The Replacement Crush

An excellent meetcute read featuring a geeky bookworm of a heroine and an equally geeky, nerd-hot hero. Vivian has been dissed by her lifelong crush after they spent the summer meeting up after curfew. So she’s devised a new system to rate and secure a new love interest that won’t crush her the way the last one did. And the nerd-hot Dallas, who’s new in town and updating the cataloguing system in her Mother’s bookstore, isn’t going anywhere near her list. Only, as they spend more time together, Vivian is more and more tempted to toss out her list and give Dallas a shot. A plan Dallas seems more than amenable to. But even an infatuated guy won’t wait forever for a girl to stop playing Vulcan and come to her senses. Read The Replacement Crush to find out what happens between Viv and Dallas. I highly recommend this book. It’s enrapturing and will dig its hooks into you from the start. Viv is utterly relatable, not only to the bookworms among us, but also to the geeks, and those who have been broken-hearted or spurned, and especially to those of us who are all of the above, And Dallas is the kind of hero we all read romances to meet. Check it out and start counting down the days until Book 2: The Bookworm’s Least Likely Boyfriend comes out this October! I preordered the second I finished The Replacement Crush.

This book was so much fun. What can you say about teenage romance but angst, angst, and more angst. And yet The Replacement Crush doesn't wallow in it. There's plenty of humor and wisdom along the way, not to mention some snap, pop, and sizzle from Viv and McNerdy. I vaguely remember a few times when I thought the story line slowed, but I'm glad I kept going, because it's worth it and it has a killer ending.

The Replacement Crush was smile inducing and absolutely adorable! With a book blogging girl, an adorkable and swoon worthy guy and a group of friends who I wished were mine too, The Replacement Crush was such a huge hit. The story was set in a cute little beach town and with so many of the scenes happening in a book store, oh my heart, this story had it all. If you love ya romance, talking about books and falling in love then definitely add this one to your tbr! Viv's mom wanted to modernize their book store, so she hired Dallas, the new kid in town to create software for them. The first few times Viv and Dallas ran into each other, I couldn't stop the laughter or becoming completely obsessed with them. They were so awkward, yet funny at the same time. And while I wanted something to happen between them, Viv was determined that nothing would. Her heart had just been stomped on by her childhood crush, so she wanted to find her replacement crush. Someone who was safe and she wouldn't fall head over heels for. But true love isn't something you can plan out, so I had a good feeling that Viv was setting herself up for the most epic disaster ever. Especially since Dallas was always around and seemed like someone she could fall for. Dallas Lang was the ultimate book boyfriend. He was thoughtful, sweet, caring, charismatic and sigh worthy. He definitely rocked the nerd vibe with his glasses and Star Trek knowledge but he also had this whole Clark Kent thing going on. I. Was. Obsessed. He was the strong yet sometimes silent type, and he seemed to observe more than Viv ever wanted him too. But since we only got to hear from Viv, Dallas felt like a mystery to me. So I desperately wanted to know what was going on in his head and what all of his secrets were! I loved being in Viv's head and joining her on her journey. She had so much to learn, and she grew in leaps and bounds by the end of the story. But Viv made a lot of mistakes along the way. Especially since she didn't have a lot of experience with boys, so you have to be patient with her. She even acknowledged her mistakes by calling herself tstl at one point lol. But Viv was quick witted and funny, so I was rooting for her every step of the way. When Viv and Dallas were around each other, there was always a spark between them. And since they had to work together a few times a week, that spark seemed to burn even brighter as time went on. While some of those moments were sweet and had me sighing out loud, other times I was laughing and screaming because of their antics. Their banter was hilarious! But it didn't matter how hot some of those moments felt, Viv was determined to stick to her guns and find a guy that didn't set off her zing meter. And Dallas constantly was setting it off for her. And for me too. With book stores, book clubs, bookish lingo and books weaved throughout this story, you couldn't stop my smiling. And with side characters that I found myself caring for just as deeply, this book was such a huge win! Amy, Jaz, Viv's mom and Toff were my favorites. You guys have to meet Toff! He's like Viv's brother and he stole every single scene he was in. I'm so happy he got his own book, The Book Worm Crush! So yes, I definitely recommend this book! The Replacement Crush is for all the book and romance lovers out there! I can't ever recommend Lisa Brown Roberts' books enough!

This is a hard book for me to review. I think my older age makes a difference too (I'm in my late 50's) & I believe this is meant for maybe the upper ages of Y/A or definitely N/A. The beginning 1/3 of the book moved so horribly slow I almost quit the book several times, and there were some things that took away from the story or pulled me out of the story (the acronyms used for so many things, or the Star Trek references, I'm not a Star Trek nerd- so a lot of that stuff went right over my head). After the first 1/3 of the book, it finally picked up the pace & actually held my attention, enough to stay up a bit later than I should to finish the book when I have to go to work the next day- just to be done with it & able to move on to another book the next day. The main heroine character, Vivian, was not likable at all or even a relatable character for me. She was totally an idiot! It doesn't help that this is all high school angst & drama. I hated high school & the high school angst 40+ years ago, so I don't like to read about it now. There is mention of sex (in cases it's implied) in various conversations, no actual sex scenes though. There is an "almost" rape scene (all implied intentions), where the hero & step-brother save the day before it gets even that far. The whole saving grace of the book is Dallas! He's a great character, almost too good to be true sort of thing, there's nothing he can't do! Even the quirky secondary-character, the almost step-brother, Toff, was entertaining & an over-all good guy. I even liked the rock star, Fisk! I hated the girlfriends of Vivian & even Vivian's mom. I'm not sure I would want to read more from this author though, too much high school angst & drama for my taste.

A lovely story with very likeable characters! I would recommend very much!

If you are into stories with a teen protagonist who can take on an enemy of the known world and come up with ideas on strategies before any adult can, then you may not like this story. I actually like those types of stories, but every so often, I do like to read about a teenager with normal teen fears, normal teen hopes, and normal teen drama. Even though I’ve been out of high school for a while (let’s just say it’s been well over a decade), this book brought me back to those days of teenage angst, mood swings, hormones and that nasty recipe that made me do or say idiotic things. In this way, I did feel Vivian was one of the most realistic teen characters that I’ve read about for this day and age. Some people may have found the book slow moving to start, but I think that the when it comes to figuring out how to get over a crush, the process Vivian goes through is a little like what I remember going through as a teen – it’s always a slow process. Another common ground I found with the protagonist is that in high school, I was so good at appearing aloof, cold and factual that my sister would call me a “Vulcan”. But I put on that façade to protect my heart because deep down I wasn’t like that at all. As a teenage girl, I was actually fragile and easily hurt by boys, but I refused to let my true emotions show. I think in some ways, I even did the replacement crush thing – or rebound thing, where I was determined to keep my heart out of it. Funnily enough, that was the point I was at (again in my YA life) when I agreed to date a young man thinking he would get bored of me and dump me after a couple of weeks. We ended up getting married, and are still happily married many years later. So maybe there is some logic to that after all. (Take note all “Vulcans” out there). It also helps that I’m a nerd and yet have the same views of Star Trek as the character Vivian did (I like the story lines more than factuality relating to Space and physics). So, for the category of Young Adult fiction and taking into account that I knew it would be about teen drama going in, I couldn’t find any fault with this story, and thus it earns a 5-star rating in my book.

Uh, i just wanted to have written it! Haha

I really enjoyed this book! Was funny to read and so well written that I felt involved from the get go.