Sierra Reid lacks confidence. As a game developer, she can rock. As a player, she can crush her opponents. As a public speaker, working on a presentation for the next big gaming conference, she blows it. She knows the game better than anyone, so the presentation should be easy, but an incident in college made her lose all confidence when she gets in front of a group of people.
Her best friend has an idea, and drags Sierra to a neighborhood bar. Alfie, the owner of the bar, has decided to run a contest to bring people in the door. The contest? Humiliation. Contestants get up in front of the crowd and read some of their poetry from college or a diary from high school. The contest runs several weeks, with the audience voting on who gets to stay in the contest. At first, Sierra turns this idea down. She is not interested in embarrassing herself in front of a crowd of people, just to try to win the presentation.
But then she realizes it’s a little like a quest. This is her chance to level up. And she had to keep a journal for her Intro to Communications class. So she decides to give it a shot, and puts her name in for the first week of the competition. Her nerves are getting to her, but once she gets on the small stage, the lights keep her from seeing the audience, which helps. She swallows hard and reads a journal excerpt about the huge crush she had on the gorgeous skater boy Tristan Spencer.
She gets through her reading, and even gets some applause. But she’s definitely not ready for what happens next. Because the next contestant called up to the stage: Tristan Spencer. Who also reads from his journal from Intro to Communications.
The fifteen years since college have been kind to him, and he seems flattered by Sierra’s attention. Sierra is curious to see what feelings are left from her old college crush. But bartender/owner Alfie is kind and smart and makes her feel a sense of calm that’s she never known. As Sierra faces all her feelings from the class that destroyed her confidence in the first place, will she be able to exorcise the demons that keep her from moving up at work? Or will she get too distracted by her side quest in romance to put in the work on her presentation?
Crushing It is a fun, bright, vibrant rom com that combines romance and gaming with dealing with past mistakes. Author Lorelei Parker has created smart, driven characters who are flawed but likable, and the novel sings with contemporary issues and strong female characters.
I really liked Crushing It. I liked the relationships, I liked the way Sierra took her own issues in hand and worked to overcome her barriers, and I liked the dog. This a quick read, but it touches on deeper issues too. An entertaining summer read for beach, pool, or sofa!
I won a copy of Crushing It form Kensington Publishers through a giveaway, with many thanks.
