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

Loading player...
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.

#RomanticComedy #SouthAfricanAuthor #RomanceBooks #BookPodcast #SouthAfricanFiction #RomanticFiction #BookRecommendations #LoveStories
#RomanticReads #SupportLocalAuthors #BookLovers #BookDiscussion #PodcastForReaders #SouthAfricanBooks #FunnyBooks #CapeTownPodcast
17 Feb 2025 English South Africa Books · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Lọlá Ákínmádé and Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Next up in the Pagecast studio at Open Book Festival 2026, Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele is joined by bestselling author, keynote speaker and award-winning photographer Lọlá Ákínmádé. Lọlá's work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Travel, The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times and Lonely…
5 Sep 13 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Krystle Zara Appiah and Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Joining Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele next in the Pagecast studio at Open Book Festival 2026 is Krystle Zara Appiah, a British-Ghanaian writer, editor and screenwriter based in London. In 2020, Krystle was one of 40 writers selected for the London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme. Her debut novel, Rootless, was highly acclaimed,…
5 Sep 17 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Jessica Horn and Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Joining Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele in the Pagecast studio at Open Book Festival 2026 is (East) African feminist practitioner, writer, ideamonger and award-winning poet, Jessica Horn. Her book, African Feminist Praxis: Cartographies of Liberatory Worldmaking (Sage, 2025), chronicles decades of feminist mobilisation. Taking her archival passion into film, she recently directed…
5 Sep 15 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: I.O. Echeruo and Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane in conversation

Joining Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane of The Cheeky Natives is I.O. Echeruo, author of the debut novel The Comfort of Distant Stars - a bold coming-of-age tale where physics, philosophy and Igbo cosmology collide. Echeruo's debut story collection, Expert in All Styles, was published by Nigerian publisher Farafina, and his short fiction…
5 Sep 13 min