How to Charm a Nerd by Katherine Garbera was a cute story about a witch and a nerd who fall for each other. Liberty is a witch whose life is turning upside down. Her Nan is dying and has memory issues, and she’s struggling with the fact she learned her deadbeat dad’s name from her Nan after she was mistaken for her mother. As she struggles to decide whether or not she should learn more about him, she enlists her friend’s nerdy cousin Merle to use his IT skills to track him down. She’s always felt a spark for Merle, and as they start to work together closely, it heats up. With her life blowing up before her eyes, is this the real thing or is it another complication?

I thought this was a cute story. The characters were sweet and bounced off each other well. However, I felt there were some issues with pacing. While I enjoyed the story overall, I felt the ending was rushed and the loose ends weren’t all tied up in a satisfying way. While the treads of the story were completed, it seemed like an afterthought toy the romance rather than a fleshed out ending. I did enjoy the romance between the two characters. I would give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to a four.

Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Okay so I loved the idea of this book but I feel like it they could if built up the relationship a little more.

Fun, low stakes, thrilling binge read!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I was somewhat shocked to see the overall rating as I came to write my own review. I hear other reviewers in the sense that it was a lot of inner dialogue and it could’ve perhaps been shortened. However… those aspects are what make this book quite enjoyable to me.

I can see this being a ‘mood read’ and not fitting everyone’s idea of a pick but this book was a great ‘chill day’ or ‘sick day’ read for me. The inner dialogue hooked me from the start and it was almost like I was hearing about a friends life. And I’m like and then?? Then what?? And it just kept going!

I was home sick when I read this and honestly it was a thrill! I spent all day finishing the book 😂

The characters are likeable for the most part and I’d say it’s a low stakes story. Some heavier topics are touched upon which worried me but they deal with it in a very chill way (which imo is a good thing sometimes) it just felt very… real life-ish?

I very much enjoyed reading this one and look forward to what the author puts out next!!

Liberty Wakefield, witch and co-owner of WiCKed Sisters, needs help. Her life and energy is in chaos since her Nan revealed the name of the biological father she has never known. Merle Rutland, a nerdy computer expert, and Dungeons & Dragons master is just the person to help discover what she needs to know. The premise of How to Charm a Nerd grabbed my attention from the outset and I found the characters engaging the authentic,

As Merle and Liberty work through her quest for answers, their chemistry is off the charts, but they both have vulnerabilities that they must confront, both with each other and their families. Although seemingly opposites at the start of the book, Liberty and Merle are perfect complements and I loved them together. While I easily connected with their characters, I felt that too much time was spent on Merle and Liberty's inner thoughts, telling rather than showing who they are. These thought patters were repetitive through the book with the character having an epiphany or coming to a decision, just to cycle back to the previous thought process again. It made the story feel slow moving at times.

I particularly enjoyed the look into Liberty's spirituality, rituals, and explanations of the various elements she uses in her witchcraft. The resolution to the issue with Liberty's biological father was anti-climatic and I wished for more information from her mother's perspective. Much had been hinted at and I had hoped for more.

An overall entertaining read, How to Charm a Nerd makes a fun addition to a witchy season book list.

How to Charm a Nerd returns readers to the fun and witchy world of the WiCKed Sisters, and it's all the best of romance and autumn combined! I love the found-family vibes of the female friendships and the hero is cinnamon roll perfection. - USA Today bestselling author Joanne Rock

I loved the premise for this book. Witch x D&D nerd! Super cute love it, with themes of grief, dementia, and finding inner self. I was on bored. There was a bit of a kitchy feel to the witchcraft, thats in a lot of books like this but it definitely had the witchy vibe without the fantasy that a lot of books have. I was a bit disappointed with the romance because there wasnt really any chasing or build it, there was just tension that was already there into relationship.
Overall a good read!

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for this read!

I had high hopes but was disappointed with the lack of character development. The spiciness was a bit over done in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an Ebook ARC of this story, this is my objective review. I'll preface by saying I wasn't the right audience for this book as it just didn't draw me in that much. The fmc Liberty runs a witchcraft shop with her two friends. The mmc Merle is one of the friend's cousin, a D&D gamer and computer programmer who feels like an outcast in his family. At the beginning of the story Liberty is trying to track down her biological father with Merle's help. There is mutual physical attraction, open door romance with lots of sparks, although there didn't seem to be a lot of groundwork laid for why the reader should care about their relationship. Overall, both personalities felt over-laden with quirky nerdy/witchy stereotypes. A bit over-the-top and one-dimensional, which made them both harder to relate to, although the over-arching message of being true to yourself did resonate with me. Unfortunately I didn't find Liberty to be very likeable, and the resolution of the father search was disappointingly anticlimactic, especially given the heavy focus it had throughout much of the book. Please note a content warning for Alzheimer's in a loved one. This is the second in a series but not hard to follow and works okay-ish as a standalone, I probably won't go back and read the first one as I didn't feel engaged with this one. Overall a quick steamy read, and I think it will appeal to others but this wasn't the book for me. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Missed out on book 1, but this latest work just made me want to remedy that asap. It was such a lovely modern, slight paranormal romance that i enjoyed over a weekend.

Thank you to Harlequin - Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

loved this romance and her mom wants her to date this guy she has these amazing friends who are all dealing with different relationship issues . loved that she found her way in the job and found love

This book was fun. I love skinny king rep in books and unapologetic nerds. I went into this a bit blind and had an overall fun time. I felt that Merle the MMC's background and issues with his family was well developed. Liberty's not so much. It's not that I couldn't relate but this book does get a bit repetitive at times. It's one of those romances where something happens and we see that actively in a scene but then also have to hear Liberty debrief about it with her friends and it's more of what we already know again.

I loved their chemistry, personally and also spicy wise. I liked the push pull of Liberty going through something in personal life that's really emotional and unrelated to Merle but their discussions on what's real between them and not using Merle as just a distraction.

I am not that familiar with D&D but love reading about it in books (one day I'll conceptualize it all together). I loved Merle folding Liberty into his group and all those little details I actually did love. I thought that was such a sweet way to show care and romance Merle trying to imagine what character Liberty would enjoy being etc.

But again, I didn't find myself wanting to pick this up, not in a bad way just an indifferent one which is a bummer cause I was really excited for it. I would pick this up if you like things on the slower side. I am so intrigued by her other friend so I might try again with this series.

Thank you to Harlequin/afterglow for the eARC!

I enjoyed it. The characters are delightful and the plot was pretty good. For the subject matter, though, I struggled to get into it as fully as I'd like. Diverting read but maybe lacking a bit of magic.

I want to like this book, but just can't quite get there. With some polishing and little bit more plot development it has the potential to be a really fun read.

This book was fine. The characters are interesting and very “real”. But I guess that was my issue. Two people that like each other decide to date. They have great sex. They realize they are in love. The family issues aren’t that hard to get past. And her witchiness is not fantastic magic. She is a modern witch, that we could all meet are the spirituality bookstore. There is nothing wrong with any of that. It just didn’t hold on to me the way I wish it had. (I read an ARC)

I loved this book so much! The writing was really good and the romance was so cute. I would highly recommend this book!

I went into this one blind and it was really
Fun! I was not expecting fall/witchy vibes but I was loving it. A fun book with loveable characters, some family stuff written with good sensitivity toward the subjects. Overall, cute and easy little romance that’s perfect for fall.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

Rating - 5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Date Read - May 30, 2024
Publication Date - August 20, 2024

*I received an E-ARC of this book for free in exchange for an honest review* - Thank you @katherinegarbera, @harlequinbooks and @netgalley!

Originally, I gave this book 4 stars but I had to go back and change it to 5 stars because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the story! It’s not perfect but that’s okay because the vibes were vibing and it has stayed on my mind weeks later. How to Charm a Nerd is Book 2 in an interconnected series so you don't need to read the first one but there are some spoilers. This book is super descriptive, just like Book 1, which I love! The Autumn vibes are strong from the first page... I will have to re-read this book in Fall but reading it now got me so excited for my favourite season! I have never played Dungeons and Dragons but I've always been curious and never knew it was so complicated! I did feel like the spice took away from the emotional connection between the main characters at times. I would say that I enjoyed this book more for the character struggles and growth rather than the romance. I could relate to both characters and felt more invested in this book compared to the first one. There are also many good messages about positivity, change, acceptance and being yourself throughout the book that I needed to hear.

Get excited to read How to Charm a Nerd, available August 20! 🎉

*Please check trigger warnings*

Not my cup of tea. This book felt long and repetitive between what could have been a fun steamy story of a HEA.
I usually love witch romances but I guess I enjoy the more fantasy paranormal type and not the "real life" witch type.

I found Merle very likable when not annoyed by his lack of self confidence. I found Liberty a touch annoying but that likely relates to my own personal feelings about tarot cards etc.
It felt like they were repeating or recapping the trains they couldn't be together over and over and then suddenly everything was resolved.
There's also a major plot point that's hyped throughout the book and most definitely ends up being anticlimactic. Not to mention the mother having a very odd reaction about it all and from an outsiders perspective being overly dramatic.

How to Charm a Nerd accomplished the mission, this nerd is thoroughly charmed!!

How to Charm a Nerd is the second book in the WiCKed Sisters series by Katherine Garbera and I LOVED IT! The characters in this story, Merle and Liberty, are familiar if you have had the chance to read the first book in this series (The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love). Liberty is a tarot loving earthy witch, and Merle is an adorable D&D nerd who find themselves unable to resist each other. As they get closer and closer they realize that although neither of them wanted love, they may have just lucked into the real thing.

First of all, these characters are just EVERYTHING!! Liberty is headstrong and knows what she wants with a confidence that is next level. However, getting to read through her experiences with her family just connected with me deeply (and I think it connects for our amazing author as well). Merle also remained a nerdy fellow, but he still had some extremely sexy moments. Which if you haven’t guessed already, these characters had explosive chemistry and the spice is delicious!

My only remaining question after this book is that there was one particular plot element and fateful meeting that was built up throughout the whole story. I wanted to know more about this fateful meeting. I need more! In some ways it was a bit anticlimactic at times which I think some readers may not enjoy as much, but I feel like this rang true for real life meetings like this at times. But for exactly how this might play out, you’ll have to read this and find out!

I cannot say enough how much I loved this story. I loved returning to this universe and I’m begging Katherine Garbera for our last WiCKed Sister book! Check this out asap - you’ll love it!