review: covalent bonds (red moon anthologies book 3)

Covalent bonds aren’t just about atoms sharing electron pairs anymore—it’s about the electricity that happens when you pair two geeks together.

This anthology celebrates geeks of all kinds (enthusiasts, be it for comics, Dr. Who, movies, gaming, computers, or even grammar), and allows them to step out of their traditional supporting roles and into the shoes of the romantic lead. Forget the old stereotypes: geeks are sexy.

Featuring nine stories ranging from sweet to hot, by authors G.G. Andrew, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Tellulah Darling, Mara Malins, Jeremiah Murphy, Marie Piper, Charlotte M. Ray, Wendy Sparrow, and Cori Vidae, Covalent Bonds is a chance for geeks get their noses out of the books, and instead to be the book. ~ Goodreads

Source: e-arc provided in exchange for an honest review

Review: Geeky romance is hot right now and this anthology covers a lot of ground. Gamer's, pop culture, grammar nerds, comics. The *nerd* aspect of every story was well done and romance varies between steamy to light kisses on the heat level so there’s a little something for everyone here.

Quite a few of the stories ended rather abruptly, despite being good otherwise, and that would be my one criticism of this collection but there were also several stand outs so I’ll just give a quick recap/thoughts below.

💗 The Hacked Match  by Wendy Sparrow – Hacker falls for FBI consultant who is tasked with bringing him back into the open to help with a case.

This was a tad far fetched but cute. I liked it!

Issues by Jeremiah Murhpy – comic convention/aspiring artist falls for annoying journalist/former hookup.

Way too short – more on the sexy side that the others but basically just a quick hook up and it’s over.

💗Addie-cted by Charlotte M. Ray – Gaming livestreamer's fall for each other after having to team up for a weekend raid marathon.

This was cute. Both characters were nice, loved the gaming geek factor, solid ending.

Spoilers by Marie Piper – classic horror movie geek meets gorgeous red red at the theater one night at a show but she ruins all his movies with spoilers.

Another story that was way too short. More of a how we met tale than an actual story but what was there was cute.

Rogue Trip by Laura VanArendonk Baugh – Gamer vs game writer who hate each other need to work together against a common enemy to achieve their separate goals – road trip adventure!

I liked the couple but there wasn’t much in the way of romance and super short.

Critical Hot by Cori Vidae – Gamer uses Dungeons and Dragons to help her reveal her crush on fellow gamer.

Cute but again…too short with an abrupt ending.

Classification of Nerd by Mara Malins – Divorce' tries to regain her independence working at a gaming company but her nerdy boss dislikes her – or does he?

Sweet nerdy guy but meh – another abrupt ending.

💗Better Than Chocolate by Tellulah Darling – Geek girl battles hot but annoying bad boy over a bag of M&M’s and sparks fly

I’m not a fan of bad boys but this story was so cute and I wanted it to be a full length story so bad! One of my faves from the collection and I’ll be reading more by this author. Great characters and humor.

💗Girl Meets Grammarian by G.G. Andrew – poet and grammarian clash over sentence structure and art and sparks fly!

Loved this one! It was sexy as hell with all the *hands on* sentence diagramming and grant banter. My favorite of the bunch.

If you’re into geeky romances and are suffering from short attention span reading disorder right now, like I am, this is a fun collection. Especially with Valentine’s Day coming up/