Review: Beauty is the Geek
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 16, 2014
Talk about a big case of opposites attracting. A millionaire with a successful property development business and a loner geek with a computer upgrading business squaring off over the sale of her property. He's slick, handsome and a bit under-developed as a character and she's a strange mix of stiff spined and gutless. Not gonna lie... I had a very difficult time liking these characters. When Will wasn't thinking about how tiny Kate is, she's thinking about how she's not going to sell... not because she grew up in the building—she didn't—or because she can't relocate her business—she could—but because of reasons.THE SEDUCTION GAME was one of those stories where I liked it in theory but wound up not digging it in actuality. It shows both my age and my true geek card that the basic jist of plot reminded me of the 80's flick, Batteries Not Included, which won it a lot of points. I liked the whole idea of Kate resisting selling her building to a big developer. What didn't really work for me was the threadbare character development.While Kate is fairly well developed as a character, the big reason she holds back on selling never feels valid, as if she's being stubborn for the sake of it. Meanwhile, Will is so under-developed beyond his business and a reference comparing him to actor Nathan Fillion, I never quite bought him as a romantic hero. I almost felt like he looked down on Kate (which might have a lot to do with constant references to how tiny she is) both socially and physically. Without a lot of back knowledge on his past, he just never seemed more than a caricature. I could get their physical attraction to a point but an emotional connection seemed contrived. Ultimately, while it wasn't an unlikable story, it just never quite had the warmth I was expecting where the geek gets the girl... or in this case, the guy.Having read both Indulgence titles and Shortt's WAKING UP DEAD, I think my lukewarm reception of the book has more to do with the genre than anything. Contemporary category romances can be hit or miss with me as a reader and as a geek, I have high expectations of a geek romance. That said, if you are a geek you'll enjoy the pop culture references and the nice change of pace from it being the hero who is a geek. Two thumbs up for representation! Not a geek? If you like CEO millionaire types you might enjoy TSG a lot.Notes: ARC received via publisher.