Title: Nerd Girl
Author: Sue Lee
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Tour Organized by: Indie Sage, LLC
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1dKk4xW
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/LCNQKX
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1e4ucOs
Synopsis:
Everyone knows that office romances can be risky, but how much are you willing to sacrifice for love?
Julia Hayes is beautiful, successful, sometimes nerdy, and perpetually single. She lives in Seattle and just landed her dream job at one of the most iconic technology companies in the world.
When Julia embarks on a new career opportunity, a serendipitous event literally throws her in the path of Ryan McGraw, the hot and charming VP. As the attraction grows between them, it’s not long before Julia realizes that things are more complicated than they appear.
Nerd Girl is a heartwarming love story about a woman at the crossroads between true love and her career. It’s about deciding what’s most important in life and taking chances to get it. But most of all, it’s about not letting your mind prevent you from following your heart.
About the Author:
I live in Seattle, in my favorite neighborhood, Queen Anne, with my husband and twin seven year old daughters.
After more than a decade of running the corporate rat race, I left Microsoft and finally found time to pursue my dream of doing something truly inspiring. I wrote Nerd Girl. I’m a voracious reader and thought it would be a fun adventure to merge my unique history and knowledge of Microsoft with a heartfelt love story.
Apart from reading, writing, and spending time with my family, I enjoy strong coffee, weekend getaways in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, running, Husky football, and cooking gourmet meals.
Contact:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SueLeeAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/SueHLee
Website: http://sueleeauthor.blogspot.com/
Giveaway:
Prizes: 2 Print Copies (US ONLY) and 3 Ebook Copies of Nerd Girl by Sue Lee.
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http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5440a322/
Excerpt 1: I chose this excerpt because it demonstrates Julia’s OCD and classic Type A personality. She is successful in her career, but unlucky in love. According to Julia, if she could manage her love life like a corporate project, things would be so much easier for her.
I couldn’t seem to get anything right relationship-wise. Like everything in my life, I wanted to put love and relationships into a predictable project plan. I’d feel so much more in control if I could do that, but love and work are two very different things, and relationships didn’t behave how I intended.
I always saw myself becoming that woman in her mid-to-late thirties with two kids and a career she loved, sharing everything with the man of her dreams. We would go on vacations twice a year, and, if we could afford it, we would send our kids to private school. I would become a soccer mom and consider quitting my job and starting my own consulting company. Eventually, I’d have enough people on staff that I would be able to dictate my own schedule and still have time to volunteer for the school auction.
For the vision to become a reality, I needed to have my first child no later than thirty-five. That annoying biological clock really started ticking loudly this year. Soon I’ll be saying goodbye to my twenties and the idea of turning thirty with no man or even any potential prospects was freaking me out. It would take nine months to carry a baby. Even before that, everyone knew it took six to twelve months to allow your body’s hormones to regulate after getting off the pill so you could get pregnant. Of course, you also wanted a year, minimum, to be just you and your husband as newlyweds before adding the stress of a new baby. Now this assumed you had someone, preferably your husband, to get pregnant with. This meant that I would need to get married before I was thirty-three. If a wedding were going to be everything I dreamed it would be, it required at least a one year engagement. And, if fate should have it and I found the right man, the average dating period prior to engagement was usually a couple of years. That meant if I had any hope of keeping to my schedule, I needed to meet someone before I turned thirty and that someone needed to be “the one.”
It was all so exhausting to think about.
Excerpt 2: I chose this excerpt because it’s an innocent enough conversation, but it foreshadows Julia and Ryan’s relationship.
The next thing I knew, he pulled me into a used bookstore. He said he loved old book stores and could spend hours in one. Why did I find that so freakin’ attractive? It must be the nerd in me. We walked around the store, looking at the titles and displays. He kept hold of my hand while we roamed the bookshelves. There was a distinct musty odor, but not offending; it was that old college library smell I remembered from my days at the UW great library, books and must and mold and pencil shavings.
I noticed a used copy of Jane Eyre and picked it up. “I love this book. I love Brontë and Austen. They wrote such timeless love stories,” I said casually. “If you think about it, the common person didn’t have typewriters or editors; or at least, I don’t think they did. The concept of marketing was probably only by word of mouth. The thing that made these stories persist over time was the quality of the writing and the stories themselves. Jane Eyre was so beautifully written.”
“Why do all women love these books so much?”
I gave him a reprimanding look. He looked back at me, feigning innocence.
“Their love stories were so simple, really,” I explained. “It only took a single meeting or a letter or a look across the room before they wanted to profess their love for one another. Their love consumed their whole existence.”
“Simple? I totally disagree.” Ryan shook his head emphatically. “One of the main reasons why these books are such popular stories is because their stories are so complicated. They’re the total opposite of simple. Their social structure and etiquette makes it even more so. Each story is a misunderstanding, a long journey that the author takes the reader on, and telling the story is lengthy enough to be book worthy. It is definitely not simple.”
Touché.
He continued to press his point. “I mean, look at Rochester. He hid a wife from his governess, from the whole house for that matter. That’s not simple. Did he honestly think he could get away with hiding someone behind the wall?”
“Okay, you win!” I held up my hands in defeat. “Closet Brontë fan, I see.”
He smirked at my comment, but looked smug.
“You’re right,” I conceded. “I guess love makes you desperate and people do irrational things. These stories are far from simple. It was an incorrect choice of words. I meant that their love was pure and all consuming—Jane and Rochester, Catherine and Heathcliff, Elizabeth and Darcy. Satisfied?”
“Yes,” he said smugly.
“I guess I wonder why people always have to make things so darn complicated. I think the best love stories, the real ones, at least, are those that aren’t complicated. No drama, no issues. People meet, fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. They just know. I’ve never had that. Maybe that’s why I’m still single.”
“I’m seeing a pattern here with you. You don’t like the color gray,” he observed and then added with a mischievous look, “The best love stories are complicated, because it wouldn’t sell books otherwise.”
Notable Quotes: Here is a short list of notable quotes that bloggers can use.
“Time and time again I was unlucky in love, and I don't think it was because I alphabetized my cereal boxes or because I snored sometimes when my allergies were bad."
“I guess life was never predictable, no matter how convinced you were that things were going to turn out. One thing I’ve learned is that you can choose how you handle life’s surprises. You can hold onto pain and bitterness or you can choose to take the steps to let it go.”
“I learned that weighing the risk was driven by the mind, not the heart. That’s where the fundamental difference lies between business and love. When it comes to love, faith replaces risk.”
Julie Harris is a hard working career women. She throws herself into her work, especially after her last relationship ended. Julie's last relationship ended badly, when her boyfriend ended their relationship and got engaged to another women within weeks. She doesn't seem to be lucky in love.
On her way to a job interview Julie is literally run down by Ryan McGraw. Ryan bumps into Julie in his car. She is so focused on getting to her interview on time, she doesn't even exchange information with Ryan. She does not even get his name.
Ryan and Julie run into each other again and again. She becomes taken with him. Until she finds out her is engaged to someone else. At this point I am so disappointed. Ryan seemed like such great guy. He was so good for Julie. They had a lot in common. Her family loved him. He was the perfect catch.
To Ryan's defense he is lost right now. He is at a point in his life where he doesn't know if he really wants to be with his fiancé He has been with her so long it has turned into more of a friendship. He doesn't want to levee her be cue their families are close. Ryan is not sure what to do. All he knows is that when he is with Julie, he is the happiest he has been in a long time.
And so begins the roller coaster relationship of Ryan and Julie. It is such a great love triangle. The other woman happens to be Julie's new boss. It makes Julie's personal and profession relationship a mess. The 3 of them work together. Things couldn't be more entangled.
This books has me on a massive high and a very dark low all in one chapter. One minute I was so happy for Julie, then the next I was balling my eyes out.
If you like a good love triangle and an emotional read then this book is for you.
