What do you think?
Rate this book
The Right Sign
When he falls in love with her at first sight, but he doesn’t know she’s deaf...I have one rule and one rule only—never date a hearing man.But does fake dating a hearing man count?When a case of mistaken car-dentity leaves me indebted to Richard ‘Dare’ Sullivan, I have no choice but to play the role of his doting girlfriend.Technically, our kisses are fake so they don’t count… right?Our contract ends in three months and I’ll forget the possessive billionaire ever existed.Sure, I may be a teeny-bit curious about that princess watch he wears. And… okay, I may have been tempted to tear his shirt off when he learned ASL for me.But none of that means I’ll let him into my heart.I’ve got one rule and one rule only.Even rain kisses and dreamy chocolate eyes won't change my mind.The Right Sign is a slow-burn, BWWM, deaf heroine romance and can be read as a standalone. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and, of course, a guaranteed HEA!
484 pages, Paperback
Published January 3, 2024
1034 people are currently reading
4785 people want to read
About the author
Nia Arthurs
165 books983 followersFrom an early age, Nia knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began chasing that dream when she was a teenager.
Nia writes interracial romance and contemporary romance with guaranteed happy endings. She loves strong heroines and swoon-worthy heroes, and just enough spice and drama to keep things interesting!
Look for the Taming Series (Taming Mr. Jerkface, Taming Mr. Charming, Taming Mr. Know-It-All, and Taming Mr. Darcy) in ebook format.
And catch up with Nia on Facebook @authorniaarthurs. Happy Reading!
Nia writes interracial romance and contemporary romance with guaranteed happy endings. She loves strong heroines and swoon-worthy heroes, and just enough spice and drama to keep things interesting!
Look for the Taming Series (Taming Mr. Jerkface, Taming Mr. Charming, Taming Mr. Know-It-All, and Taming Mr. Darcy) in ebook format.
And catch up with Nia on Facebook @authorniaarthurs. Happy Reading!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews
January 16, 2024
i’m begging romcom authors to come up with something other than miscommunication as the catalyst for angst 😭😭
December 24, 2023
3.95 🌟
So there were a lot of things I liked about this story. I liked the focus on the deaf community. I feel like it’s not explored enough in romance or women’s fiction which is a shame because I adore reading books with deaf characters because I learn so much and the stories are so heartwarming. Next , I know it’s delusional and ridiculous but I too am obsessed with besotted billionaires. I’m not even money hungry but the idea of a person being able to afford to adore their love is really cute. Now if this happened in real life the feeling would most definitely not be mutual hence… delusional and ridiculous. Next, I liked how their chemistry was constantly to building up. It depends on the story and the characters but I’m usually not a fan of people jumping into bed soon into the story. I love the build up and angst and verbal foreplay! I really liked Yaya and Dare both individually and together. I loved Yaya’s confidence and charisma and Dare being obsessed from the get go was a major green flag.
Now there were some things I didn’t like. I didn’t like how blind Dare was to his niece’s and sister’s spoilt tendencies. I’m sure this must be the reality for many many people but surely no one is lacking that much awareness… surely? However he did eventually see the light so perhaps that counts for something. Next, I seriously did not like the third act breakup. MISCOMMUNICATION IS SO STUPID! Now I know that might sound insensitive given the topics of this book but this was not related to the 2 languages they speak but genuinely just stupidity! Trust me, I know how difficult it can be to speak up in the moment when you’re emotionally overwhelmed but when the love of your life is on the line maybe you can try harder???
Anyways, overall I enjoyed reading it. Although I will say that I felt like there was something lacking for me? I can’t say exactly what but while I was still invested, the story didn’t grip me the way I anticipated. Still a good read with a HEA but I would’ve like an epilogue to finish it off 😉
So there were a lot of things I liked about this story. I liked the focus on the deaf community. I feel like it’s not explored enough in romance or women’s fiction which is a shame because I adore reading books with deaf characters because I learn so much and the stories are so heartwarming. Next , I know it’s delusional and ridiculous but I too am obsessed with besotted billionaires. I’m not even money hungry but the idea of a person being able to afford to adore their love is really cute. Now if this happened in real life the feeling would most definitely not be mutual hence… delusional and ridiculous. Next, I liked how their chemistry was constantly to building up. It depends on the story and the characters but I’m usually not a fan of people jumping into bed soon into the story. I love the build up and angst and verbal foreplay! I really liked Yaya and Dare both individually and together. I loved Yaya’s confidence and charisma and Dare being obsessed from the get go was a major green flag.
Now there were some things I didn’t like. I didn’t like how blind Dare was to his niece’s and sister’s spoilt tendencies. I’m sure this must be the reality for many many people but surely no one is lacking that much awareness… surely? However he did eventually see the light so perhaps that counts for something. Next, I seriously did not like the third act breakup. MISCOMMUNICATION IS SO STUPID! Now I know that might sound insensitive given the topics of this book but this was not related to the 2 languages they speak but genuinely just stupidity! Trust me, I know how difficult it can be to speak up in the moment when you’re emotionally overwhelmed but when the love of your life is on the line maybe you can try harder???
Anyways, overall I enjoyed reading it. Although I will say that I felt like there was something lacking for me? I can’t say exactly what but while I was still invested, the story didn’t grip me the way I anticipated. Still a good read with a HEA but I would’ve like an epilogue to finish it off 😉
June 24, 2025
I really enjoy Arthurs' style of writing and the Farmhouse crowd has always been fun to revisit, but this book is absolutely dragged down by an unnecessarily long third act that frustrated me beyond reason. I love Yaya's strength, but Dare's communication issues made me wonder how they would work as a couple outside of this being an instalove romance. I know some people enjoy angst in their third act, but I absolutely hate when someone goes radio silence without giving their former partner a chance to explain what happened, especially when the issue is as miniscule as I'm pretty over the way authors drag out the third act to add more pages, especially in this case where the book could have been 200 pages shorter if the misunderstanding was resolved normally. I'll read the next book, but I hope she learns a new way to write conflict.
did-not-finish
March 10, 2024DNF at 26%.
I really wanted to like this.
This has a deaf black woman who is pretty darn awesome and a billionaire who loves his family and is fighting to care for his niece. Great. Love the rep and love a guy who cares for his family.
However, the setup is based on some pretty unhealthy actions and, while I'm sure learning to be better at "tough love" is a part of this, it's starting to add up.
1. The heroine rescues her friend who decides to go after a rolls royce with a baseball bat. Instead, she claims it was her so he doesn't have to face the consequences of his actions.
2. The hero rescues his sister after she drives drunk and crashes into a building. He pays everyone he can to keep it out of the media and keep her from jail so she doesn't have to face the consequences of her actions.
3. The hero refuses to believe his niece is anything other than an angel and disbelieves all the evidence so she doesn't have the face the consequences of her actions.
4. The hero blackmails the heroine into being his girlfriend and, (this is where I had to stop reading cause it was stressing me out) decides to reveal their relationship to overshadow a leak of his sister's car crash.
I can't. This is stressing me out.
I really wanted to like this.
This has a deaf black woman who is pretty darn awesome and a billionaire who loves his family and is fighting to care for his niece. Great. Love the rep and love a guy who cares for his family.
However, the setup is based on some pretty unhealthy actions and, while I'm sure learning to be better at "tough love" is a part of this, it's starting to add up.
1. The heroine rescues her friend who decides to go after a rolls royce with a baseball bat. Instead, she claims it was her so he doesn't have to face the consequences of his actions.
2. The hero rescues his sister after she drives drunk and crashes into a building. He pays everyone he can to keep it out of the media and keep her from jail so she doesn't have to face the consequences of her actions.
3. The hero refuses to believe his niece is anything other than an angel and disbelieves all the evidence so she doesn't have the face the consequences of her actions.
4. The hero blackmails the heroine into being his girlfriend and, (this is where I had to stop reading cause it was stressing me out) decides to reveal their relationship to overshadow a leak of his sister's car crash.
I can't. This is stressing me out.
September 11, 2024
I don’t believe in hitting kids… but Talia needed a whoopin and her momma too
December 30, 2023
Has good bones but kinda fell flat for me idk
May 18, 2024
AHHH THIS MAN WAS DOWN BAD I loved it
"She’s doing it again. That thing where she takes my breath away without even trying."
"She’s doing it again. That thing where she takes my breath away without even trying."
January 28, 2024
changed this to 2 stars… this book was meh!
March 15, 2024
I’m so sick of the miscommunication trope✋🏾
Want to read
March 26, 2024THIS SOUNDS SO CUTE
February 4, 2024
2.5 stars
Romance between a billionaire and deaf model who is against dating hearing people- fake dating trope.
Wasn’t super exciting and didn’t have me giggling and kicking my feet but was still cute- think I just prefer enemies to lovers.
Not sure how I felt about the dual POV- on one hand I think it took away from the excitement and suspense as we could see he was obsessed with her from the get go and knew his intentions and also felt like I didn’t get to know yaya’s (fmc) personality as much as I would like while on the other hand we did get to know dare’s personality and was cute to see how he thought of her.
Was an interesting storyline on combining the deaf world with the hearing world and the difficulties for deaf people in navigating relationships with hearing people. No spice
Romance between a billionaire and deaf model who is against dating hearing people- fake dating trope.
Wasn’t super exciting and didn’t have me giggling and kicking my feet but was still cute- think I just prefer enemies to lovers.
Not sure how I felt about the dual POV- on one hand I think it took away from the excitement and suspense as we could see he was obsessed with her from the get go and knew his intentions and also felt like I didn’t get to know yaya’s (fmc) personality as much as I would like while on the other hand we did get to know dare’s personality and was cute to see how he thought of her.
Was an interesting storyline on combining the deaf world with the hearing world and the difficulties for deaf people in navigating relationships with hearing people. No spice
Read
February 13, 2024Dnf at 38%
Yaya is annoying as hell. She has this unique ability to see anything positive and deliberately twist it into something negative because “ain’t no way”. She talks about how hearing people think the world revolves around them, while she’s actually 2x worse and god is she hypocritical.
Sullivan deserves better 💔
Yaya is annoying as hell. She has this unique ability to see anything positive and deliberately twist it into something negative because “ain’t no way”. She talks about how hearing people think the world revolves around them, while she’s actually 2x worse and god is she hypocritical.
Sullivan deserves better 💔
April 11, 2024
Every character in this books was getting on my last nerve like be so fr rn💀
August 13, 2025
While The Right Sign starts with an intriguing premise, it quickly becomes weighed down by far too many plotlines. In the span of one book, we’re juggling her deafness, his troubled home life, his attempt to adopt his niece, her struggles in the fashion world, betrayal from her best friend, a best friend’s secret love, and a full-blown scandal. Each subplot on its own might have been engaging, but together they compete for attention and dilute the emotional impact.
The result is that the original premise of the novel gets lost in the noise. Instead of developing one or two arcs deeply, the story keeps adding new conflicts, leaving little room for readers to connect fully with the characters or the central romance. By the end, it feels like the book is trying to do everything at once—and ends up doing none of it particularly well.
The result is that the original premise of the novel gets lost in the noise. Instead of developing one or two arcs deeply, the story keeps adding new conflicts, leaving little room for readers to connect fully with the characters or the central romance. By the end, it feels like the book is trying to do everything at once—and ends up doing none of it particularly well.
October 17, 2024
3.5 stars. The beginning was so good, but towards the end it kinda dragged on for no reason.
May 16, 2025
4.25⭐️
February 26, 2024
Great beginning
I was soo in love with this book through the first 70%.
The chemistry and love- was instant and endearing. Dare’s commitment and adoration for Yaya was so prefect and sweet.
Each chapter, I found myself waiting for the “other shoe” to drop, and I was pleasantly surprised when the characters resolved matters immediately …
BUT!!!!!
Around the 70% point, it took a turn. A SIMPLE miscommunication, which I wouldn’t even count it as something that could be misconstrued that way- swept both of them out of story for me.
It was like all of the sudden there was a rush to add tension and suspense to the story before it ended. It made no sense and almost completely ruined the book for me.
Speaking of slow burn. Dead end. No smut or actual intimacy between characters, outside of publicized interactions (though they were genuine in those). In honesty, I could have ready the whole book without smut and had no problem— if the story and characters had kept their momentum and personalities.
In the third act, everything, including the characters- fell apart. It was like reading about completely different characters with the same names.
(❌SPOILER❌)
Dare was so consistent and genuine in his pursuit to eradicate all communication barriers between Yaya and him…But ends up failing to communicate in the single most important situation in the book. It felt wrong and forced.
As well, Dare implicitly trusts and obeys Yaya throughout the whole book, only for him to completely drop her after a single hurdle.
He came off as obsessive in the most golden retriever-way….But…he ends up not fighting for her or for them, when things actually got tough. It didn’t make sense and I found myself being pulled out of the story and making excuses for the words I was reading, just so I could finish the book.
The story has a HEA, but I ended up flipping through it. The beginning of the book had me so enthralled and excited, you hardly noticed that it took almost 300 pages just to get to a “real” relationship. If the ending would have been a bit more consistent with that momentum, I think it could have had the impact that it built up to. Unfortunately, it finished off with several chapters of depressing separation and then a very thinly structured resolution, that failed to feel plausible.
This book and its’ characters, had incredible potential and at times had me kicking my feet and giggling. Unfortunately it ultimately fell flat in its story arc and left me with more frustration than satisfaction.
I was soo in love with this book through the first 70%.
The chemistry and love- was instant and endearing. Dare’s commitment and adoration for Yaya was so prefect and sweet.
Each chapter, I found myself waiting for the “other shoe” to drop, and I was pleasantly surprised when the characters resolved matters immediately …
BUT!!!!!
Around the 70% point, it took a turn. A SIMPLE miscommunication, which I wouldn’t even count it as something that could be misconstrued that way- swept both of them out of story for me.
It was like all of the sudden there was a rush to add tension and suspense to the story before it ended. It made no sense and almost completely ruined the book for me.
Speaking of slow burn. Dead end. No smut or actual intimacy between characters, outside of publicized interactions (though they were genuine in those). In honesty, I could have ready the whole book without smut and had no problem— if the story and characters had kept their momentum and personalities.
In the third act, everything, including the characters- fell apart. It was like reading about completely different characters with the same names.
(❌SPOILER❌)
Dare was so consistent and genuine in his pursuit to eradicate all communication barriers between Yaya and him…But ends up failing to communicate in the single most important situation in the book. It felt wrong and forced.
As well, Dare implicitly trusts and obeys Yaya throughout the whole book, only for him to completely drop her after a single hurdle.
He came off as obsessive in the most golden retriever-way….But…he ends up not fighting for her or for them, when things actually got tough. It didn’t make sense and I found myself being pulled out of the story and making excuses for the words I was reading, just so I could finish the book.
The story has a HEA, but I ended up flipping through it. The beginning of the book had me so enthralled and excited, you hardly noticed that it took almost 300 pages just to get to a “real” relationship. If the ending would have been a bit more consistent with that momentum, I think it could have had the impact that it built up to. Unfortunately, it finished off with several chapters of depressing separation and then a very thinly structured resolution, that failed to feel plausible.
This book and its’ characters, had incredible potential and at times had me kicking my feet and giggling. Unfortunately it ultimately fell flat in its story arc and left me with more frustration than satisfaction.
June 24, 2024
Sadly DNF at 70% so take this review of that amount of the story. Sadly Dare was not a great character I loved that he fell first and he was slightly obsessed but his willingness to get his sister and niece out of trouble was annoying. Yaya was a great character she was so strong, clever and independent. I enjoyed learning more on the deaf community this was insightful. I was just bored and didn’t really care what happened I could see a break up on the horizon and I was pretty sure it would be miscommunication which is obvious.
December 5, 2024
I was just bored I didn’t even make it that far in the book. The whole set up just did not hook me into the story. We have Yaya who takes the blame for her friend Henry, who mistakenly destroys Dare’s expensive car and that is the whole set up that leads into Dare asking Yaya to be a fake girlfriend so he can convince his alcoholic sister to let him take care of his niece while she’s in rehab.
The story just came off just super flat to me and I just found myself just not caring about any of these characters or caring enough to continue the story.
The story just came off just super flat to me and I just found myself just not caring about any of these characters or caring enough to continue the story.
January 14, 2024
A beautifully crafted story that I’m going to want to re as again and again. I absolutely loved the diversity, the fact that Yaya was a Black, deaf model shined light on such a unique experience. Yaya and Dare’s chemistry was palpable. I couldn’t put this book down. 10/10 highly recommend! 😁
January 21, 2024
I wanted to love this book so much but it was just SO slow and sometimes boring. Ending was cute but it took forever to get there. I did like the disability representation but otherwise it was pretty lackluster.
December 31, 2023
Would’ve been much better if it had 200 less pages.
I don’t understand these never ending contemporary romances.
I don’t understand these never ending contemporary romances.
January 7, 2024
to damn long.
October 11, 2024
In reference to the Nia-verse, I have only read two books, "Grumpy Romance" and "The Right Sign." I kindly request the recommended reading sequence for this universe.
Regarding the specific book in question, the protagonist, Dare, despite being a green flag, struggles with communication. This apprehension may stem from a fear of the potential consequences of expressing his thoughts, which ultimately leads to the temporary separation of Dare and Yaya. Fortunately, they reconcile in the end.
Yaya, on the other hand, possesses self-assurance but allows herself to be influenced by her supposed best friend, leading her to believe in false information.
The plot of the book is well-crafted and engaging, effectively conveying touching and overwhelming emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and consider it a potential addition to my personal collection of comforting reads.
Regarding the specific book in question, the protagonist, Dare, despite being a green flag, struggles with communication. This apprehension may stem from a fear of the potential consequences of expressing his thoughts, which ultimately leads to the temporary separation of Dare and Yaya. Fortunately, they reconcile in the end.
Yaya, on the other hand, possesses self-assurance but allows herself to be influenced by her supposed best friend, leading her to believe in false information.
The plot of the book is well-crafted and engaging, effectively conveying touching and overwhelming emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and consider it a potential addition to my personal collection of comforting reads.
September 22, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ This book was so cute. Was it super original? No, but I still enjoyed it so much. I really love Yaya and Dare. He tried so hard to learn about her world so that not only he could communicate with her, but understand her better. He really would do anything for her. He worked more in actions than he did words and I really appreciated that.
What I did not like was the miscommunication trope. I think that sometimes the miscommunication can come off as realistic, but in this case it did not.
Overall I would recommend this book if you want a slower burn romcom, don’t mind the miscommunication trope, and just want to have a good time.
Themes and Tropes:
•Fade to black scenes
•Deaf FMC
•Billionaire
•Slow burn
•Fake dating
•age gap
•golden retriever MMC
What I did not like was the miscommunication trope. I think that sometimes the miscommunication can come off as realistic, but in this case it did not.
Overall I would recommend this book if you want a slower burn romcom, don’t mind the miscommunication trope, and just want to have a good time.
Themes and Tropes:
•Fade to black scenes
•Deaf FMC
•Billionaire
•Slow burn
•Fake dating
•age gap
•golden retriever MMC
December 27, 2023
This was so cute I want to cry 😭🖐🏾
I just love love so much. It was literally perfect.
Sometimes you just want a billionaire who will learn asl and is absolutely smitten with you.
I loved everyone in this book.
The reason this will never happen to me is that as soon as someone(read billionaire) offers to solve all my problems with money, i’m a simple woman, my answer is yes.
I saw this on my little TikTok algorithm and I feel so blessed to have read it 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
I just love love so much. It was literally perfect.
Sometimes you just want a billionaire who will learn asl and is absolutely smitten with you.
I loved everyone in this book.
The reason this will never happen to me is that as soon as someone(read billionaire) offers to solve all my problems with money, i’m a simple woman, my answer is yes.
I saw this on my little TikTok algorithm and I feel so blessed to have read it 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
May 15, 2024
Really enjoyed the push and pull between YAYA and Dare. Some moments were really laugh out loud good!
Although Yaya was deaf, she didn't let anyone or anything stop her on the way to success. I also liked how Dare learned ASL to communicate with Yaya. Realizing that communication is key, Dare was willing to put his billions to good use, by building a bridge between the deaf and learning communities.
Awesome story!
October 26, 2024
“Money is only powerful until it meets conviction.”
“Matters are rarely that complicated. We just call things grey because we can’t commit to a side.”
"it’s okay to be manipulated just this once"
"knowing what you don’t want is just as powerful as knowing what you do. Sometimes, we can’t express what it is we’re looking for, but we know what we’re not looking for."
“Matters are rarely that complicated. We just call things grey because we can’t commit to a side.”
"it’s okay to be manipulated just this once"
"knowing what you don’t want is just as powerful as knowing what you do. Sometimes, we can’t express what it is we’re looking for, but we know what we’re not looking for."
September 20, 2024
3.25 stars
I loved how obsessed dare was but really the love at first sight just irked me. Also Richard Sullivan the second... really couldn't wrap my head around that.
But overall was fine and scratched the itch of a cute romance with good rep.
I loved how obsessed dare was but really the love at first sight just irked me. Also Richard Sullivan the second... really couldn't wrap my head around that.
But overall was fine and scratched the itch of a cute romance with good rep.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews