:
Shameez Patel was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She lives there with her husband, child, and two cats named Turbo and Charger. During the day, she juggles her time between parenting her daughter and working as an engineer, but at night, she escapes to new worlds that always have someone to fall in love with. Shameez became obsessed with fiction, especially fantasy fiction, at a young...

Qarnita Loxton was born in Cape Town, where she still lives with her family. She has practised as an attorney, studied psychology and worked as an executive coach. Her first novel, Being Kari, was longlisted for the 9mobile Prize for Literature in 2018 and shortlisted for the 2018 Herman Charles Bosman Prize. Being Lily, Being Shelley and Being Dianne followed, concluding the series. In 2021 Qarnita was awarded the Philida Literary Award for an oeuvre of literary successs. She is a co-author of Chasing Marian, published in 2022. Her most recent novel What's Wrong With June? was published in 2024.

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17 Feb 2025 English South Africa Books · Society & Culture

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