AmberHow do you politely refuse when the only guy to star in any of your dirty fantasies has just offered to put you up for the foreseeable future and your brother’s just accepted like you were in fact still thirteen and couldn’t make decisions for yourself? You don’t. And, you end up with a roommate who wears a very good elegant mask over the rough and tumble, bad boy core I remember far too … core I remember far too well.
Only, it’s ten years later and I’m even nerdier than I used to be. It’s ten years later and I couldn’t look worse. It’s ten years later and I can’t keep one guy. It’s ten years later and my brother still teases me mercilessly in front of him. It’s ten years later and Kit somehow looks even better than the guy I spent my formative years crushing on.
So, there’s not only the issue that he’s my older brother’s best friend, but also a sex-god this virgin can barely talk to. But that certainly never stopped me from drooling over him and it wouldn’t stop me now. He’s so far out of my league, I wouldn’t even clean in his league.
Except, there might just be a smouldering heat in Kit’s eyes that suggests he’s not quite as out of my league as I thought. Just maybe, this geek is about to get a whole lot of chaos.
Kit
When I find out about my best mate’s little sister’s situation, the offer is out of my mouth before I can stop it; Hawk’s like a brother to me even if Amber’s never looked twice at me. I could never tell if she was scared of me or hated me. But the deal is done. She’s going to bring her bedraggled self upstairs to my penthouse and live with me for as long as she needs.
I see the pain she hides away, I see the lack of confidence despite how smart she is, how good. If there’s something I’ve learned, it’s that confidence makes all the difference. So, it becomes my mission to help Amber find her confidence. But I find more than confidence in her and suddenly I’m seeing my best mate’s little sister completely differently.
I’ve never known what to say to her. She’s always been good and studious and sweet. She’s always been so far out of my league I wouldn’t even carry bags in that league. Her face is a mask that tells me nothing in between the sparse words that come out of her mouth.
Except, there might be something in the way she smiles at me that gives me hope I’m not as far out of her league as I thought. It might just be time that this chaos gets a little geek.
Please be aware that this story is set in Australia and therefore uses Australian English spelling and syntax.
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This book was a wonderful surprise. This is the first book I’ve read by Elizabeth Stevens, but I’ve always been a fan of stories with geeky characters. I was one of the weird ones growing up, and their stories often resonate with me. And since I ended up with a pretty hot guy (who’s still not bad after almost fifty years) I know these romances are definitely possible, but this one had an absolutely wonderful cast of characters and some of the best, snappiest dialogue I’ve read in a long time. I also liked the fact that Amber–the geek of the title–was not the least bit cowed by all the men of the Grace-Grayson security team. It was obvious that while she’d adored her older brother, she probably hadn’t hesitated to give him some grief while growing up.
She obviously hasn’t lost her touch. Amber is smart, she’s working on her graduate degree, has an okay boyfriend and rooms with her best friend. At least until she gets home from an all-nighter studying and walks in on her best friend and Amber’s boyfriend doing the deed. Obviously, she needs a new roommate. Now. The boyfriend? He’s history.
But first she has to get out of there and go…somewhere. Somewhere far away, but she ends up at a luxury hotel about a block away where she runs into her older brother’s business partner, a man Amber has been crushing on since she was Patrick’s baby sister, and Kit a much older teen. Kit, known as Chaos and her brother Patrick, aka Hawk, however, both think she absolutely hates Kit, which is why when he offers her a place to stay with him, her brother is all over the idea. Kit’s safe. He and Amber can’t stand each other, right?
Watching these two figuring out how they really feel about one another while hiding it from Amber’s brother and the rest of the guys on their security team was absolute fun from the first page to the last. I don’t want to give any of it away, but I can guarantee a lot of smiles, some really deep, emotional moments, and a romance that is absolutely perfect.
Kudos to Ms. Stevens for pulling off a top notch job on a story that has a lot of familiar tropes, but is fresh and lively and pure entertainment from start to finish. I really enjoyed this one, and absolutely love finding “new to me” authors!
One note I might add–there were a lot of typos, but the reason I didn’t drop any stars off my review is that the author’s storytelling is so far superior to so many of the books that I read that I wasn’t the least bit bothered by the errors. Certainly not enough to lower my rating.
the wonderful awkwardness of these two living together while thinking the other has nothing but disdain for them while she has secretly loved him for years and he has been wary of her because he thought she hated him…while it was hilarious. But it was sweet them letting their guard down and opening up to enjoy one another’s company. and the relief of friends and family that they could all get together in one place at one time now lol. It was so a holy crap moment. to think her hiding her feelings had affected so many people! I also loved her interactions with her brother’s other friends. all of them were simply amazing in their own way I cannot wait to read their stories. But the blurting out of his feelings to his best friend (also the older brother of the girl he has feelings for) well poor Chaos lol. The fish out of water oh my god what was just said out loud moment is not to be missed! read this, you will have no regrets.
Loved the story. The nerdy girl snags the hot older brothers best friend. When they have known each other their whole lives watching the relationship transform from awkward glances to friends to insatiable and unable to live with our was adorable. Loved the team and how they all rallied around amber. Chaos/kit was an awesome book boyfriend.
**Presented with an ARC via HiddenGems in exchange for an honest review.**
This book had me captured from the first page. There is so much to say here, but I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone else. This book engages every single sense, from your emotions, to the tingles through your body, to the part of that is cheering and screaming and rejoicing at the same time. It’s amazing.
3.5
Amber and Kit definitely kept me on my toes. I wish this book was a little longer, but it did end on a good note. The steam was just perfect for these two, and the comedic relief was great. I definitely can’t wait to read the next two in series!
Geek, nerd, security, childhood crush, best friend’s sister, virgin
** spoiler alert ** Chaos has always been a ladies man. Amber is focused on her thesis. Once enemies, now they are drawn together. Will their families accept them? Will they be able to find a common ground?
Definitely liked that these two had a background even if it was slightly enemies. I loved how despite what he thought, Chaos was determined to protect her and help her out. I didn’t blame her for being shy and not knowing how to talk to him, but loved seeing her slowly come out of her shell. Good read!
I needed an escape and this was it. Ambers’s world is shaken when she finds her boyfriend with her friend of 20 years. She calls her brother to pick her up and they run into his business partner and best friend Kit aka Chaos. The problem is she has always had a crush on him and everyone assumed she hated him including Kit. It was fun to see the difference in her behavior when she is with him versus when she is with the team or others. Ambers’s back story made everything make perfect sense and Kit’s patience with her was endearing. I will definitely continue reading this series.
I really didn’t enjoy this book. Amber was too neurotic.
*** I received an ARC copy from Hidden Gems and I leave reviews how, where, and when I choose to ***
First of all, catchy title, love it.
The two MC’s – Amber (whose brother has nicknamed her ‘Bert’) and Kit (a nickname, his given name is Christopher and the nickname he earned in the military is ‘Chaos’) are believable characters with good points and quirks and frailties. Amber resonated with me – I was that geeky shy chick in high school (and in many ways, still am, thirty-two years later). Kit came across as genuine as well- not an alpha a-hole, but not neurotic either. I appreciated the pace and flow of the story, and the way that their journey toward each other was realistic. Yes, the tropes presented here have been done before; however, Ms. Stevens did them justice here, in my opinion. I would read more of her work.
Elizabeth Stevens, ‘Chaos and the Geek’.
A Grace Grayson novel.
As an Hidden. Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 3 (of 5 stars).
In general: Falling for ‘little sis’ of best friend.
Main characters:
– Amber ‘Bert’ Grace (24).
She’s a student. Her brother Patrick ‘Hawk’ was her (very protective) guard till she was an adult. Now he works at a security firm. Since her youth she had a crush on her brother’s best friend Kit, but being shy and and a bit of a nerd, thought she was far out of his league. So she kept a distance to him.
– Christofer ‘Kit’ Grayson (30)(nickname ‘Chaos’).
Since his youth best mate of Patrick, Amber’s brother. He – and Patrick – are ex SEAL’s. Now Kit is the CEO of the Grace Grayson Security firm at which Patrick also is a partner. All their colleagues know each other – and Amber – very well from their SEAL period; they form a close team.
Because Amber always was was shy and aloof to Kit he thought that she hated him.
After an important study meeting Amber comes home a bit early and discovers her best girlfriend for 20 years having sex with her boyfriend. She’s devastated, leaves the apartment with only a few possessions, not really knowing where to go. The doorman of the luxurious apartment complex at the other side of their street invites her into the hall of the building so she can call her brother for help. In the building is also the penthouse of Kit and the meeting room of Grace Grayson Security’s team members. Patrick arrives after some time to help his sister; Kit also learns about her homelessness and offers her free rooms to live and study in his penthouse. The desperate Amber accepts his offer.
Then the author, Elizabeth Stevens, describes how the shy, nerdy Amber and the bossy, confident Kit with ups and downs fall in love.
For me, the plot caused some questions, i.e.
– Amber not knowing that her beloved brother has a firm at the backside of her poor apartment?
– The confident Kit is very afraid that brother Patrick will not allow that he dates his sister? Why? Patrick knows that Kit is a womanizer, but really is a good guy. What a strange (American?) habit that a brother forbids a beloved, intelligent sister, to decide with whom she wants to find her happiness!
– Why all those – hardly explained – nicknames? Is that funny?
– At the start of the book I found a lot of not – introduced – (nick)names i.e.:
Explanation of nicknames of the Security members Rollie and Tank at loc. 1814 (that’s on 60% of the book). Isn’t that a bit late for names that were mentioned – without explanation – for the first time on loc 180 or at 6% of the book?
– Why the (overdone) care from the whole security team for the sister – they never met – of one of their teammates. Only because of his stories about her?
All in all: a well written book with a lot of interesting characters, but – for me – also with a plot a bit to overdone to be credible.
R. Huiszoon.
I really enjoyed this book. I’m not sure that I can put my finger on exactly what it was that worked for me other than to say that it did. I loved Amber in all her geek-girl glory and social misfit awkwardness. It was so easy for me to connect to her. Kit was just such a sweetheart. I really felt for him with all his angst over whether to be true to his oldest, dearest friendship or to his newly discovered heart. It was so much fun watching the push/pull chemistry between them. I also really adored the sense of family amongst the Grace Grayson team (and their own extended families). I can’t wait to see what else is in store for these guys.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Hidden Gems Books.
This was a cute read from a new author to me. I did enjoy it and can’t wait for Hawk’s book.
“Chaos & The Geek” (nook) is a love story full of tension and angst and, yes, love. An enjoyable read.
Great…recommend it.
Enjoyed this book!! Had some LOL moments!!!
Getting to know the characters in this book was delightful. They had great dialogue, and felt real in the chaotic way life sometimes happen. The writing conveyed the tension between them all beautifully. Entertaining all the way through, with a sense of freshness.
Love this book
loved the story. she writes great books
Unexpected changes in characters from the norm!
Overall good story but slow moving