The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek, Piper Vaughn, Xara X. Xanakas

A fun opposites attract story.

-Review by Cindi

What does a consummate party boy do when he wants a geek but said geek won't give him the time of day?  He buys a how-to manual of course.  What better way to learn to bridge the gap (and there is a major gap) than to try to learn all there is to know about geekdom?  :)

Ashley Byrne, Ash, is the ultimate party boy.  He has a rep for living in the moment, partying, and having as many anonymous hook-ups in back rooms as he can get.  He is an apprentice in a tattoo shop with hopes of opening his own shop someday with his best friend, Ty.  Life is going perfectly for him and he has no desire, nor reason, to change his party boy lifestyle.  Until he meets Felipe Navarro, Fee to his friends, while helping his brother Jack move into a new place.  Fee is a coworker of Mari, Jack's live-in girlfriend, and he is the ultimate geek right down to the thick framed glasses.  From the minute Ash sees Fee he wants him.  Bad.  The problem?  Fee shows very little interest in Ash and is uncomfortable with Ash's attention.  Ash is not accustomed to being told no.  Not many men turn him down.  So for Fee to do it?  That just won't work.  Ash is up for the challenge of getting Fee to notice him so he begins a little quest to learn as much about geeks as he can.  Perhaps if he has knowledge of Fee's interests, he might see Ashley as being more than just a party boy looking to score.  Which, of course, is exactly what Ashley was... in the beginning.

Ash buys The Party Boy's Guy to Dating a Geek and begins his education.  He also becomes a pseudo-stalker by sending messages to Fee via Mari like a teenage girl.  He stalks Fee's blogs. He crashes a book club where Fee is a co-moderator.   He shows up at Jack and Mari's when he knows that Fee will be there.  What starts as a challenge to hook up with the man who refused him quickly turns to more.  He becomes genuinely interested in getting to know Fee.... if only Fee would give him a chance.  Quickly Ash starts to change.  He no longer has any interest in random back-room hook ups.  He gets interested in furthering his education and even begins to push himself to get a move on with the tattoo shop that he and Ty dream of opening.  

Eventually Fee goes out with Ash and the slow build-up of their relationship begins.  Ash finds that what started as a quick education to get into Fee's pants suddenly turns into so much more.  He doesn't want to change for Fee.  He wants to change for him, Ashley Byrne.  Meeting Fee pushes him in that direction.

This is such a fun book.  I am a huge fan of opposites-attract stories and Ash and Fee are so opposite.  The slow build-up may bug some but I felt that it was necessary for the characters involved.  I enjoyed reading excerpts from the manual that Ash studied.  Some things I was familiar with, some not.  I found myself getting a slight education myself the more I read.  Each excerpt tells more than how to understand computer terms or the classic geek loves, Star Wars and Star Trek.  They also teach a little lesson in regards to life, and people, in general.

There are quite a few secondary characters that add greatly to the story.  Ty, Ash's roommates, a friend of Fee's that wants much more than just friendship (Donovan) but Fee is oblivious, both sets of parents, Jack, Mari and others.  Each is necessary for the story as a whole and I enjoyed them all (even when I was cussing Donovan and one of the parents).  

It takes awhile for Fee and Ashley to finally get it right and to get it together.  Once they do?  Perfect.  There is not a lot of sex in this book though there are a good amount of sexual situations.  I never felt that I was missing anything because when it happens, it happens exactly right and at the exact right time.  

Watching these two guys realize that opposites do, in fact, attract and that a real relationship can work as a result, was perfect.  Ash is the ultimate, tattoo'd party boy and Fee is the ultimate glasses-wearing nerd (I personally think glasses on a man are sexy as hell but that's just me :)  I am so looking forward to the next in this series.  I will say (as well as others who have read this book) that I hope to see Ty's story next.  He is one of the characters I fell in love with and I am really looking forward to seeing him have his own HEA.  

Overall, an excellent and fun read.  I'm a big fan of Piper Vaughn so it was fun to read her newest.  I will now be searching for books written by her coauthor, Xara X. Xanakas, whom I've never read before.  I highly recommend this for anyone looking for something that is cute and funny and that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Note that this is Book One in the Clumsy Cupid Guidebooks series.