Crushing It has more than one meaning in this fun rom com.  On one hand, 'crushing it' can mean doing something extremely well and feeling great about it.  Crushing can also happen when someone has an infatuation or lust for someone.  Crushing it could also mean obliterating someone or something. The main character does all of these things: she tackles her deep fear of public speaking, falls in love with a heartthrob, and annihilates her nemesis. No spoilers here though, because there are plenty of surprises.  The main character (Sierra) would probably agree with Garth Brooks' song: 'thank God for unanswered prayers.'  Sierra is a gaming whiz and co-founded her own gaming company - super cool! However, you don't have to know gaming to get the references.  I did look up a few that seemed interesting (e.g., Leeroy Jenkins, Second Life, Easter egg, etc.).  Understanding communication within a virtual world was insightful and made me think about how our conversational skills are impacted, as Sierra says, 'maybe life would be easier if it came with prewritten dialogue.'  Is it easier to exist as an avatar, a pseudonym, or a creation of our own imagination? Parker does a nice job of showing the benefit of taking risks, being courageous, and having confidence, along with the power of friendship and mentors.  Kudos to Parker's clever dialogue throughout, including:  'Do you know what you call a group of gamers? A gaggle of geeks. A herd of nerds.'  Note: some open door scenes.  Thanks to #NetGalley & #Kensington for an advanced copy.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Cute novel about finding your voice, conquering a fear, and realizing what is truly important in life.  Entertaining and funny.

Crushing it is a cute book! Lorelei Parker's voice is very easy to read. Great beach read for the summer if you're looking for something light!

**I've received this digital ARC from Kensington Books in exchange of an honest review**

I have to say that this book has been a real revelation.
I was captured by a plot a little bit different from all the other rom-coms I've already read this year and I'm satisfied beyond my expectations!
Crushing It is a funny romance that has the ability to handle some important themes without being boring or too tough. 
What would anybody do to overcome a fear that is interfering with their own job and relationships?
The answer seems simple, isn't it? They have to face it. 
Well, nothing is always as simple as it comes to fears. This book expresses very well that a good intention doesn't work alone if we can't see the real point of the problem and work on it.
Sierra is an extremely talented woman but can't speak in public without having physical reactions that are the expression of an interior anxiety that arises from an imbarassing accident in college years. She can live with it, but now she has the opportunity to go to a Game Com in Germany to present the new video game she developed with her company! But how can she convince their investor she's the right person if she can't speak in public?
So, her co-founder and best friend Aida propose her to join a sort of competiton which is taking place in a bar in the neighborhood where people will read or tell their best "worst debacles" of their lives. The winner would also gain 2 twosand dollars! 
Sierra is reclutant but accepts to try and this is the turning point of all the story.
Her worst moment is linked to a boy she had a tremendous crush with and.. that same boy has unexpectedly joined the competition too! For Sierra it's time to face all her fears and maybe understand that talking in public is not the main and big issue she has to face.

I'm not a strong believer that telling the plot in a review is very useful but in this case the "incipit" will help to understand better my point of view.
I think this book oozes with love for video-games and I've LOVED it. I've read the author is a player (and a computer programmer) too and it can be well perceived during the reading. Nerd culture is not overwhelming but it's present and I've loved it. We have small references and Sierra herself embodies her love for games and coding in her way of thinking, and it has been amazing! A challange is a sort of game to win, new difficulities  new levels to pass and trying to relax herself often comes with playing some videogames (or yoga).
It's funny, it's new since I usually see man playing video-games and it's so realistic I could imagine Sierra and her world from page 1 until the end, with her colorfull hair, nerd t-shirts and her 2 a.m. insomnia. And this can be applied to all the other characters as well. Everyone is well delineated with that 3-4 details that make the reader undestard almost immediately who they are and how they act: Aida is loving but strong person that won't ever tell Sierra what to do, but will always says what comes to her mind; Marco is a relatable, easygoing silent type but can be very frank too; Alfie is outspoken too but sweeter (and I could perfectly perceive the calm, reassuring feeling about his presence from the beginning, I'm madly in love with him), and so on.
That's what I like in a book: characters that seems to be alive and we could meet in everyday life! Pros and cons are displayed easily, showing even good people could make mistakes, but unlike some others they can undestand their wrong acts and be sorry for real. 
This novel reminds us that our history doesn't define us if we can learn from our errors, and that makes a BIG difference.
Sierra herself learns that her attitude towards the other sex has been signed by thinking she can't have "high" standards because she isn't worth enough (and that's not true) and also not to trust people for real because she will be always hurt. That is true. People can hurt us and we can hurt people, but that's a risk we should take to fully live. The point is to give our trust to someone that really cares about us and make us feeling loved, listened and supported, and in exchange, to make things really work, we should do the same. We are our strenght, but with the right person we can discover a better version about ourselves. It's challenging and scary, but we can't be satisfied with a "safe relationship" that doesn't give us that spark. 
I've seen the seed of all of this in the story and I've loved it SO much. I wish the epilogue would take us a few years ahead to see how things have "blossomed" (and I would have loved to meet Will! - who have read the book will know who I'm talking about!).

We have of course some abitual patterns and I've undestood some plot-twists before they were presented, but this hasn't been excessively obvious and didn't ruin the story. That's because the interesting thing is how Sierra reacts! She isn't predictable and she's not a girl too blind to see and read someone's true intentions, and that's one of the points I've appreciated the most. She's also totally serene about sex and expressing her desires and I've liked it (even if sometimes I was laughing surprisely like a certain person in the book..) since usually it's reversed. Not to mention the fact that she's a self-made woman and seeing how she defends her works and what cares her has been amazing and a good lesson to all of us. 

So, I've been totally satisfied. It has been fun, full of hilarious moments but also thought-provoking, and the "slow burn" romance has been so magnetic I couldn't put the book down. 
Can we have immediately another Lorelei Parker's book?

Thank you again #KensingtonBooks for the chance! It has been a real pleasure!<3

'As he skipped down the steps and disappeared into the darkness, I held my hand over my cheek, making sure nothing else had been stolen. Other than that kiss. And my rapidly beating heart assured me it was still there.' 

This book was like a rollercoaster ride for me. I didn't anticipate in the beginning that I would like it. But oh boy, was I wrong. 

Blurb - Sierra wants to go to the Gamescon in Germany badly. But there's a hitch. She needs to convince her colleagues that she'll be able to handle the presentation of their new game. It shouldn't be difficult apart from the fact that she has severe anxiety when it comes to public speaking. So she signs herself up for the Chagrin Competition at a bar and prepares herself to get humiliated for the competition. There she meets two people - one she failed to recognize previously and one who failed to recognize her. The catch is - was Sierra focusing on a meaningless target the whole time, misreading every player's action? 

***
Characters:
First comes Aida because she was one hell of a character. And the best one if you ask me 😍 
Then comes Alfie. Well, he sure is amazing, kind and supportive and I loved his character development.
Now comes Sierra. I liked her character a lot and her character development was also pretty amazing too but there were a few actions of her that were rather foolish and made me want to kick her.

*Spoiler Ahead*
Tristan is a dick. Oh, was I too straight forward? Because even if I was, I seriously don't care. If it's upto me... I won't mind killing him and feed him to pigs. Maybe I am being too harsh but he was one big douche bag.

So all in all, I wasn't that aggressive while reading this book but it sure made me feel a lot of things and I'm glad. The journal entries were nice to read and the setting was a good one too!

Note - I was provided with an arc of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Crushing It was a really good read. I wasn't sure about Sierra at first, but I Warmed up to her quickly. I fell in love with Alfie. Tristan was an asshole. Aida and Marco were adorable. I liked the concept  of the character building contest. There was certainly growth in both Sierra amd Alfie, but stagnation with Tristan. The plot may have revolved around gaming, but it's a  bookworm's delight.

I really loved how sassy Sierra's besties were in egging her on towards getting over her fear of public speaking. More so, I'm glad Sierra took the terrifying opportunity to get eventually become more confident by reading her (awkward) diary entries, because she was determined to let her talent at creating games be recognised and awarded. A really sweet rom-com which swayed to the beat of showing how sometimes the best things (or people) were by our sides the whole time... I'd say the only things that dampened my enjoyment was how bumpy the story and pacing could be - which fostered into clunkiness. Apart from that though. this was sugary cotton candy streaked with self-betterment.

Oh no!  Sierra is talked into reading her old diary at an event in a bar- she's trying to get over her fear of public speaking-and regrettably, she reads a part about Tristan, her college crush.  And he's in the bar.  Sierra is a gamer who is smart, really smart, but shy.  Tristan is, let's be honest, sort of a creep to her.  Alfie, the bar owner, however, is not.  He was also a college classmate and Sierra has, to be honest, pretty much taken him for granted.  This is a love triangle where you know who you want Sierra to pick but Parker has thrown in a few curves.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  Nice characters and storytelling make this a good read.

Wow!  I absolutely adored this contemporary romance.  Author did a great job making these characters relatable and funny.  Great character building!

It was a bit uneven, but the parts that I liked, I REALLY liked. It took me a bit to get into it, and one of the end "reveals" made no sense based on the rest of the book - the one about her being part owner (and I really wish the occasional morality paragraph would have been pulled, like the last paragraph before the epilogue). But overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and I really liked how everyone saw "10-years-ago" differently.

If you are interesting in finding love as a quirky, game loving, self appointed nerd, then this book is for you. I could not relate to the main character, but I still enjoyed her story and following her path to rediscovering her confidence.

This is a sweet rom-com about a video game designer her college crush and the guy she overlooked. It's definitely on the predictable side but in the best possible way. I flew through this book in two days, and it had a satisfying ending. Perfect for anyone looking for a light read. I really enjoyed that the heroine was a gamer and designed video games. The gaming references were easy to follow even for non-gamers. Really lovely.

I love a good romcom, and Crushing It by Lorelei Parker is that. A good romcom. 

A main character who is a gamer girl and develops video games in her own company? And plays Mario Kart? And loves fandom outfits?  And hates public speaking especially because her body makes weird noises when she's nervous? Ah, a character I can definitely relate to - except for her dyed hair, and that's only because I have a job in the corporate world that keeps me from going full lilac. 

There were a lot of funny moments in the light and fast read. I have to say that the thing that annoyed me the most was how gullible Sierra was, and I totally vibed with Aida and felt like I would totally be her in the same situation,. Don't we all have a friend who is exactly that gullible when it comes to guys (or girls) who don't deserve them?  Aida, I feel you girl. I wish their friendship had been fleshed out more though.

The romance between Sierra and Tristan did not move me at all, and while I definitely felt more of a spark between her and Alfie it still wasn't that convincing. I also felt like they went from 0 - 100 real fast. 

My favourite parts were when Sierra would go on and on about her favourite games and during the contest when they would all try to humiliate themselves. I just wish we got to read more of the humiliating stories because they were the funniest bits. 

The cover is beautiful, though I wish they had chosen to design the dress after Sierra's favourite dress in the book.

All in all, funny read. Not the most memorable romcom I've read but not bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have made a promise to myself over the last year that I won’t force myself to continue reading a book I’m not enjoying. After a certain page or percentage, if I feel I’ve given it a fair chance and I’m still not enthralled, I’m going to move on and let it go.

That happened with Crushing It.

So much potential! We had our gamer girl Sierra who attends an open mic night of humiliation where she reads through an old college journal. The entry she reads is about repopulating the earth with her comms class and which boy she adored and shockingly, he is the next contestant at this open mic night and they “reconnect.” Sounds good, right?

No.

First, there are tons of red flags surrounding this guy. Does Sierra pay attention to them? No. Her naivete and gullibility are hard to swallow. Plus there is going to be this weird love triangle happening between douche boy and sweet boy and I almost feel like I can predict what will happen. It just feels like a bad teen movie from the 90’s.

And I hated Sierra’s outfits and style.

And so life moves on. #didnotfinish

This was a light and fun book to read, definitely something I could see being made into a funny rom com. I've actually been reading so much heavy fantasy lately that I forgot how much I enjoy the simplicity of contemporary books. I was drawn to this book because it discusses a very relatable fear of mine which is public speaking. Sierra was a really cutesy character who had quite a history to her in terms of relationships or lack thereof. I enjoyed slowly watching her build her confidence in her product (for her video game company) and herself, and of course her journey to find love along the way. The writing style was nice and sweet, although the fetishes with body parts like the neck, were very strange at times, at least for me personally. I appreciated that this book solidified how women can go into men dominated fields such as video game designing and succeed. Hence, I also appreciated Sierra's best friend Aida who pushed her friend to face her fears and continued to believe in her abilities even when Sierra herself didn't. I think my favorite part of this book was during the journal readings at this bar, things would be reveled from ten years ago when Sierra and some others were in college together. Those parts made this book interesting and added a little more background to the characters, who weren't really flat, but were lacking some substance at times. Overall, I did enjoy the book. It wasn't the best contemporary story I've ever read, but it was a nice escape. 


Writing: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Plot: 6/10
Ending: 7/10
Originality: 7/10
Overall: 34/50
Cover: /10

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC 

This was a book that I initially didn’t have high hopes for because it sounded So similar to every other book I’m this genre, and it mostly was but I loved the story of the public speaking phobia and how the one bad incident that affected Sienna for 10 years was able to be overcome in a pretty unique way. 
I didn’t like the way that Tristan’s character treated both Sienna and Alfie but he was a character that a reader would know in real life. 
Overall I really enjoyed this story and will look forward to reading the authors next book

I enjoyed this book. I thought the contest set up was original, though a bit far fetched. Setting the lead in the world of video game design was unique as well. But it’s also why I felt there was a huge disconnect between the cover and the content. I know we aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover but while I like cover it doesn’t fit this story, in my opinion.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 
If you are a gamer, or game developer,  the book is suitable for you. The book is not my cup of tea. I enjoyed reading it for the first 40%, the remaining was just struggling to finishing it.

Game creator Sierra has a big public speaking event looming, but an embarrassing incident in her past gives her extreme stage fright, to the point that she might miss this huge opportunity. To ease herself into making the speech, she starts competing in a local bar event, telling stories from her life, based on her college diary. Both the bar’s owner, Alfie, and one of her competitors, Tristan, witnessed her embarrassment long ago; Alfie is supportive and helpful, while Tristan uses it to his advantage during the competition. 
While it seems this is going to lead to a love triangle, that’s taken care of pretty early on, since it’s clear that one of the guys is only interested in Sierra because of her job. 
I liked that the romance was a bit of a slow burn. Sierra, used to quick hookups, is surprised by Alfie’s insistence that they date a while before sleeping together, which is a nice change. I also like that Sierra is good at her job and confident in most of her abilities except public speaking, but that’s a VERY common fear, and she’s willing to work on overcoming it in order to pitch her passion project. 
I thought the book was charming and funny.

Thank you netgalley and to the publisher for this fun ride !
Calling all gamers , ready, set —go!!!
I crushed this book in one day because it was so good I just had to know how it was going to end !
Sierra is a game developer with a fear of public speaking ! Her best friend Aria talks her into entering a  open mic type contest to help conquer her fear ! Throw in high school crush and old friends and you’ve got yourself an amazing read that will bring you right back to your teenage years !!! 
I challenge you not to run to your game station and play some Super Mario after you read this one!!!! Wonderful and fun read !