[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Sweetmeats Press
Formats: Paperback, Kindle, eBook
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble[/alert]
Diary of a Library Nerd is like a mash up of Bridget Jones and Fifty Shades of Gray, but with amazing storytelling by Kyoko Church and stellar illustrations by Vanity Chase. Not only is this a fantastic read, but the book looks stunning as well. This is, quite simply, a very easy book to fall in lust with. Readers will want to make sure they have time blocked out to read this steamy book because once you start you won’t want to put it down.
Separated from her cheating husband, demoted at work, and demoralized by life in general, librarian Charlotte Campbell finds herself working in the bowels of the library with only the automatic book sorter for a companion, and after all the action she hasn’t gotten lately, he’s not looking too bad. With her personal life in shambles, her professional life bleak, Charlotte wonders how life came to this point, with her hidden away like the library’s dirty secret. She uses her time to write in her diary and sketch, detailing her newly discovered sexuality and her relationship with Nathan, the shy library user who got her landed in the basement in the first place. Charlotte learns a lot about herself and about the pleasure spectrum, discovering her dominant side as well as other predilections that only arise when Nathan’s emails reveal a secret of their own.
“Actually,” I said, “it’s not like what you’re expecting.”
Diary of a Library Nerd is one of those erotic novels that is a credit to the genre. Like any fiction category, there are varying levels of quality in erotica, and this one hits all the right points to land it on the top shelf. It’s funny, sexy, quirky, dark and suspenseful; there’s just nothing not to enjoy about this novel if you’re a fan of literary erotic fiction. The story is excellent and the tongue-in-cheek, flirtatious style, as though the narrator is peeking out of the pages to flirt with the reader, is simply divine. Charlotte is a terrific heroine, conflicted and yet driven toward self-discovery even though she is afraid. The relationships she develops are equally as complicated and profound, and will leave the reader feeling as exhilarated and drained as Charlotte.
Probably the only false note in the story is one character’s pet names for things, like submissive and orgasms. It suits the character to a certain degree, but might put off some readers. Potential readers should also be warned that there is explicit content (in case they miss the huge red warning on the front of the book), and some adult situations portrayed might not be in every readers’ comfort zone. But the writer portrays these scenes with such beautiful attention and compassion, with great respect and affection between the characters that it’s really quite touching and hot. If readers approach this book with a sense of humor and an open-mind there is very little chance that they won’t enjoy it.
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