Smart Mouth by Emma Lee Jayne

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Title: Smart Mouth
Author: Emma Lee Jayne
Series: Work For It #4
Published by: Smartypants Romance
Release Date: April 26, 2022
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: Smartypants Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

The rockstar

There are lots of assumptions people make about rockstars. Shallow. Player. Addict. The truth? I’m none of those.

The even bigger truth…the only opinion I care about is her’s and she hates me. Her as in Gwen Matthews, my twin brother’s best friend, the unrequited love of my life. She thinks I’m a liar and a jerk which is why I pretend to be my brother when she needs help one night.

Except Gwen is a genius. Literally. So it doesn’t take her long to figure out it’s me and not my brother, but maybe, just maybe, she’s willing to give me a second chance. Because maybe when she looks at me, she only sees a rockstar with her best friend’s face, but when I look at her, I see my other half. She centers me in a way that no rhythm or line of lyric ever could.

The scientist

I have three priorities in life at the moment: finish my research, defend my dissertation, and get my Ph.D., so that I can actually figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life. Tom Mendoza won’t help me achieve any of those things. Yet I can’t help the sudden feeling that I’ve been completely wrong about him all this time.

The day we first met when we were both teenagers, I saw a glimpse of a sweet, funny boy that felt very much like a kindred spirit; awkward and full of energy and dreams. But that guy seemed to disappear and in his place was this stereotypical stupidly hot rock star that did not make sense in my world.

Being a scientist means being willing to admit when you’re wrong and reevaluating everything. I might not understand much about human behavior, but I can clearly see the tender underbelly that Tom protects. The subtle rituals he uses to stave off his anxiety. Yes, he’s ridiculously hot, but his soul just might be more beautiful than his face and I’m not sure what to do with that.

Especially when I find out that he’s in love with me.

'Smart Mouth' is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #4 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Review:

I received a free copy through Smartypants Romance in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

5 stars — I devoured this in a day.  Less than a day.  Honestly, I wish it was longer, I could have just kept reading and reading…it was effortless.  It hit everything for me.  You know how there are just those books that feel like they were written specifically with you in mind?  Check and check.  And OMG, the relief I felt was immense because it’s been a few months of reading where I’ll enjoy a book, but…that inevitable but.  There was no but here for me.  And I think I need to celebrate that.

I’m kinda glad I didn’t reread the blurb before diving in, because it gives a slightly different feel than the story I read.  Though that might be just me.  I was hooked right from the prologue, of them meeting one another as teenagers and having that one perfect day.  It took me a bit to figure out what happened following that day, but I ached for both Tom and Gwen at having their newly formed friendship messed with.

Tom was so much more endearing than I was expecting.  He was genuinely sweet, caring, sincere…you could feel how much he was struggling with, but I kind of loved that we got to see him as he was well on his way to managing his anxiety and ADHD.  I wouldn’t call him a beta boy so much as an…omega?  Is that the in between one?  Have we romance readers even decided on a word yet?  He was confident in some areas, and not in others.  I don’t know how to describe him honestly, other than to say that I loved him.

Gwen was delightfully nerdy and awkward and just everything.  I was able to connect with her pretty easily, and I loved her enthusiasm for the things she loved — and wow did I ever learn a lot — but also her complete ineptitude towards normal social interactions.  She was adorably awkward though…the best kind of awkward.

As I mentioned above, they definitely had someone else who mucked about early on in their connection, but I loved seeing them find one another and connect again.  They had immense chemistry, and I definitely felt their attraction to one another.  I both understood and was frustrated by Gwen’s insecurities, but I loved the way it turned out in the end.

Lots of great secondary characters in this one, from the BoS to Mr. Rodgers to Bex to the reappearance of Max and Holly.  I even, strangely, appreciated that not every character was redeemed fully…because some people are just dicks.

Also, yet again, some fantastic ADHD rep.  As someone who definitely has some executive dysfunction, I really appreciate seeing it in these characters and recognizing that it’s so much more than what we’ve been led to believe.  I love when books help you learn without making you feel like you’re learning.

So yeah.  Another favourite.  I need to go check out Ms. Jayne’s unfortunately ‘not as long as I would like’ backlist of books, because obviously she writes the kind of books I want to read.  Can’t wait for more.