Thursday 21 August 2014

✪ Neurotica ✪ Eliza Gordon ✪



      

SYNOPSIS

If you find yourself talking to Jayne Dandy, keep the conversation on Star Wars and rubber ducksbest not to mention men, dating, or S-E-X. Because Jayne is fine with the way things are: writer of obituaries and garage sale ads by day, secret scribe of adventures in distant galaxies by night. But her crippling fear of intimacy has made her the butt of jokes since forever, and hiding behind her laptop isnt going to get her lightsaber lit.

After her therapist recommends that she write erotica as a form of exposure therapy, Jayne joins forces with pen and paper to combat the demons that wont let her kiss and tell. Unexpectedly downsized at work, she adopts a pseudonym and secretly self-publishes one of her naughty books to make ends meet. When her adorable, long-time friend Luke, co-owner of the popular Portland food truck Luke Piewalkers, hears shes been demoted, he insists on hiring her to sling éclairs and turnovers at his side. Her secret must be kept, but sparks ignite between them, sending Jayne and her X-Wing into a tailspin that will either make her face down her neuroses or trigger a meltdown of Death Star proportions.

ARC received for an honest review

Be warned - though this book is about an erotica write, it does not contain any erotica (and you all know how I love my smut!)

That being said, I completely adored Neurotica!  It is good to once in a while "cleanse the mind" of all the dirty things that I read (and watch!!) and get an honest to goodness sweet geeky romance.

Jayne's neuroses really do seem to take on a life of their own, and taint Jayne's view of the world a bit.  I do love her quirky way of looking at the world though!

It makes me wonder though, that someone who has so many hangups about sex - heck, can't even say the words sex and penis without getting embarrassed - can write such smutty erotica?  You would think she would need at least a bit of experience, but maybe this is just me.


I love her geeky, Star Wars loving, duck obsessed side hard.    

Luke "Piewalker" Walker is her friend that she can share her geeky side with.  And she is secretly crushing on

Holden is the new guy at the newspaper who likes her, pursues her.

And this is where things for me just didn't feel right.  Luke has always given off the brotherly kind of vibe to me,  not the potential lover.  Why all of a sudden is he the one to get her over her issues when he has been there for years?  And only for him too?  Any other man looks at her and it was all gross? 

I just didn't feel the lusty, heady feelings between them, no matter how much I wanted to.

Holden felt more like the potential one to make that breakthrough -but this might have just been me.

I loved Jayne's best friend Gretchen. I thought it was fantastic the way she pushed Jayne to work on her issues and to move forward.

Neurotica is a sweet, albeit a tad predictable story.  If you are a hopeless romantic or love your geek-romance, this should definitely be one to read.

I flip flopped between 3.5 and 4 stars on this one, so 3.75 it is!



(Information taken from elizagordon.com)

Eliza Gordon is a forgetful girl who relies on Post-It notes and cellphone alarms to get her through the day. An avid eater of cookies, she can be found with her hand in the jar when not in her cubicle. A purveyor of fictions, Eliza is confident that the life she lives is merely the imaginings of someone elses hand, poured from a dull pencil on cafe napkins, and that she is simply an understudy, waiting for her turn to take the stage. She has excellent taste in books, shoes, and friends, and questionable sanity in the realm of love. Best leave that one alone.

In real life, shes a husband-and-wife team of controlled chaos who writes stories to help you believe in the Happily Ever After. The female half, Jennifer Sommersby, is repped by Daniel Lazar at Writers House.