A Little Side of Geek by Marguerite Labbe

Title: A Little Side of Geek

Series: Geek Life 01

Author: Marguerite Labbe

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (306 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (22nd May 2018)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts

Blurb: When opposite worlds collide, it’s anyone’s game.

Proud geek and comic book artist Morris Proctor wants nothing more than to live in semiseclusion with his devil cat and gamer friends. Despite what his well-meaning family thinks, he’s perfectly content with his status quo. The last thing he needs is to date another nongeek hell-bent on changing him.

Then he meets his adorkable new neighbor, Theo Boarman, who doesn’t know Star Trek from Star Wars, but who tempts him like no other.

Theo has spent the last year recovering from the loss of his parents and trying to play both roles for his teenage brother, while working to keep the family restaurant afloat. Dating is the last thing on the menu, especially with a man who thinks the height of dining is shoving a packaged meal into the microwave.

But if Morris gives him one more shy smile or flaunts that kilt he wears so well, Theo will be forced to convince him that a hot summer fling is just the recipe to let off a little steam.
When that fling gets serious fast, Morris has to decide if he’s willing to give his heart to Theo on the chance that they’re a perfect mix.

ISBN: 978-1-64080-474-6

Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Prime

Review: A Little Side of Geek is the first book in Marguerite Labbe’s series The Geek Life.
Being something of a geek I was instantly attracted this novel (cue the mental image of the Willem Dafoe meme of “You know, I’m something of a scientist). No, I can’t say that I am of the comic book/graphic novel set, although I do dabble, I’m more of a science nerd. However, it’s nice when “nerd culture” is portrayed properly; I sometimes find the science type books unbearable because I know the life of a scientist in both commercial or academic settings.

Look, it’s difficult to explain, let’s just go back to its nice when things are portrayed with a decent amount of realism, which therefore makes the characters that bit more relatable. All this is because Labbe herself is part of the comic book culture and her insights are obvious because of how well written this book is. On top of that, her characters are excellent and well fleshed out. I don’t think that I’ve read anything else by Labbe in the past, although I have heard of her. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did and so I went into this book not knowing what to expect.

The story is about somewhat reclusive comic artist, Morris Proctor. He has his work, his cat, his sister and niece, and his gamer friends that keep him from being a complete hermit. He’s happy with the life he has, despite the fact that his sister especially loves to worry about Morris social life.

It is at this point that we meet Morris’s neighbor, Theo Boarman. Theo is completely different to Morris, mostly because he doesn’t do the whole geek thing, but he tries for the sake of the teenage brother, Lincoln. Theo’s responsibilities don’t make him more mature than Morris, it just makes him different. Theo’s parents died recently and so not only does he take on the responsibility of raising his underage brother, he also takes on most of the responsibility of running his family’s restaurant. Two of his siblings don’t appear interested in the restaurant, and his sister Jill is heavily pregnant and so Theo plays the protective brother to her as well. The restaurant as well as the comic convention circuit is key settings in this book, because this is where we get to know the guys, and partly where they get to know each other.

Morris’s family, his geeky friends (who I’m sure will get their own stories) and Theo’s baby brother Lincoln make this little world more colorful. I love the atmosphere that added to the lives of the MCs. They are well throughout characters that do justice to the overall storyline of Morris and Theo’s romance. I can’t wait to get read more from this series, I might even investigate more of Labbe’s work.