Nerd Girl Loves Books

Currently Reading…

Seek the Traitor’s Son ( The Burning Empire #1) by Veronica Roth

Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1) by Marion Blackwood

Crown of War and Shadows (Kingdoms of the Compass, #1) by J.R. Ward

Heir of Twisted Lies (Stonegate #2) by L.J. Andrews

Love Overboard by Kandi Steiner

The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman

A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1) by Joe Abercrombie

The Devils (The Devils, #1) by Joe Abercrombie

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser

4.5 stars

Fairytale retellings is not my thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed this Cinderella retelling through the eyes of the “evil” stepmother. If more retellings were like this, I’d read more of them. In this book, Etheldreda, or Lady Tremaine, is a twice-widowed woman left with no money and saddled with a decrepit house, two young daughters, a priggish step-daughter (Cinderella – who can’t be bothered to help the family in anyway whatsoever), and a razor-taloned peregrine falcon that helps her hunt to put food on the table.

Continue reading →

April 5, 2026 0

Kace (Pittsburgh Titans #20) by Sawyer Bennett

I love this book series and the author has done a fantastic job building a wonderful, supportive, and loving found family amongst the players and their wives and girlfriends. In this book it’s goalie Kace’s time to fall in love. His teammates don’t know it, but Kace is a genius in applied physics and his “side hustle” is working as researcher “William” for Dr. Laurel Kent, a fellow scientist at a university. They’ve never met, but work very well together and respect each other’s skills. They’ve formed a fun and flirty relationship and Kace wants nothing more than to take it to the next level, but Laurel made it very clear that she’d never date another athlete. So, when an opportunity arises for him to meet her, he decides he’ll try to date her as Kace and see if he can win her over, and if so, he’ll tell her about his William persona.

Continue reading →

April 5, 2026 0

A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10) by Deanna Raybourn

It’s hard to believe this is already book 10 in this entertaining historical fiction mystery series and it still provides plenty of twists, turns, and creative cases. This time the mystery involves a young man entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to a cemetery. He’s got two small holes in his neck a la Dracula. Another young man dies in an apparent suicide. The two are connected by a mysterious society that’s existence is only mentioned once in society.

Continue reading →

March 31, 2026 0

Mistakes Were Made (Story Lake, #2) by Lucy Score

4.5 stars

I love this book series and reading how Zoey and Gage find their HEA was so fun. Zoey is broke and needs to hang on until her BFF and only client Hazel’s new book comes out. Until then, she hunkers down in Story Lake and tries not to go crazy. Ever since his brother’s engagement, Gage has not stopped thinking about finding the perfect wife to start the perfect family and life together. Zoey is pure chaos and Gage is as steady as they come. They could not be more opposite and are looking for completely different things, but sparks fly whenever they get close to each other and it’s hard to ignore.

Continue reading →

March 31, 2026 0

Here Lie All the Boys Who Broke My Heart by Emma Simmerman

This was a fun and twisty mystery/thriller set during the FMC’s senior year of college. Sloan is a pretty good student and has a close group of friends. Her relationship history is not so great and she frequently gets her heart broken. To cope, she writes a fake eulogy in her journal about the boy to put to rest the relationship.

Continue reading →

March 31, 2026 0

The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

This is an interesting YA Dystopian book that will remind you of a less complex version of The Handmaid’s Tale. Honeybees have died out and the patriarch has taken control of the world. There is no art, no books, no joy. Girls are ripped from their homes and put into concentration-like camps and forced to pollinate crops by hand until their get their period, when they are matched with a man and forced into marriage and mandatory breeding. Jess’s mother protects her from the camps longer than most girls, but eventually she is torn from home and locked away. She makes friends with Cass, Deva, and Ruth, but stays clear of almost everyone else. When an unexpected kindness puts a few tubes of paint into her hand, she risks it all just to be able to paint again. She didn’t expect it could possibly spark a revolution.

Continue reading →

March 27, 2026 0

Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride

This is a pretty good YA mystery/thriller about an alleged yearbook prank gone terribly wrong. Best friends Rick and Martina are outcasts and they’re ok with that. Labeled by the Principal as troubled for previous pranks they’ve pulled, when yearbook pictures are labeled with gruesome titles like Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses, he immediately tries to pin it on them. But they didn’t do it (this time) and their pranks have never been gruesome or cruel. When a guidance counselor is found dead in the same manner as his new yearbook label, police name Rick and Martina as their prime suspects. When another body turns up, the duo realize they need to find the killer before they spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Continue reading →

March 27, 2026 0

Fire Line (The Griffith Brothers, #3) by Maggie C. Gates

I love this book series and am so sad to see it end, but I’ve had a great time seeing the Griffith brothers fall in love and find their soulmates. This time, it’s the last single brother CJ’s turn to meet his spitfire of a woman and fall in love. CJ meets Lennon in a bar where they have a steamy one-time encounter and never expect to see each other again. That doesn’t stop them from thinking back at their time together on more than one occasion. So, when CJ is introduced to Lennon as the executive chef of the restaurant at the lodge built on their land that he despises, he explodes with resentment.

Continue reading →

March 16, 2026 0

Web of Vows and Vengeance (The Hirathean Path #1) by Aria Ashbrook

I listened to the audio of this book and LOVED it! The narrators did a fantastic job portraying the characters. They built tension and conveyed the emotions of the characters to bring the story to life.

This book is the first in a dark, spicy slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy series, perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, The Serpent and the Wings of the Night, and Throne of Glass.

Tropes you’ll love:

Enemies to Lovers

Deadly Tournament

Slow-Burn Romance

Underdog Heroine

Brooding Royal MMC

Forced Proximity

Gods & Goddesses

Continue reading →

February 27, 2026 0