Review: Hilarious Results When a Guy Pretends Something He's Not in this RomCom
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2014
Okay, I have to stop laughing long enough to write up this review. This book was freaking hilarious from beginning to ending. I anticipated that it would have a light tone to it since a guy is trying to pass himself off as a geek to impress another guy working at a comic book shop, but garsh, no... this was the outer limits and should come with a warning label. Do not read this in public if you have any reason to be embarrassed by your laugh, expression when you laugh or anything related when your funnybone is tickled.Okay, beyond the comedy part, it was also a sweet heartwarming story of a guy who didn't see himself the way others did and he definitely didn't believe them when they told him that he was fine as himself. The ex-boyfriend never shows up in the story, but I'm with Rhys and Tel about giving him a well-deserved pounding in a back alley.Jez is this crazy spazz of a guy who goes to a comic book shop to buy a replacement for a comic book that was lost when his best mate, Tel, got in a car accident and ended up in hospital. Tel is the big geek so Jez just wants to get the poor guy a copy of his favorite comic. Well that is until he swallowed his tongue over Rhys the guy working the counter. Then he's lucky to remember his own name let alone why he's there.Jez had a bad break up where the guy managed to stomp all over Jez's self-esteem. He thinks he is fat and unworthy of anyone's attention so he's under the impression that he has to be something he's not to impress Rhys who's hot and seems into all the cool geekery. Jez begs Tel to give him Geek lessons to help him gain Rhys' interest.A first date is a success, but that just leaves Jez even more worked up now that he's even more embroiled in his lies. Tel advises him to come clean because Rhys needs to see the real Jez and Tel is convinced that Rhys will accept the real Jez.So I've made it clear that this was a fun, heartwarming read and it had a solid plot line to go with it. It was fairly short, but it was well developed for all that. Jez is the narrator and being inside his head made me almost dizzy the way his mind worked, but that's just it, I felt like I was truly inside Jez's head which impressed me.I found the characters around Jez all very engaging. His horny friend Tel who between geek lessons with Jez had managed to get up a flirt with his nurse. Rhys was fun in an ordinary good guy way even though he had a secret. And he was so into Jez. Whew boy was he. They didn't come up for air once they got together. Rhy's sister Angie was a hoot. Well not her per se, but the way Jez was terrified of her was amusing.It ended in a good place though I wish I could have spent more time getting to know Rhys in particular and both Rhys and Jez together after the big reveal and things were more on an even keel. Okay, I admit it. I just liked hanging out with them and wanted to do a few more dates and stuff.Word of warning this will be all geek to anyone not very familiar with British casual speech and slang. I'm American and I had no trouble, but then again I'm a bit of an Anglophile and hung up on books written by British authors, BBC and British-made films so take that with a grain of salt.It's not deep and it was definitely a fun and light yet scorchy short read. Those who enjoy m/m Contemporary Romantic Comedy should try it. It's my second book by the author and I'm becoming a fan.My thanks to Riptide Publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this one in exchange for an honest review.