The story revolves around Sierra, a video game developer who suffers from stage fright. To conquer her fear, her best friend Aida suggests her to take part in a competition where a person has to get on stage and read embarrassing accounts about themselves from their old journals at a bar, sort of like a slam. As Sierra wants to give that big video game presentation at her workplace, she takes part in the slam contest to conquer her fear. As she confesses her decade old crush on Tristan Spencer, she didn't realize that Tristan was in the audience listening on. What follows then is something you'll have to read!
Sierra's development way shown throughout the book. Tristan is not a character I particularly liked but I found Alfie very sweet and kind. Aida was so protective of Sierra and I loved that too.
The slam concept was cool and the embarrassing stories of all the participants were entertaining to read about. The book as a whole was enjoyable and perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and the chick lit genre.

I really liked the premise of this book but it fell short for me. It started out as a decent rom-com but I started to get bored about 3/4 of the way through and could not get behind the character reveal in the end.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This took a while to get going for me, then I loved it in the middle, and wasn't that keen on the ending. It centres around a pub event where people share embarrassing past experiences in a competition. Sierra shares a journal entry from college about a boy she had a crush on, and then he turns out to be the next competitor. The blurb led me to believe that the humour of the book would be found here, but in fact the tone of the sections where people read out their competition entries was troubling to me.

There were very funny moments in the book, for example where Tristan claims to be good at video games, and then isn't at all, but there was a fair amount of ugliness as well. The hero was lovely and the romance well done, but the ending was a jolt I could have done without. I don't play online games, and I still enjoyed this book, but it is probably aimed at a younger readership than me.

Sierra is desperate to pitch her video game at an international gaming con. The roadblock? Thanks to a humiliating experience in college, she’s terrified of public speaking. Her bestie and co-owner of the company, Aida suggests that Sierra enter a contest at a local bar. Contestants share embarrassing stories about themselves. Great idea!

Sierra shares the perfect story from a college journal about her unrequited crush.on classmate Tristan. Making it through her turn onstage without anything humiliating her other than the story has Sierra feeling great. Until the next contestant takes the stage. And it’s Tristan. Oof.

Tristan is flattered by Sierra’s admission. Will she get the chance to live out her fantasy of being with Tristan? But what about bar owner Alfie, another former classmate, who had a crush on Sierra. And still seems to have feelings for her.

Charming, relatable romcom with a nerdy heroine. The perfect bit of light, sexy reading to soothe your soul,

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for providing me with the DRC.

Sierra, who works in developing video games, enters an embarassing contest to get over her fear of public speaking, and runs into her university crush there.

Crushing it is a sweet, down-to earth witty rom-com with relatable, dorky characters.

Initially, I had issues relating to Sierra at points. Tristan treated her like crap- why would she subject herself to that? He can’t even get her name right! But the character growth over the course of the book more than made up for it!

As a side note- this is nitpicking, but if you’re practicing or teaching yoga you should not be checking your phone, that's so unprofessional and would completely disrupt the flow of the class. Any class I’ve been to or taught had a no phones rule - and for a reason! And it shouldn't be about 'hitting poses' or 'being good at it' it should be about the mental and physical benefit you get out of it!

The times being what they are, this release is probably exactly what some readers need right now. So many of us are looking for a light escape, and that is what this book provides.

Like its name suggests, the premise of Crushing It deals with reconciling old crushes, whether it be by delving deeper into those emotions or by confronting the fact that these crushes were only surface-level feelings based on surface-level observations. Though they make your stomach flutter, crushes are ultimately superficial compared to the gravitas of love.

And in essence, that's also how I'd sum up my my feelings about this book. It was cute, but the experience lacked depth. I look upon the memories fondly and without regret, but I don't feel any desire to relive them.

My main issue was that I found myself unable to connect with the characters. Outside of sweet, supportive Alfie, I didn't feel much of an attachment to anyone. A large reason for this was because of what I feel was the author telling, rather than showing. We are told of events that transpire and feelings that develop, but I never felt as though I was being provided insight into the buildup behind them. I was often confused by the intensity of characters' actions/reactions simply because I couldn't follow with the emotional current that supposedly ran underneath.

A lesser issue I had with the book was how much of a mold you could fit each character into. There's the Mary Sue-esque protagonist: the beautiful-but-she-doesn't-know-it, all-the-boys-chase-after-her, quirky-because-she's-nerdy, smart, all-around successful woman being plagued by stage fright and clumsiness despite tactfully leading weekly yoga classes. The perfect, sweet love interest who is presently unbelievably gorgeous but we're supposed to believe was unrecognizably geeky in college, without any real explanation for the transformation. The other "love interest" whose role as irredeemable asshole is so clear-cut that it's hard to believe anyone in the book thinks he's a real person. The best friend whose personality is unclear outside of being the Best Friend. The gay couple friends who, to be honest, I'm not sure exist outside of the purpose of adding diversity. Etc.

And in the end, those molds are perfectly serviceable. It's not an act of blasphemy to make use of those types of stereotypical characters, and in fact, in a lighthearted read, people may enjoy knowing exactly what to expect. For me though, this just contributed to my inability to identify with the characters. Everyone's identities were too shiny and polished, in a way, and it prevented me from being able to empathize with anyone in a realistic way.

Regardless of its flaws, Crushing It was a pleasant book - it was a quick and easy read containing likable enough characters, a kind-hearted love interest, and entertaining plots. Ultimately, it didn't devastate me or leave me idolizing any of its aspects - it was a crush, not love. When I look back, I can't say that I can appreciate the book on a deeper level. It was only ever meant to be a surface-level appreciation.

But who said there's anything wrong with a good crush every now and then?

“A gaggle of geeks....

A herd of nerds....

A drove of dorks....”

Yes, please, sign me up! Those are my people.

I rarely read anything tagged as romance, but every now and then I need a fun, light read and that’s when I turn to a romantic comedy with a blurb that catches my attention. And WoW did Crushing it catch my attention (see what I did there 😛). I giggle snorted many times while reading this book.

Crushing it is about a female gamer/game developer with severe anxiety when it comes to public speaking due to an awful experience in her past. She really needs to get over it so she can present a new game at convention in Germany. Enter fun contest at a bar owned by quietly handsome Alfie. It’s like this book was written for me. I love all things video games and con related and I can relate all too well with the public speaking anxieties.

“It might be worth the discomfort. Or it might be like rushing into battle without a plan while shouting “LEEROY JENKINS!” I’d probably get annihilated.”

There were many quotes throughout that book that I loved, but this was by far one of my favorites as it’s a quote from WoW (World of Warcraft). My son and I used to play together all the time, I met my husband playing WoW, and our newest little puppy (5 months old) is named Leeroy (for Leeroy Jenkins).

Crushing it was an easy 5 stars for me.. Amazing character development, they were engaging and all had very distinct personalities. I was pulled in by Parker’s writing and storytelling abilities. A not overdone love triangle. A believable and relatable storyline with a protagonist I wanted to root for. An incredibly fun read! I wanted to shirk all responsibilities so I could sit and read this in one sitting. I will read anything else Ms. Lorelei Parker writes.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received this book from Netgalley as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The book focuses on Sierra, a female game developer, who has a fear of public speaking that she needs to overcome. In comes this open mic night at the local bar where the winner gets $1000. Sierra is convinced by her best friend to read from her old college communication class journal from ten years ago. In the journal, Sierra details her love for Tristian Spencer.

Enter Tristian Spencer, who just as douche as he sounded in Sierra's journals. After many cringle worthy pages of Tristian trying to win over Sierra now does Sierra realize that there is someone better from her college days.

Here comes Alfie, the cute, supportive bar owner who has had a crush on Sierra since college. But Sierra never noticed him because she was to busy being in love with Tristian. Thankfully she has grown up in the last ten years and finally notices what a great guy Alfie is.

But Tristian isn't going to go away so easy, he wants to win at the end of the day, if he cant have Sierra he will make sure no one can.

Crushing It overall a cute and easy read. I really enjoyed reading it. This was my first book by Lorelei Parker but it won't be my last!

<b> I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </b>

<i> Crushing It </i> was different than I expected, I can´t really remember reading a book where characters are supposed to be embarrassing on purpose which was actually refreshing. This book has plenty of cringeworthy moments and I applaud Lorelei Parker for that! I did enjoy most of the characters and their development. There was <b> a lot </b> of drama, which again was the point so I´m not holding this against the author. The only thing I´m not a fan of was the "instant love" trope. It´s just not something I find realistic.
I really liked that the "bad guy" had a different ending than I was expecting.
Overall I really did enjoy this one.

Ms. Lorelei Parker wrote a lovely, heart-warming love story and I loved it!
Crushing It was funny, quirky with an amazing hero that had me swooning from his sweetness. He wasn't perfect and he definitely made some mistakes, but this flawed hero just did it for me. I fell in love with him. I also adored Sierra, she like most of us women, had her insecurities but was learning to put herself first and work for what she wanted. But mostly my favourite part of this story was how realistic it was, their intentions with each other were believable, their connection and their flaws were so real and understandable that you can’t help feeling for them. Even their fight, which broke my heart, was realistic and you could see both sides. The only reason this wasn't a 5 star read for me is that it took almost half the book for the story to shift the focus on Sierra and Alfie. The first half with Sierra and Tristan was dragging for far too long. But desite that I enjoyed this book immensely. It pulled at my heart strings more than once and I'm looking forward to reading more books by Ms. Parker.

Crushing It was an enjoyable and lighthearted read. Sierra is a game developer who enters a cringe contest at a local bar to overcome her fears of public speaking. I liked the concept, but I didn't like how the plot relied so heavily on one college class from 10 years ago. Sierra's fear of public speaking stems from an incident from said college class, which gets revealed near the end of the novel. I didn't like how the characters resolved the conflict and I felt like it ruined their development. The love interests, Tristan and Alfie, didn't really intrigue me and the story was a bit predictable. Overall, Crushing It was a fun read, but nothing particularly stood out for me.

This book is absolutely fantastic. Parker's voice is like chatting with an old friend. My own crippling fear of public speaking (although thankfully not based on a traumatizing event) and love of games made it easy to relate to Sierra. It was interesting to see her falling back into old patterns—because that's what we do. Sierra was intensely human, and I love that about her.

The rivalry between Alfie and Tristan was very well-executed. And the end absoutely perfect.

Also, I want a dress with smiley-faced planets on it.

Review based on ARC.

This was a really great read. Each and every character felt real, with very distinct personalities and voices, and I felt like I was experiencing the events right alongside Sierra. I LOVED her quirky personality and style, as well as her intelligence and strength, and her public speaking anxiety makes her so relatable. Alfie was the best book boyfriend I never saw coming, never knew I wanted, but absolutely adored. His quiet strength, while still harboring a bit of old insecurities, was endearing. Such a nice guy, and very attractive, he’s an all-around wonderful package. What’s also interesting about him is that he’s not the typical male hero you read in romance novels. He’s certainly not an alphahole, he’s not even really got an ounce of alpha in him, except few moments here and there. But it really works for this story. The premise of the story is wonderfully unique and funny. 5/5 stars from me!

Sierra has a problem with public speaking because of an awful incident in her past. She needs prove to her (sort of) boss that she can present her game at a convention. All she has to do is win a competition at a bar where she tells strangers about her most embarrassing moments. Easy, right?

I really enjoyed this - I got sucked in and found myself wanting Sierra for a friend. It was so nice to read about a mature (or almost mature lol) protagonist who is the kind of "geek girl" that I actually recognise and can relate to. And as for those streamy love scenes? Oh yes. Perfect. It's too bad this book has such an ugly cover - but don't let that put you off.

Sierra is a good main character, she's smart, looking for the guy of her life, and wants to crush it at her dream job. I loved reading about her, Tristan was truly an awful guy, I saw the twist coming, but it was a good read, Alfie was adorable!

This book was exactly what I needed right now! It was so light-hearted and funny. The main character is a gamer/developer and the book was filled with pop-culture, nerdy easter eggs from Ready Player One to Game Of Thrones. Watching the main character, Sierra, try to overcome her stage fright by sharing her old journal entries to a bar filled with strangers gave me so much second hand embarrassment and entertainment while reading. The romance in this book was adorable and I was rooting for her and the hero the entire way through. I highly recommend this book for Colleen Hoover fans.

Sierra is a video game developer who is lacks confidence. Alfie is a bar owner and former college classmate who gives her the confidence boost she needs. Tristan is her college crush ready to prove he will do anything it takes to get what he wants. A spin on the classic love triangle trope, Crushing It is full of drama and twists every step of the way. While somewhat predictable, I found myself rooting for Sierra in the boardroom, on stage, and in her love life. You'll find the characters in this romance relatable and charmingly awkward.

#NetGalley and Kensington Publishing provided an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, though it wasn't quite what I thought it would be going in. I went in hoping that this would be a geeky romance, but got more of a lovely, contemporary rom-com. What a pleasant surprise! I highly recommend it! 5 Stars!