Series: Nerd #2
Author: Leah Rae Miller
Published April 5th 2016 by Entangled: Teen
Goodreads Synopsis
Dan Garrett has become exactly what he hates—popular. Until recently, he was just another live-action role-playing (LARP) geek on the lowest run of the social ladder. Cue a massive growth spurt and an uncanny skill at taking three-point shots in basketball and voila…Mr. Popular. It’s definitely weird.
And the biggest drawback? Going from high school zero to basketball hero cost Dan the secret girl-of-his-dorky dreams.
A tuba-playing nerd with an eclectic fashion sense, Zelda Potts’s “Coolness” stat is about minus forty-two. Dan turning his back on her and the rest of nerd-dom was brutal enough, but when he humiliates her at school, Zelda decides it’s time for a little revenge—dork style. Nevermind that she used to have a crush on him. Nevermind that her plan could backfire big time.
It’s time to roll the dice…and hope like freakin’ hell she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I read the first book in this series a while ago, and though I can't remember much about it, I know I did enjoy it. When I learnt there would be a companion book to it, I thought I'd request it, and see how it was.
In Romancing the Nerd, the two main characters, Zelda and Dan, used to be really close - basically besties. After Dan joined the basketball team at school, slimmed down, and became popular, he ignored Zelda, and their shared interest in live-action role-playing (LARP) games. Zelda has never forgiven him, and she cooks up this scheme to catfish and humiliate him as payback. Dan, on the other hand, doesn't have a clue why Zelda gives him death glares at every turn, and just wants to be friends again, and maybe a bit more.
As you can imagine, any book that has a catfish situation in it, is bound to blow up in the face of the person catfishing. I recently read another book that had a similar situation, but the other catfisher wanted a relationship, not revenge. At least in this book, Zelda had a feeling that it would all blow up, but she'd planned for that, and, really, that's what she was looking for, at first. Once she realised that the Dan that most people see at school is not the real Dan, she started to fall for him, and remember why they were friends in the first place.
Dan, on the other hand, is conflicted. He's always had feelings for Zelda, but now realises that it will never happen - she just hates him too much. Once the new girl contacts him online, who seems like his perfect women, he tells her more about himself, than he has told anyone in years. He really feels close to her, in a way he wished he was to Zelda.
I enjoyed seeing the two of them grow close to one another again, and even when Dan realised Zelda was the girl online, the way they interacted was extremely cute. Honestly, the whole book was just a cute, fun story, and even though it may have had quite a few common tropes in it, I still really enjoyed Romancing the Nerd. If you're in the mood for a light-hearted, cutesy contemporary, I would recommend this.
Dates Read:
April 10-11, 2016
Rating
4 Stars
Rating
4 Stars
