ARC Review: It's All Geek to Me by J.L. Merrow

It's All Geek to Me is a short and sweet novella by J.L. Merrow. This is the first book I have read by Merrow, and I really enjoyed this story. I thought that the story was really well done for being as short as it is. I liked the characters and thought that they had a lot of personality and I also really liked that the story didn't seem rushed. Usually stories this short have a tendency to be too insta-love for my taste, but this one wasn't like that at all. I look forward to reading more from J.L. Merrow in the future after reading this one.

Jez is sent to the comic book store when his friend's new comic book is destroyed in a car accident. His friend is stuck in the hospital and is unable to go get a new copy himself. Jez arrives at the comic book store and is instantly attracted to the sexy man behind the counter. He can barely string together a sentence of words that make sense, but finally gets his point across. The employee Rhys helps him find what he is looking for while chatting him up. Jez wants nothing more than to go out with Rhys, but thinks that not only is he way out of his league but he knows nothing about comic books or that industry. Jez takes his friend the new comic book and gets him to tutor him in all things geek. When Jez returns to the comic book store, Rhys is happy to see him and ends up asking him out. They go on their date and find out that they are both into the same rugby team, and make plans to go to their next game. Rhys and Jez are really hitting it off and are enjoying themselves, and they both really like the other. But can Rhys and Jez have a future together when the very thing that brought them together is based on a lie?

I liked both Rhys and Jez. Rhys was a sexy and laid back guy that seemed to be really comfortable in his skin. He is a Goth type that has a Mohawk, plugs in his ears and dresses in black with a studded belt. I really liked that he was pretty much the exact opposite of Jez. Jez works in a chemistry lab, wears sweaters and is a little more cuddly in body type. Jez is also a great friend and I liked how he went to get his friend a comic book and spent time with him in the hospital. I also liked that even though he was lying about who he was and what his interests were, he liked Rhys so much that he was willing to do that in order to try and have something in common with him. I was really glad that as they got to know each other though that they found out they had interests and similarities besides just the geeky stuff. Rhys and Jez were just really great together, and I thought that Rhys was so good for Jez. He had some insecurities from a past relationship and tended to view himself poorly. He would put himself down, but Rhys always made a point of telling him that he didn't like that and it wasn't true. I also thought that beyond that they had a lot of chemistry together and were really hot.

I did have a bit of a tough time occasionally with some of the words and phrases used. The British stuff was a bit unfamiliar to me, but for the most part I was able to figure out what it meant. The story was still really enjoyable and understandable despite the Brit speak. Overall, this one was cute in its awkwardness and I really liked Rhys and Jez together. I loved the end and how they both ended up having things to confess to each other about who they really were. I thought that this one was really refreshing and light-hearted. It was the perfect cute read that I was looking for, and it was a nice break from all the angst and drama that seems to be so popular anymore. This one was really enjoyable and was a really fun read. I look forward to reading more from Merrow in the future.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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