This post will be about the third and fourth books in this series, but I just had to put up all four covers because they look so cute together! They all just really show how cute and fun these books are. These are all happy, clean and adorable romances that would be perfect for younger teens who want to read about first loves. They are also good books to pick up and snuggle with on a rainy day, especially if you are feeling under the weather. They will certainly make you smile and feel better.
The basic premise of all of these books, is the English teacher at their private high school gives the main character a book that will some how magically influence their story. Ms. Gregoire is the coolest teacher ever, and she is always there to help her students and to support them along the way.
You don’t necessarily need to read these in order but I do recommend that you read A Date with Darcy first because it does set up the others. If you want to read my reviews for the first two books you can find them here and here.
Talk Nerdy to Me
Is the love story for Eliza and Curtis and has Anne of Green Gables as its literary influence. Eliza is the daughter of two famous scientists who are always off on some scientific quest and leave their daughter alone with a graduate student as her caretaker. Her parents keep tabs on her through various technological ways, and are pretty restrictive. They are described as space station parents, “because they’re too far away to be helicopter, but they’re still right on top of you.” And of course they will not allow her to date, because that would interfere with her studies. Eliza is very smart, but also very pretty. She has a lot of issues about her looks, because she knows that a lot of people think that pretty women are not smart. But she also thinks that Curtis is not very smart because he is the class clown. To her surprise she discovers that he is just as smart as her. And that begins the story of their romance.
I really liked Eliza, she was not only smart, but a good and loyal friend to those she felt closest to. I had a bit of a problem with her parents, and I am not sure I would be as forgiving as she was with them, but even though they are never there, they do seem to care about her and her well-being. I loved that she had a special relationship with her best friends parents who were always there for her when she needed the support.
Curtis is the boy everyone falls for. How could you not? With his adorable nicknames for everyone and he can bake delicious cupcakes, while explaining the science behind it all. I just loved him! He was also a great influence on Eliza and managed to get her to lighten up a bit, not be so serious all of the time. He also has an interesting family, who are very supportive of him and protective of him.
The story is very well done and nicely paced. It can be a very quick read as well. I read it in one day, mostly because it was making me smile on a very rainy Saturday.
Get A Clue
While all of the books are very diverse with their characters not only in ethnicity and social standings, but also with sexual orientation in many of the secondary characters. But this is the first one that the romance is focused on two boys getting together. With the literary backdrop being the Sherlock Holmes stories, this one is more focused on a mystery as well.
The narrator of this story is Huck, who has been a secondary character in all of the previous books. He played a minor role in the second book that was quite cute and I was hoping that he would get a story of his own. Huck is similar to Sherlock in that he likes to analyze things, and is very observant. He however understands that emotions are important too, as are relationships. He meets Winston at the end of book three in a very adorable meet cute, and there is an instant attraction there. Huck also has a caffeine addiction which is addressed in the story in a very caring and supportive way.
Winston is a very interesting character with a really interesting dynamic with his family. He is Curtis’s younger brother and a twin, but he has a lot of issues with always being compared to his brother and with protecting his sister. But he is super adorable when he is around Huck and I really enjoyed watching him grow and start to trust himself to be himself when he was around him.
This story is slightly different than the other ones in that there is a mystery that needs to be solved. Winston is being cyber-bullied and Huck is determined to figure out who it is. It is a very well done mystery with lots of different suspects and some red herrings. I also liked the way that Huck went about trying to figure it all out. Ms. Gregoire also seemed to take a bigger role in the story this time around which I really liked seeing.
If you are a fan of light, funny and wholesome romances, these books are ones you might want to take a look at. They really are perfect for the younger YA audience as well, with out swearing or heavy romance issues. They all do center around other social issues as well, such as cyber-bullying, sexism and not judging people by their looks or their social standing. The author’s note in the last book indicated that there will only be four books for now, but I really hope that she writes more of these in the future. We always need books that will make us smile!
Confessions of a Serial Reader 