Her Winning Formula by Shannyn Schroeder

The Basics:

Her Winning Formula by Shannyn Schroeder

eKensington Originals

Novella 3 in the Hot & Nerdy series

Contemporary Romance

Published November 24, 2014

Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Kobo

Why I picked up this book:

Having reviewed novellas one and two in the series, I wanted to check out the third one.

Blurb:

Spring break was supposed to be a last blast of fun for three friends before the reality of adulthood set in. But for the trio’s science whiz, it’s an education in instant attraction…

Chemistry major Felicity Stone can tell you everything about the way chemicals interact, but when it comes to social interaction, she needs schooling. Abandoned by her friends, Felicity is faced with spending spring break alone—unless she accepts a gorgeous stranger’s invitation to pose as his girlfriend at a family wedding. Not one to turn down a research opportunity, Felicity never expected it to produce such breathtaking results…

Teacher and baseball coach Lucas Tanner is fascinated by Felicity’s potent mix of spirit and scientist, not to mention her delicious curves. When Felicity asks him to return the favor by teaching her how to pick up guys, he can’t refuse—but he’s not at all happy with the idea of her using a formula for flirting on anyone but him. Can he convince her that together they have the perfect chemistry?

My thoughts:

I quite enjoyed Her Winning Formula, making me 2 for 3 for this series of novellas. 

Pros

I'm really drawn to these 'geek' themed stories because I am personally a huge geek. Felicity's the resident geek this time around. She's super smart and also has some kind of social... something going on. Not quite anxiety so much as just she's not sure how to read people. Her interests lie in chemistry and she wants to make perfumes post-graduation. 

I really liked Feliticy and Lucas - they're both good, genuine people, and that made it easy to root for them. I felt like they were people I could hang out with, characters who could really exist. That accessibility definitely had me more invested in their story.

I enjoyed the little overlaps with the other two books in the series. There's not a lot - mostly phone calls, but it made me smile to see the references to Felicity's friends who each have their own novella in the series.

Neither Pro nor Con

It seemed to me that this should have been the first book in the series, based on the timing of the romances. 

Cons

While Lucas as a teacher was a great touch, I found the occasional references to him understanding Felicity because of his students almost patronizing at times. I guess I wanted him to 'get' her without having to spell out that he understood her weirdness from a professional standpoint rather than simply by empathizing with her as a guy who was into her.

I also though that the first sex scene read a little mechanically for me. I didn't get the sense of a real connection between the characters - it felt very much like going through the motions of - first you do this, than that, then more of this, some thrusting, some bouncing and climax. I think it was meant to contrast with the more deliberate connection formed later on, but, still, I found it a bit off-putting. Perhaps fewer details would have been better?

Bottom line:

I liked Her Winning Formula a lot. Felicity and Lucas are really endearing - I would have been really happy to spend another hundred, hundred and fifty pages with them. Strongly recommend!

4.5 stars

For fans of contemporary romance, geeky heroines