Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: It’s All Geek to Me
AUTHOR: J.L. Merrow
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 51 pages
BLURB:
Jez is on a mission of mercy: to replace a tragically deceased comic book for his injured best mate, Tel. Venturing into the Hidden Asteroid bookstore in London—the temple of geekdom itself—Jez is bowled over by the guy behind the counter.
Rhys is the poster boy for hot geeks: tall, gorgeous, and totally cool. Jez is desperate to impress him, so he bluffs his way through comic book jargon . . . and then dashes back to the hospital to beg Tel to teach him how to speak Geek.
Tel’s happy to oblige, and Jez is over the moon when Rhys asks him out. He’s even more thrilled when they discover a shared love of rugby, something he won’t have to fake for Rhys. The question is, how long can Jez keep up the deception, and what will happen when Rhys realizes he’s going out with a Fake Geek Guy?
REVIEW:
After his best friend, Tel, has an unfortunate run-in with a car, Jez is determined to replace the copy of Tel’s comic book that suffered an untimely demise. Well, maybe less determined and more cajoled into replacing the comic, but when your buddy is in traction it is probably best to try and be the better man. So off he goes to the Hidden Asteroid bookstore, in search of the third issue of The Amazing Translucio, Uncanny Secrets–not that Jez has any clue who Translucio is, or why he should care about him, let alone any of his uncanny secrets. Except when he comes across Mr. Tall, Dark, and Geekily-Perfect manning the comic book store counter, he finds himself a lifelong devotee of The Amazing Translucio and the rest of his spandexed buddies. Or, at least so he professes. Ok…he lies through his teeth and out of his ass, but can you blame him?
So now Jez needs a crash course on all things geeky from his bestie, while trying desperately to convince his new crush that he is totally worth dating. But there is only so much he can bluff, so what will he do when his geek credentials get called into question? For a superhero, lies are old-hat, but for a lowly lab-assistant they might just be his downfall.
Oh this was just so much fun. I have said repeatedly how much I love Merrow’s English men, and this story was no exception. Jez is just so clueless and tad bit beaten down by his last ex’s assholic patheticness (is that a word, because it should really be a word), so he is so far out of his depths that is just downright hilarious. But he has such a great sense of humor, and it was a pleasure to go through this story with him.
I have, despite my sister’s best efforts, never really liked comics. I understand why other people like them, and I can love the aesthetics of the art…but they have never really clicked with me. I just…I like books, and pages and pages of words that become images in my head. Story stories, long stories, epicness that stretches over years as the series unfold…those are my loves. I just find something missing in comics. In this I am afraid I fail in my geek credentials. I just don’t get them. But watching Jez try and bluff his way through all this comic book geekiness was just great. I understand not getting something that someone you love adores, but trying desperately to find some connection there. Granted, Jez wanted in Rhys’s pants, and I most assuredly had no desire to be in my sister’s (though I think I may have stolen a pair of shoes…or three…over the years). Still, I know the bluffing game, and Jez pulls it off pretty well. I think. I honestly have no clue about comics…he could have said Batman was buggering the Nightcrawler while Magneto was arranging his collection of metal butt-plugs, and I wouldn’t have been any the wiser.
And when the truth came out… it was just so damn perfect. They so deserve each other. And I really liked that they tried to find some common ground outside of the comics. Not that I understand Rugby any more than I understand comics, but all that huddling and holding and pulling and pushing….yeah, sounds rather nice. I enjoyed Rhys’s sister, as well, and would have loved to have a longer story to play with these characters a bit more.
This was just a great, short, fun story and had everything I love about Merrow. Great English feel, lovely guys–who are not perfect–and a truly sweet romance. I recommend this book if you need a quick pick-me-up and quite a few giggles. So worth it.
RATING : 