Crushing It by Lorelei Parker

I loved everything about this book. So refreshing and unbelievably cute I can hardly stand it. Breezy and fun!

When Sierra is up for a huge work trip of a lifetime she'll do whatever takes to get that trip locked in. This means of course doing the one thing that wakes you up at night in cold sweats. Public speaking. With the help of her friends and not so much help from the crush from her past Sierra must find a way to over come her fears and find out what real love is along the way. Sometimes the best things are right in front of you. This book is perfection. It's got it all, friendship, romance, nerdy gamers, hopeless romantics and unrequited love. It's so good I'm going to immediately re-read it.
Sierra and Alfie are my couple goals, friendship goals, everything goals.


Thank you #NetGalley and #kensingtonbooks for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this fresh take on a the old romcom formula, with an adorable geeky dork of a female gamer and web developer as the main character. Her voice was so refreshing, honest and true to life - very entertaining and engaging! The story pulled me in, and I loved the characterization of the main characters. Yes, even the old college nemesis that our heroine is still stuck on in spite of him being an eminent douchebag - nice to see him get his comeuppance, but in a good way.

"What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? I suddenly understood Aflie's question. It wasn't about what I wanted, but about what I could be if I didn't let fear stand in my way. It was about reaching my potential."

Crushing It is a fun light read. It is somewhat predictable but this makes RomComs so fun for me, because I know that there will be some sort of happy ending. I'm not that into video games but Parker balanced out the nerdy stuff with good humor and wit. It isn't overall geeky but you get a glimpse of a gamer's interests.

Sierra is a sweet, quirky and smart girl and easy to like. She went form having anxieties about public speaking and then crushing it with the help and encouragement of Alfie, though not without a little twist and drama here and there. The book is fast paced and I pretty much whizzed through it. It is engaging and fun, lighthearted but also serious when needed.

Tristan is a total jerk, what can I say, even after he came clean at the end. A jerk still. (Especially when he assumed that Aida is working at the company because she's a person of color and that the company only hired her because of the diversity quota. I'm glad that the author made clear that the female characters are strong leads and know that whatever they've earned was through hard work.)

A few things itched me though, like how the hell Sierra could've forgotten so much about her time in college. I mean, she was reading from her journal every week, did it never occur to her to go through the whole thing and piece together the things she's been wondering about? Aida was very boring as the supporting act, as it seemed she was only there to knock some sense into her friend. I liked Alfie best. His poems were very sweet and he seemed like a very genuine person with the best intentions. I know this story is supposed to be about Sierra and her overcoming her fears, but as a love interest, he seemed to have a clouded past no one really knows about except that he was the nerd no one liked. What made him so attractive now, how did it came to that transformation, what did he went through to become that person he is today? It felt like the characters fit a stereotype without much depth, which makes the story overall a little shallow, and that's a pity, because the idea is really good but the exploration and execution of character is lacking. I like rooting for the good ones, but in this case you get told so much and everything lies on the plate for you to pick.

Overall, it is a book you want to read when your brain needs some rest, but still wants to be entertained. And Alfie is really, really sweet. Like tooth aching sweet. "He had this tendency to half smile most of the time, like the universe was a gentle, funny place, and nothing rattled him. Maybe it was his innate calm that placated me."

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, especially with rom-coms that promised cute, fun reads but delivered bland pages of meh. I was worried this would be more of the same but I was delightfully surprised! After reading Chapter 1, I thought ‘ok, this is actually cute.’ Chapter 2 left me thinking ‘this is a really fun premise, and the characters are great!’ And from then on I don’t really remember the progression because by that point I was hooked, line and sinker. I devoured this book in one night and it reminded me that romantic comedies can be quick, light-hearted, fun, and aww-worthy without resorting to two-dimensional characters and uninspired plots. Alfie and Sierra were completely precious. Thank you, Crushing It, for busting my reading slump and renewing my faith in my favorite genre.

Thank you NetGalley, Lorelei Parker, and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At first, this book was so amazing! It was funny and Sierra is such a relatable character. But, during the second half of the book, everything started to go south and by the end i didn’t think i enjoyed it much.

This was a laugh out loud book for me. Super charming story of Sierra who is a game designer and her fear of speaking in public. I could so relate to her struggles with trying to present in front of people. While she is trying to get over her fear, her friend tells her to compete in the local bar's diary slam, and while she is up there pouring out her heart about a boy in college that she was crushing on, he happens to be at the same bar. Although you would think that this is a story about Sierra and her crush, you'd be delighted to know that she finds someone else along the way.

I devoured this book in one sitting! If you're looking for something light and fun but also super sweet, this is the book for you. I fell in love with the characters, even supporting ones like Sierra's fellow contestants Bryce and Zane, as Parker gives them enough dialogue and punchy backstory to make them three dimensional and real. It goes without saying that I also adored the protagonist and love interest. Even though I know nothing about the subject, it's refreshing to see a female lead obsessed with gaming; in my experience, "nerdy" girls in books tend to be more bookish than tech-obsessed.
I definitely recommend this fun, quick read! I found myself smiling just about the entire time I read.

I really loved the idea of the book, just not the execution.

Although it was a debut novel, the author’s writing style didn’t sync with me. I often lost focus and starting skipping and skimming paragraphs. The overall writing style, dialogues and characters wasn’t enough to captivating me. And for someone who was such big part of this book, Tristan was a character I could have done without. I’m also not a fan of overly dramatic romances. I like my characters to show at least some maturity, and Sierra ended up a bit disappointing too.

In the end the hardest part for me was to connect with the story and the cast. And it didn’t help that I had difficulties finding anything relatable in this novel. I probably wasn’t the right audience and I’m glad that other readers didn’t have the same problems as I did.

This is a super cute story about a female video game developer who needs to overcome her fear of public speaking in order to give a big presentation on her company's new fame at a big conference in Germany. Sierra is a wonderful protagonist and I adored her. When her bestie talks her into competing at a local bar's diary reading event, to get over her phobia, she runs into some former college classmates that bring her past flooding back.

The main focus of the book is a ten year old grudge Sierra has been holding. At first that was annoying, but ultimately was a fascinating look at how we deal with our pasts. The male characters are handling their roles in Sierra's past and present in different ways. This book is definitely about letting go of the past, and also about realizing you're in control of your own present.

This was an enjoyable read, I recommend it for romance readers.

A gaggle of geeks.⁣
A herd of nerds.⁣
A drove of dorks.⁣
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This story was too cute! Who doesn’t love a revenge of the nerds love story?⁣
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Sierra is a video game developer who has casual sex to avoid intimacy. She had a life long crush but also deep hate for Tristan, a hot guy from college who traumatized her and made it difficult for her to speak in public.⁣
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She lives with her best friend Aida who is married to Marco; who are both video game nerds too. Aida is that best friend who doesn’t let you get away with anything and speaks her mind. I loved her. ⁣
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When Sierra meets Alfie for what she thinks is the first time, to find they actually went to college together, she starts to realize he was a nerd too, who’s turned into a sexy, sweet guy who still loves video games too.⁣
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Sierra enters a contest at Alfie’s bar to try to gain her confidence back in public speaking so she can present her new video game at a convention in Germany. She goes through a lot of drama with Tristan and Alfie through out the story and there are some really funny, nerdy conversations that go on.⁣
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I highly recommend this if you’re a nerd at heart and love a good rom com.🤓 Thank you @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for an ARC for my honest review. ⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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#bookstagram #books #romcom #nerds #booknerd #booklover #CrushingIt #netgalley #kensingtonbooks

Gamer girls unite! Video game developer Sierra wants to present her company's latest game at an upcoming expo, but her phobia of public speaking is getting in her way. Sierra's best friend Aida signs her up for a comedic competition at a local bar where contestants share embarrassing anecdotes. Sierra agrees to read from her college journal with her eye on getting past her crippling fear.

The romance comes in when Sierra has the opportunity to strike things up with her co-competitor, Tristan. The bad news is that he's her college crush and features heavily in her journal. There's also Alfie, the bar proprietor who calms Sierra down before each cringey speech. He's also the guy she's been regularly battling online at Mario Kart at 2 am, unbeknownst to them both.

The story was funny, and it was good to see Sierra confront her fears in more ways than one. My favorite character was Aida, who is a general badass and speaker of truths, so I'll sign off with some of her epic wisdom.

"You can't call a game Zelda and then make the entire game about a boy named Link who runs around saving Zelda from the destruction of the world. It's the very definition of patriarchy."

Thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Lorelei Parker for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I wanted something lighter, but with substance, and this hit the spot. Once I started it, I only put it down once in the span of a few hours.

It's the kind of story where you form a community with the characters, immersed in their world and rooting for their success. Lorelei Parker gives us a badass heroine, while also providing an interesting insight into video game development and gamer culture. It's delightfully nerdy, and a perfect place to escape for the afternoon.

What I appreciated most about this book was honest the lead character was. Sierra didn't have any pretenses and I found myself constantly surprised whenever she speaks what's actually on her mind. However, given that she's working in an industry that's predominantly for men, I think she could have been a lot more empowered. For example, the part when Tristan questioned how she got far in her career, instead of merely showing her disappointment, I wished she defended herself a bit more. And then the part when she so willingly threw away her hard work because she finally realized what "mattered most" for her; while I'm so glad everything worked out for her - in terms of love and career - I wished there was a better way to win back Alfie without sacrificing the contest.

But hey, I really enjoyed reading this book!

I Loved this book. It was more than the every day romance novel. Not only in the plot which was very original but also in the depth of the characters. I really felt I got to know Alfie and Sierra and felt their emotions. It was also a fun read but also tackled serious issues. Self confidence is what both Alfie and Sierra had lacked in college but 10 years later and they are still facing some of the issues they struggled with in college. If you would like to read a romance novel with believable characters with a believable plot with believable dramas then do yourself a favor and read this book. I will be looking for other books by this author.

This was a fun change from the usual chic lit tropes. The main character is a video game loving designer, with comiccon worthy style. It was an easy read, but I didn't feel connected to any of the characters and wasn't thinking about the characters/story when I wasn't activily reading. While the main character was different the story line, even with it's twists, was predictable.

Welcome to the gamers’ world: with well-developed, unique, sweet, extraordinarily quirky, dorky, geek characters! This is so different but fresh, completely smart and entertaining, humorous story!

Firstly I read a couple of romcoms about game developers but because of unlikable characterization and aimless story telling disappointed me. But not this one: This book is so much better than I expected.

Even though at some parts it was hard to connect with Sierra who has differentiated weirdest antics and suffering from insecurities, you get used to her abrupt comments, inappropriate manners and worst taste of men. But I had hard times to understand her: why the hell she was obsessed with her high school crush/ nemesis Tristan who treated her like shit and still cannot say her full name. ( If this book would be adapted into the movie: I may easily visualize Tristan as Nicholas Hoult after watching his performance at Hulu’s “Great”: you may understand what I meant when you read this book and see some similarities with his performance as Peter. Okay, huzzah !)

The story starts Sierra’s hyperventilation and some kind gas leakage after her unsuccessful game pitching in front of her superiors which pour down more humiliation on her insecurities. She wants to present her newest game she’s developed at a European conference but when she’s having panic attacks as soon as she opens her mouth, how could she convince her bosses she may be the best candidate to do this opportunity!

Thankfully her bestie pushes her to join a bar game to practice how to leave her comfort zone and how to connect with the public without fainting in front of them. She has to overcome her fear to achieve her dreams. But at the bar game she bumps into her nemesis/crush from high school ( yes: Nicholas Hoult’s evil twin) and other sweet, charming friend who is also bar owner, supporting her to perform at the stage from the beginning: Alfie: our favorite kind of hero with so much better qualities.

But Sierra realizes that taking her place at the stage and talking about the things about the pace will push her face the events hold her back to move on and have a happy life. She also realizes she fell for the wrong guy from the beginning. ( Yes, finally! Atta girl!)

Even though she was one of the quirkiest characters I’ve ever read, I learned to love Sierra. Especially talking in front of people and finding the exact right words could be so challenging experience I also need to deal with in my personal life.

I enjoyed writing, competitive women gamer idea and smart characterization and I’m so happy to read different rom-com without so much predictable clichés.

So much thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books to share this ARC and help me to have a unique reading experience in exchange my honest review.

I loved this book! It made me laugh out loud, cringe, and fall in love with these characters. I love how it brought every day feelings and insecurities to show how everyone feels them regardless if we talk about them or not.

3 1/2 stars. Fun and lighthearted. A really cute premise. I would hate to read something aloud to an audience about a former crush, Tristan, only to find out he was in said audience. Oops! When she is pretty mortified, who is there to step in and console but the bartender, Alfie, a long time friend who pines for Sierra the way she did for Tristan. What follows is a fun and funny read chocked full of game references. As a fan of video games, i liked that she worked as a developer and loved all the tie ins. My first by this author and I found it entertaining!

I didn't like the h at all. She was so clueless and immature. This book was very superficial and predictable. From the beginning, the author couldn't make it more clear that Tristan was a douche. There were so many moments that I could not believe that a 20 something woman would just ignore his behavior. She was beautiful, intelligent, had started her own business, and yet she acted like a teenager infatuated by the popular boy at school. With that being said, I think this author has potential and I will try another book from her.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute and fun book! It was off to a quick start but I didn’t feel entirely attached to the book until later. It’s a light romantic that is perfect for summer!