Jasmine Guillory Charms in Her First Sapphic Romance, “Flirting Lessons” — Read an Excerpt Here! (Exclusive)

Jasmine Guillory is ready to make readers swoon once again.

PEOPLE can share an exclusive excerpt from the bestselling author's forthcoming novel, Flirting Lessons, which will be published next spring via Berkley.

The novel follows Avery Jensen, a newly single bisexual woman who is looking for a fresh start. When she meets Taylor Cameron, also known as the biggest flirt in Napa Valley, her world gets totally upended.

Taylor, in a bet with her best friend, has sworn off sex for two months. However, she’s quick to offer Avery “flirting lessons” — both to help with Avery’s confidence, and to keep Taylor’s mind away from her own romance woes.

Though their lessons get off on a bumpy start, both women soon come to see that they may be falling for the other, in this delightful rom-com.

For Guillory, who broke onto the scene with her bestselling debut The Wedding Date, writing Flirting Lessons, her first sapphic romance, was a new — yet fruitful — experience. 

“It was a joy to write about two women figuring out life and finding their way to one another!” the author tells PEOPLE. “I took a longer than usual break in between books before writing this one, and I just had so much fun with this book, and let myself enjoy every part of it. It was so much fun to do something different, but to still have all of the butterflies and tingles and happy feelings about romance.”

Related: PEOPLE Picks Our Staff's Favorite Romance Novels

The author also says that publishing a novel with a bisexual heroine, especially one who is exploring her romantic prospects with women, feels essential right now.

“So many women I know lately, including myself, have been thinking hard about what we want our lives to look like, paying attention to what we truly want and not what’s expected of us or what other people have told us that we should want,” Guillory says.

“And we’re all learning that there’s no time limit for any of this, that it’s never too late to do something we really want to do, that we can learn new things and explore new and different sides of ourselves at age 25, 35, 45, 55 and 85.”

Guillory, who's also the brains behind beloved rom-coms like The Proposal and The Wedding Party, has built a devoted fanbase — and hopes to keep that going with her latest book too.

“I always hope to draw new and different audiences — people who didn’t think romance was for them, people who are seeing themselves in a romance for the first time, people who love queer romances — but I also hope people who have read and enjoyed my previous books will love this one too!” Guillory says.

And while Guillory, now a romance novel veteran, says she still has some anxiety when publishing a new book, she’s ultimately thrilled for readers to meet her two newest protagonists.

Related: Hannah Brown Announces New Romance Novel Publishing in 2025: ‘Shows a Different Side to Me’ (Exclusive)

“They’re very different people,” Guillory says. “Avery is put-together, buttoned-up, perfectly dressed for any occasion, and outwardly seems very confident, but she’s scared to try new things, scared to make friends, scared to put herself out there and relax around people she hasn’t known for years."

On the other hand, "Taylor is an extrovert, has lots of friends, is constantly in and out of relationships, everyone falls for her; she absolutely can teach Avery how to flirt, but she doesn’t feel like she has her life together in the way that she’s supposed to by her mid thirties," the author continues. "I love them both so much, and loved writing their story.”

Read on for an exclusive excerpt from Flirting Lessons.

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“Okay, so here are a few flirting tips to keep in mind,” Taylor said as she got on the freeway. “First of all, and I know it sounds basic, but bear with me: Make eye contact, at least briefly. Don’t stare — at least not until you get a little more advanced at this — but you want people to know that you’re looking at them. Second: Smile. You don’t have to give everyone the exact same smile, it doesn’t have to show all of your teeth or whatever, but people like to spend time talking to someone who seems friendly. And third: Ask people their name and try to remember it. Say it back to them right away, say it a few times in the conversation to keep it in your head. Remembering names makes a difference; people are really flattered by it.”

Avery wanted to pull out her phone and write all of this down, but she thought Taylor might make fun of her if she did. Then she thought about what Taylor had said about being honest. Taylor was right; she didn’t want to do this if she was going to worry at every moment that Taylor was going to make fun of her. And if Taylor did make fun of her, fine, she’d just go home. She pulled out her phone and started a new note.

“Okay: eye contact, smile, remember names, anything else?” Taylor glanced down at Avery’s phone and smiled.

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“I also don’t remember anything unless I write it down. Hmm, okay: Ask people questions about themselves, and really listen to the answers. If they say something interesting, keep asking more questions. I know, I know, this is Conversation 101, but sometimes people think of flirting as something different and freeze up, when it’s just a category of conversation. You seem like you have the potential to freeze up.”

Avery let out a breath.

“You are correct about that.” She added ask questions, then more questions to her list.

“But also,” Taylor continued, “flirting isn’t one-size-fits-all. Pay attention to who you’re talking to and how they interact with you. People like to be flirted with the same way they flirt.” She laughed. “That goes for other things, too, but I digress. Some of what I said won’t work for everyone. Some people don’t like eye contact but will hang around and keep talking to you, some people hate being casually touched while others are super into it. What matters is what you like — if you’re not vibing with someone, don’t force it.”

• Not one size fits all

• Pay attention

• Like to be flirted with the same way they flirt

Oh God, this was already so many things. How was she going to remember all of it?

“And I can already feel your shoulders getting tense over there, so please don’t try to memorize this all now and think there’s going to be a pop quiz or something, little miss A-plus student.”

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Avery tried to relax her shoulders.

“A quiz would be easier than having to do this in real life,” she said.

Taylor ignored that.

“Oh, and this is the most important thing: Only flirt with people that you actually want to flirt with. Where there’s some attraction, or they seem friendly, or they say something funny, or they’re just very hot, whatever. This is supposed to be fun, and attempting to flirt with people you don’t want to flirt with is no fun.”

Avery stared at her.

“I’m supposed to do all of this and also have fun?” Taylor laughed.

“You don’t have to do all of it at once! Try to do one or two things, and let the rest come. I’ll remember not to give you too much information in the future; I should have known that you would want to ace it all.”

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There was no chance of her being able to do that. “Okay, we’re here,” Taylor said a few minutes later.

“Where are we? What are we doing here?” Avery asked as Taylor pulled into a parking space.

“So suspicious,” Taylor said with laughter in her voice. “If you get out of the car, maybe we can go see what we’re doing here.”

From FLIRTING LESSONS published by arrangement with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Jasmine Guillory.

Flirting Lessons will be published on April 8, 2025 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.

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