Oooooh this “genre/trope” list is after my own nerd-loving heart. Yes, I’m more known for my love of a “bad boy, bad-ass tattooed character”, but I recently read one that had me crushing (and I’m STILL crushing) hard… and he was super-smart and nerdy. *swooooooooooon* I’m in! Let’s DO THIS!!!
Paige & Janie kicked this off, when they asked for a very specific recommendation:
Paige: Please Maryse, could you possibly make a list if your (and your followers) favorite nerd hero/nerd heroine…
Janie: Can anyone think of any books where the heroine is a little “nerdy”? I read Breathe by Kristen Ashley and loved Faye and want more heroines like her!
bev: Love a nerdy heroine.
MichelleS: I love dorky girl gets hit on by hunk stories.
Tessa: …my favorite trope of nerd girl, bad boy…
Tasha J: I love a nerdy, quirky heroine.
Jan: …a sweet innocent nerd falling for a hot, more experienced guy – I’m always up for that.
Lanae: I’ve always loved the whole nerd and popular boy fall in love…
YES PLEASE!!! 😀 I’ve got a list of “shy heroes” but this would be FANTASTIC too. Not all nerdy guys (or girls) are shy. In fact they can be pretty bold, and hilarious. I LOVE this idea!!!
I’ll start!! This one is a bit different (because it’s not a romance book) but I FELL IN LOVE with the super-smart, super-hilarious, but definitely nerdy hero. Oh… and while I’m here, I might as well tell you that I crushed on the author the whole way through, too. 😉 The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir (P.S. Here’s my Book Review).
Maryse: …I will read ANYTHING he writes. He, to me, is a pure genius. I have a nerd-crush. 😉
P.S. Not sayin’ that he’s necessarily nerdy, but gosh-darn anyone that knows that much about Mars, and all the CRAZY McGuyver ways to survive on it, has my nerd-loving heart! 😀
Maryse: OH LOOK! I found out about the author. It all makes sense now:
“ANDY WEIR was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age fifteen and has been working as a software engineer ever since. He is also a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is his first novel.”
bev: Maryse, is going to be on a new kick of liking the nerdy heroes. Actually at SBTB they call it competency porn, lol. When a hero or heroine is portrayed as being really good and competent at their job or craft. And you know it is sexy.
R. Renee: Nerdy’s sexy AF Maryse. It’s cool to call him that! I have GOT to get to that book!
Maryse: HECK YES R!!!!! Serious, serious crush. I didn’t even tag him in my Twitter post of the review, and he liked the tweet anyway. I fangirled. OH YES I DID.
R. Renee: You’re clearly engaged now. Congrats! <3
Maryse: LOL!!! 😛
Favorite book featuring a “nerdy” main character?
Maryse: And another OBVIOUS YES HUGE CRUSH ON THE NERDY GUY for me was Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park. I will NEVER forget that one. Stole my heart years ago (when I first fell in love with indie new adult books, and this was one of my firsts!!!. MUST. READ. ASAP!!!! P.S. Here’s my Book Review.
Kristen: Holy crap! I looooove FOL! This stinkin’ book had me crying for months after everytime I thought about it! You know, one of those books that can alter your way of thinking about life?! I wanted Matt *spoiler*!
I’m a complete dork who LOVES the underdog nerd! …Matty-he’s mine! (I want him to talk nerdy to me!!)
Angie: Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City series and her Winston Brothers series. So good. So smart. So funny.
Lisa M: …Penny Reid…Love her writing….just finished The Hooker and the Hermit (Rubgy Book 1) and The Player & The Pixie (trying to knock a few off of my ginormous tbr list). And the first one in this series (all standalones) was awesome….fun and flirty….and featuring the nerdy girl returned home grown up and sexy who accidentally ends up tangling tongues with her old nemesis.
Shane: “The Hooker and the Hermit,” it’s entertaining and every time I read about her blog, I think about the way I became a follower here and now I look forward to reading everything here especially the entertaining comments….
Tanya: Landon from the Complicated Hearts duet by Ashley Jade
Rhiannon: Complicated Hearts by Ashley Jade I fell so hard for Landon 😍😍
Kaylyn: Definitely Landon from Complicated Hearts♡
kellie: Shae Scott’s On Paper …It’s about a male romance writer and a book nerd who meet at a book convention. 🙂
Heather: Ahh On Paper by Shae Scott was amazing! Who doesn’t love a story about a writer falling for a book nerd? The feels in this book are incredible!
Amanda: Pippa Grant has a lot of H and h that are nerdy in her stories. I read America’s Geekheart (Bro Code Book 2)last night and loved it. H is geeky is his interests of Firefly, video games, etc while h has a science blog. Another of her books has an h computer hacker. They’re all good, half are nerdy, they all make me laugh.
MichelleS: …one of Bev’s recommendations, an “oldie” in the Chicago Stars series (Nobody’s Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars Series Book 3)). She’s a nerd, he’s a jock. That formula totally works for me.
Megan: Nerdgasm (Naughty Nerds) is amazing by Kimberly Reese
Nafisah: Screwdrivered (The Cocktail Series Book 3) by Alice Clayton. Nerdy guy who tames a feisty chic!
Brei: Let’s Get Textual by Teagan Hunter
Laura: A Sky Full of Stars (The Shaughnessy Brothers Book 5) by Samantha Chase
Laura: Extra Credit: Three Ivy Years Novellas (The Ivy Years Book 6) by Sarina Bowen. It’s a collection of three novellas. One has a nerdy hero and one has a nerdy girl. She’s a tutor. Then of course there’s #Nerd by Cambria Hebert.
Jane: Hashtag Series by Cambria Hebert .. the first one is #Nerd (Hashtag Series Book 1)
Stacie: Stacie: Hi Maryse I have a book series to recommend! The Hashtag series by Cambria Hebert. I read #Nerd last night for me it was 4.5 stars it’s a college romance if people liked The Deal by Elle Kennedy then they will like this! If you like a protective alpha male jock I can guarantee you will enjoy these books! Im already on the second one and can tell it’s going to be just as good if not better!
Ali: Nerd series is all types of yumm! Definitely recommend.
Tessa: #Nerd by Cambria Hebert. That’s what the whole series is, a nerdy girl falling for the foorball hero. 😀
Shawnee1707: I was obsessed with this book and then found this series! Awesome!
Hillary: Corrupted Hearts Series by Tiffany Snow. China Mack is my favorite nerd!
Jan: …you need to read Beautiful Player (The Beautiful Series Book 5)!! Yep, you can read it without reading the others. And yes, it is the best one in the series. Sweet nerdy girl and superhot player Will. *happy sigh*
…Hanna is a sweet geeky nerd whose helpful brother organises for her to learn about dating from his best friend gorgeous player Will. Can Hanna be the one to change Will’s naughty ways? (Der … rhetorical question). Hanna and Will are delightful together. This a funny and sexy book.
Jacee: I think this is my favorite one! I love nerdy girls. Hanna was too cute.
MichelleS: The Hurricane …spend some time with a broody fighter and a nerdy mathematician girl. YAY!!!
Michelle S: The Hardest Fall… I was in the mood for shy nerdy girl & alpha male trope. It’s fitting the bill. She says the funniest things. …like strong characterization and well written dialogue. Love if the H&h have good chem and snappy banter. – super snappy banter for sure …this one is good girl-nerdy-shy & football hero. In college. It’s the banter between the two that I’m enjoying. Hilarious. She’s got word vomit syndrome.
Jan: Luck Be a Lady (Rules for the Reckless Book 4) by Meredith Duran …Well -written historical romance. An East End (London) crime lord (with a heart of gold) falls hard for a lonely, nerdish spinster who is being bullied and embezzled by her nasty brother.
MichelleS: I’m feeling in a HR mood and “crime lord” falls for “nerdish spinster” is calling out to me!
MichelleS: I want to tell you about the book I started tonight. It’s a FREAKING MIND F@ck I tell ya’. First, I am laughing and peeing myself at the hilarity at the beginning of the book. So so funny – like Amy funny…… THEN…. it all goes completely FUBAR cray-cray-cray-zee!!!! and I have no clue where it’s going but am totally loving it. What is it? It’s called FATE BOOK (a New Adult Novel) by Mimi Pampfiloff. She’s a snarky funny nerd who makes up a hot Spaniard Model as a boyfriend and then he SHOWS UP at her school and she has to just play along, but then he gets all alpha mystery man on her and the story gets WILD…. can’t wait to see where this ends up. I’m only at 37%.
Leslie M: Start Me Up (Tumble Creek Book 2) (hot nerd)
DG: Anything but Minor (Balls in Play Book 1)…just in the mind for a funny read… So far loving the ‘nerdy’ girl and HOT guy dynamic…
Marie Anthony: MARYSE!!!!! I don’t know if this is the best place to reach you (waves chelloooo) – but I am 3/4 of the way through the most phenomenal book I have read in a looooong time!! And as you know I read ton LOL! So here goes: ! Five year old little girl squeaaaaaal, THIS!!!! The Theory of Attraction (The Science of Temptation Book 1)!!
…Both of the characters are extremely intelligent, I mean WICKED sma’aaaart!! He is an astrophysicist and she is a social anthropologist!! Holy hell…geeks and nerds of the world unite because this is the story of an unexpected D/S relationship between two friends in which they analyze each step of their evolving relationship — together and extremely intellectually!! It is HOT, and did I mention HOT!! He kept his dominant needs from her – I can’t even say anything else because it will spoiler!!
This book is like Gabriel’s Redemption swirled up in some Crossfire dipped in Fifty Shades for good measure and then rolled around in a PhD thesis as the sprinkle crunchy topping!! Ivan Reynolds is purrrrrfection!! I don’t know the ending yet because oh CHIZ it’s 3:30 and I have to make myself stop!! Whaaaaaa!!
Bryanne: …one book that I keep thinking about is Animate Me by Ruth Clampett. I’ve been getting a little sick of the formulated billionaire, bad boy, rock star reads (although, I will always love them). Animate me is about a nerdy guy who loves to draw and finally get the curate to go after his dream girl–making tons if mistakes along the way. There is a bit of a love triangle in there,some angst, and tons of witty, fun dialogue that totally kept me reading. I also loved the fact that the author includes lots of the characters drawings into the book. I totally loved seeing them throughout.
Becca: Check out Silk Stalkings by Kelli Scott. …They meet in a grocery store. She’s a nerdy type who wants to reach out of her shell, so she sexifies herself up. The immediately get down and dirty in the hot guy’s tow truck in the parking lot. And then, she up and leaves…b/c she has a list of things she wants to accomplish and sticking around isn’t one of them
Marta: I read “Keeping Pace” by Dee Carney. She is 39 and lost her husband to cancer and he is 26 and the son of her next door neighbours. Some angst due to her reservations with age difference but lots of chemistry and he is SO SO HOOOOOT and a HOT NERD (PHD in Physics)!!! Must read xxxx
Jan130: …what about Nalini Singh’s Rock Addiction (Rock Kiss Book 1)? Hot sexy rockstar falls for a (virgin) librarian. Eeek! Love this book. Very sexy.
Joyce: Breathe by Kristen Ashley …For me it was 5 stars. I liked it that she wasn’t feisty…instead she was a nerdy librarian and just what he needed.
What else should we add? 😀 !!
Anything by Susannah Nix (Remedial Rocket Science (Chemistry Lessons Book 1) and Free Hostage by S.Ann Cole
Chasing Serenity by Eden Butler!!!! Oh my goodness. Nerdy girl tribe, one is pursued by hot rugby player who is (gasp!) a closet nerd! He delivers a speech in defense of these women that is the greatest nerd speech of. ALL. time. I’m swooning right now just remembering it.
The lead character in Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn is a quiet, brilliant scientist. The hero tries to woo her to a high-paying job at his company and then just tries to woo her. The whole serious (Chance of a Lifetime) is quite wonderful, actually.
Imperfect Chemistry by Mary Frame