Title: Hot & Nerdy 2
Author: Shannyn Schroeder
Series: Hot & Nerdy
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: Kensington (Lyrical Press)
Summary:Adam, Hunter, and Free have a lot in common, like geeky passions and not exactly great track records when it comes to dating. But a New Year’s Eve bash will bring everything they’ve ever wanted–and so much more . . .
His Work Of Art #4
Reese Carter is definitely not your average college girl. She’d prefer to spend Saturday nights playing Hero’s Crusade than attending a wild frat party on campus. When she bands together with Adam, fellow comic enthusiast and illustrator, it appears that Reese has formed a dream team sure to propel her writing into the comic hall of fame.
Adam Hayes has never met a girl like Reese. She’s sassy, smart, and loves talking comics, although he can’t see why she’d choose DC over Marvel. He’s thrilled to finally put his artistic chops to use in their upcoming comic project. But. this relationship is strictly professional. Or so he tells himself. When the two combine forces, they churn out magic in more ways than they had planned; they never expected to develop a steamy romantic sub-plot of their own…
Sydney Peters can’t wait to finally drop the cymbals in marching band and devote time to her true love: drums. With the semester coming to a close, she’s blocking out the cacophony during practice, especially sax serenades from Hunter Reed. But when Hunter offers her a paid gig as a drummer in his band, Sydney quickly changes her tune. The two favor different styles, but they make beautiful music together…in more ways than one.
Hunter is fascinated by Sydney’s distant allure. He might be a ladies’ man on campus, but the sarcastic cymbalist is impervious to his advances. When Hunter sees how passionate Sydney is behind the drums, he orchestrates a plan to find out if she kisses like she plays. What he doesn’t anticipate, however, is falling so hard. But will the repercussions of his past crash down on his chance at something real?
Free Mitchell loves the theater. In his dreams he’s the one taking the spotlight. But so far he’s played against character by following in his father’s footsteps as an investment banker. When he’s masquerading as Dr. Who or Sherlock Holmes to help his brother, he feels he can escape his shy, dorky persona. But nothing’s prepared him to play boyfriend to a gorgeous girl like Samantha Wolf.
Samantha isn’t quite sure what to think of Free. He’s cute, sweet, and quirky, but his outlandish costumes make him seem crazy. However, it turns out Sam has a soft spot for theater nerds. And the more time they spend together, the more their steamy romance begins to take center stage. Only problem is, there doesn’t seem to be a script. And it’s anyone’s guess how this one will end.
Reese didn’t wait for him to reach her. She ran and jumped into his arms, yelling, “Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?”
Adam held her close and for a split second she almost forgot her original excitement. He tended to have that effect on her.
“What?”
“An editor stopped by our table and picked up a copy. He stood right in front of me and read it. Then he started asking all kinds of questions about how many copies had been distributed and stuff. Thank God Julie had all of that written down for me. Then he said he’s interested in publishing it!” She squeezed Adam and whispered in his ear, “Can you believe it?”
“Wow.”
That was his response? Adam was always a little stoic and reserved, but really? She released him and took a step back. She caught him looking at Hunter. She turned and faced Hunter.
He shrugged. “Congrats!” He hugged her quickly and grabbed Sydney’s hand. “We’re gonna take a look around.”
With a tip of his Indiana Jones hat, they were gone in the sea of people.
“What’s going on?” Reese asked.
“Nothing. I mean, it’s a lot to take in.”
Reese studied his eyes. She loved his face, but his eyes told his story. Always. Something was wrong, and in usual Adam fashion, he wasn’t talking. She took another step back and thought maybe he was freaking out about her extreme display of affection in a crowd. Although he’d gotten better over the months, sometimes he still shied away from touching her in public.
She felt her shoulders droop. If there was ever a place they would be accepted as a couple it would be here among all the freaks and geeks. “No one is looking at us.” She glanced around and then added, “Okay, maybe the Klingon over there was a little interested.”
He smiled, which was what she’d been going for. “I don’t care if people stare.”
“Liar.”
“I don’t care if they stare because they think we need a room. I care if they stare because they don’t think we belong together. But I’m not afraid to be seen with you.”
As if to prove his point, he tugged her close and lowered his mouth to hers. She loved it when he made the first move, finally sure of himself. With an arm wrapped around her waist, his tongue slid into her mouth, tickling and teasing.
He made it clear to everyone in the aisle that he loved her and they were together. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him more. But then . . .
Her heart sped up and it was no longer from the kiss they’d shared. She jerked back. “If you’re not worried about how people look at us and you’re willing to lay a kiss on me like that, then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“God, Adam, please don’t lie to me. You suck at it.”
He blew out a deep breath and looked around. At the table. At the wall. At the cosplayers walking by. Anywhere but at her face.
“Seriously?” The word came out almost as a yell. She was going to lose her temper, and she didn’t want that to happen here. “Fine.” She grabbed a stack of booklets and walked away.
Shannyn Schroeder is the author of the O’Leary series, contemporary romances centered around a large Irish-American family in Chicago and the Hot & Nerdy series about 3 nerdy friends finding love. Her new series (For Your Love) will release this summer with the first title Under Your Skin. When she’s not wrangling her three kids or writing, she watches a ton of TV and loves to bake cookies.
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