Blog Tour Review: Smartasses – A Sexy Nerd Rom-Com Anthology

Posted August 19, 2022 by Lisa Mandina in Blog Tour, Review / 4 Comments

There’s nothing better than a sexy nerd!
Except maybe 12 of them!
Smartasses, an all fun and flirty, romantic comedy anthology from 12 bestselling authors, is out now!
Blog Tour Review:  Smartasses – A Sexy Nerd Rom-Com AnthologySmartasses: A Sexy Nerd Rom Com Anthology by Erin Mallon, Avery Flynn, Helena Hunting, Jana Aston, Jiffy Kate, Karen Grey, Kayley Loring, Krystyna Allyn, Penny Reid, Sara Ney, Sonali Dev, Susannah Nix
on August 16, 2022
Genres: Adult Romantic Comedy
Pages: 750
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
My Rating: four-half-stars
Goodreads

Blurb:

Because what’s hotter than a sexy nerd?

Twelve of your favorite Rom Com authors bring you a new anthology celebrating geeking out and falling in love.  

Featuring Smartass Stories by:

Avery Flynn

Erin Mallon

Helena Hunting

Jana Aston

Jiffy Kate

Karen Grey

Kayley Loring

Krystyna Allyn

Penny Reid

Sara Ney

Sonali Dev

Susannah Nix

Fall in love today for ¢99!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vjxI8y

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/Smartasses

Apple Books: https://apple.co/38A9rDc

Nook: https://bit.ly/3E4yPge

Kobo: ​​https://bit.ly/3jwNjvK

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3cY1fyQ

Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3drYVAx

Nook Paperback: https://bit.ly/3Ak0zxd

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QE27Hn

***Smartasses Anthology is available for 99 cents until August 30th!

Keep reading for a look inside Smartasses: a Sexy Nerd Anthology!

Excerpt

NOT JUST A CRUSH by Helena Hunting

The blustery wind pushes me through the door and causes a swirl of flakes to follow me. As soon as I’m clear of the door, she tries to close it. But the wind is strong, and she’s . . . tiny. The kind of tiny I associate with the girl on top of the cheerleader pyramid or those creepy semi-life-sized dolls they sell in department stores. It’s clear she’s using her full weight against the door, yet she’s losing the battle.

I lift a hand over her head—I don’t have to reach high to accomplish that—and push it closed. She stumbles forward a couple of steps, and her toe catches on the doormat. She recovers herself and spins around, her face a shade of pink I associate with embarrassment.

She takes three large steps to the side, putting a few feet of distance between us. She pushes her glasses up her nose and glances from the door to me and back again. “Good fucking God, are you part bear? You’re huge.” Her hands flail around in the air, then find each other, then part again.

“Maybe you’re just small?” I offer.

My breath puffs out in the air with each exhale, and so does hers. It’s freezing in here. Which explains why she’s wearing a parka, a beanie, a scarf, and a pair of giant mittens. All in matching shades of pink. She looks like a chewed-up wad of bubblegum with a face and limbs.

“Having trouble with the fire, then, Princess?” I motion to the hearth where the fire sits unlit.

She crosses her arms. “My name is Dahlia, not princess.”

“Dahlia?” I echo.

I inspect her closer. It can’t be . . .

Dahlia is not a common name. Tiny Dahlias with long, dark wavy hair and almond-shaped eyes so dark it’s nearly impossible to see where her iris ends and her pupils begin seem even more rare. But the odds seem . . . implausible.

“Yeah. Like the flower.” She pushes her glasses up her nose again with her mittened hand and goes back to crossing her arms.

And I stand there, like an idiot, and keep staring. Because it is her.

Dahlia Forest.

Seriously, that’s her name.

And I had the biggest fucking crush on her in high school.

Like seriously, the biggest fucking crush.

But I was on the football team, and she was a mathlete. We ran in different circles. I was a giant asshole with even bigger asshole friends, and she was a gorgeous nerd. One of my best friends back then, who I still talk to now, used to make fun of her all the time. It was juvenile. And dickish. I didn’t participate, but I also didn’t stop him. Which makes me just as bad, if not even worse.

So far, she hasn’t recognized me. It’s been four years. Maybe she won’t recognize me at all. Maybe I wasn’t on her radar in high school. Maybe she was too busy being a fucking genius to notice the jocks. Although she did tutor a couple of my teammates along the way.

I realize I haven’t replied to the whole flower comment or responded in general. “Looks like you had some trouble starting the fire.” I thumb over my shoulder.

“I never got the fire-making badge in Girl Scouts.” I can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic.

“Have you unpacked anything yet?” Man, my conversation skills need a serious workout.

“No, I was too busy trying to earn my fire-making badge.” Her nose is pink from the cold, and her cheeks are already flushed, but the way she ducks her head tells me she’s pretty damn embarrassed by her lack of fire- making ability.

I nod once. “All right. Well, let’s grab your bag and get you out of here.” “Out of here?” she parrots.

“Yeah. I’ll take you back to town. Set you up at the motel.” I take my gloves off because my hands are starting to sweat. The great thing about my jacket is that it keeps me warm in subzero temps. The bad part is that now that I’m no longer facing -30 degrees and a face full of snow, I’m over here sweating my balls off even though it’s pretty freaking frigid in here.

“Motel?” Her nose wrinkles. “Why can’t I stay here?”

“You can, but they’re gonna close the roads soon, and when they do that, you’ll be stuck here until they open them again.”

“Close the roads?” Apparently, she’s trying out for the role of parrot tonight.

“Yeah. Unless you missed it, there’s a blizzard happening out there. We’re getting another twelve to eighteen inches between tonight and tomorrow afternoon. If I don’t get you off the side of this mountain soon, we’re both going to be stuck here until the storm is over and they’ve had a chance to plow the roads.”

“Oh, my God. How long will that be?”

I shrug. “Could be a couple of days, could be a week.”

“A week?” Her tone is dog whistle shrill.

“It’s a big fucking storm.”

My Review

Well I should have started reading a little earlier because I didn’t have time to get through all of the stories, but I can tell you which ones so far are my favorites!

First was the Avery Flynn story which I’d actually already read and loved, Attracting Aubrey, you can read my review of it on my blog post.

Next was Erin Mallon’s story. Now, I love her quirky sense of humor, but occasionally it gets a little bit out there even for me. Showmancing the Bone had some really funny spots and some great emotion, but also a few parts that dragged a little for me to slug through.

The excerpt above is from the next story in the book by Helena Hunting. Of course I adored this story! I disagreed with the device she talked about as it did absolutely nothing for me when I tried it. But I loved the fun talk of beard rides, and the usual steam and humor that Hunting’s stories always bring.

Next was Jana Aston’s story, Central Park. And oh my gosh was this story of a fake nanny so hilarious! Not only that it had so many things that resonated with me. While the heroine had the daydream of a CEO walking through the library where she worked and it being a meet-cute, my similar fantasy was from my bookstore job. As you don’t have a lot of CEOs walking through a school library, lol. Once again the character also mentioned what was going to be her favorite part of the library job and all I could think was oh how I wish that was part of my job, or that I actually got time during my job to do that anyway. I was reading this at work on my lunch break, and giggling out loud.

The Jiffy Kate story, The Doctor and the Dungeon Master was also really good, and I enjoyed it for the extra bonus of it being in New Orleans and getting to kind of revisit some of the favorite spots from their French Quarter Collection that I’ve listened to all but the last one so far!

Karen’s Grey story was next, What Happens in Carolina, and it really hit the spot in a similar way as the Jiffy Kate story, but especially because I’d just finished listening to the audiobook You Get What You Give. In that story we met for a short moment or two during the hurricane the couple that was the main characters in this fun story. But it was fun to see the characters from the audiobook I’d listened to from different perspectives as well.

This was my first Kayley Loring story and I’m sure now that it won’t be my last! It had some hilarious moments, as well as very steamy moments. And I loved how she just wanted the dog! Also the chapter at the end from the dog’s point of view was perfect.

Another first time author for me was Krystyna Allyn. And her story was good, loved the Comicon aspect. Although I’m not sure what self-respecting rom-com heroine actually doesn’t like sex toys? However I loved the story and hope to read more by this author in the future as well!

The Penny Reid story was fun too. Of course I need to finish it and the last 3 stories after it, but they are by Sara Ney, Sonali Dev, and Susannah Nix, all authors I know and love, so I’m sure they will be just as good!

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