This was a light and fun book to read, definitely something I could see being made into a funny rom com. I've actually been reading so much heavy fantasy lately that I forgot how much I enjoy the simplicity of contemporary books. I was drawn to this book because it discusses a very relatable fear of mine which is public speaking. Sierra was a really cutesy character who had quite a history to her in terms of relationships or lack thereof. I enjoyed slowly watching her build her confidence in her product (for her video game company) and herself, and of course her journey to find love along the way. The writing style was nice and sweet, although the fetishes with body parts like the neck, were very strange at times, at least for me personally. I appreciated that this book solidified how women can go into men dominated fields such as video game designing and succeed. Hence, I also appreciated Sierra's best friend Aida who pushed her friend to face her fears and continued to believe in her abilities even when Sierra herself didn't. I think my favorite part of this book was during the journal readings at this bar, things would be reveled from ten years ago when Sierra and some others were in college together. Those parts made this book interesting and added a little more background to the characters, who weren't really flat, but were lacking some substance at times. Overall, I did enjoy the book. It wasn't the best contemporary story I've ever read, but it was a nice escape. 


Writing: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Plot: 6/10
Ending: 7/10
Originality: 7/10
Overall: 34/50
Cover: /10

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC

This was a book that I initially didn’t have high hopes for because it sounded So similar to every other book I’m this genre, and it mostly was but I loved the story of the public speaking phobia and how the one bad incident that affected Sienna for 10 years was able to be overcome in a pretty unique way.
I didn’t like the way that Tristan’s character treated both Sienna and Alfie but he was a character that a reader would know in real life.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and will look forward to reading the authors next book

I enjoyed this book. I thought the contest set up was original, though a bit far fetched. Setting the lead in the world of video game design was unique as well. But it’s also why I felt there was a huge disconnect between the cover and the content. I know we aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover but while I like cover it doesn’t fit this story, in my opinion.

Game creator Sierra has a big public speaking event looming, but an embarrassing incident in her past gives her extreme stage fright, to the point that she might miss this huge opportunity. To ease herself into making the speech, she starts competing in a local bar event, telling stories from her life, based on her college diary. Both the bar’s owner, Alfie, and one of her competitors, Tristan, witnessed her embarrassment long ago; Alfie is supportive and helpful, while Tristan uses it to his advantage during the competition.
While it seems this is going to lead to a love triangle, that’s taken care of pretty early on, since it’s clear that one of the guys is only interested in Sierra because of her job.
I liked that the romance was a bit of a slow burn. Sierra, used to quick hookups, is surprised by Alfie’s insistence that they date a while before sleeping together, which is a nice change. I also like that Sierra is good at her job and confident in most of her abilities except public speaking, but that’s a VERY common fear, and she’s willing to work on overcoming it in order to pitch her passion project.
I thought the book was charming and funny.

Thank you netgalley and to the publisher for this fun ride !
Calling all gamers , ready, set —go!!!
I crushed this book in one day because it was so good I just had to know how it was going to end !
Sierra is a game developer with a fear of public speaking ! Her best friend Aria talks her into entering a open mic type contest to help conquer her fear ! Throw in high school crush and old friends and you’ve got yourself an amazing read that will bring you right back to your teenage years !!!
I challenge you not to run to your game station and play some Super Mario after you read this one!!!! Wonderful and fun read !

3,5
<i> I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

This was my first time reading something by Lorelei Parker, and I’m glad I got to know her.
I really enjoyed this book, it has some comic moments but at the same time it dealt with a couple of serious issues.

The protagonist, Sierra, has to deal with her fear of speaking in public in order to win the chance to present the new game her company developed at a comic con in Germany. To do so she enrolls into a competition where you have to read/speak about some of the most embarrassing moments of your life.
This was the part I liked most about the book, more than the romance, what captivated me was the protagonist tentatives to overcome her fears. Especially when her past comes knocking on her door and she also has to learn that she might have misjudged a few things she gave for granted.

Also, bonus for all the geeky content, Sierra is a real nerd and that’s adorable.

Only thing that lowered my rating was that I had no problem putting this book down. Usually with similar books I am unable to stop reading until I finished. Though I enjoyed Crushing it, it did not completely hold my attention.

But it is still a really good read that I would recommend to the lovers of the genre.

I requested this book on Netgalley because lately I’ve been in the mood for some romances and this book seemed like a hit. Video games? Cute bartender? The book was just calling my name.

Sadly, it fell short for me.

I considered DNFing this book multiple times before I finally finished. I really enjoyed the first 25% of the book, but then it went a little downhill. It started getting really boring and repetitive.

Let’s get into the story.

Sierra is a video game developer who has a massive fear of public speaking after a particularly bad presentation in college caused by Tristan, her old college crush. Sierra wants to go to GamesCon to promote a new video game she has produced, but her boss doesn't feel like she has the confidence or speaking skills to make it happen. 

To try and overcome her fear, her best friend Aida convinces her to participate in the Chagrin Challenge a local bar is holding. She would just have to read an embarrassing piece of writing from her past. 

To start off, there was an abundance of video game references that just felt a little too forced. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a crazy nerd when it comes to those sorts of things, but even for a mega-nerd like me, it was too much. 

Characters:

The main character Sierra was probably my biggest complaint about the book. She was just too flat of a character for me. I never really felt invested in her journey, because she kept doing the same things over again. While she did have a decent amount of character development by the end, it just didn't feel like enough. 

Don't even get me started on Tristan, the supposed supermodel of everyone's dreams. He was the worst character and had zero redeeming qualities, so by 50% of the book, I kept wondering "Why?". The fact that Sierra kept making excuses for him drove me crazy and it just didn't make any sense. 

The thing that kept me interested the most in the book was Alfie, the sexy bartender and love interest. I honestly would’ve loved way more about Alfie and his past. Alfie also had his problems, but he came off as more real. But sadly, because his character wasn't fleshed out, he also felt a little flat.  

The relationship with Alfie and Sierra had a dash of insta-love to it. While they did know each other in college, Sierra never gave him a second glance. But after remeeting him at his bar, she definitely fell for him very fast. 

Sierra’s best friend Aida could’ve been SO much more. I am always a sucker for a great best friend's side plot, but it wasn't there. The only dialogue she had was mostly criticizing Sierra and telling her to get her life together (I mean, same) and I was really missing a loving best friend moment. Whenever Sierra told Aida about the problems, it was written as “I updated her on the situation.” I feel like more dialogue between the two of them could’ve made their friendship mean more as well as made Aida a way more interesting character.

Plot: 

Some of the storylines just didn’t make sense to me. How did Sierra forget THAT much about college? And when she was confused about some of the events being talked about, she didn’t read through her journal until the later half of the book.

I also felt like the scenes and interactions happened so fast. There was no depth to the arguments or the problems happening between Alfie and Tristan. One of the main fights with Tristan happened over a single page and it was just too quick to make me feel anything for either character.

I ended up giving the book 2 stars.

Overall, the idea of the book is great, but the characters were too stereotypical to give the book any depth. The bar contest got a little too messy, and by the end, I didn’t really care what happened. I think if the characters were more fleshed out and the scenes had more depth to them, it could’ve been a really great book.

Hmm.. I have a lot of thoughts on this one.. Crushing It by @loreleimparker is a bright and breezy book for the most part. There were a lot of laughs and a lot of steam and I generally enjoyed it.
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I really like how the main challenge Sierra faces is for work rather than romance. Not everything in a woman’s life revolves around finding our other half! And Sierra really crushes it. She’s smart, she’s good at what she does, and she knows what she’s weak at and has the courage to meet it head-on to improve. That’s someone I want to be friends with.

Personally, I didn’t like either of the two male leads. At first, Alfie felt like a shoo-in to me, but in the end, I was screaming for Sierra to just move on from both of them. But that’s just me, maybe I’m not so much of the forgiving type. What do you think though?

Still, this book was a fun read overall and I would love to have others read it so I can find out who people were rooting for and why. Let the discussing begin!

Diversity meter:
-

"Maybe life would be easier if it came with prewritten dialogue."

Diverting a bit from a conventional romcom, Sierra is a gamer girl trying to overcome her fear of speaking in front of audiences by entering in a contest where the contestants reveal their embarrassing stories. Little does she know, her crush from college, Tristan, is sitting in the audience as she tells her story about her college crush. Awkward.

I related to Sierra because I am absolutely frightened of speaking in front of an audience. I enjoyed how Sierra's character was written with her gamer analogies which at times I had a hard time understanding but gave another level to her already unique character. I loved how relatable Sierra's character was and how in the end Tristan gets what he deserves. I truly enjoyed this read!

This sweet rom-com has nerdy game developer Sierra re-examine the most embarrassing moment of her life in order to gain confidence as a public speaker again so she can attend her dream gaming conference in Germany. A competition set-up at a local bar for people to bare their most cringe worthy memories is the setting for Sierra to rise to the challenge. The competition gives Sierra a chance to reconnect with people from college that both had a major impact and played a minor role, or so she thought, during one particular semester. Those old connections lead to new romance and love in the most surprising places.

2.5 crushed STARS ★★✬✩✩
This book is for you if… nerdy gamer content and stubbornly gullible characters are more your vibe than a well developed arch of suspense.

⤐ Preface.
Y'all. I've had this gut feeling for a while but now embraced it fully. I've abandoned my old rating system because I found it increasingly difficult to make the digits coming out of it fit my heart's impression of the books I'm reading.

⤐ Overall.
Let's not tiptoe around it. I considered dnfing Crushing It multiple times, yet some small pleasant details kept me from doing so. Undeniably, Lorelei has the soul of a poet as I've found myself marvelling at her rich writing on multiple occasions:
‘We twined together in the deceptive belief that forever was granted to mere mortals and drifted into a quiet place between the real world and some alternate reality of our own creation.’

Together with the numerous absolutely delicious opportunities to cringe yourself into another dimension, there was only one thing missing to make this contemporary romance a hit. That's right, a soft boi. I love 'em to death, you guys. Can't resist them. It's like physical law or something. Thankfully, Lorelei delivered.

Think this book is for you? Well, I'm not done yet. Sierra's naivité was downright implausible and infuriating. There's only so much a reader can take before feeling betrayed. There was nothing genuine about her gullible character and the same is true for her lack of character growth. She never truly seems to shed her nice girl attitude and I'm just not down for it in this case. There was nothing graceful or otherworldly about it, except if you mean otherwordly idiotic. Tristan is the picture-perfect douchebag and her not seeing that after multiple actions that proofed his foul character made it not only hard to stick to the book but also created a terribly flat arc of suspense.

⤐ What’s happening.
‘Tristan had a way of turning me into a personification of Murphy’s Law.’

Sensible people make a run for the hills after meeting a person like that and letting themselves get run over by a said toxic person repeatedly. Not so Sierra. Even after multiple red flags and against the better judgement of her closest friends she somehow channels her inner Betty and puts up with the drama of the f***boy. Thereby she misses out on multiple hawt make-out sessions with soft-boi Alfie, and if you don't think that doesn't qualify her as legally unaccountable you should definitely give this a try.
_____________________
3 STARS. Decent read that I have neither strongly positive nor negative feelings about. Some thinks irked me and thus it does not qualify as exceptional.

2 STARS. Definitely a disappointment. It might not even have been worth to finish for a variety of reasons.
_____________________
Many thanks to the author Lorelei Parker, Kensington Publishing and Negalley for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately This was a DNF for me. I appreciated the main character Sierra’s love of gaming and all things quirky. I just didn’t like how low her self esteem was (and stayed) and Tristan was too obviously wrong I just didn’t care to read anymore.

Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Boo ks and Lorelei Parker for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Geeky girl gamera and a romantic comedy in one, what could be better? I recently got totally sucked into Good Trouble and the main character in this, Sierra, reminded me of Mariana who is also a female in the male dominated engineering world. As someone who has passed out giving speeches not once, not twice, but three times, I totally related to Sierra’s anxiety and the struggles she faced because of it. The process of tackling anxiety is not a quick one so I appreciated a realistic look at life with anxiety! is one of the more unique character’s I’ve read and she was such a breath of fresh air. I love a book that I can picture as a movie and I would love to see this one on the big screen! I really think this one is going to be big in 2020!

First of all it was refreshing to read about a main character who works in STEM. Sierra was refreshing and unique without needing to say 'I am not like other girls'. The idea of reading old diary entries publically created a lot of moments for humour in the book. Although as someone who kept a journal for 8 years it does fill me with dread. Overall, I really enjoyed this book it was somehow both comforting and refreshing.

This book started out fairly strong. A good story and good characters. The first half of the book has a good pace and sets up the story nicely. About halfway through the book stalls and then declines rapidly.

The main characters (Sierra, Tristan, and Alfi) all took the same Communications class in college and now, 10 years later, all meet up by chance in the same local bar....ummmm...not likely, but okay. I can move on and accept that. The real problem here isn't the implausibility of this set up, it's that all three of these characters are so hung up on a situation that happened 10 years ago. They are now in their 30's and two of them are business owners. And they are still completely bent out of shape over a one-time mishap in college?

From the build up we get for entire story I assumed the "incident" that impacted all of them would be something pretty significant. Spoiler: It's not. It's kind of a minor prank gone wrong that, at worst, could be described as kind of embarrassing. But these characters act as if they might never recover, emotionally.

Oddly, as the story continues and we learn more about these characters they become exponentially LESS likable. And by the end I didn't care what happened to any of them. I almost stopped reading when there was only 15% left because at that point I was completely apathetic. They are all immature, petty, and mean.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

What’s worse than reading your old diary about your college crush to a room full of strangers? What if said crush was in there too? Sierra is mortified she just recalled her 10 year old crush, to Tristen himself. But maybe 10 years later was what they needs to reconnect, for real this time. Or maybe, past crushes are crushes for a reason, and putting your eggs back in that basket won’t make them fit this time.

A really cute story about being yourself and finding yourself in order to find true love. Well written with its nerdy antidotes intertwined throughout the text. Makes you want to open your eyes and be sure you really see people.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Sierra. I found she was almost a bit too much. Everything that can go wrong always did, it was a bit of the exaggerated clumsy nerd stereotype. But the male characters were good and likeable (enough for some).

I picked up this book to buddy read with a few romance reading friends and because of the pretty yellow cover. I was looking forward to an easy, breezy summer rom-com and that's exactly what I got.

This story follows Sierra, a video game developer, as she tries to regain her public speaking confidence after a presentation mishap in college ten years prior. She participates in an open mic contest hosted at a bar owned by a former classmate and comes face-to-face with the person who caused has caused her self-doubt for years. What happens next is nothing short of the hilarious re-telling of differing perspectives of a semester in college.

I loved how I felt like I could relate to Sierra and her struggles. Listening to her share what she was feeling in those moments all those years ago brought me to similar feelings of crushing on a cute boy, but also the uncertainty, joy, confidence, and embarrassment that comes with it. The author did an amazing job of keeping the story fresh with two potential suitors, one you couldn't help but fall for alongside Sierra.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to read a story of personal redemption, while possibly tying up some loose ends in your own past.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Do. Not. Judge. A. Book. By. Its. Cover.
⠀
From the cover, I imagined this to be one of those fluffy romance books with a high maintenance socialite as the main character. Nope.
⠀
Our main character is Sierra, a video game developer with a serious fear of public speaking after a catastrophic presentation in college. The cause of catastrophe - Tristan, her college crush. Sierra is vying for the chance to present the company’s newest game at a big conference in Germany. To get over her fears of public speaking, her best friend and the other co-founder of their video game company, encourages her to join a local bar’s contest of essentially “Who can embarrass themselves the most?” She ends up in a “love triangle” between Tristan, who shows up at the contest, and with Alfie, the bar owner who also went to college with her and Tristan.
⠀
Alfie Jordan might be my favorite book boyfriend of all time. He and Sierra together are absolutely dreamy. I devoured this book in less than a day. I couldn’t put it down even when my tired eyes were begging me too. Even though I knew Alfie would end up being her Mario kart rival, it was still one of my favorite pieces in the book.

Crushing it is seriously a redemption story for the ages! This story was so much more than romance!

Our amazing heroine Sierra is seriously one the coolest characters I have ever read! She’s a boss in every sense of the word! Her one hang up....public speaking! After a horrific event 10 years prior Sierra just can’t do it but she needs to conquer her fear and fast but not only her figure depends on it but the future of her company!

As the story progresses we see that Sierra has to navigate old feelings and new ones from two men of her past! Tristan and Alfie! As true character is shown and old woulda turn into fresh pain Sierra has to reconcile what she thought she new to reality!

I absolutely loved the hilarious laugh out loud moments and the way that Parker showcases friendship and growing! There’s so much packed into this story and so much to learn! I was instantly hooked and I didn’t want it to end!

As a gamer and person petrified of public speaking, I was thrilled to see a book where I might find myself on the page. While I was right to a certain degree, it didn’t go quite the way I was expecting.

Crushing It is a fun, light-hearted read that would make for the perfect beach or road trip book. It comes out on June 30, just in time for the peak of summer!

TROPES

Love Triangle

I actually enjoy a good love triangle. In my circle, that makes me weird, but I stand by it. That being said, I wouldn’t call this a “good” love triangle. It was lopsided to the point of ridiculous in a couple of cases, and Sierra didn’t have any of the back and forth that makes a love triangle intriguing. It seemed like she knew where she was going to land from the moment the second man became an option.

Second Chance Romance

On the flip side, second chance romances are often not my favorite, but I really liked those elements in this story. Either man could have fulfilled the second chance, but Sierra only knew that about one of them. This made it so fun to read and experience through her eyes.

CHARACTERS

Our central triangle takes up a lot of emotional bandwidth in this one, so I’m not going to elaborate much beyond them. But you should know it has an amazing supporting cast. They are so colorful, and I hope the future brings us more books, so we can learn more about them.

Sierra

In college, she experienced a traumatic event while presenting a final project for a class, and it caused her to have serious confidence issues going forward. The whole premise of this book is her working to overcome that. Love isn’t on her radar at all - she’s a hookup queen, and while she entertains the idea of something bigger than that, it’s not a priority. She’s focused on improving herself to advance in her career. I loved that. So often, it’s the woman who is pushing for commitment, and to see a female MC not coming from that direction in a romance novel is so refreshing. My only real complaint about her is that her self talk was a little weird. There were instances where it was very negative or overly sexual. She does get more confident as it goes on, but it happened enough at the beginning that it got to be grating. I’ve also never seen the founder of a company painted as such a pushover. She didn’t read as the heroine of her own story.

Tristan

Tristan is the whiniest, whitest, most entitled, least deserving person I’ve read in a hot minute. He’s really hard to discuss without spoiling much, so I’m not going to say a ton. But I will leave you with this nugget of irritation: he spends much of his dialogue angling for a job where Sierra works, because he apparently loves the company so much, but he hasn’t done enough research to know that she’s a founder. That attitude is demonstrative of his entire personality.

Alfie

We love an underdog. Alfie is your quintessential ugly duckling boy next door. Tristan was Sierra’s college nemesis, but Alfie was the forgotten acquaintance. They are opposites in literally every way. There was a lot to love about Alfie - he was supportive and patient and wanted for Sierra what she wanted for herself. But he was also just kind of bland.

PLOT

The central plot is right there in the synopsis: Sierra Reid needs to overcome her terror of public speaking to be able to pitch the game she developed at a European conference. The way she accomplishes that, though, is hilarious. The diary slam is not just a one-off event. It is a tournament: she and Tristan are competing, and Alfie owns the bar where it takes place. Sierra’s best friend and roommate also went to college with the three of them, and she’s the put-together, married, mom-to-be in contrast to the more unsure, unsettled Sierra. As you can imagine, ridiculousness ensues.

I wish I had more to say about this. This book had true flashes of brilliance and wit, but on the whole, it didn’t deliver. It’s the perfect three star read, where I enjoyed it, but I don’t have much positive or negative to say, and most of that is due to the way the story itself was handled.

- It was disjointed.
- Sierra made decisions with what felt like very little time or logic behind them.
- Tristan and Alfie were painted as such polar opposites that 99% of their storylines were predictable.
- The final conflict came and went with no real repercussions.

When you put all those pieces together, it made for a story that just didn’t deliver well on emotion. And in a romance novel, I NEED the emotion. That’s such an important part of what makes it feel real and believable.

CONTENT WARNINGS
Alcohol consumption - the primary setting is a bar.

Secondhand embarrassment - I know this isn't really a content warning, but I'm very sensitive to it. The beginning is difficult to get through.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There was nothing wrong with this book. The real problem is that there also wasn’t anything that made me go, “This is IT!” I never had that wow moment. There were some good quotes, and some feel good moments, but nothing that made me love it. In this case, I really don’t know if that’s because it just isn’t my taste or if there were shortcomings in general, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t for me. If you like a lighter romance that reads more like a movie than a book, this is a great choice. In general, this book screams debut author to me. A lot of my complaints would probably diminish the more Parker writes and finds her footing as a storyteller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.