Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Protecting the Nerd

SERIES: Forestville Silver Foxes #4

AUTHOR: Nora Phoenix

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 292 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2024

BLURB:

I’m proud to be a geek.

I’m smart, but I’m also awkward and somewhat socially inept—forever doomed to live in the shadow of my dead brother.

My job as research engineer is amazing, though, and recently, I’ve managed to make some friends in my hometown of Forestville.

But when the wrong people show too much interest in my latest invention, my boss wants me protected. Despite my fierce protests, I end up back in Forestville. With a bodyguard who poses as my boyfriend.

Quillon is nothing like I had expected. He’s my opposite, but we connect in ways I never saw coming, and for the first time, I don’t feel alone. He takes care of me like no one ever has.

Oh, and he’s also extremely hot, which is fascinating because I’ve always thought I was straight. Apparently not.

But is this just a temporary thing or could it be forever?

Protecting the Nerd is the fourth book in the Forestville Silver Foxes series, a contemporary small-town MM romance series featuring hot silver foxes and the men who fall in love with them. Each book can be read as a standalone. Please check the trigger warnings in the front of the book.

REVIEW:

I am a huge fan of all these silver foxes that have returned to their hometown and take their friendship very seriously. They defend and protect each other and the ones they love.

York is the younger, nerdy, über brilliant brother of Essex that the group of childhood friends have rallied around and taken into their fold after realizing that Fir wasn’t the only one their dead friend had bullied. Now York and Fir are best friends and know each other better that the rest. So when York, who has been creating a top secret new program for the Defense Department, is suddenly whisked back to his hometown of Forestville, complete with hot bodyguard posing as his boyfriend in tow for his own safety, he knows he won’t be able to slip this by Fir or by their friend Auden, the town sheriff. What he never expected was these unique feelings that were circling inside him. Attraction to another man had never been his thing but being with Quillon and playing boyfriends was complexing him. And being the analytical genius he is he just had to get to the bottom of this. When Marnin called them out for being too polite and lack of PDA York suggested that a kiss might help. York was killing Quillon! It was hard enough to resist the nerd when they were holding hands and living right under each other in Tomás Banner’s house. But kissing York might just do him in. Because he knew that one kiss would never be enough!

I had wondered about York from the start of this series. He was the younger brother of Essex, the brash and bragging Marine that had been all their friend growing up. Essex had been killed in action and his parents had literally devoted their lives to keeping his memory alive at the expense of their younger, forgotten son. We had learned that Essex had a much darker side that he had kept fairly hidden from his four best friends, Tiago, Auden, Marnin, and Tomás. What I loved was these four guys believed him when he had shared with Tiago, at the big High School reunion that had brought them all back together at Forestville, how Essex had bullied him for years and he was relieved when he finally headed off to boot camp. The fact that he had bullied both York and Fir was alarming. And it sounds like he kept his dark side up in the Marines too. What York never realized was that most of the town had figured out some of that and the fact that his parents had literally shut down after Essex’s death and he was left to fend for himself. I loved when they all stood up for him against his parents when he finally unloaded all his truths at the annual trek to Essex’s grave site. I know it was tearing Auden up that he never saw/recognized all the signs back then. But it was Quillon that did it for me. He was so protective of his Nerdy and was there for him whether it was personal or professional. He tried so hard to fight his feelings he had developed for York. He was a professional but love has a way of taking over, and paired with York’s determination, he was fighting a battle he never had a chance against. And these two were perfect for each other. They got each other and their personalities just meshed together so completely. Quillon saw a man that he admired both physically and mentally. He embraced his Nerdy’s uniqueness. And he fell head-over-heals in love with him. What I truly appreciated was he was honorable. He would not hide what they developed and went straight to his leadership to tell the truth. And, even though it was a complication his employer and the FBI were not anticipating, they appreciated his forthcoming of the information. And due to the immediate threat to York’s safety, they needed him in place with York. Besides, who else would be as selfless as the man in love with York. And I loved that York was such a breath of fresh air. He didn’t mince words and he told you exactly what he was thinking. That’s why all the teenagers loved and appreciated him.

I think that the birthday party was the literal icing on the cake. The fact that all of his friends, and yes they were his friends, came to honor him and show him how much he was treasured and cared for. Their gifts were uniquely him and that shows care and commitment to a friend.

I have so loved this series. The fact that we get men of age and getting to finally find love and contentment in this wonderful little town. And I am really hoping that we get Marnin’s story eventually. But I have loved that all the men we have met are getting their chance at love whether they expected it or not.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon