“Rule number one: no lying. That was the first, most important rule.
Rule number two: must not live with parents.
Rule number three: must have a job.
Rule number four: no dating a guy who had already dated a girlfriend. No friends' exes. Chicks before dicks, as her cousin Becca always said. “
Lucy Benoit is just about to break every one of those rules for the perfect guy she meets in her apartment’s laundry room. She wasn’t planning on falling for Andy Sullivan, she already has Dell. She is working hard to complete her college degree while working full time at the Sports Authority so her life has had little time for romance … but there is an electrifying chemistry between Andy and herself, a chemistry she can’t deny…
Andy Sullivan claims to be a geeky gamer, jobless, living with his mom and wearing socks with sandal...he is everything Lucy should run away from. Andy Sullivan really isn’t jobless, he is actually a doctor and a college department head working on a thesis about the gamer community. He is instantly drawn to Lucy and even though he thinks this will be a quick fling, he soon realize that he’s found his perfect match. The only problem, he’s lied to Lucy and she doesn’t even know his real name.
Undercover Professor is a heartwarming romance with steamy love scenes, a certifiable cousin/best friend and a woman soccer team that always looses. I found this story extremely engaging, the characters relatable, the banter witty and fun and the romantic encounters sweltering. 4 stars!
This ARC copy of Undercover Professor was given to me by Netgalley and Carina Press in exchange for an honest review. Published November 19, 2012.
http:/tometender.blogspot.com. Romance, Contemporary
Debut
Lucy Benoit has four dating rules. She meets Andy one afternoon in the apartment complex's laundry. Despite Andy being scruffy but extremely attractive, he has three of the four rules against him. And Lucy is to find out that in fact he breaks all her rules.
Despite Andy appearing to be a 'usually-unemployed' man living with his mother, he is in fact, Dr Andrew Sullivan PhD, sociology professor at Portland, Oregon. Andy, better known as Drew is on a break from academia, looking after his mother who is recovering from surgery, and doing undercover research for an article he's writing for Wired magazine.
I did enjoy the different vocation for the hero, and setting in the world of online gaming. Doubt that I've read that before. However, Undercover Professor was a pretty average romance for me. Plus, when the hero and heroine start making-out shortly after first meeting, the sexual tension isn't allowed to build.
Undercover Professor isn't bad, it's just not different. For me, it's a romance I've read any number of times. But I think a number of other readers will enjoy this, if you like cute, light, fluffy contemporary romances.
Steam: 3
ARC courtesy of Carina Press via NetGalley
Romance, Contemporary
Undercover Professor was not really what I expected, but it was a fun and sexy read, anyhow.
I adore romances about social opposites coming together and falling in love. I guess to some degree this was sort of the case. It was the case in Lucy’s mind when she fell for Andy. Lucy is a successful hardworking responsible girl who’s been burned by love. Because of this, she compiles a list of “don’ts” for men. This way she’ll end up with someone who won’t stomp all over her heart and someone who is looking for the same things in life as she is. Her number one rule is: does not lie. By all appearances, Andy lives with his mother, has no job and spends him time talking about or playing online games, so yes, completely opposite to Lucy. But this isn't true.
Andy breaks the most important of Lucy’s rules, don’t lie, because he hiding his identity and posing as something he is not. Andy is in town undercover to do research for a gaming article he wants to publish. He’s a pretty famous professor in the gaming world and couldn’t do the research in his own town, so the fact that his mother needs care after hip surgery works out perfect for him. He’ll stay with his mom to help her recuperate while posing as a between jobs gamer and be able to gather information incognito. What he doesn’t count on is meeting and falling for Lucy. She lives in the same building as his mother and they immediately are attracted to each other with easy conversation, witty banter, and off-the-charts chemistry. Lucy doesn’t want to fall for Andy because he breaks so many rules on her list, so she thinks. But she can’t help the way they connect, and have fun together, and did I mention the off-the-charts chemistry?!! Well, that she can’t ignore.
I had fun reading Undercover Professor, and it is a relatively short read, but for some reason, it felt like it took me ages to get through. There is a miscommunication with Lucy’s cousin, Becca and Andy in the beginning, where Becca, who is highly delusional, thinks Andy is going for her. Lucy doesn’t want to hurt her cousin by carrying on with Andy until he gets it straightened out. This goes on for about 50% of the story, and it annoyed the heck out of me. I hate miscommunications that drag on and seem completely senseless.
The relationship between Lucy and Andy was very magnetic and I really liked them together, but the cover-up that Andy goes on with for his article seemed ridiculous. I can’t imagine not fessing up with this sooner, especially if he really cared for Lucy. I didn’t see the need for secrecy that would’ve made this situation believable. At any rate, I do think this author can write captivating chemistry and characters, and some spice that got my blood pumping! I look forward to what she’ll come up with next.
A copy of this was provided by Carina Press through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Romance, Contemporary Thank you to NetGalley and December Gephart for allowing me to read this book. I did not receive any compensation for my review. Overall, this book just squeaked by with a 4♥'s rating. Fast, easy read with unique characters, but left a little longing in more details and character background.
The romance and overall story was a little different than what I've read this year, which was nice to see something different. I'm almost surprised at the variety of characters offered to us in this book. Initially I thought I would hate the vapid cousin, but was quite endeared to her by the end. Andy/Drew was a change of pace from the regular alpha male. Gamer/professor/player that is working undercover for research meets Lucy. Poor Lucy is just overflowing with horror show stories of her past relationships... girl never caught a break! Seriously, imagine the WORST story of 'ex's that you have ever heard and multiply that by 50. It's that bad. While her train wreck of a past drew me to sympathizing with Lucy, I still was left wanting to know and understand more. Even beyond Lucy, there are interactions and scenes skipped in the book or just skimmed over that I wish were included. The romance is hot and quick with humorous obstacles along the way.
In this particular case I feel I should mention the cover. While I like the cover, and it contributed to my interest in this book, after reading I do not feel it quite matches the story. I was envisioning a more of a Jax from Sons of Anarchy, facial hair, sloppy gamer look for the guy. He's hot, but 'undercover' so he's not really all clean shaven until maybe the very end.
I will say that I sucked this down in one afternoon, which is always a good sign. The characters and story did grab me enough to make me want to keep turning pages until I got to their HEA. Romance, Contemporary So very close, yet so very far away.
Do you know how excited I was to read a book about a geeky gamer guy who is secretly a hottie in disguise?
I was OHTHISEXCITEDICOULDBARELYWAIT!!! Right about now, I'm so freakin' tired of alpha male aholes that are a dime a dozen. Back in the day, I loved me some chest-thumping testosterone...until I read it about a hundred times over. Can we get some different personality types already? So you can only guess how happy I was to read about a normal (yet still hot of course) guy.
And I will say that I loved Andy/Drew. He was great for the most part. Being a former gamer myself, I love me some fun gamer guys. Okay, so Andy said randomly embarrassing things like Juicy Lucy, tricky pickle, and your wish is my command (during sex), and mentally dissected his exploits with vapid bimbos almost as if he was looking at it from the jealous female's perspective instead of his own, but whatever. He painted his mom's toenails for her when she was unable to take care of herself. I have to award aww points for that. He pulled off the dork role too well at times - even if you're into gaming, why would you automatically start quizzing the hot chick you just met about gaming? That was strange, considering she wasn't one of his test subjects. But again, he gets points for being adorable. He was described as hot looking with a slightly scruffy beard, sloppy clothing, and wore glasses part-time. I don't usually fantasy cast for my reviews, but I kept picturing Bradley Cooper with more facial hair for some reason.
Here he was, hitting on her, and she just wanted a moment to get her feminine hygiene product. He spun and searched the shelves for some sort of jock itch item, to even it out.
But then there was Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Was she even supposed to be likable? Because I was having a hard time figuring out if I liked her or not. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, being that I've been on the other side of the married fence for 10 years. I could've sworn by now that everyone knew about how making lists in order to try to pinpoint what you want out of a man is something that will never work. Having a type never works either. It never fails...the second you think you have an ideal man in mind, it's a dead-on guarantee that you will fall for someone who is nothing like what you envisioned.
So of course, this is what happens to Lucy. Well, at least she thinks she's falling for someone who is nothing like her ideal. Of course, he is secretly perfect for her, according to her standards, but she doesn't know that yet.
Personally, I think it would have been fun if she'd fallen for a man and he really wasn't her type, not even in secret. That would have been a deeper story to me. Instead, we got shallow Lucy who was allowed to pick at, complain about, and try to change her man into something else. Then she got to have her cake and eat it too when he turned into her real life dream guy. Wait...so what's the moral of this story? Because I'm thinking there isn't one if we really look at what went down.
You tell me...does this sound kind of bitchy, or was it just me?
Look, I am fighting my way through school, trying to work full-time. Watching you mooch off your mom (my note - this was assumed by her) is really unattractive. I thought you were, I don't know, more than that. But I can't be with anyone who doesn't have goals and ambitions. A five-year plan at the very least.
Now, I don't condone men initiating violence against women, but if I were Andy, I would have given her the finger and walked out with a hefty door slam at the very least. That was a pretty nasty assumption she made there and it wasn't attractive for the heroine at all.
The story had a few clunky moments. There was a mention of Lucy's uniquely tangy flavor, which made me crinkle my nose unfavorably. I think this might be the author's first book though, so I think the clunky moments to story ratio was lower than I've seen in other first books.
Overall, this was a cute, fast and fun read. I would have loved to have seen a little more give on Lucy's part, but the outcome of the story was sweet and the chemistry was nice. I would be willing to check out another book by this author. At least she was willing to try and write a story that isn't the same as the last ten contemporaries I've read. Kudos for that.
This book was provided from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Romance, Contemporary
Reading outside my typical genres lately, and I'm finding some great books! I recently received an early copy of December Gephart’s Undercover Professor: I'll start with WOW. Such a sexy story with whip-smart, snarky characters, and it had me blushing and laughing out loud, sometimes on the same page. There’s even some intelligent, affectionate satire on the gaming world; if you’re married to / dating a gamer and have watched more than your share of G4 (like me), you’ll get a kick out of that angle.
The story is well-paced and well-plotted, with a satisfying ending that doesn’t disappoint. The characters are well-developed, and the story builds naturally on their actions. Nothing feels forced. You care what happens to them, and you really root for that happy ending. But most importantly, reading this is FUN, FUN, FUN. The sex scenes are racy and well-done. Bottom line? This is the Thinking, Funny Woman’s Fifty Shades of Gray. I loved it!
Romance, Contemporary December's debut is steamy and fun! Love her voice, love the humor, love the very real-feeling setting. Lucie is a delightful heroine, an ordinary girl with an ordinary life that she's working hard to make the most of. When her self-protective rules run up against her chemistry with the undercover hottie hero, the conflict that results has just the right balance of humor, pathos, and smexy good times. Romance, Contemporary Slick's review posted on Guilty Pleasures
4.5 Stars
Man oh man, I so love reading a new author that makes me want to shout her name from the rooftop! So let me get it out of the way right now, “DECEMBER GEPHART”! Write it down and don’t forget it, because this lady is going places. Undercover Professor is December’s first published book and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
Lucy Benoit has not been lucky in love. In fact, she’s had some pretty hideous experiences that I think would make most sane women decide to NEVER date again. But Lucy is a believer in love, marriage and family. However, she’s very cautious and so she has a list of criteria that her dates must meet. Meeting Andy Sullivan makes her start to question her list because together they have “zing” something she’s not feeling with the guy she’s currently dating. However, in the back of her head she knows something isn’t quite right with Andy.
Andrew “Andy” Sullivan is staying with his Mom while she recovers from surgery. A well know and well respected professor he is “undercover” while he writes an article for Wired Magazine on helping geeks get laid and preparing a presentation for Comic-Con. Being “undercover” means he can’t disclose who he is or what he does and everyone he meets assumes he’s between jobs, and living with his Mom out of necessity. He meets Lucy and finds himself instantly attracted but he has an uphill battle because in no way, shape or form does Andy meet Lucy’s list requirements.
I flat out loved this story! It is so engaging and I found it hard to put down because I really cared about what happened with these characters and not only Lucy and Andy but Lucy’s crazy cousin, Beth. Since Andy is pretending to be something he’s not, this creates several interesting situations. Beth practically stalking Andy is humorous at times but I also felt a little sorry for her.
Andy flat out pursues Lucy despite that she’s casually dating someone else. At first I think it was the thrill of the chase for him, but it becomes quite clear it’s more than that. Their chemistry is off the charts and when they finally get together they create a lot of heat. There are some smokin’ scenes!
These two have a very bumpy road to their happily ever after. Andy not being upfront about who he is and what he’s doing, Lucy’s list and her past make it hard for her to trust, Beth’s involvement, and many outside factors made me wonder if they’d ever make it.
Undercover Professor is a stellar first book from author, December Gephart. The characters were complex but fun, the plot was downright amusing and interesting, the dialog smart and engaging, and this book featured one of the best apologies by a hero EVER! December’s style reminds me of one of my all time favorite authors, Jill Shalvis. I’m already anticipating her next book and I’ll tell you now, this is an author to watch!
Review copy provdied for an honest review. Romance, Contemporary I love a good romance and it’s not the first time I say this, but this book was a pleasant surprise. I discovered it while I was cruising NetGalley and the cover made me take a better glimpse at the summary. The cover is always important to me and this time it was perfect match to the story.
I loved Andy/Drew and how torn he became with his secret. He’s such a nice guy, takes care of his mother after her surgery and it’s even trying to help the gamers with all their non-existence love life. I consider him a great guy and despise what happened on the past I can even consider him a saint.
But the guy Lucy met is not the real Drew and he’s only doing this for project. So he pretends to be a addictive gamer and let all his visual behind to collect data for his project. So the guy Lucy met is kinda bad, with no job and living with a parent, no sense of fashion.
He broke all her rules, but there’s a zing between them, and it’s more than just lust. They love the same music and the same books. They actually compliment each other, but he’s stuck in a crazy relationship with her cousin.
I loved how Drew discovered his feelings and fought all the way to understand and win Lucy. But I felt a little lost about his past and that was only mentioned a few lines on the very end. We know all about Lucy’s fears and the reason for the list, but almost nothing from Drew.
Overall all it was a good romance.
This review can be also found on my blog: Book Travels Romance, Contemporary Who of us women and I guarantee men probably do somewhere hidden , have a list of requirements for the people they date and then they won't date anyone who doesn't fit their list , no matter how hard that other person will try to persuade them otherwise. Lucy Benoit has a list and Andy Sullivan isn't getting very far on it especially not his Undercover personality whereas if she was to discover who he really was, he would meet all her requirements. Can Andy get Lucy to like him and have her forget about the list ? If only it was that simple as Lucy is otherwise tied relationship wise with Dell - who meets all the requirements on her list, but he has no zing and Andy has somehow found himself in a weird twisted relationship with Lucy's cousin Becca who of course thinks he is the one. Lucy though soon finds herself falling head over heels for Andy, but what will happen when he does the one thing she hates - Lying . Even though he did have a good reason for the deception will Lucy ever be able to forgive him or will she not give him a second of her day ?
A nice fast and fun read filled with romance and sex and of course the odd family issues , like most Carina Press books Undercover Professor is a nice , quick and easy read and perfect for those days and nights where you just want to curl up with a book and not think about much of anything. Romance, Contemporary
December Gephart Ï 1 REVIEW
Rule Number One: Must not lie.
Rule Number Two: Must not live with parents.
Rule Number Three: Must have a job.
Rule Number Four: Must not be a friend's ex.
These dating rules shouldn't be hard for Lucy Benoit to follow—after all, she made them. But she didn't plan on falling for Andy Sullivan, a scruffy-yet-attractive man who lives with his mother and is between jobs. These should be deal-breakers, but in other ways Andy is just her type. And there's something intriguing about him…
Andy isn't the geeky gamer he claims to be—not by a long shot. But what seemed like a harmless social experiment has put his chances of a relationship with Lucy at risk. Even if she can get past the silly rules she has set for herself, will she ever forgive him for breaking Rule Number One? Undercover Professor