Review: Smartasses Anthology

Title:	Smartasses
Author:	Avery Flynn Erin Mallon Helena Hunting Jana Aston Jiffy Kate Karen Grey Kayley Loring Krystyna Allyn Penny Reid Sara Ney Sonali Dev Susannah Nix
Series:	n/a
Pages:	927
Category / Genre(s):	Contemporary
Trope(s):	Various Nerd Romance
Point of View:	Various
Location:	Various, USA
HEA:	✔️
Release Date:	16th August, 2022

**NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Nerdilicious!

I am a massive sucker for nerd romance of any kind. I don’t care if they’re former nerd, current nerd, a nerd who gets a makeover, girl nerd or boy nerd – I love them all. So when I heard about this anthology I couldn’t wait.

We get 12 romcom stories from some really great authors. Definitely unusual to have so many of my favourite authors all together in one book. Having said that, I was a bit disappointed to find that at least one of the stories has been released previously and is actually one I’ve read. So if you’re buying for a specific author, check whether you might have read it before.

In a very rough average, the stories are around 65-75 pages each meaning a little under an hour’s reading time for each.

The stories we get are:

👓 Attracting Aubrey by Avery Flynn
👓 Showmancing the Bone by Erin Mallon
👓 Not Just A Crush by Helena Hunting
👓 Central Park by Jana Aston
👓 The Doctor and the Dungeon Master by Jiffy Kate
👓 What Happens in Carolina by Karen Grey
👓 There Is Also a Dog by Kayley Loring
👓 Comic-Complications by Krystyna Allyn
👓 Pash No Rash by Penny Reid
👓 Things Liars Fake by Sara Ney
👓 The Runaway Bride by Sonali Dev
👓 Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind by Susannah Nix

While all the stories were enjoyable, well-written and featured some sort of nerdy goodness – each brought something different to the table. For those of the authors I’d read, their stories still felt like theirs, with their individual voice and tone shining through.

I was also tickled by just how funny these stories were. I laughed out loud on many occasion and for many of the stories but extra points for Jana Aston as her story was so wonderfully, ridiculously fantastic that I almost didn’t stop laughing from beginning to end.

My stand out stories, other than Jana Aston’s, were those by Helena Hunting, which left me with a huge smile on my face; Kayley Loring’s offering, which just cemented her as the living embodiment of my silly, sometimes puerile – but still hilarious – sense of humour; Sara Ney with her sweet and sigh-worthy tale and Susannah Nix’s delightful tale of fake dating, a nerdy billionaire and true love. And despite having read it previously, Avery Flynn’s story is still a fun and sexy read.

I may be being a tad grumpy with my 4-star review instead of 5 – especially as you’re currently getting 12 great stories for less than a pound. And even with my rating, I would very much recommend this selection of stories to anyone who’s partial to a bit of romantic nerdage, or to anyone who’s a fan of one or more of the authors.